THE Olympic Games may be opening in Beijing but Capital athletes will be much more concerned with a big "Derby match" in England on Sunday.
The Under-23 Inter-Area Territorial match in Derby will give a number of East stars the chance to get in some vital preparation before the Stewart's National Championships at Pitreavie at the end of the month.
Mark Mitchell (Edinburgh AC) has
hit a rich vein of form, winning several recent 800 metres races though he has yet to break the 1:50.00 barrier this season.
The only A winner for the capital club in the British League at Bedford last Saturday, Mitchell is one of eight EAC members to have been chosen for Derby, where he will be looking to improve further before the end of a season wrecked early on by injury.
Chris O'Hare has already achieved both the 5000m and 1500m standards for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Delhi, India, but is more likely to opt for the longer race if chosen.
He runs the 1500m in Derby while EAC's Pat Swan runs the 400m and Mitchell the 800m.
Other EAC athletes in the team include Louise Dickson (100m), Avril Jackson (400m hurdles) and Emma Lowry (high jump).
Others in the Scotland team include Pitreavie's Ryan Oswald in both sprints and Stacey Downie in the women's sprints.
The full article contains 233 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
