When the final of the men’s 1500m begins at the World Athletics Championships on Wednesday it will not just be three British men who set off with medals in mind, it will be three Scottish men.
A trio who competed as wee boys will now fight it out as big men at 14:20 BST live on the BBC, a long way from the tracks and trails on which they once raced.
Olympic silver medallist and defending champion Josh Kerr, 2022 winner Jake Wightman and world indoor silver medallist Neil Gourley will each wake up in Tokyo on Wednesday thinking this could be their moment.
One of their predecessors in the event, Chris O’Hare, told BBC Scotland: “I don’t think it is out of the question to have all three of them on the podium.
“The stars have got to align for that to happen, but that is generally the case for anybody to pick up a medal.”
O’Hare, now 34, won three European medals over 1500m and 3,000m before retiring three years ago and reached the final of this event himself in Moscow in 2013.
In doing so, he became the first British man to make that mark in six years, but how times have changed.
Kerr is the second fastest qualifier for the final, Wightman the third, while Gourley, who was in the slowest semi-final, is capable too.
“They all stand a chance individually and there is a really good chance Scotland takes at least two of these medals home,” O’Hare said. “There is even a shot that we could take all three, which would be pretty special stuff.”
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