World Athletics Championships: Lynsey Sharp says coach change revitalised career

Sharp won the Anniversary Games in London as she returns to form in time for the World Championships

Lynsey Sharp says "taking a risk" and changing her coach just six months before the World Championships has revitalised her career.

The 29-year-old moved back to Britain from the US in March and switched trainer to change her fortunes.

Now ready to race in the 800 metres in Doha, Sharp says she is in "personal best shape".

"This time last year I wasn't even sure I'd ever get back to the level that I was before," said the Scot.

"No-one wants to to be in that position when they're not performing as well as in previous years, it totally takes the enjoyment out of it.

"I was at the point where I either did nothing - a risk in itself - to keep performing below par, or do something that I believed would work, and what I felt was the right thing to do."

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Sharp set a Scottish National Record placing sixth in the final of the Olympics in Rio 2016 with a personal best time of 1:57:69.

But her form in the following three years had been below par, culminating in a failure to qualify for the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow in March.

However, since linking up with new coach David Harmer results have improved as she finished fourth in the 800m at the Diamond League meet in Monaco in July, and backed it up by winning the Anniversary Games in London over the same distance.

And she told BBC Sport the success has been about going back to basics.

"The 800m is a balance between strength and speed and I think I did too much on my strength work and lost my biggest asset which was my speed," the Scot said.

"And there's no point in working on your weakness if you lose your biggest asset in the process. So we've gone back to what works best for me."