WHEN Marc Scott was 15, you would not have marked him down as a future Olympic athlete. A professional footballer, maybe, given he was part of the academy set-up at Leeds United, but an Olympic distance runner? Unlikely given that he had just finished 69th in the Under-15s race at the English Schools Cross-Country Championships.

Fast forward 13 years though, and not only is Scott preparing to make his Olympic debut in tomorrow’s 10,000m on the opening day of the athletics programme in Tokyo, he is doing so having been selected ahead on the British team ahead of four-time Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah. Suffice to say, plenty has happened since dreams of making it as a footballer came to an end.

“I wasn’t a very talented junior at all,” said Scott, who was born and raised in Northallerton. “I don’t know what it was – I enjoyed the sport and wanted to keep doing it, but I guess at that age a lot of factors go into it.

“I wasn’t training very much and I was playing football a lot. I was mainly doing (athletics) just for enjoyment and it didn’t come naturally to me when I was young.”

In fact, Scott’s initial athletics successes came as a fell runner – he won the English Schools fell running title in 2009 while training with Richmond & Zetland Harriers – but by the time he was finishing school, he was determined to turn to the track.

Despite a lack of track-running pedigree, he persuaded the University of Tulsa in the United States to award him a sports scholarship. Within a couple of years, he was winning the prestigious NCAA title at 10,000m.

“I always wanted to go to the States because there’s a great team opportunity,” he said. “I got into a good routine, training with people I got on well with, and began to fall in love with the sport more.”

His college achievements meant he was not short of offers when he graduated, but rather than returning to Britain, he opted to remain in the United States with the Bowerman Track Club, based in Portland, Oregon.

He has enjoyed an excellent 12 months, winning the British Indoor title at 5,000m, breaking British and European indoor records and moving into second place behind Farah on the all-time British outdoor list, but his ambition was always to secure an Olympic debut.

To do that, he had to beat Farah at the British trials at the start of June, and having predicted before the race that he would topple the greatest British distance runner of all time, he duly delivered by finishing a second clear of his domestic rival.

As a result, while Farah watches on from home, it is Scott that will be wearing the British vest in Tokyo tomorrow as he looks to produce a career-defining performance on the biggest of international stages.

“It’s a lifelong dream to go to the Olympics and I’m really, really glad to have accomplished that,” said Scott, who will be doubling up by competing in both the 5,000m and 10,000m. “It’s been a long time in the making – I’ve been running since I was ten years old. Seventeen years later, the work and dedication I’ve put in has really shown.”

The 10,000m is the final event on the opening day of athletics competition, with tomorrow's action also featuring the early round of the men's 400m hurdles and women's 100m, where World silver medallist Dina Asher-Smith starts her campaign.