The easy assumption to make is that the Scottish crowd will roar one of their own to victory, but being the home athlete is not neccessarily always advantageous.
You’re trying to sort tickets for people right up to race day. You’re expected to make time to see friends and family. There are more sponsor demands, more media to do, more people wanting a piece of you.
Take Kerr post-heat on Wednesday. He had already stopped for several interviews before his walk from the stadium to the athletes’ area was repeatedly interupted by well-wishers and selfie hunters – all of whom were graciously indulged.
“It’s not easy,” Cram says. “If it’s in Australia, you don’t have to worry about whether you stay in the hotel or at home, about how much you engage, how involved you get in things.
“So yeah, there’s a lot of extra pressure – if that’s the right word – or maybe just distractions when you have a home Games, because everybody wants access to you and the ones who are closest to you can often be the biggest distraction.”
Wightman said his plan was to relax in the team hotel and keep his head down between the heat and the final. Kerr has posted Instagram reels of him running around Glasgow.
Neither seem unduly concerned about much other than – to paraphrase The Proclaimers – who’s gonna be the man on Saturday night.
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