With this year “pretty much a write off” due to another major injury, Zoey Clark admits her chances of competing at Glasgow 2026 are slim but is not ready to give up on a home Commonwealth Games.
The 30-year-old relay specialist from Aberdeen had been working her way back from a prolapsed disc sustained at the start of 2023 only to suffer an anterior cruciate ligament tear while training.
“I am not going to lie, it is a big setback for me,” said Clark, who has 4x400m medals at World, European and Commonwealth level.
“My recovery was still slow progress but I was going in the right direction so I had full confidence that I would at least be at a level to contend for Commonwealth Games spots next year.
“I don’t want to completely discount it but I definitely don’t want to put that as the main goal that I must achieve because I know it’s unlikely, so I just need to see how I get on between now and the qualification period closing.
“This season is pretty much a write off for me. I just need to maybe make my goals a bit smaller and just think about getting myself functional and not put too much performance goal pressure on it.”
Clark, who ran at the delayed 2020 Olympics, has been advised she can do without knee surgery, making her “really fortunate”.
She added: “If I was in another sport , like football, where there is a lot of changing direction, I think I would be doomed potentially, but I am feeling quite optimistic about the recovery approach we are taking.”
If Glasgow 2026 proves out of reach, Clark can look to the next Olympics as a source of motivation.
“I am not quite ready to give up and I certainly don’t want to go out on these sort of terms,” she said. “[Retirement] has come into my head but not seriously because I am not finished with the sport.
“LA in 2028, I had my eyes on that. I definitely had full intensions to stay within the sport up until that year at least.
“I don’t know what this recovery path is going to look like, everything is up in the air, but that was definitely my long-term aspiration before this setback.”
