Airdrie athlete Jill Cherry says winning an unexpected bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games has left her hungry for more success in elite-level competition.
It was quite an incredible experience for the 24-year-old, who won bronze alongside Zoey Clark, Beth Dobbin and Nicole Yeargin in the 4x400m on the last day of the championships.
Jill was the fifth member of the pool but injury to Carys McAulay saw her step up as the Scots finished fourth at the Alexander Stadium in a time of 3:30.15, in what was her first major tournament at senior level.
But England’s disqualification for a hand-over over infringement saw Canada moved up to the gold medal position and Scotland to bronze.
Former St Margaret’s High pupil Cherry was understandably delighted at the unlikely success story, given that she is actually an 800m distance runner.
She said: “It is a great feeling to be a bronze medallist.
“It was obviously quite unexpected, with it being my first major championships, and most people just use that as experience for things in the future.
“Everyone was telling me before just to soak it all up and take what you learn from it and progress in the future.
“I don’t think anyone was really expecting me to do anything, so to come away with a medal was pretty good.
“It’s a real boost, just confidence-wise, I think. Knowing that I can produce a performance that’s good enough to get a Commonwealth Games medal is definitely going to help me in the future.
“It has definitely given me a taste for it and made me hungrier for more.
“I always knew that I wanted to compete at the top level, but actually getting a proper taste for it has made me see that I really do want to do that.”
Victoria Park City of Glasgow runner Jill says the medal was won under unfortunate circumstances, but it’s good news for her,
She said: “We originally finished fourth, but England got DQ’d so we got upgraded to the bronze, which was nice.
“There are usually five people in the relay pool and I think they were planning on me being the fifth member.
“One of the girls got injured and I got pulled in the day before, so I got a run!
“You do get really friendly with the girls so it was quite bitter-sweet to see Carys get injured.
“I was upset for her but happy for myself that I was getting to run, and that was a good way to start my first senior major championships, getting a medal out of it.”
The whole experience of Birmingham 2022 is one Cherry will take with her into the future, and intends to work hard to qualify for other major events.
She said: “The whole experience was really good, even just being in the athletes village.
“Seeing how top athletes function in day-to-day life, and what they do, the little things that make them so good, was really helpful for me to see, and to try to take some of their habits away with me.
“The atmosphere in the stadium as well was one of the best parts.
“It’s nearly the end of our season for athletics, and I’m actually an 800m runner – I was just doing the 4x400 there – so I’m going to do a couple more 800s and try to get my time down for that.
“I’ll just keep training hard over the winter and hopefully next year that will get me selected for other big championships.”
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