If a change is as good as a rest then Scott Lincoln is certainly due a breakthrough summer, having last winter uprooted his life to the other side of the world to train in Australia in a bid to join the big guns of the shot-putting world – a mission which starts with the aim of claiming his tenth national outdoor crown at the forthcoming Novuna UK Athletics Championships in Birmingham (August 2-3).

The 32-year-old Yorkshireman enjoyed an impressive 2024 campaign which featured a fine 21.31m lifetime best in Ostrava in May, followed by a nail-biting fourth place finish in the European outdoor Championships in Rome with a 20.88m throw.

It was the near medal-miss in Italy, coupled with failing to reach the Olympic final in Paris that spearheaded Lincoln’s decision to take a leap of faith by heading Down Under to be guided by Dale Stevenson, and he feels the sacrifice is duly paying off:

“I changed my coach and moved to Melbourne for the (British) winter months so now I don’t have to train in bad weather all year-round and can train more consistently – I’ve also changed my technique, which I’ve not fully connected with yet, so there’s a lot more to come,” the ten-time UK indoor champion explained.

“I’ve been back in the UK since the middle of May and will stay until the end of August, before going back to Australia before the World’s in Tokyo. Australia’s a great opportunity to progress my career – it’s a nice fresh perspective and good to change things up, plus I’ve acclimatised to the heat now – which gives me a huge advantage for Tokyo.”

The aforementioned main event of the season arriving in Japan in September – the World Athletics Championships – is of course priority number one for Lincoln this summer and fresh off the back of a second continental fourth-place finish – at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn in March (with a 20.73m effort) where he captained the team – his confidence is high going into the business-end of the 2025 season:

“My aim for Tokyo is to throw competitively and make the final – I need to trust in the process and put my face on the map now,” Lincoln revealed.

“2024 was my most successful season yet – I performed really well against some of the best in the world, which gave me a great confidence boost – but I did far too many competitions so paid for that during such a long season.

“I’m happy with my 2025 season so far and I’m way ahead of where I usually am in training at this stage of the year, it’s just about trying to get everything to click just right on competition day.

“I’m hoping for a PB this summer, ideally closer to the 22-meter mark. I’m next competing in the Czech Republic this week and will then do the English Championships in Birmingham – that will give me some great experience in that circle before the British Champs.”

With a season’s best of 21.09m in Czech Republic in June after a 21.06m throw in Loughborough back in May, Lincoln heads into Birmingham as the red-hot gold medal favourite, and the Alexander Stadium is a venue he relishes competing in:

“Winning Commonwealth bronze there (in 2022 with 20.57m) was a massive career highlight for me and I hope we can get a good crowd there again,” he said.

“I’ve got a lot of fond memories of throwing in Birmingham – I won my first British title there ten years ago, and I want to go on to win the European outdoor’s there next summer  – by then, I will have had a whole year with my new coach so it’s a big aim. Winning that will need a 22-meter throw, so I hope to be really firing by then.”

The Novuna UK Athletics Championships heads to the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham between 2-3 August as the nation’s best athletes battle for national titles and spots on the team for this year’s World Athletics Championships. Expect world-class performances, intense rivalries, and unforgettable moments. Tickets are on sale now from £20 adults / £10 under-16s. Don’t miss it!