Latest news with #LivingstonAC
Daily Record
6 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
West Lothian's new British Champion wasn't sure she'd run again after having steel rods inserted in her back
The 24-year-old Livingston AC athlete had surgery for scoliosis as a teenager British 1500m Champion Sarah Calvert has revealed that she wasn't sure if she would ever run again following an operation as a teenager for a serious back condition. The 24-year-old Livingston AC athlete has scoliosis – a condition where the spine curves abnormally to the side. She underwent surgery to alleviate it and had metal rods installed in her back. Sarah is now Women's British Champion at 1500m, after a stunning victory in Birmingham where she beat Laura Muir into second place by five-hundredths of a second. It's now been revealed that University of Edinburgh student Sarah didn't run or exercise for a year in her mid-teens following the surgery. At one stage in 2015, the former Linlithgow Academy pupil didn't know if she would run again or ever achieve even moderate age group success in athletics. 'When I was aged 15 I underwent surgery for scoliosis,' said Sarah. 'It was a really tough and scary time in my life. I had metal rods inserted in my back and, yes, they are still there. 'My family and I went through a lot at that time and I couldn't do any exercise at all for a year. 'I remember at the time thinking when will I get back to running again, will I even be able to improve my Personal Bests? 'I was thinking: will I ever run again? 'Then, getting back, it took so long to be fit. I never knew if I would win races again and get to the top in my age groups.' Time proved a great healer for Sarah and by 2017 she was winning medals at Scottish Schools events and Scottish Age Group Champs. Sarah is coached by Luke Gunn and is part of the University of Edinburgh endurance project in partnership with Scottish Athletics. Senior Scottish titles in recent years at 800m and 1500m at Grangemouth hinted at more to come and the past few weeks have seen her on the podium at the World Universities in Germany – the first Scot to do so in individual events since 1997 – and earn that British Champion title. Sarah continued: 'My injury history over the past years has probably all been connected to issues with my back. 'I have to work with that and I do try to forget about what happened (in 2015 with the surgery). It does not affect me now. 'Nevertheless I would not have expected to reach this level in the sport, to be honest. 'But I suppose the way to look at it is: If I could overcome that, then I can overcome anything else which may come my way. 'I have had Achilles injuries and so on but it has not been my spine again – so somehow, sometimes, I've been able to think positively.' Sarah revealed during an interview with BBC Scotland that her dreams of success pre-date her scoliosis diagnosis, and were nurtured by visits to Hampden for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Now she's targeting the Games when they return to the city next year. 'I've always had big dreams of going to major championships but I'm unsure if I ever really believed they were possible,' said Sarah. 'Now I have the belief that if I do keep training consistently then this could be possible. I feel like I could write these goals down and try to achieve them next year. 'The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow would be great because all my family and friends could come and watch me. It seems like something I don't want to miss out on. 'I remember going to watch Lynsey Sharp in the 800m [Glasgow 2014] when she won her silver medal and I was so excited. 'I was just a young girl at Livingston Athletics Club and this was my first taste of what it could be like and what I could achieve when I was older.'
Daily Mail
08-08-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
I feared that I'd never run again, says Scot who pipped Laura Muir at the post
New British 1500m champion Sarah Calvert has revealed how she feared her running career was over before it had really begun. The 24-year-old Scot produced the shock result of the UK Championships in Birmingham last weekend with victory over compatriot and Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir by five hundredths of a second. But now Calvert has recalled how she didn't run for a year in her mid-teens following surgery for scoliosis, a condition where the spine curves abnormally. At one stage in 2015, she didn't know if she would run again or achieve even moderate age-group success in athletics. Her recovery was gradual but senior Scottish titles in recent years at 800m and 1500m at Grangemouth hinted at more to come. Now the past few weeks have seen her on the podium at the World Universities in Germany — the first Scot to do so in individual events since 1997 — and then become British champion. 'When I was aged 15 I underwent surgery for scoliosis,' said the Livingston AC athlete and Edinburgh University student. 'It was a really tough and scary time in my life. I had metal rods inserted in my back and, yes, they are still there. 'My family and I went through a lot at that time and I couldn't do any exercise at all for a year. 'I remember at the time thinking when will I get back to running again, will I even be able to improve my personal bests? I was thinking: 'Will I ever run again?' 'Then, getting back, it took so long to be fit. I never knew if I would win races again and get to the top in my age groups.' Time proved a healer and, by 2017, she was winning medals at Scottish Schools events and Scottish Age Group championships. 'My injury history over the past years have probably all been connected to issues with my back,' added Calvert, who is coached by Luke Gunn and is part of the Edinburgh University endurance project in partnership with Scottish Athletics. 'I have to work with that and I do try to forget about what happened (in 2015 with the surgery). It does not affect me now. 'Nevertheless, I would not have expected to reach this level (British champion) in the sport, to be honest. 'But I suppose the way to look at it is: if I could overcome that, then I can overcome anything else which may come my way. 'I have had Achilles injuries and so on but it has not been my spine again — so somehow, sometimes, I've been able to think positively.' Her athletic dreams pre-dated the scoliosis diagnosis and, in fact, were nurtured by visits to Hampden for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. 'I've always had big dreams of going to major championships but I'm unsure if I ever really believed they were possible,' Calvert told BBC Scotland. 'Now I have the belief that, if I do keep training consistently, then this could be possible. I feel like I could write these goals down and try to achieve them next year. 'The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow would be great because all my family and friends could come and watch me. It seems like something I don't want to miss out on. 'I remember going to watch Lynsey Sharp in the 800m when she won her silver medal [at Glasgow 2014] and I was so excited.
BBC News
04-08-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'It's crazy' - Calvert shocks Muir in biggest upset
Sarah Calvert "didn't expect that to ever happen" as she beat Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir to the 1500m title in the biggest upset of the UK Athletics 24-year-old Livingston AC runner's personal best is 15 seconds worse than her fellow just as Muir looked to be bursting through on the inside to overtake Revee Walcott-Nolan and Erin Wallace in the final straight, Calvert powered past all three on the outside to win the biggest race of her been told that her victory was described as "unbelievable, the story of the weekend, a fairytale" during BBC Sport's live commentary, Calvert said: "I think they're pretty acurate." Her victory in Birmingham came a week after she took silver at the Summer World University Games in Germany."I thought last weekend at the world juniors was a big breakthrough, but this is crazy," she told Scottish Athletics."It's crazy. I didn't expect that to ever happen, never mind this year."With the UK Championships doubling as the British trials for the World Championships in Tokyo next month, it turned into a slow, tactical winning time of 4:16.27 was eight seconds slower than her own personal best, with England's Walcott-Nolan finishing third and Giffnock's Wallace edged into fourth."I know a slow, tactical race definitely plays into my hands," she added."These girls have much faster PBs than me, so if they went out to try to run 3.55, I wouldn't be able to stick with it, so when it goes slower, it levels out the playing field."
