WHAT is for you will not go by you. That old piece of Scottish homespun wisdom resonates with Eilidh Doyle when she looks down at the Olympic medal that hangs round her neck.
While it wasn't exactly the one she would have chosen - the 400m hurdler would have cherished a podium place in her recognised event far more, but finished back in eighth - mingling with her ain folk in the last few weeks has made her feel significantly better about her bronze in the 4x400m relay.
This, of course, was no ordinary medal. Not only did it allow Doyle to complete the set and move her level with Yvonne Murray as Scotland's most decorated athlete in history, but she became the first Scot to land a medal in track and field at the Olympics since 1998.
"It probably wouldn't have been the medal I would have chosen, but I still got one and that is the main thing," said Doyle. "I felt a little bit disappointed about my hurdles but since I have come back, just chatting to people has really lifted me up again. I have got an Olympic medal and how many people can say that? I have won Commonwealth, Olympic and World medals but the reaction has been totally different - people have been stopping me and asking to see it. It has just made it seem really nice and simple again. Like this is what we do it for, we do it for the medals and it is nice to have one to bring back. 'Have you got the medal on you?' No, I am in Asda shopping, I am not going to carry it about!"
Scottish athletes have gone stride to stride with the best the world has to offer this season and Doyle is only one part of it. Like an Oscar winner, she accepts the medal on behalf of all of her peers. "There were quite a few nice stats flying about afterwards about what I have won, and what other athletes have won," said Doyle. "And it was nice for Scottish athletics because we have had such a good year as well. To have 15 athletes in Rio, there were a few of us who had the potential to win a medal, so it is for them too, and for Scottish athletics and all the hard work that they have done. It would have been really sad if all the athletes who have done so well this year in Scotland didn't come back with at least one medal."
Some participants in the Rio Olympics bought themselves three months of down time. Doyle's experience was closer to that of Andy Murray, even if she didn't exactly have a private jet on the tarmac waiting for take off. Within two days of leaving South America, she was competing in a Diamond League event in Lausanne. The overall winner in her event was eventually Cassandra Tate of the USA, but a couple of Doyle wins in Doha and Monaco kept her chances of winning that alive until the very last day of the season. Doyle has never run quicker, but her Commonwealth year of 2014 still just shades it.
"It is the fastest I have ran - so in that sense it is my best year," said Doyle. "But I still think my most successful year has to be 2014 - to go from the Commonwealths then win the Europeans straight off the back of it. Some of the races I have ran this year, in Monaco and Doha, have been much, much better than anything I ran in 2014 but overall as a season 2014 was better.
"I have had some really good races this year, some not so good races," she added. "But the good thing is that I think there is still so much more to give, so much more there. I'm trying not to get too caught up in it all, just get back to the basics of running, loving it, and enjoying it.
"Going into the Olympics, everyone was saying 'get that last hurdle right, get that last hurdle right'. I got the last hurdle right, in my semi final and my final I actually put together two pretty good races but it just wasn't enough. When I crossed the line after the hurdles final, I was so disappointed. But when I thought back, really what else could I have done there?"
Doyle's season is now complete, but 2017 cannot come quickly enough. She senses there is still plenty of improvement to come, and after building up her flat speed in the indoor season, the outdoor world championships in London are the next major goal she is working towards.
Trained as a PE teacher, Doyle also takes her responsibilities for the next generation seriously, which means posing for as many selfies as possible. "When I see schoolkids they say 'can you see the medal and I say yes, take it, put it on', because how many kids can say they have done that with an Olympic medal? It might be that little bit of inspiration that inspires them to go and do what they want to do."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here