East Kilbride Athletic Club have their very own world champion after athlete Grant Baillie won the 3000m Steeplechase title in a dramatic finish at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Sweden.
The event, for athletes aged 35 and over, took place in Gothenburg and it was a trip to remember with Jackton man Grant also setting a personal best and Scottish record in the process.
Grant had been battling with David Kiefer of Germany and USA’s Trent Bryson for most of the race. Kiefer made a move with 200m to go that saw him hit the front and open a gap on the chasing pack. However, with only mere metres remaining, Grant passed David and out-dipped him on the line to claim the gold medal.
Grant ran a personal best time of 9 mins 44 secs – which now stands as a new Scottish record for this age/event.
The 45-year-old was over the moon to take the title and revealed he celebrated with a non-alcoholic beer, as he still had a second race to come the following day.
Grant told Lanarkshire Live Sport : “It’s out of this world. I can’t believe I won the gold. I went into the race with no expectations of getting anything out of it because there were five or six guys there who were quicker than me, on paper, so I just went over for the experience.
“To end up coming away with a win is unbelievable. It was just bonus after bonus with the PB and the record as well. It was close to say the least, just half a second in it, and I just managed to dip him on the line.
“I celebrated with a non-alcoholic beer because I had another race the next day, but at the end of the event my wife Kelly came out to Sweden and the two of us went out for a nice meal. There wasn’t much time to celebrate or explore Gothenburg too much, but we had a good time.”
The very next day after his win, Grant toed the line for the 5000m track race. He was up against some top-class competition with some of the runners having ran at the World Cross Country Championships in their younger days.
Top seed Mustafa Mohamed of Sweden, a three-time medallist at the Euro Cross Country Championships, did not disappoint in a stacked field, as he stormed home claim victory in 14 mins 41 secs.
Grant – who was the East Kilbride Sports Personality of the Year in 2023 – placed fifth in race, less than three seconds behind third place, which was an incredible effort considering he was the only runner in the field who had raced the day before.
He added: “I just missed out in the sprint finish for bronze. After the day before, it wasn’t too bad.”
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