Rio Olympian on the battle for 5000m Tokyo places, Covid concerns and being an expectant father

2021 is going to be a big year for Andy Butchart. Not only will the 29-year-old celebrate a landmark birthday in October, his world is also about to be altered permanently given that he and his partner Lynsey Sharp are expecting the arrival of their first child just a few weeks later.

The joy of the baby news – which he and Sharp announced last month – is still abundantly clear given the Scot’s huge grin when the subject is raised, but first comes the anticipation of another event which he hopes will also fall into the category of life-changing.

The Rio Olympian, who finished sixth in the 5000m final won by Mo Farah in Rio five years ago, is fully intending to book a ticket to Tokyo at this weekend’s Müller British Championships and is approaching the task at hand with his usual air of  relaxed confidence.

Yet, while he admits that in years past he would perhaps have viewed the challenge of winning the national title as straightforward, this time Butchart knows things will be different.

To automatically make sure of a trip to the Japanese capital, he will have to finish in the top two in Manchester and run at least the qualifying standard of 13:13.50, but Marc Scott (with 13:05.13 in March) is the only British athlete to have gone inside that mark this year, while NCAA 10,000m champion Patrick Dever also sits higher up the UK rankings.

Butchart is untroubled, yet switched on. He was just two seconds shy of his Scottish record when breaking the BMC 3000m record as he ran 7:43.57, largely solo, for the distance in Watford just over a week ago and has been fine-tuning his preparations in Font Romeu before the domestic dust-up at SportCity.

“I’m definitely in good shape,” he says. “I think I could definitely have run a PB [in Watford] had it been a race and I been paced for a little bit longer and a little quicker. I’m not worried about the 5000m trials. I don’t know if that’s a bad thing but I’m just pretty relaxed about it. Training’s going really well and I’m in a good place.”

However, the three-time British champion adds: “Sometimes you go into the British Championships and you just think ‘this should be pretty easy’. That’s not to be offensive to anybody or disrespectful – I have just felt that I was better – but this year there are guys that have come through. I’m not ranked first for the 5000m in the UK right now.

“It’s going to be a harder race but I’m just excited to race the British Champs again. Last year I missed it because of COVID and injuries but I won it in 2019 and I’d like to retain the title if possible. The British endurance guys have smashed it this year. What was 13:40 is now 13:20 and that’s just the way it is – the way it’s moving forward.”

The last time Olympic spots were up for grabs, the relatively unknown Butchart sprang a surprise to land the British title before his impressive showing in Brazil. Now, however, there is expectation rather than hope.

“A lot has changed in five years, hasn’t it?” he says. “At the start of the season when I went to Rio I was unknown and hadn’t run anything quick. Now, I feel like there’s a bit of pressure, which I don’t mind, but it’s just a little different.

“I remember it [2016] was all pretty surreal. You finished the year and you were like ‘Oh my god, did that really happen?’ whereas this year you know what’s coming, you know that you have the British Champs, you know that you have to finish top two, you know when you get to Tokyo it’s going to be crazy.

“But back then I didn’t have any clue what was happening. It was just a big blur. So, yes, it’s definitely a bit different five years on.”

Butchart insists it would be “huge” to make it to a second Olympics but also won’t deny that concerns have crossed his mind, given the current Covid situation in Japan.

“I think I’m more worried with post-Olympics,” he says. “Will there be a COVID variant from the Olympic Games? Will I be allowed back in the UK or will we have to go somewhere else? There are so many questions that are unanswered, and nobody knows the answer to, so [I’ve got] slight hesitations about going to Tokyo and returning.

“I don’t want to bring anything back to the UK and I don’t want to put anybody’s lives in danger but I guess we have a job to do.”

The two-time Olympian Sharp has been helping him to prepare for that job, with Butchart admitting he has been of little practical help in the early stages of pregnancy. She, however, has been only too willing to provide support both on and off the track.

“There’s nothing I can do right now, apart from being the best person to Lynsey and help her get through the pregnancy as best as possible,” he says. “She’s so supportive. It’s been unbelievable. She’s changed as a person dramatically with the news and we’re both ecstatic about it and can’t wait to meet the little guy.

READ MORE: How they train with Andy Butchart

“It changes your perspective a little bit on things but obviously running is still the main aim for both of us to try and run as fast as we can and win races as often as possible.

“She’s the one who’s telling me ‘you need to get on a plane to Font Romeu and get out of the house away from distractions here. Just go and focus on making the Olympic team’. She knows what it takes.

“She’s very supportive and she’s been on the bike pacing me through sessions in Stirling, giving up her training sessions to just help me. She knows I’d do the same thing for her and she’s been class.”