Rotary Club of Inverness and Culloden recall Megan Keith’s Masterchef success as athlete looks to find recipe for success at Olympic Games in Paris
While Megan Keith may be cooking up a plan for success at the Olympic Games this week, it may be easy to forget that she has already shown her talents outside of sport.
The 22-year-old will become the first Invernessian to represent Team GB in athletics when she competes in the 10,000m final in Paris this Friday evening.
No stranger to podium places whether on the track, in orienteering or in cross country, what may be less well known is that Keith has also tasted success because of her culinary skills.
Back in 2015 while a pupil at Millburn Academy, Keith entered a schools’ Masterchef competition organised by the Rotary Club of Inverness and Culloden.
After making it through her school’s qualifying competition and then the semi finals, Keith had the chance to cook for Edinburgh chef Mark Greenaway, then-MacDonald Hotels cook Kevin MacGillivray and Masterchef: The Professionals finalist Brian Mcleish at the University of the Highlands and Islands.
The soon-to-be Olympian impressed all three judges to claim victory in the final, and while she did not pursue a career in hospitality like winners and contestants in other years she left a lasting impression regardless.
“Megan did an absolutely superb job of cooking that day, the chefs were delighted with what she had done, so she came out the winner,” organiser Duncan MacDonald recalled.
“Quite a few of the kids who were involved in the competition were keen to make cooking their future. The person who won the competition the year prior to Megan is now working in a restaurant in Paris, but Megan was a lovely wee lassie.
“I remember to this day, in fact more than one person commented on it, the smile on her face when it was announced she won lit up the whole room. It’s just the way she is.
“She was quite quiet at that time, but absolutely delighted to have won. She was really over the moon, and she has gone on to greater things since then obviously.”
Having made her mark on everyone involved with the school’s Masterchef competition, Mr MacDonald has been following Keith’s athletics successes ever since – and he says the entire Rotary Club have been in the same boat.
“We have followed Megan’s athletics career, both on Facebook and the news, and the Rotary Club were absolutely delighted to hear of her successes as the years went on – even more so when she was chosen for the Olympics,” he added.
“Quite a number of folk have commented on that: who would have guessed when she was doing the cooking that she would achieve so much in her life, and she’s still a youngster!
“We’ve all got our fingers crossed that she’s going to get a medal, but we’ll have to wait and see.
“I don’t think there’s anyone in the Rotary Club who won’t actually be watching it on Friday. It is great for Inverness as a whole, and great for sportspeople who have worked with her that she has achieved so much.”