Scottish Paralympic sprint medallist on managing her anxiety to reignite her passion for athletics

Maria Lyle is now back running with a smile on her face after seeking support for her anxiety and rediscovering a love for athletics.

The multiple Paralympic, world and European medallist first showed her sprint talent while at primary school and then started joining her mum Susan on short runs. As her career progressed, however, she struggled to find the same love for her sport as she had during those early days.

Lyle became overwhelmed with worry about competing and her concerns impacted her life away from the track. After suffering in silence for years, the 19-year-old finally opened up to her mum who convinced her to seek professional help. She was later diagnosed with having anxiety.

“My mum would give up lots of her time, she would lead my sessions and drive me all over the country so I could compete,” Lyle explains. “She would even take time off work to watch me in competitions.

“Because of this I would get worried if I didn’t run well. I’d feel guilty about wasting her time.”

She adds: “Disappointing my mum wasn’t the only thing I was anxious about. I was worried about my competitors and factors I couldn’t control. Before the 2018 European Championships I revealed something to my mum that I have never spoken about before.

“I broke down and cried for hours, expressing how rubbish I felt about myself in both my running and personal life. Running had completely taken over and there was nothing positive.

“In my darkest moment my mum was there for me. She was the one who listened for hours. She was the one who hugged me. From that day, my mum and my immediate family have supported me. They have made me realise that there is more to life than running.”

Lyle has lived with diplegic cerebral palsy in her legs almost all her life. The condition dictates how she lives, but she refuses to be ruled by it.

She is now one of the world’s best T35 sprinters, but few of her classmates at Dunbar Primary would have tipped her as a future Paralympian, until one PE class changed everything.

“When I was younger, I struggled quite a lot. Things didn’t come quite as naturally for me as they did for my peers and often I ended up feeling a bit rubbish about myself,” says Lyle, who in 2016 claimed T35 100m and 200m bronze medals at the Rio Paralympic Games and last year secured Commonwealth 100m silver for Scotland.

“Things drastically changed, however, after one PE lesson. We had to complete the multi-stage fitness test (bleep test). As someone who fell over constantly and ended up with cut knees 90% of the time, you could say I wasn’t that keen to join the lesson.

“To everyone’s surprise, I was the last one left in the test. That was the first time I’d ever felt such a sense of achievement. From that moment, running would become a big part of my life.”

Her mother Susan, a PE teacher at the East Lothian school, adds: “Having Maria in my class was great. As Maria developed, I soon became aware that in many areas she could hold her own or even challenge her classmates.

“Maria seemed to have a natural ability for running and this first became apparent during a lesson where we conducted the bleep test. To my surprise and possibly her peers, Maria was the last person standing.

“From that day onwards, Maria and I started to go out on short runs together. She was eight years old at the time and for the first time in her life I could see Maria had found something she loved and she began to blossom.”

Lyle is now back recording the kind of results her talent merits and works at the Scottish Parliament while training. But Susan says no medal ceremony can compare to seeing her daughter enjoying running again.

“My proudest moment is not Maria winning medals on the world stage, it is probably Maria competing in Glasgow (in February) at the 2019 national indoor championships.

“For the first time in years I saw Maria stand on the start line feeling relaxed and running through the finish line with a smile on her face.

“Along with the support from us as a family and her coach, Jamie Bowie, Maria has turned herself around and is back on track in all areas of her life.”

No play was possible at the Italian Open on Wednesday because of persistent rain in Rome.

Four-time finalist Roger Federer was due to make his first appearance at the event since 2016 against Joao Sousa.

World number one Novak Djokovic was due to play Denis Shapovalov in the evening but play was finally abandoned for the day at 8.30pm local time.

Britain's Johanna Konta and women's world number one Naomi Osaka were also thwarted by the elements.

Konta is drawn against American world number eight Sloane Stephens, while Osaka faces Dominika Cibulkova.

They will all be part of Thursday's day session, which will now be split into two parts.

Former French Open champion Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from this year's tournament because of her long-standing shoulder problem.

The 32-year-old world number 35 has not played since pulling out of an event in her native Russia at the end of January and had a small operation in February.

"Sometimes the right decisions aren't always the easiest ones," the five-time Grand Slam winner said.

This year's French Open begins on 26 May and runs to 9 June.

Sharapova, who won the French title in 2012 and 2014, returned to the tour in April 2017 after a 15-month ban for taking the banned drug meldonium.

She reached the French Open quarter-finals last year, losing 6-2 6-1 to third seed Garbine Muguruza.

In the opening Grand Slam of this year, the Russian lost to Australia's Ashleigh Barty in the round of 16.

"In better news, I have returned to the practice court, and slowly building the strength back in my shoulder," she posted on her Instagram account, alongside a picture of her lifting the Roland Garros trophy in 2014.

Wales prop Nicky Smith has signed a new four-year deal to stay at Ospreys until at least 2023.

The 25-year-old loose-head has spent all his professional career at Liberty Stadium after making his debut in 2013.

Smith has turned down interest from Cardiff Blues and Sale Sharks after helping Wales win the 2019 Grand Slam.

"I know it's dragged out probably longer than I was hoping, but I'm just happy that I've committed my future to my home region" said Smith.

"It was always going to be Ospreys and Wales for me, I'm just happy that we've got the right deal and I'm looking forward to the next four years.

"It's been a good season personally, but there's always room for improvement and I know there's a lot I can work on so over these four years I can hopefully become a better player."

Smith has made 106 Ospreys appearances and played in four of Wales' Tests during the 2019 Six Nations Grand Slam.

Head coach Allen Clarke said: "Despite being comparatively young he has become a core player and a tremendous character within the squad.

"He has shown high level consistency at the top end of the game, not just in the set-piece but also in open-play, where his contribution is very much that of a modern day loose-head prop."

Wales captain and lock Alun Wyn Jones has yet to decide on where his playing lies beyond the end of his Ospreys deal, which expires after the 2019 World Cup.

However, Ospreys have signed Wales fly-half Gareth Anscombe from Cardiff Blues and retained centre Cory Allen, full-back Dan Evans and wing Luke Morgan.

Ospreys host Scarlets on Saturday, 18 May in the Pro14 play-off when a place in the Heineken European Champions Cup next season is at stake.

TOLEDO, Ohio – Nicknamed the Glass City, Toledo, Ohio is the glass capital of the world due to the production of a wide range of glass products in and around the area.

Toledo also happens to be one of the Midwest’s epicenters for auto racing, as well as the home of ARCA, the Automobile Racing Club of America.

Founded in 1953, ARCA has sanctioned thousands of races at hundreds of racetracks in the 67 years since, and the short-track world will be focused on Toledo Speedway on May 19 when the ARCA Menards Series visits its home track for the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200.

Over the years, 16 drivers have earned their first ARCA victory at the series’ home track. The drivers who have earned their first wins on Toledo’s ultra-fast high banks range from the prolific, to the up-and-comers, to several one-off winners.

Ten-time series champion Frank Kimmel logged his first win – the first of a record 80 ARCA victories – back in May of 1994. Kimmel went on to victory a total of nine times at Toledo, making it his most prolific track alongside the legendary Salem Speedway in Indiana.

“This is just a really cool race track,” Kimmel said. “That first win was huge for me. At some point we had to stop being the bridesmaid and be the bride. We had to beat Bob Keselowski, Bobby Bowsher, and Dave Weltmeyer that night. We ended up winning nine times at Toledo but that first one is what got it all started.

“It’s still a pretty special memory to me.”

Todd Gilliland, who recently earned his second series win at Talladega Superspeedway, won at Toledo in his first-ever series start. It was a record-setting win, as Gilliland was one day past his 15th birthday, making him the youngest winner in series history.

Since ARCA rules stipulate you must be 15 years old to race, chances are that’s a record that will stand for years to come.

Gilliland won’t be racing at Toledo this season, as he is chasing the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series title, but he credits that Toledo win for helping establish himself as an up-and-comer worthy of a high-profile opportunity at Kyle Busch Motorsports.

“Toledo is fun short track,” Gilliland said. “It’s really wide, and you are probably turning more than you want on the straightaway. That was new to me when I raced in the ARCA Menards Series race there a few years ago, and I had to learn as fast as I could. Keeping the car turning is really important for the long run.

“It’s really cool to be the record holder as the youngest winner in ARCA history after my win at Toledo,” he added. “Watching the guys that have won there after me like Myatt Snider, Harrison Burton and Zane Smith is really cool as well, because they are bunch of my buddies. It’s a fun race track and I’ll be tuned-in cheering on my Toyota teammates.”

One driver that hopes to join Kimmel and Gilliland as ARCA winners at Toledo is Corey Heim. Heim is 16 years old, not quite as young as Gilliland was at the time of his Toledo win, and he comes with a wealth of short track experience already under his belt.

Heim finished second in CARS Tour super late model points last season, winning one of the series’ nine races, and hopes to convert that success into similar high marks at Toledo.

“I’m really looking forward to Toledo,” offered Heim. “It’s a relatively flat race track, which I’m particularly good at and I know Chad Bryant Racing has been very good there in recent years, so I look forward at the chance for my first ARCA Menards Series victory.”