THE coach of Pitreavie AAC's world under-20 medallist Rebecca Grieve believes she's on track to push for senior selection.

Francis Smith, himself a former athlete with the club, praised her "phenomenal running" that saw her win bronze with Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Peru.

Rebecca, who two years ago won women's medley relay gold at the European Athletics Under-18 Championships, picked up bronze in the women's 4x400 metre relay at the event, which was held at the end of August.

The 19-year-old, who also represents the University of New Mexico and Woodford Green Essex Ladies, was part of a six-strong squad for the event, and ran the anchor leg in both the heats and the final.

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Francis, who has been nominated for Performance Development Coach of the Year at this Saturday's scottishathletics 4J Studios Annual Awards, said: "For her to run what she ran in her splits out there, was unbelievable. Phenomenal running by her.

"I always talk about that long-term athlete development and coach partnership. I've coached Rebecca since she was 13, and it's been steady growth.

"We've had under-18s, we've had all these sort of medals, and that's what it is - taking that athlete from a young age, developing them into a junior medallist now, and then the next stage for that is to now keep the progression going to get into the senior squad.

Rebecca Grieve and her team-mates claimed bronze at the competition in Peru.Rebecca Grieve and her team-mates claimed bronze at the competition in Peru. (Image: Oscar Muñoz Badilla / World Athletics.)

"Off of her split times, that's telling me that she's ready to buckle down for another decent bit of work, come out next year and actually push for these senior places, potentially."

Meanwhile, Rebecca's club, Pitreavie, are in the running for two accolades at Saturday's scottishathletics ceremony in Glasgow.

They are up for Impact Club of the Year, for which they were shortlisted two years ago, and have been nominated for Track and Field Club of the Year, which they won in 2021, and were a nominee for last year.