Ross Baillie was a Scottish track and field athlete, older brother of Commonwealth Silver medal winner Chris Baillie. Both his parents were also track and field athletes, father Hugh representing Great Britain at 400m, and mother Sheila being a former Scottish champion at 80m hurdles. Deemed by Colin Jackson to be his natural successor in the 110m hurdles event for Great Britain, he died at the age of 21. Fittingly, since his death, the records set by Ross have been broken by his brother.
Early years
Attended Clydebank High School, winning the Eric Liddell Memorial Trophy in 1994 and 1995 whilst representing the school at the Scottish Schools Athletics Association Scottish Schools Championships. He was a member of Victoria Park Athletic Club where he was coached by Bob Sommerville, and later joined Sale Harriers Manchester Athletics Club with whom he competed in English competitions.
Ross moved to Bath to join Team Bath and take advantage of the superior sports facilities at the University of Bath. Here he was coached by Malcolm Arnold, becoming the training partner and flatmate of Colin Jackson.
Achievements
Death
Following a training session on 16 June 1999 Ross suffered a serious allergic reaction to peanut oil present in a coronation chicken sandwich whilst having lunch with his friend and fellow athlete Mark Foster. Despite being given an adrenalin injection by doctors at the nearby University of Bath he collapsed and failed to regain consciousness before dying due to complications arising from anaphylaxis at Royal United Hospital, Bath at 11am on 18 June 1999.
Tributes
Ross had been in contention for the Great Britain men's team at the 1999 European Cup in Paris, France, but lost out to Tony Jarrett. The event took place the day following his death, with the British team observing a 2-minute silence in his memory and wore black ribbons at the event as a mark of respect. Dwain Chambers dedicated his victory in the 100m event to Ross and continued to wear black ribbons for the remainder of the season. Then at the 2002 European Championships in Munich, Germany, Chambers dedicated another victory to the memory of Ross. The 110m hurdles event was withdrawn from the programme at the 1999 Scottish Championships the following week. Ross had been due to defend his title against his younger brother.
Legacy
The Ross Baillie Cup is awarded for the winner of the 60m hurdles at the Scottish Indoor Athletics Championships. The trophy was donated by his family, and was won by his brother in 2002 at the Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena in Glasgow. His friend Mark Foster became patron of The Anaphylaxis Campaign in 2009, stating "I’m thrilled to be a patron for The Anaphylaxis Campaign. A friend of mine died of this terrible condition and I hope to be able to help raise the profile of this wonderful charity who help so many people with life-threatening allergies.". He won £10,000 for the Campaign by participating in Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, broadcast on ITV on 8 September 2009.
