Two of Scotland’s up and coming young triathletes had the opportunity to meet with Olympic Games chief Lord Sebastian Coe at Strathclyde Park on his first ever visit to a Glasgow 2014 satellite venue yesterday.
A strong element of Glasgow’s bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014 was that 70% of venues were already in place and today Lord Coe spoke of how impressed he was of Glasgow 2014’s preparations.
Strathclyde Park already has an established international Rowing facility and regularly hosts Triathlon events, but it will be upgraded to ensure the best possible experience for athletes and spectators at Glasgow 2014.
During the visit, 2014Chairman Lord Smith and Seb Coe met Marc Austin and Grant Sheldon, who are both aspiring to compete at Strathclyde Park for Team Scotland in less than three years time.
Glasgow 2014 Chairman Lord Smith said: “Everyone is getting excited about the Olympics coming to London next year and our own countdown is now under the three year milestone. I’m delighted to welcome Seb Coe to Scotland to see just how big a difference both events are making north of the border.
“We all hope to improve the lives of Scots but we are also seeing tangible benefits through new and improved sporting facilities. In addition to the fantastic progress being made at the new National Indoor Sports Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, places like Strathclyde Park will also benefit from the Games.”
Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) said:“With just less than three years to go, it is impressive to see and hear first-hand about the preparations to stage the Commonwealth Games Triathlon event in 2014.
“It is clear the Glasgow 2014 organisers have put athletes at the heart of their decision making to ensure they have the best possible competition experience. I wish Marc Austin and Grant Sheldon the very best for their plans to compete at Strathclyde Park in 2014, in front of a home crowd and no doubt inspiring Scotland’s next generation of athletes to go for gold.”
17-year-old Glaswegian Marc Austin, a member of the victorious GB Mixed Relay team at the ETU European Junior Triathlon Championships and bronze medal winner at the European Junior Cup in Luxembourg, said: “Strathclyde Park is a special place for me because it was where I won bronze at the Junior Triathlon and ultimately led to me representing Great Britain at the European Junior Triathlon Championships in Spain where I was part of the Mixed Relay winning team.
“It was a huge honour to meet Sebastian Coe today and the experience of meeting him and hearing how Strathclyde Park will be used at the Commonwealth Games has given me even more ambition to represent Scotland at Glasgow 2014.”
Grant Sheldon, who is 16 and from nearby Blantyre, recently recorded two podium finishes at the British Triathlon Junior Super Series, said: “I live within five miles of Strathclyde Park so it would be an absolute dream come true to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games so close to home.
“My performances have been improving consistently and I am working hard to ensure that continues over the next three years to give myself the best possible chance of competing at Glasgow 2014.”
Strathclyde Park is located just 18km (19 minutes) from the Athletes Village – construction on which commenced in June.
Come Glasgow 2014, the venue will benefit from 2,000 temporary seats with road extensions and improvements being considered.
Specialist facilities will also be installed on a temporary basis to meet the requirements of the Commonwealth Games Federation and International Federation for Triathlon to accommodate Games and sport specific requirements including athlete preparation areas.
The legacies left by the proposed works include improvements to enhance the Triathlon facilities at Strathclyde Park for training and major events.
On the final day of the FINA World Swimming Championships in Shanghai yesterday, Scotland’s Hannah Miley clinched the first World Championship medal of her career, winning silver in the 400m individual medley and building on her success of 2010.
The 21-year old from Inverurie is Commonwealth and European champion in the event and qualified for the final in seventh spot. In the final she swam the race of her life, turning in sixth place at the half way mark but produced an excellent breaststroke leg to move up the field to third for the final 100m. Miley’s freestyle was strong and she quickly began to catch up and then overhaul Australia’s Olympic champion Stephanie Rice in the last five metres and touch in 4min 23.22sec.
America’s Elizabeth Beisel took gold in 4:31.78 while Rice was just 0.01 behind Miley, touching in 4:32.23 for bronze.
“As soon as I turned, I didn’t see Stephanie but I thought I’ve got to get a medal, even if it’s bronze,” said Miley.
“I knew the girl from China would come back hard in the free so I was kicking my little legs for dear life at the end.
“It’s an amazing feeling.
“The Europeans were awesome and at the Commonwealths I was really glad to get a medal but this is the next closest to the Olympics.
“It’s great I can get these performances.
“It just shows the hard work we’ve been putting in.
It rounded off a strong showing in the pool from Great Britain at the event with two gold and three silver medals in the pool and a gold in the open water to finish sixth on the overall medal table.
There were strong performances by a number of the other six Scots on the team with Commonwealth silver medallists Michael Jamison making his first ever World final, finnishing and impressive fifth in the 200m breaststroke and contributing to a sixth place finish in the 4x100m medley relay.
The Scottish trio of David Carry, Robbie Renwick and Jak Scott also finished sixth in the 4x200m freestyle relay as did the women with Caitlin McClatchey part of the team.
At the Junior/U23 European Track Championships in Portugal last week, Scotland’s up and coming young sprinters made their mark winning four medals between them.
Both members of Team Scotland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, where they came an impressive fourth in the Team Sprint, they went on to enjoy individual European success at the Anadia velodrome.
On day four of the championships, Oxfordshire based Scot John Paul was crowned junior Sprint champion, beating German rival Max Niederlag two-nil in the gold medal ride-off. He followed this up on the final day with another impressive gold in the junior Keirin. This ranks as the best performance of the 18 year old’s career to date.
Meanwhile Callum Skinner from Edinburgh got his championships off to a great start winning silver in the U23 Team Sprint, just missing out on gold to Germany. He then bagged bronze in the U23 Sprint competition on day four, beating Philipp Thiele of Germany two-one in the bronze medal ride-off. After his final a delighted Skinner tweeted: “European under 23 sprint bronze medallist, very, very happy!!!
However the final day of competition was more painful for Callum when he crashed out of the U23 Keirin. Skinner described his spill later on Twitter: “Crashed into a Russian at 75kph at the top of the track, all scratched up but ok, decided to scratch the minor final. Good champs overall…”
Both men’s performances augur well for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.
Twelve players have been named by the SRU in the new full-time Scotland sevens squad. They will compete at international level in the forthcoming season’s HSBC Sevens World Series and the announcement underlines Scottish Rugby’s desire to best prepare for the series and a successful medal challenge for the Scotland 7s squad at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Speaking as the first squad was revealed at Murrayfield yesterday, Head of Performance Rugby Graham Lowe declared: “Sevens is a phenomenon. It’s growing rapidly and if we want to be competitive on the global stage then we had to find a set-up that would suit Scottish rugby.
“We believe the squad we are announcing will enable us to meet that goal in the HSBC Sevens World Series and with the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games firmly on the horizon we want to give ourselves every opportunity of improving on our sixth place finish at the last Commonwealth Games in Delhi and to be there challenging for medals on our home soil in three years time.”
The full-time squad consists of some seasoned international sevens campaigners, emerging, young professional players and Elite Development players.
The squad: Struan Dewar, James Eddie, James Fleming, Colin Gregor, Peter Horne and Andrew Turnbull, plus from Scottish Rugby’s Elite Development players: Adam Ashe, Sam Hidalgo Clyne, Kerr Gossman, Rory Hughes, Sean Kennedy and Hamish Watson.
Scotland 7s coach Graham Shiel explained: “Sevens is the priority for these 12 players. They can play with the pro-teams or in club rugby outwith the sevens window but, when it comes to preparation and playing in the HSBC Sevens World Series, then Scotland 7s has first call on their services and that’s different to the way we have operated in the past.
“When we have had consistency in our squad we have been able to be competitive on the world stage. In the past we have had players with some sevens expertise but, particularly when we have been choosing players from the pro-teams, we have been asking players whose focus was understandably on XVs to prepare in a very limited time frame, and play sevens. Now the emphasis for this group will be sevens and that matters a huge amount in terms of their preparation.”
Welcoming the news, Michael Cavanagh, Chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland said: “We are delighted that the concept of a full-time Rugby Sevens squad has finally come to fruition and that the SRU has given a strong commitment to this growing element of the game and to success at the Commonwealth Games. Having the strongest and best prepared team possible is something we have been pushing for prior to every Games and we fully support this new approach.”
“Rugby makes a great contribution to Team Scotland at the Games. The sixth place finish in Delhi was a significant improvement and I have no doubt that a specialist full-time squad will lead to an even more competitive performance in Glasgow in three years time.”
One of the most eagerly anticipated design elements of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, the sport pictograms were launched today.
The 17 participating sports will be represented by their unique ‘defining moment’ in the iconic images whose primary purpose is to celebrate sport and aid wayfinding to members of the public, athletes and officials. The icons will be prominent on venues, signage, scoreboards and literature during Games-time, but will also feature prominently in marketing and merchandising efforts in the build-up to the Games.
Having built the overarching brand on the themes of time, data and measurement, the ‘defining moment’ aims to represent that split second a gold medal can be won – when an athlete is crossing the finish line, a swimmer is at full reach touching the wall or a badminton player is high in the air striking the winning shot.
Glasgow 2014 Acting Chief Executive, David Grevemberg, said: “We’re delighted to give people the first glimpse of images that will be prominent around the city during Games-time, giving them a taste of the excitement to come. As an ex-athlete myself, I have been particularly passionate about this project because I appreciate their visual and symbolic significance to the overall Games experience as well as their commercial value and appeal.”
The pictogram designs are completely in line with the geometric, concentric rings that have become synonymous with the existing Glasgow 2014 brand. The pictograms have continued this theme using rings to construct the athlete represented in the design and the lines have been tapered to portray muscle definition and movement as accurately as possible.
Committed to delivering an athlete centred and sport focused Games, Glasgow 2014 has gone through an extensive consultation and approval process with some of our leading athletes to ensure the technical accuracy of the 17 designs.
Reigning Scottish Cyclocross and Junior MTB Champion Katy Winton, was part of the design process and revealed: “Glasgow 2014 has looked into finding the most exciting part of the sport which is the sprint finish and being first across the line. Although you may closely associate a sprint finish with the Track event, it also applies to the other disciplines, so as a Mountain Bike athlete I’m really happy about that.
“I was honoured to be asked to take a look at my sport’s pictogram. Looking at the pictograms being produced, along with seeing the progress of the venues such as the Velodrome in the East End and the Mountain Bike track at Cathkin Braes, reminds you that the Games are only three years away which is really exciting.”
Commenting on the efforts made to characterise each individual sport, Scotland and Great Britain Judoka Euan Burton – who won bronze at the World Judo Championships in Tokyo last year, added: “To me, the pictogram for Judo is a good representation of the winning moment and I particularly like the focus on the winning athlete. It’s really smart the way they have gone down the route of using a dynamic move specific to my sport – often you get similarities to Wresting but this pictogram shows something which is very much a Judo technique.
Scotland’s most successful female athlete at Delhi 2010 (with two gold medals and one bronze), Shooter Jennifer McIntosh, said: “I really like the shooting pictogram. I think it’ll be very popular among the athletes and it’s very recognisable to the public as to what sport it represents. It fits in really well with the overall branding of the Games and I’m impressed with how accurate and believable it is.
“I enjoyed being involved in the process and I think it’s really good to get the opinions of the athletes who are hoping to compete at Glasgow 2014.”
The pictograms will be on display to the public for the very first time at the Merchant City Festival over the weekend of 23 and 24 July as Glasgow 2014 celebrates the landmark of ‘Three Years to Go’.
The pictograms
Jenny Davis, 2010 Commonwealth Games silver medallist in the team sprint, today had the thrill of being the first cyclist to take her bike into the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, as part of the celebrations to mark ‘Three Years to Go’ until the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. This magnificent new facility will host the track cycling during the Games and is due for completion next year.
On Wednesday 23July 2014, people from around the globe will be celebrating the Opening Ceremony of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and the start of 11 days of world-class sporting competition between the 71 Commonwealth nations and territories.
To highlight this milestone, the Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee is staging a series of ‘Three Years to Go’ celebrations this week. Today (Wednesday 20th July) all eyes were on the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, later this week there will be the official launch of the sport pictograms for the Games and the celebrations will continue at the Merchant City Festival this weekend with a ‘sporting challenge’ that will give festival-goers a taster of all 17 sports that are included in the Games.
At the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Scottish track cyclist Jenny Davis, was the first cyclist to take a bike into Scotland’s only indoor Velodrome. Jenny won a silver medal in the team sprint at Delhi 2010 and is aiming to go one better when competing on home soil in Glasgow just three years from now.
The 250-metre track at the Velodrome has been designed by Ralph Schumann, one of the world’s foremost track designers and the Velodrome is named in honour of Scotland’s most successful gold medal winning Olympian and Commonwealth Games champion: Sir Chris Hoy.
Joining in the ‘Three Years to Go’ celebrations at the velodrome, Michael Cavanagh, Chairman Commonwealth Games Scotland, said: “This is another key milestone on our journey to Glasgow 2014. Scotland has a strong tradition in cycling and this impressive facility can only help to strengthen that for the long-term. In just three years time the track cycling will be one of the hottest tickets in town and I know how hard our cyclists are working to ensure they will be in the thick of the action for Team Scotland.
“Seeing all the plans progress in the city for the Games over the last few years all adds to the excitement for the athletes and their determination to be competing at Glasgow 2014.”
Thoroughly enjoying her sneak preview of the new velodrome, Jenny Davis added: “Scottish cyclists have waited a very long time for an indoor velodrome and to see this fabulous facility taking shape is absolutely fantastic. For me Glasgow 2014 will probably be the biggest event of my career and the sooner we can get in here and use the track the more we will be able to realise our potential and take advantage of a home Games.
“The word on the lips of every single track cyclist in Scotland is Glasgow 2014 and I am really excited about the prospect of racing here in just three years time. This facility will undoubtedly also help to grow the sport and encourage many more people to take part.”
In the world of amateur boxing one name stands out for Charlie Flynn (18); the legendary Olympic, Commonwealth and European gold medallist Dick McTaggart. “He was Scotland’s greatest ever amateur boxer – 610 wins from 634 fights is just awesome”, says Flynn, who is also a lightweight fighter. “He was an Olympic champion, and really shows what you can do with determination and hard work.”
Charlie certainly isn’t adverse to hard work himself, having bounced back from an injury earlier in the year – which kept him out of the Scottish nationals – to claim gold at the GB Youth Amateur Championships at Ravenscraig in June. The Newarthill boxer faced fellow Scot Martin McCord in the final of the 60kg weight category, where he landed the majority of the telling punches in a 14-7 win. Charlie says: “I had an injury which was playing on my mind a bit before then, but I’ve stepped things up a level this year and it’s all worked out for the best.”
This fantastic performance has seen him named as the Commonwealth Games Scotland Athlete of the Month for June, jointly with gymnast Shannon Archer. He will receive £250 from Commonwealth Games Scotland towards training and competition costs.
Charlie is hoping his excellent performances will put him in contention for a place in the Scotland team for the Isle of Man Commonwealth Youth Games in September. Flynn has already tasted success on the island this year, having helped the Scottish youth/schoolboy team to victory in the Celtic Tri-Nations Challenge in May. “It was great to go down to the Isle of Man and compete”, he says. “The venue was really good and it will be valuable to have that familiarity at the Games. I’d love to be selected and I really think I can get amongst the medals.”
Scotland’s Commonwealth boxers came home with three medals from the 2010 Games in Delhi (1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze) and Charlie has his heart set on taking the top prize in Glasgow come 2014: “I’d love to fight in Glasgow in 2014. I just need to keep my focus and keep winning these internationals.” A gold in Glasgow would also put him on a par with his hero McTaggart, who took home the prize from the 1958 Commonwealth Games in Cardiff.
The selection period for the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games is currently open, with Youth Team Scotland athletes set to be announced on 9 August.
June was quite a month for West Lothian gymnast, Shannon Archer (12); with some excellent performances and a host of medals. “Being selected for the GB team for the first time was the highlight for me”, says Archer who made her debut against Sweden, where she helped the team to victory as the top scoring individual.
Shannon also competed at the British Espoir Championships, where she qualified for floor finals which will be contested in Liverpool at the British Championships from 8-10 July. Continuing her busy schedule, she then competed for Scotland in Madrid where she won gold medals on beam and floor; silver in the all-around, along with personal best scores in each event. Her incredible month culminated in another selection for GB where she helped the team to a 3rd place finish.
These incredible performances have seen her named as the Commonwealth Games Scotland Athlete of the Month for June, jointly with boxer Charlie Flynn. She will receive £250 from Commonwealth Games Scotland towards training and competition costs.
Congratulating the June winners, Commonweath Games Scotland Chairman Michael Cavanagh said: “The Commonwealth Youth Games provide an invaluable development opportunity for our younger athletes, exposing them to a multi-sport environment and giving them their first experience of Team Scotland and its ethos. We have seen some fantastic performances since the selection period opened, and I would like to congratulate Shannon and Charlie for their achievements in June. I’d like to wish them the best of luck for the rest of the year and I hope to see them competing for Youth Team Scotland in the Isle of Man come September.”
Shannon first tried gymnastics at the age of four, and she hasn’t looked back. “It’s unique, compared to other sports”, says Shannon. “In other sports you don’t get the variety that gymnastics has with all of the different apparatus.” Women’s Artistic gymnasts compete across four pieces of apparatus – vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor – with high scoring performances in the ‘all around’ competition qualifying athletes for individual events. “The floor is definitely my favourite – I really enjoy the freedom it gives me, and it’s definitely where I perform best”, she says.
Like most young female gymnasts, Shannon aspires to emulate the success of her hero; current World and European champion Beth Tweddle. “She is amazing”, she says. “To have been so successful for so long is not that common in our sport, and she’s still going strong, which is amazing.”
With her sights firmly set on being selected for Youth Team Scotland’s gymnastics team for the Commonwealth Youth Games in September Shannon says: “It would be a great honour to be selected for the team. It’d be a great opportunity ahead of the 2014 Games too.”
The selection period for the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games is currently open, with Youth Team Scotland athletes set to be announced on 9 August.
The Athletes’ Advisory Committee (AAC) for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games has appointed three new members as the Committee broadens its expertise. Congratulations to badminton player Susan Egelstaff, squash player Frania Gillen-Buchert and shooter Neil Stirton, all experienced members of Team Scotland.
Offering advice over the next three years to the Glasgow 2014 Board and Organising Committee (OC), the AAC will be responsible for providing an athlete perspective for the Games and will play a crucial advisory role in relation to Games planning. The AAC will become a key component in supporting the OC achieve its vision of a truly athlete centred and sport focused Games.
The AAC, which now has eight members, is made up of current Scottish athletes who are aiming to compete at Glasgow 2014 and former Scottish athletes who have a vast experience in competing at Commonwealth, Olympic and Paralympic Games. It is chaired by former Scottish international hockey player Rhona Simpson, who competed in three Commonwealth Games (1998, 2002 and 2006) and twice represented Great Britain at the Summer Olympics (1996 and 2000).
Susan Egelstaff is currently the highest ranked female singles badminton player in the United Kingdom. Susan has competed for Scotland at three Commonwealth Games (2002, 2006 and 2010) securing a team bronze medal in 2002 and a singles bronze in 2006.
Neil Stirton, is a current Scottish international shooter and has competed at two Commonwealth Games (2006, 2010) in the smallbore rifle prone and three position events. He secured a silver medal in Melbourne 2006, going one better to secure gold in Delhi 2010, along with partner Jonathon Hammond. The pair also secured bronze in Delhi 2010, providing Neil with a full set of medals across two Games.
Frania Gillen-Buchert, is a current Scottish international squash player. Frania has competed at two Commonwealth Games (2006 and 2010), in both singles and doubles events. Frania also works with Judo Scotland, providing a multi-sport perspective to the group.
They join former international hammer thrower Shirley Adison (nee Webb), former international swimmer Todd Cooper, Steve Frew, a former international gymnast and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, and Paralympic track cycling double gold medallist Aileen McGlynn MBE.
The AAC will provide a perspective on behalf of all athletes and will make a number of recommendations to the Board and OC over the next three years that will help shape the overall Games experience for all athletes coming to Glasgow in 2014.
Delighted with her appointment Susan Egelstaff, said: “It’s really exciting to be involved in the preparations for Glasgow 2014 as a member of the Athletes’ Advisory Committee, which will benefit not only myself but all the athletes coming from the Commonwealth for the Games in 2014.
“We will work closely with the Organising Committee and the Board over the next three years to ensure that athletes are represented and we will be consulted on a number of issues that will affect us all in 2014. I can’t wait to see all the work coming together to produce a fantastic Games and I can’t wait to play in front of my home crowd in Glasgow.”
Willie Wood MBE, the most capped Scottish Commonwealth Games athlete of all time will make his last international appearance in the outdoor game at the British Isles Bowling Championships hosted at Sighthill in Edinburgh this week.
The legendary bowler who competed in a record eighth Commonwealth Games in Delhi last year, has won two gold, one silver and one bronze medals which ranks him an impressive eighth equal on the list of most successful Commonwealth Games athletes of all time. He was also accumulated a record number of world championship medals over an international career spanning almost five decades.
He has decided to retire from the game at the top, choosing the annual British Championships which will see the best bowlers from across the UK compete for British titles. Only hosted in Scotland every four years, it is a fitting way for the 73 year old from Gifford, East Lothian to conclude his outdoor international career on home soil.
“All good things come to an end and whilst it was a very hard decision to make I knew in myself that I wanted to bow out at the top of my game, as a world champion.
“The governing body has placed a lot of faith in me over the years and selected me to represent my country at so many tournaments and I am very grateful to them for that, though I feel that I have never let anyone down. I will miss travelling to all the far flung places I have been to and all the people I have met all over the world, my sport has given me a lot of opportunities and some great memories.
“I have fulfilled most of my ambitions and I will continue playing at the nationals, both indoor and outdoor. I still have a final ambition of achieving a title my father won but has so far eluded me, to become the national singles champion and I might do it yet!”
Recognising Willie’s immense contribution to Team Scotland, Commonwealth Games Scotland Michael Cavanagh said: “Willie is a legend within Team Scotland and has shown all of us just what is possible when you are dedicated to your sport and keep yourself fit.However to go to eight Commonwealth Games is a significant achievement and one that is unlikely to be surpassed by any other athlete.
“We wish Willie all the best for the future and hope he will be in Glasgow in 2014 to cheer on his teammates.”