Child hoping to lead Scots to hat-trick

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s triumphs under her predecessor Lee McConnell.

Old rivals Ireland and Wales will challenge again, and Child isintrigued by the threat posed to her unbeaten record this summer bythe wonderfully-named Turquoise Thompson of the US Juniors team.

"She's a pretty good flat 400m runner, but I don't know what she'slike over hurdles," she said of the 17-year-old Californian.

"If Michelle Carey (who has clocked a world-class 56.19sec thisseason] is running for Ireland, it'll be an even better race.

"It's good to get in a race before this weekend's Olympic Trials inBirmingham, so it's actually perfect preparation.

"I had a big gap between races after Loughborough in May, butthat's just the way the fixtures fell. I don't want to race everyweekend for the sake of racing. I want to be more choosy this yearand peak at the right time."

The Scottish women's team looks particularly strong tonight withEdinburgh AC's Carey Easton also aiming to sharpen her form for theOlympic 400m Trials by competing over 300m. In the triple jump,Edinburgh medical student Nony Mordi has her first competitionsince making her British debut at the Europa Cup in Annecy.

Scotland's men's squad includes another Olympic hopeful, Fife'sAndrew Lemoncello, who tackles the rarely-contested 2,000msteeplechase.

But all eyes this evening will surely be on Sweden's heptathlonqueen Carolina Kluft when she competes as a guest in her new event,the long jump.

"My best is 6.97m, so it would be great to go over seven metres,"she said.

Britain's new middle distance hero, Oslo Dream Mile winner AndyBaddeley, tests his finishing speed in the 800m.