Claire Gibson: Scot (pictured left) represented her country at the Commonwealth Games.
Scottish athlete Claire Gibson is preparing for one of the biggest weekends of her career when she competes for Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the very first time at the Aviva International Match at the Kelvin Hall.
Gibson, a 29-year-old part time sports therapist from Johnstone, will compete in the 800m in Glasgow on Saturday after the withdrawal of defending champion Jenny Meadows through injury.
Gibson represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and is now looking forward to joining Farah, 1500m World Championships silver medallist Hannah England, Commonwealth champion hurdler Andy Turner, Mark Lewis-Francis, Helen Clitheroe and others in UK colours.
She told STV: "It is very exciting to be competing for Great Britain for the first time at a home match. You have to enjoy it and try to relax.
"It will be good that the crowd can cheer on somebody local. I have competed with people like Mo Farah before, but I have never been on the same team as them.
"I am 29, so I know what I want to be doing out on the track. I will speak to the other British athletes and see how they prepare, and then maybe introduce that into my own training if it works for me. But I won’t change anything on the day."
Gibson, a member of the Kilbarchan Athletics Club in Renfrewshire, is particularly looking forward to performing with the UK vest on in front of friends and family.
She added: "My call-up was a bit last minute, so there has been a bit of a scramble for tickets. While the Commonwealth Games was bigger, representing Great Britain for the first time is great."
Like every athlete in the world at the moment, Gibson has one eye on the Olympics in London this summer and she is hoping the Glasgow race will boost her chances of qualifying.
"There are a lot of very good middle distance athletes in the UK at the moment so I just need to do my best.
"The Trials are at the end of June which is quite close to the actual games, but it means the people going forward to represent Britain are in the best form."
Gibson and her British teammates will compete against teams from USA, Germany, Russia and a Commonwealth Select this weekend.
IN DETAIL
- World athletics champion Mo Farah to compete at Glasgow event
- Kim Collins and Hannah England to run in Glasgow
