Fife teenager Ben Sandilands broke his own European record to claim gold at the Para Athletics World Championship in Paris.
And coach Steve Doig could not have been more proud as he watched the Kirkcaldy athlete set a new T20 1,500m record of 3 minutes 42.52 seconds during his debut appearance at the event.
He said: “I’m pretty ecstatic to be honest with you.
“He set a European record at the Para Athletics Grand Prix in Dubai in March.
“And today he was even quicker and managed to set a new European record.
“He’s very happy about it.”
The Kirkcaldy 19-year-old produced a late burst in the final 150m, coming from fifth place to defeat 2016 Paralympic gold medallist Mikey Brannigan of the United States.
“He has lightning speed at the end of a race and he won by a good 10 or 12 metres,” said Steve.
Three Fife runners in World Championship final
His Fife AC training partners, current Paralympic champion Owen Miller and Steven Bryce, competed alongside him in the event for athletes with intellectual impairments.
Owen took seventh place, with Steven finishing 13th.
All three runners train under Steve at Pitreavie in Dunfermline.
The club said it was an amazing achievement to have three athletes in a world final.
The most incredible finish from Ben Sandilands to become world champion in the 1500m T20 🙌
(📹 @ParaAthletics)#PARIS23 pic.twitter.com/zDIwOznGfu
— C4 Paralympics (@C4Paralympics) July 17, 2023
However, Steve refused to take credit and put the success down to the athletes’ hard work and a dose of luck.
“Good luck is the secret,” he said.
“All three train with a mainstream training group at Pitreavie and it’s a very inclusive group.
“Everyone gets on together.”
Ben Sandilands always showed promise
Steve said Ben had shown promise on the track from a young age.
“He has has been running with Fife AC for around 10 years,” he said.
“He’s always been decent. He’s won Scottish age group titles as he’s come through the ranks.
“And he won group events for Scottish schools.
“He’s just kept going and now he’s world champion.
“We’re all very happy for him, although Owen is a bit disappointed to come seventh.”
All three will be in action again this Sunday as they line up for the Diamond League in London.
