A PEEBLESSHIRE athlete is hoping for a successful summer season after securing a silver medal at a national contest.

Stacey Downie, of West Linton, was involved with Edinburgh Athletic Club at the 2024 Scottish Relay Championships in Ayr.

The PE teacher competed as part of a strong 4x100m Women’s team on Sunday (June 23).

The Edinburgh AC team, consisting of Downie, Peace Oriabure Okaka, Joda Kokovworho and Eilidh MacIntyre, had a good chance of a medal.

After the first two legs, there was a battle between Pitreavie AAC and VP Glasgow with Edinburgh AC close behind in third place going into the final change.

A smooth change between MacIntyre and Downie saw Edinburgh AC claw back some of the deficit in the final leg as Stacey chased down ground on the other teams.

The capital side crossed the line just behind the top two in third place with 48.60 seconds, behind VP Glasgow AC’s 47.96 seconds and Pitreavie AAC’s 48.14 seconds.

A short time later it transpired that the Glasgow outfit had been disqualified for passing the baton too early, which promoted Pitreavie AAC to gold, Edinburgh AC to silver and Law and District AAC to bronze.

On the result, Downie said: “It was a great start to the season at these Championships, with the team performing well to win silver.

“I hope this can be the start of a successful summer season for me heading towards the World Championships in eight weeks’ time where I’ll try to defend my two world titles.”