By . Martha Kelner for Mail On Sunday . Follow @@marthakelner . Lynsey Sharp was robbed of her golden moment at the European Championships two years ago, having her silver medal upgraded a year later when Russian winner Yelena Arzhakova was revealed to be a drugs cheat. The 24-year-old wants to defend her title ‘properly’ in Zurich, starting in the heats of the 800 metres on Wednesday morning. But she has learned from experience that things are rarely simple where her career is concerned. In the running: Sharp is determined to defend her European title when the heats begin on Wednesday . Inspirational: The athlete scrawled the message 'Get out strong, commit' on her hand in Glasgow . Sharp will run despite an oozing wound on her leg which repeatedly gets infected. It requires surgery but the Scot postponed an operation in order to compete at a home Commonwealth Games. That nearly didn’t happen either. She spent the hours before the final hooked up to a drip at a medical centre in the athletes’ village suffering from a severe sickness bug, but recovered and ran a superb race to win silver. Her tribulations continued with a ‘nightmare journey’ to Zurich. ‘It took 16 hours to get from Loughborough,’ she said. ‘Our 1.40pm flight was cancelled and the next one at 7.45pm only had business-class seats, so I spent nine hours at Heathrow and didn’t arrive until midnight.’ Sharp became Scotland’s sweetheart after her poignant victory in Glasgow, which she partly dedicated to her father Cameron Sharp, who won five Commonwealth medals before suffering life-threatening injuries in a road accident in 1991. Hero: Her performance in the home games has made Sharp something of a star in Scotland . Rearranged Podium: Yelena Arzhakova (centre) had her gold medal stripped giving Sharp the title . An impromptu decision to scrawl a note reading, ‘Get out strong, commit’, in black marker pen on the back of her hand had a profound effect on some fans. ‘I’ve had so many messages from people saying, “I’ve had surgery, you’ve inspired me”, and some have written things on their hands for charity walks and stuff. ‘I’ve never written on myself before but I felt I needed something to take me away from the emotion. ‘I don’t know if I’ll need it in Zurich.’ Sharp has run the fourth-fastest two-lap time in Europe this season and stands a good chance of winning a medal in Switzerland. ‘It would be nice to win European gold properly and experience the full thing, rather than getting my medal a year and a bit later,’ she said.
Sharp awarded gold in 2012 championships after winner failed drugs test .
800m runner has chance to defend her title starting on Wednesday .
Sharp won Commonwealth Games silver in Glasgow last week .
By . Martha Kelner for Mail On Sunday . Follow @@marthakelner . Lynsey Sharp was robbed of her golden moment at the European Championships two years ago, having her silver medal upgraded a year later when Russian winner Yelena Arzhakova was revealed to be a drugs cheat. The 24-year-old wants to defend her title ‘properly’ in Zurich, starting in the heats of the 800 metres on Wednesday morning. But she has learned from experience that things are rarely simple where her career is concerned. In the running: Sharp is determined to defend her European title when the heats begin on Wednesday . Inspirational: The athlete scrawled the message 'Get out strong, commit' on her hand in Glasgow . Sharp will run despite an oozing wound on her leg which repeatedly gets infected. It requires surgery but the Scot postponed an operation in order to compete at a home Commonwealth Games. That nearly didn’t happen either. She spent the hours before the final hooked up to a drip at a medical centre in the athletes’ village suffering from a severe sickness bug, but recovered and ran a superb race to win silver. Her tribulations continued with a ‘nightmare journey’ to Zurich. ‘It took 16 hours to get from Loughborough,’ she said. ‘Our 1.40pm flight was cancelled and the next one at 7.45pm only had business-class seats, so I spent nine hours at Heathrow and didn’t arrive until midnight.’ Sharp became Scotland’s sweetheart after her poignant victory in Glasgow, which she partly dedicated to her father Cameron Sharp, who won five Commonwealth medals before suffering life-threatening injuries in a road accident in 1991. Hero: Her performance in the home games has made Sharp something of a star in Scotland . Rearranged Podium: Yelena Arzhakova (centre) had her gold medal stripped giving Sharp the title . An impromptu decision to scrawl a note reading, ‘Get out strong, commit’, in black marker pen on the back of her hand had a profound effect on some fans. ‘I’ve had so many messages from people saying, “I’ve had surgery, you’ve inspired me”, and some have written things on their hands for charity walks and stuff. ‘I’ve never written on myself before but I felt I needed something to take me away from the emotion. ‘I don’t know if I’ll need it in Zurich.’ Sharp has run the fourth-fastest two-lap time in Europe this season and stands a good chance of winning a medal in Switzerland. ‘It would be nice to win European gold properly and experience the full thing, rather than getting my medal a year and a bit later,’ she said.
wants to defend her title ‘properly’ in Zurich, heats begin on Wednesday . Inspirational: The compete at a home Commonwealth Games. That nearly after her poignant victory in Glasgow, which she her gold medal stripped giving Sharp the title .