After completing a contract buyout with the Memphis Grizzlies, Dwight Howard will sign a non-guaranteed contract with the Los Angeles Lakers that comes with a clear message, league sources told ESPN: Disrupt this team -- and you'll be gone.

In meetings with Lakers management, coaches and teammates -- including Anthony Davis -- late this week, Howard sold himself as an eight-time All-Star who had hit "rock bottom," in the words of one team source, and promised that he'd humbly accept the responsibility to rebound and block shots for the Lakers.

He showed the Lakers that his surgically repaired back was healthy and that he had lost 25 pounds to get into better condition, and ultimately the Lakers chose him over Joakim Noah, sources said.

With DeMarcus Cousins probably lost for the season because of a torn ACL in his left knee, and Davis reluctant to play significant minutes at center, the Lakers and Howard found themselves needing each other for a reunion of a miscast partnership that fizzled in the 2012-13 season.

For years, Howard, 33, has sold an almost annual idea of a personal renaissance and epiphany, only to infuriate coaches and teammates with behavior that moved from selfish on the court to childish and disruptive off of it. Since signing with the Atlanta Hawks as a free agent in 2016, Howard has been traded three times and waived twice. The Lakers will be his sixth team in five years -- far from the All-Star and All-Defensive team appearances he earned with Orlando and Houston.

The Lakers will hold the leverage on Howard, able to cut him before the NBA's Jan. 7 deadline to guarantee contracts for the season without cost to the team. Howard's arrival moves the Lakers' roster to a full 15 players. His contract buyout with the Grizzlies -- who acquired him in an offseason trade with Washington -- will require him to clear waivers next week before signing with Los Angeles.

Howard will surrender $2.6 million of his $5.6 million guaranteed salary to Memphis in the buyout, league sources said. He can earn back the $2.6 million on his veteran's minimum deal with Lakers -- if he survives on roster beyond Jan. 7.

Memphis never intended to bring Howard to training camp, so the savings turns out to be a significant financial bonus for the franchise.

The Lakers will be Howard's fifth team since he signed as a free agent in Atlanta in 2016. He has played with the Hawks, Charlotte and Washington -- and been waived after trades to Brooklyn and Memphis without ever wearing a uniform. He played only nine games with Washington before back surgery ended his season.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- The World Cup is a week away, and the United States is no lock for gold.

Australia delivered that message to the world Saturday.

For the first time in nearly 13 years, a U.S. roster of NBA players played an international game -- and lost. Patty Mills scored 30 points, and Australia rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half to stun the Americans 98-94 and snap a 78-game U.S. winning streak that started with the bronze-medal game at the 2006 world championships.

"They wanted it more than us tonight,'' U.S. guard Kemba Walker said. "Lesson learned for us.''

It was the first loss for the U.S. in a major international tournament or exhibition since the 2006 world championship semifinals against Greece. The Americans won the bronze there, then were unbeaten through the cycles for the 2007 FIBA Americas, 2008 Olympics, 2010 World Cup, 2012 Olympics, 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

Add all that up, along with wins over Spain and Australia with this team, and it was a 78-game winning streak for the U.S. -- the longest in program history.

And it's now over.

"It was awesome,'' Mills said.

Australia had never beaten the Americans, and the U.S. national team had been 30-0 all-time in Australia.

"Some of it is expected with a new group that's trying to learn about each other and learn a system,'' U.S. coach Gregg Popovich said. "So it's not surprising. But the Aussies gave us a great lesson as far as where we want to be and how you have to play in this kind of a competition.''

A World Cup where Serbia has already made very clear it expects to win gold, where NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo will lead Greece, where France figures to have a medal shot and now with the Australians absolutely knowing they can beat the U.S., will begin next week with no shortage of realistic title hopefuls.

USA Basketball is No. 1 in FIBA's world rankings, but so far in the run-up to this World Cup -- with most of the top NBA stars deciding to not play this summer -- the Americans have not looked like a lock for more gold. They beat Spain by nine in Anaheim, California on Aug. 16, needed a big second half to defeat Australia by 16 on Thursday, and then let a sizable second-half lead slip away Saturday.

"Obviously, this was a great step for us,'' Australia guard Joe Ingles said.

Mills plays for San Antonio, so ordinarily Popovich -- the longtime Spurs coach -- would enjoy seeing what the veteran guard did down the stretch. Mills scored Australia's last 10 points, doing it all from banking in 3-pointers to slicing through for a layup that put the hosts up by six with 1:50 left.

"As I told you all after the last game, Patty's a pain,'' Popovich said.

Walker scored 22 points for the U.S., and Harrison Barnes had 20. Donovan Mitchell's 3-pointer with 1:05 left got the U.S. to within 97-94. The Americans then forced a stop on the ensuing possession and had two chances to tie -- but Mitchell's 3-pointer was off, Joe Harris missed a corner 3 a few seconds later and Mills iced the game with a free throw.

Aron Baynes left the floor with his head back, screaming in celebration as he slapped hands with delirious countrymen. Ingles and Andrew Bogut grabbed their kids and brought them onto the floor for a look.

Bogut scored 16 points, Ingles had 15 and Baynes scored 13 for the Australians.

Baynes powered in for a score that put Australia up 82-76 with 8:25 left, just before Barnes answered with a three-point play for the U.S. to start an 8-0 run that put the Americans back on top. There were four lead changes in the final quarter, the last coming when Ingles made a step-back 3 with 3:35 left for an 88-87 lead.

Mills did the rest.

He banked in a long 3 for a four-point lead, added a layup to put his team up six with 1:50 left and clinched it with the last free throw.

The U.S. led by one at the half and went up 68-58 midway through the third on a dunk by Jayson Tatum, but the Australians got right back into the game. Mills scored eight points in 45 seconds, including a pair of 3-pointers, to get Australia to within one with 2:40 left in the third.

"That's a great team and they've been together a long time,'' Barnes said. "They play a great style of basketball.''

TIP-INS

United States: Barnes, Marcus Smart (who had been out because of a calf strain), Khris Middleton, Mitchell and Myles Turner started for the Americans. The U.S. has now used different starting lineups in its three exhibitions, with only Mitchell opening all three contests. In all, the U.S. has given nine different players at least one start on the pre-World Cup tour. ... Kyle Kuzma (left ankle soreness) did not play.

Australia: Attendance was 52,079, the biggest crowd to watch a basketball game in Australia -- breaking the record of 51,218 set Thursday. ... The Australians went with the same starters for the second straight game, opening with Ingles, Matthew Dellavedova, Mills, Baynes and Jock Landale. ... Ingles and Mitchell weren't the only Utah Jazz guards at Marvel Stadium -- Dante Exum was in the stands.

SHAKEN UP

U.S. guard Derrick White of the San Antonio Spurs was tripped up as he dribbled downcourt midway through the fourth quarter, and hit his forehead on the court. He left with a sizable icepack on the left side of his head.

UP NEXT

USA: Face Canada in an exhibition on Monday at Sydney.

Australia: Face Canada in World Cup opener on Sept. 1 at Dongguan, China.

Dwight Howard is on his way back to the Los Angeles Lakers, after agreeing to a buyout with the Memphis Grizzlies.

While the move wasn't a surprise given recent developments -- specifically the Lakers losing DeMarcus Cousins to a torn ACL and the Grizzlies having little interest in keeping Howard on the roster after acquiring his contract earlier this summer -- it's shocking to anyone who remembers how poorly Howard's first stint with the Lakers went.

The former Defensive Player of the Year joined the Lakers in 2012 and was supposed to be part of a superteam with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash, who was also traded to Los Angeles that summer. Instead, head coach Mike Brown was fired after a 1-4 start, Howard and Bryant reportedly feuded in the locker room (which led to a staged photo that did nothing to stem the rumors) and Bryant tore his Achilles tendon with two games left in the season. As a final indignity, Howard was ejected from his final game as a Laker, a 103-82 loss to complete the San Antonio Spurs' four-game sweep in the first round.

Howard signed with the Houston Rockets in the summer of 2013, and when he and Bryant next met on the court, Bryant famously called Howard "soft," something the center told Fox Sports 1 that he "hated" Bryant for at the time.

Yet, despite all that history, Howard will once again don a Lakers jersey as he tries to help the team win its first NBA title since 2010.

The reunion between Howard and the Lakers is far from the first in NBA history to come after a bad breakup.

Moses Malone/Philadelphia 76ers

A three-time MVP, Malone had led the 76ers to a title in 1983, but his 1985-86 season ended early due to a fractured orbital bone. Fearing Malone's best days were behind him following a season in which he'd feuded with coach Matt Guokas, Philadelphia traded him to the Washington Bullets in exchange for All-Star big man Jeff Ruland and Clifford Robinson. "We're far better equipped to deal at a championship level than 24 hours ago," 76ers general manager Pat Williams said at the time. He was wrong. The 76ers fell from 54 wins to 45, as Ruland continued to struggle with injuries. Meanwhile, Malone proved he was far from done, making the All-Star team in each of the next three seasons.

After stints in Washington, Atlanta, and Milwaukee, Malone returned to Philadelphia for the 1993-94 season. Serving as a backup and mentor to rookie Shawn Bradley, Malone played 55 games in what would turn out to be his second-to-last NBA season. The 76ers posthumously retired Malone's No. 2 jersey earlier this year.

Chris Webber/Golden State Warriors

The No. 1 overall pick in the 1993 draft by the Orlando Magic, Webber was traded to the Warriors in exchange for Anfernee Hardaway and three future first-round picks. He went on to win Rookie of the Year honors, despite clashing with head coach Don Nelson for much of the season. Because Webber was drafted in the era before rookie scale contracts, his first deal contained an out clause after the first season, which he exercised, making him a free agent. He made it clear he had no intention of returning to Golden State, so the Warriors worked a sign-and-trade deal with the Washington Bullets, where Webber would play the next four seasons.

After his brief stint with the Detroit Pistons ended, Webber remained unsigned at the start of the 2007-08 season. He eventually rejoined the Warriors -- and Nelson, who'd also come full circle after leaving the Bay -- but was limited to just nine games before his surgically repaired knees forced him to retire two months later.

Kevin Garnett/Stephon Marbury

KG and Starbury were supposed to be the star duo that lifted the Minnesota Timberwolves to the top of the NBA. Instead, they played a little more than two seasons together before Marbury forced his way out of Minnesota, a move that reports at the time suggested was fueled in part by Marbury's jealousy over Garnett's contract (the trade came after the 1998-99 lockout and the subsequent institution of maximum salaries, which meant Marbury wouldn't have been able to sign a deal similar to Garnett's).

After a contentious end to his time with the New York Knicks, Marbury signed with the Boston Celtics, rejoining Garnett, who'd led the team to a championship the season before. Marbury played 23 regular-season games for Boston and saw action in all 14 of the Celtics' playoff games that season, but a title once again eluded the duo, as Garnett's injuries prevented him from playing in the postseason.

Allen Iverson/Philadelphia 76ers

A beloved MVP. A feud with a coach. A controversial trade. History repeated itself in Philadelphia 20 years after Moses Malone's departure. Iverson (and Webber, coincidentally enough) had been benched for the 2005-06 season finale after showing up late to fan appreciation night. That set the stage for a summer of trade rumors, and while Iverson began the following season with the 76ers, it didn't last long. After a 5-10 start, the 76ers told Iverson he wouldn't be playing any more and sent him home to await a trade. He was eventually sent to Denver, where he played parts of three seasons before being dealt to Detroit.

Iverson started what would turn out to be his final NBA season with the Grizzlies, but left the team after just three games, and briefly retired. But less than a week into his retirement, he rejoined the 76ers, who were in need of guard help after Lou Williams suffered a broken jaw. Iverson played 25 games in his second stint with the 76ers, starting 24 of them, before leaving the team to attend to the health of his daughter. The team retired his No. 3 in 2014.

LeBron James/Cleveland Cavaliers

There has arguably never been an NBA breakup as fraught with emotion as the one between James and the Cavaliers in 2010. "The Decision" ripped the hearts out of Cleveland fans, then "The Letter" ripped into James. By the time James was on a stage in Miami setting a goal of winning "not five, not six, not seven" championships, it seemed the idea of him ever again playing in a Cavaliers uniform was dead and buried.

But time heals all wounds, and the "self-titled former king" (as Cavs owner Dan Gilbert had called James in his letter) made his triumphant return to Cleveland in 2014. Two years later, he brought the franchise its only championship, and when he left again in 2018, the team had nothing but good things to say about him.

Carmelo Anthony/Mike D'Antoni

D'Antoni had a losing record in his first two seasons with the Knicks, but things turned around in 2010-11 with the signing of Amar'e Stoudemire and the midseason trade that brought Anthony from Denver to New York. The Knicks posted their first winning record since 2000-01 and ended a six-year playoff drought. However, Anthony and D'Antoni quickly butted heads, and the following season, Anthony issued an ultimatum: It was either him or D'Antoni. So after just 69 games together, the Melo/D'Antoni partnership was over. "I just went in and quit," D'Antoni told ESPN's Tim Keown in 2017.

That would've been the end of the story, except the two managed to set aside their history to give it another shot in Houston last season. "I think this is totally different," the coach said to USA Today, comparing the situations in Houston and New York. However, it wasn't. Anthony played just 10 games for the Rockets before eventually being sent home, then traded to Chicago. All said, between their two stints together, D'Antoni hasn't coached Anthony for a full 82-game season yet.

Miami Marlins outfielder Brian Anderson suffered a broken finger on his left hand in Friday night's 19-11 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies and likely will miss the rest of the season.

Anderson, 26, was injured when he was hit by a 96 mph pitch by Vince Velasquez in the third inning.

"Hopefully I'll be back in six weeks. I'm not exactly sure of the timetable yet,'' said Anderson, who is batting .261 and leads the team with 20 homers and 66 RBIs. "Today was a tough day for me, but I keep looking at it like it was a great day for our team. Like the best day, I could even say, with the way we came back from that streak we had going and with the way our guys fought today, that helped me out a lot.''

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

BALTIMORE -- Orioles general manager Mike Elias has fired 11 members of the scouting department and front office as part of an effort to turn around a team in the early stages of a major rebuild.

Elias announced the personnel moves Friday. The rookie GM would not reveal the names of those people dismissed, nor the positions impacted.

"We're in a period of change right now with the industry and we're in a period of change right now with the Orioles," Elias said. "Sometimes to make changes you've got to make changes."

The Orioles hired Elias in November and manager Brandon Hyde in December following a season in which they finished 47-115, their worst record since coming from St. Louis in 1954. This year, Baltimore again is in position to end up with the worst record in the majors, currently leading only Detroit for that dubious distinction.

Elias hopes shuffling personnel and scouting assignments will speed the process of bringing the Orioles back to respectability.

"We are reconfiguring quite a bit. We're going to be very busy bringing people into this organization," he said. "This is just the organization moving along and adapting to the sport today."

He insisted that this wasn't a cost-cutting move, but rather an adjustment to the current state of major league scouting.

"There are changes going on in the scouting business in terms of greater availability of information in general, video and data. It just changes the way that scouts do their job," Elias said. "There are instances where we will replace people's roles kind of man for man, head for head, spot for spot, but there's other instances where we're reconfiguring the way the scouts go about their business."

Elias said the moves were made now instead of after the season to provide those who lost their jobs a jump at getting back into the market. It's also a chance for him to get a jump on retooling the internal workings of the team.

"This is not to disparage the contributions that have taken place in the past, which is significant," he said. "But it's my position to look to the future and make tough choices sometimes. We wish everybody well and hope things work out."

LOS ANGELES -- A New York Yankees offense that was held in check in Oakland erupted against the least likely opponent Friday night.

The unit overpowered the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-2, aided by three home runs off the best starting pitcher in baseball, Hyun-Jin Ryu, including Gary Sánchez's 100th historic career blast.

Sánchez slugged a third-inning home run off of Ryu in his 355th career game, becoming the fastest player to reach 100 homers in American League history.

In major league history, only first baseman Ryan Howard (325) reached the century mark in fewer games in the National League for the Philadelphia Phillies. The next fastest catcher to get to 100 home runs is Hall of Famer Mike Piazza, who did it in his first 422 games during his time with the Dodgers.

"He's our best hitter, it's something I've said for a long time," said outfielder Aaron Judge, who also hit a home run earlier in the inning against Ryu, one of the five homers hit by the Bombers on Friday night.

"He has one of the most explosives swings in the game and he's got adjustability with it, too. That's what makes him so great. He's able to adjust to off-speed pitches well and he's always ready for the heater. That's quite a milestone for him and there's a lot more where that came from."

Ryu, who gave up a season-high seven earned runs over 4⅔ innings pitched against the Yankees, came in with the best home record for any pitcher in the majors, going 8-0 with a 0.80 ERA in 11 Dodger Stadium starts this season. Ryu had a 0.31 ERA (two earned runs in 57⅔ innings) in his past eight home starts. Since ERA became an official stat in 1913, only two pitchers had a better eight-start stretch at home in MLB history: Walter Johnson (0.24) for the Washington Senators in 1917 and Clayton Kershaw (0.30) for the Dodgers in 2016.

"To come play a big interleague series at Dodger Stadium, our guys relish that. To have those kinds of at-bats, impact at-bats, with slugging against a guy like Ryu, it was really nice to see," manager Aaron Boone said. "[Sánchez] is a special talent and when he's controlling the strike zone, he's elite. Good to see him continue swinging the bat as good as he is and hopefully will continue with the momentum he's got going."

Said teammate DJ LeMahieu: "That's pretty impressive, but it doesn't surprise me. Seeing him from afar I always knew he was a good hitter, but seeing him every day and seeing the type of hitter he is, it's really impressive."

The month of August has been much more prolific for Sánchez after finishing July with a .102/.172/.688 slash line and only one home run in 15 games before a second stint on the injured list (left groin).

It was the 29th homer of the year for Sánchez, in his 89th game of the season. Sánchez hit a career-high 33 home runs over 122 games in 2017.

"It's very special," Sánchez told ESPN. "I didn't come to the majors dreaming of certain numbers, you just show up every day to do your job and perform to the best of your ability and put the ball in play. Home runs will happen when you least expected."

Sánchez became the sixth catcher in Yankees history to reach the century mark, joining Thurman Munson (113), Elston Howard (161), Bill Dickey (202), Jorge Posada (275) and Yogi Berra (358).

The New York Mets tied a major league record with 26 strikeouts in Friday night's 2-1 home loss to the Atlanta Braves in 14 innings.

Seven members of New York's bullpen combined to match the effort of ace Jacob deGrom, who spotted the Mets 13 strikeouts before exiting after seven innings with the score tied 1-1.

The Mets are the fifth team to record 26 strikeouts in a game, and they're the second of those five to lose the game, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. The Braves join the 2004 Brewers as the only teams to win a game after striking out 26 times. Milwaukee won 1-0 in 17 innings against the Angels on June 8, 2004.

Mets reliever Jeurys Familia struck out Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies in the top of the 14th to tie the record. It was Familia's third strikeout of the inning but didn't come until after he allowed the go-ahead run to score on a Billy Hamilton single.

Between deGrom's and Familia's appearances, six Mets relievers combined for 10 strikeouts, including four by Seth Lugo, who replaced deGrom and pitched two shutout innings.

DeGrom homered and struck out eight straight batters during one dominant stretch. He finished a punchout shy of his career high -- the righty whiffed 14 and also homered to beat Miami on April 3. DeGrom became the first pitcher since at least 1900 to strike out 13 and homer in a game twice in the same season, per Elias Sports Bureau research.

"Every time out, my God, that guy has got something really special in his back pocket," Braves manager Brian Snitker said.

The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner got a no-decision anyway, the 18th time in his career he has pitched one-run ball or better over seven innings and not gotten a victory. New York is just 7-5 this year when deGrom allows one or fewer earned runs.

The Mets' previous high for strikeouts as a staff was 24, achieved June 2, 2018, against the Cubs during a 14-inning game; deGrom also struck out 13 in that one.

DeGrom's eight straight strikeouts marked the best such streak in the majors this year and tied his career high. He went over 200 strikeouts in a season for the fourth time.

"That little run, I just felt like I was able to locate whatever pitch I was throwing at the time," he said.

DeGrom's homer was the sixth by a Mets pitcher this season, the most in baseball.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

It's Players' Weekend across baseball, which means it is time for MLB stars to show off their style with creative nicknames on their jerseys, customized kicks on their feet, one-of-a-kind bats at the plate and tailor-made gloves in the field.

The start of the weekend has brought some added flair to the games along with some emotional tributes.

Here's a (running) look at the best we've seen -- and keep checking back for more, as we'll be adding to this file all weekend long.

How players are using uniform numbers to break MLB's unwritten rules

Our favorite nicknames

The nicknames

The kicks

Derek Holland's #theoffice cleats for #PlayersWeekend pic.twitter.com/hxdoVg5Oa7

— Mike Jordan (@mikejordan_art) August 22, 2019

All in the details. ?@mookiebetts | @davidortiz#PlayersWeekend pic.twitter.com/zvdz7NAFEb

— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 23, 2019

The heat. The flavor. The drip. The sauce. ?? @MLB #PlayersWeekend pic.twitter.com/IJvUNWIogA

— Cameron Maybin (@CameronMaybin) August 23, 2019

The swag

Thanos = Joe Musgrove#LosPiratas | #PlayersWeekend pic.twitter.com/TODxrUbCOY

— Los Piratas (@piratasbeisbol) August 23, 2019

The tributes

.@ChristianYelich is paying tribute to Tyler Skaggs on #PlayersWeekend. pic.twitter.com/4meMWQviTC

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) August 23, 2019

For our Brother ♥️ #LoveYouTy #PlayersWeekend pic.twitter.com/xhVBULaDKu

— Lucas Giolito (@LGio27) August 23, 2019

❤️ pic.twitter.com/5O6wHgwvEw

— Jack Flaherty (@Jack9Flaherty) August 21, 2019

Kevin Mayer, Noah Lyles and Elaine Thompson are among the stars in action in the last Diamond League meet before the finals

The IAAF Diamond League heads to Paris on Saturday for the last meeting in the series before the finals in Zurich and Brussels.

Kevin Mayer, Noah Lyles, Elaine Thompson, Christian Taylor and Jakob Ingebrigtsen are among the entries, with the action to be held on a new Mondo track at the Stade Charlety.

France’s world decathlon record-holder Mayer will test his form on home soil in a ‘triathlon’ ahead of defending his title at the IAAF World Championships in Doha, contesting long jump, shot put and 110m hurdles events.

His compatriots Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, making a comeback after hamstring injury, Renaud Lavillenie and Pascal Martinot-Lagarde will respectively compete in the 800m, pole vault and 110m hurdles.

The 200m features 19.50 man Lyles against world champion Ramil Guliyev, while double Olympic champion Thompson goes in the 100m which also features world silver medallist Marie-Josée Ta Lou and world champion Dafne Schippers.

Among Taylor’s competition in the triple jump are Will Claye and Omar Craddock, while the women’s event features Yulimar Rojas and Olha Saladukha.

Both Jakob and Filip Ingebrigtsen contest the 1500m, while their fellow Norwegian Karsten Warholm goes up against Kyron McMaster in the 400m hurdles. Jamaica’s Natoya Goule is the fastest this season in the women’s 800m field.

Kenya’s Olympic and world champion Conseslus Kipruto returns after injury to race against Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakaali in the 3000m steeplechase.

Five athletes to have thrown over 22 metres this season, including Joe Kovacs, Michal Haratyk and Darlan Romani, go in the shot put, while Katerina Stefanidi, Sandi Morris, Jenn Suhr and Eliza McCartney contest the pole vault.

Click here for entry lists and a timetable.

Setbacks as severe as a chipped bone in her neck haven’t changed the defending British 200m champion’s aims for another big summer

More than a year on from her breakthrough to win the British 200m title, Beth Dobbin admits that her impressive progress is still sinking in.

The Scottish sprinter says going into this weekend’s Müller British Athletics Championships as a defending champion is a “surreal feeling” but her experiences over the past year have shown her not to put a limit on what she might be able to achieve.

While gaining a GB vest was a dream at the start of last summer – one which ended with her becoming a European finalist – Dobbin now knows that representing her nation on the global stage is well within reach and she intends to secure her spot for the IAAF World Championships in Doha when she returns to Birmingham on Sunday.

“Going in as the defending champion is a surreal feeling but I just know that if I could do it last year, when it was completely unknown to me, I feel like this year I’m in a better position in terms of more experience,” says the 25-year-old.

“Last year I was so nervous. Before my race I remember seeing my friend from work and tears came into my eyes. I went to the toilet and was like ‘don’t cry, don’t cry’ because I was just so nervous. This year I feel like I have matured a lot. I’m going there to qualify for the Worlds and that’s that.

“I still see myself as a 23-mid runner, I’ve not accepted actually the fact that I am running times that my idols are running so it is really weird to get used to.”

In fact, Dobbin is now a whole second quicker than that, having improved her Scottish record to 22.50 to finish third at last month’s Müller Anniversary Games behind double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson and world 100m and 200m silver medallist Marie-Josée Ta Lou.

Yesterday was one of the best experiences of my life. Finishing 3rd and running a PB behind an Olympic Champion in a stacked field was amazing. Loved being back in the London Olympic Stadium and the atmosphere was incredible. Thank you to everyone for the lovely messages ? pic.twitter.com/XGikQGGQCD

— Beth Dobbin (@BethDobbin) July 21, 2019

But Dobbin says that time also came as something of a surprise, given that her winter hadn’t exactly gone to plan and she opened her summer season later than she would have liked.

“I had a bit of a weird preparation into the season,” she explains. “I had a couple of niggles and it was kind of my first experience of this so it was quite tough to deal with.

“My first couple of races, it took me a while to find my rhythm, but by Anniversary Games I felt a lot more like myself. I was rewarded with a PB and I wasn’t expecting that with how the preparation had gone.”

Dobbin is not one to make a fuss, but one of the injury issues experienced was actually a chipped bone in her neck.

“I was having a bit of pain at the back of my knee and no one really knew what it was, so I wasn’t really doing too much running but I could do everything in the gym,” she explains. “I went in the gym one day, was doing an exercise called push press, and a 60kg bar fell on my neck. I ended up in a neck brace, on one of those boards they put you on so you can’t move and do yourself any more damage, and in hospital.

“So I did have a real rough time of it throughout the winter.”

“I went in the gym one day, was doing an exercise called push press, and a 60kg bar fell on my neck”

That put paid to the ambition of going to the European Indoor Championships on home soil as part of the 4x400m squad and that knee niggle also later caused Dobbin to withdraw from the relay at the European Team Championships in Bydgoszcz as a precaution.

“When I ran a PB in London I was really taken aback because I had told myself, because I’d had an injury, that this year might not have been as good as last year,” she admits. “But I think from having such a successful year the year before, and years of training under my belt, missing a couple of months wasn’t the end of the world. After speaking to loads of other athletes, I realised that a lot of athletes go through that and I was worrying for no reason really.”

It was in the June of last year that Dobbin stormed into the sprinting spotlight by breaking Sandra Whittaker’s 34-year-old Scottish 200m record with a time of 22.84 at a UK Women’s League premier division match in Eton.

The Edinburgh AC athlete went on to improve that mark a further three times over the summer, down to 22.59 when winning her British title, and all the while she was also juggling four jobs.

She’s now part of British Athletics’ World Class Programme, so receives funding and support from the national governing body, but still does some shifts as a receptionist at Loughborough University.

“Since I’ve been competing I’ve cut down my shifts at work, but throughout the winter I was doing a couple of shifts a week to bridge that gap from being a full-time worker and training in the evenings to being a full-time athlete,” she says. “I think it would have been silly to just go cold turkey and be a full-time athlete so I was still doing two days a week at work throughout the winter.

“When you’re used to being so busy it is very weird to come home from training and think ‘what am I supposed to do now?’! It’s a great position to be in – I’m definitely not complaining! But I feel like I had to still do something.”

“I still see myself as a 23-mid runner, I’ve not accepted actually the fact that I am running times that my idols are running”

Changes also included a shake-up of her training regime, with recovery playing an important part.

“This year I’ve definitely learned that I’m not the same athlete any more,” says the sprinter, who has been coached by 2010 Commonwealth 200m champion Leon Baptiste since 2012.

“We always did a lot of training and I really pushed myself but this year we’ve had to be a bit more careful because I’m running a lot faster, so there’s more chance of injury.

“I’ve also learned not to stress out if I miss a session. Between 2015 and 2018 I think I missed one session because I had a tight hip and that’s it. So then this year, to miss a couple of months throughout the winter, it has been a learning curve for me and taught me that you can miss sessions if you’re not feeling quite right and still then go on and have a good year. I’ve definitely done a lot of learning this year.”

With the world championships not taking place until late in the season, between September 27 and August 6, Dobbin also benefits from the experience of Baptiste, who claimed his Commonwealth title in the October of 2010.

“I remember thinking of that when we had our pre-season meeting,” she says. “I knew he would do it well and be able to get me in the best shape to have a long season.

“Maybe even me picking up an injury has been a blessing in disguise because we are so fresh now. I feel like I’m itching to race.”

So how will it feel to be back on the Alexander Stadium track this weekend?

“I think it will feel quite emotional,” she says. “It will definitely feel special. I think it will give me that boost and a bit of a buzz that if I could come here last year and do it after everything that was going on with working so much, so there’s no reason why I can’t go this year and do the same.

“The women’s 200m at trials is very competitive so I have to be on my A game.

“Ultimately it is about qualifying for Worlds and finishing in that top two but it would be really nice to defend my title and that would mean a lot to me.

“Because I’m so new to the racing on TV kind of thing, I get a big buzz from that,” she adds. “When the camera comes to my face I get so much adrenaline. My mum has got the whole of my home town watching so it puts a lot of pressure on me but in a good way and I think that’s why my performances improve at races like that.”