'Better than Usain Bolt' is young Ashgill athlete's ambitious target

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Athlete Dean Patterson grew up idolising Usain Bolt, and wants to leave records crashing in his wake like his hero when he makes the step-up to senior athletics.Dean, 16, from Ashgill, has been chipping away at the Scottish Under-17 200m record and is two hundredths of a second away from equalling Peter Little’s record of 21.24 set in 1977.The teenager won gold at the School Games National Finals at Loughborough University earlier this month, in a time of 21.36, but recorded 21.26 at the recent Welsh International.Dean hopes to smash that record and then make the step up to senior level, and emulate his hero.He said: “It would mean the world.

Just being the best, it would be an incredible feeling, and hopefully one day I can achieve that.“Usain Bolt has been a big role model and everything he has done has just inspired me to try and be better than him one day – hopefully that will come.“I used to watch him when I was seven or eight and my mum says I was always running about as a child.“I started running at a club when I was nine and ever since then it has just been a full-on passion.“I need to stay committed and hopefully it will come.”Dean has enjoyed a good season, which has seen him represent Scotland and Great Britain at competitions, including the Under-18 European Championships in Jerusalem, where he returned with a bronze medal.But he says there has been sacrifice.Dean said: “I’ve had to be very dedicated, 100 per cent, not missing training or anything.“I’m picking training over going out with friends and stuff.“It been a good season, I’ve enjoyed it a lot.“There has been a lot of new experiences, good experiences to have as I go on into the future.“I was over in Jerusalem at my first major champs so it was good