DOUG GILLON REVEALS IN TODAYS HERALD

Bartlett on standby after injury to top striker Danson
An ankle injury sustained by Great Britain's most prolific outfield hockey striker, Alex Danson, may keep her out of the Olympics, writes Doug Gillon.

This would be the equivalent of the England football team losing Wayne Rooney, said Great Britain Olympic coach Danny Kerry yesterday. Yet it could be the entree to the Games for Glasgow's Laura Bartlett, who is a reserve.

"I would never wish to benefit from an injury to a team-mate," said the Glasgow student, who turned 20 only last week.

Danson twisted an ankle in Britain's 2-0 warm-up victory over New Zealand in Macau on Monday evening. She had a scan, but no decision has yet been taken on whether she can continue.

"She's our highest outfield scorer," said Kerry. "Our consultant radiologist here will have a good look at the scan and then we'll know more, but until then we really don't know a great deal."

Former Glasgow Academy pupil Bartlett lives in Hyndland and plays for Milne Craig Western. She was clearly not celebrating misfortune, but acknowledged, as does marathon woman Hayley Haining (increasingly unlikely to travel now that Paula Radcliffe will fly here on Sunday): "It's a weird feeling being a reserve."

Bartlett added that she was "gutted not to be in the 16. But I still get to come along and experience all the different bits that go along with an Olympic Games.

So I definitely have mixed emotions."

Unlike Haining, she is a travelling reserve, and will go with the team to Beijing. But unless called in, she would live outside the athletes' village.

"It is difficult to handle," she said. "But I'm still young. I still have years ahead of me. I'll get a lot of experience here, and l'll take that forward in my career. I'm aiming for the 2010 Commonwealth Games with Scotland, and hopefully 2012, the next Olympics."

This article was posted on 30-Jul-2008, 07:19 by Hugh Barrow.