A tough year, but Kirsty has her sights set on Glasgow 2026
We announced earlier in the year that NorDan UK would be sponsoring Kirsty Law, a 14 time National Champion discus thrower. Here’s our update on her year so far.
This year has been a tough season for Scottish track and field athlete Kirsty Law, as she has been dealing with an ongoing injury, a change of coach and other challenges all thrown into the mix.
Kirsty spent the early part of the year training in Loughborough before heading to the US for a series of competitions aiming to meet the Olympic ‘qualifying’ standard. Despite her best efforts, the toll of injury, subsequent disruption to training and lack of competitive outings meant it was not possible for her to meet the qualifying standard.
As it turned out the current selection policy meant that, even if she had hit the required distance to qualify, the UK athletics governing body would have turned down her invitation from the International Olympic Committee to compete at the Olympic Games in Paris in the summer.
The latest selection policy set by British Athletics, the national governing body, is that, regardless of whether athletes meet the requisite standards to qualify, they will only be selected by Team GB to compete if they are deemed to be likely to finish in the top eight.
Kirsty did reach the qualifying distance for the European Championships in Rome in June, but again the British Athletics selection policy meant that she was refused her invitation to compete.
However, despite the disappointment, Kirsty was able to dust herself off and bring things together to compete for the Scottish Athletics National Championships at Grangemouth in mid-August. Kirsty took the win with a throw of 53m 32cm and secured an unprecedented 15th National title!
Following the end of the season, Kirsty spent some well-deserved time off and even contemplated retirement from her sport. The injury issues and lack of support from the governing body in financial terms and allowing athletes to compete at major championships, means that without help of sponsors like NorDan UK, even elite level athletes can struggle to make ends meet.
Without suitable funding, athletes like Kirsty are less able invest in the best training on offer, private medical treatment and cover other costs such as travel. After so many seasons at the very top level, Kirsty considered whether it was time to call it a day.
However, the news broke that Glasgow would be hosting a revised version of the Commonwealth Games in 2026. Although the Games would not be hosting all the sports included in previous years, importantly for Kirsty, track and field athletics events were on the cards.
The opportunity for one final major event on home turf was simply too much for Kirsty and her competitive nature to resist, so retirement was thrown into the long grass once more!
Kirsty said: “I still love my sport and I love competing for Scotland. Having the chance to qualify and take part in one last major championship in Glasgow just seemed like a big target to aim for and allow me to finish my career on my own terms and in front of a home crowd.”
Kirsty will spend the winter training, seeking to take part in a couple of championships in 2025 to secure selection and qualification for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Everyone at NorDan UK wishes her the best of luck and we will be following her progress over the coming year.
You can follow Kirsty on Instagram at @kirstylawdiscus.
Photo credit: Bobby Gavin
Dec 03, 2024
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