Cricket: Diamond loss shows Sharp needs polish

The 22-year-old Edinburgh AC member has still several races to come, with the next

either in Padova in Italy or

Berlin on Sunday.

“She’s on various waiting lists so we’ll just have to see which ones transpire,” explained her mother Carol.

With no pace-maker in yesterday’s race Sharp, drawn in lane two, found herself at the front and forced to lead on the first lap reaching the bell in 61.76 seconds which neither helped her cause for achieving a fast time nor for defeating a formidable field which included Olympic champion Mariya Savinova (Russia) and the 2008 Olympic champion Pamela

Jelimo (Kenya).

As the pack poured past her at the end of the back straight the second time round Sharp was boxed in and she had too much to do on the home straight. But in running the second 400m in just over 60 seconds she showed commendable strength.

Savinova avenged her defeat by Jelimo in Lausanne three days previously with a 28 seconds last 200m to win in 2:00.40 and England’s Marilyn Okoro, omitted from the

Olympics when Sharp was made the sole GB choice, was third in 2:01.96, while Jemma Simpson was seventh in 2:03.33, slower than Emily Dudgeon (EAC) ran in an earlier race.

Dudgeon clocked her second fastest time of 2:02.74 in second place just behind Tara Bird in the Kelly Holmes-inspired 800m for developing athletes.

Eilidh Child (Pitreavie) finished her season fifth in the 400m hurdles, in a race won by her English rival Perri Shakes-Drayton.