With 500 days to the opening of the Delhi Commonwealth Games, Scotland’s planning is in good shape.
CGS Chief Executive, Jon Doig, who will be taking on the role of Chef De Mission at the Games said: “We’ve had two Delhi site visits, we’re well underway with General Team Management and preparation for the Games is going well.
“The selection period opened on 1 May, and already a number of our athletes are making the standards, which are based on a top 8 equivalent or better. These early performances are extremely promising.”
Over the next 500 days Scotland’s athletes will focus on making the qualifying standards. Preparations will include visits to India for training and information gathering.
Pictured beside the official Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games mascot Shera are, CGO Relations Officer Amir Singh Wazir (left), and Commonwealth Games Scotland Chief Executive Jon Doig (right).
James Campbell, 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games Gold Medallist, became the first Scottish athlete to achieve a Delhi qualification standard when he threw a Scottish record in the javelin at the British University Championships at Bedford over the weekend.
Following the opening of the selection period on 1st of May, James threw 76.71m to clear the Delhi standard by 1.71m and the previous Scottish record by over 3m.
Though James’ performance does not guarantee him selection to the Commonwealth Games Team, with at least one further standard required, achieving the qualification standard at this early stage represents a positive early step on the road to Delhi.
Potential team members will now turn their attention to the next weekend’s Loughborough International, where they will have another opportunity to record Delhi qualification standards.
Commonwealth Games Scotland and Emirates Airline today announced that the award-winning airline will be the ‘Official Airline and Travel Partner’ of the Scottish Team for the 2010 Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi in October next year. Last year Scotland’s Youth team travelled to India with Emirates to compete in the third Commonwealth Youth Games.
With daily direct flights from Glasgow to Dubai and onward to Delhi, Emirates will provide the team of approximately 250 athletes and staff with the best possible travel option to reach the Games in great shape. Be they 4ft gymnasts or 6ft 6″ rugby players, team members between 15 and 65 years of age will all get acquainted first hand with the flying experience that has won Emirates numerous awards since its conception in 1985.
Rugby legend and Commonwealth Games Ambassador, Gavin Hastings, was at the Emirates’ fifth anniversary celebrations in Glasgow to meet some of Scotland’s up and coming athletes who won medals at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India, last autumn. Gavin was there to share the benefits of his experience as a world class athlete and to provide encouragement to the youngsters as they set their sights on teaming up with Emirates on the route to Delhi.
Tomorrow (1 May) also marks the start of the selection period for athletes across all 17 sports in the Games and the chance to book their seat on the plane. Delhi will be the first occasion that tennis has been included in the Games programme and archery will make a welcome return after a lapse of 28 years.
On board, athletes will be able to relax in preparation for the Games and experience Emirates’ award winning inflight system, ice.
With up to 24 meal choices on each flight, Emirates will also have the recipe for success when it comes to providing the team with the correct nutritional requirements as they fly to the other side of the globe.
For Delhi, Emirates SkyCargo is gearing to transport up to 55kg of luggage per athlete as well as sports equipment such as pole vaults averaging 4.6m in length, 13 kit bags of bowls weighing a total of 83kg, 32 bags with hockey sticks, pads, balls and goalkeeping equipment, 20 bicycles with 60 wheels.
Jon Doig, Chief Executive of Commonwealth Games Scotland welcomed the Emirates sponsorship. He said “We are delighted that Emirates has agreed to be our Official Airline and Travel Partner for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. This will be the second successive Games we have joined forces with Emirates and there is no doubt that the quality of service that our team experienced when we went to Melbourne in 2006 played a significant factor in our team’s superb performance and we are confident that the same will apply in Delhi.
“We look forward to working closely with Emirates over the coming months to put our detailed travel arrangements in place.”
Laurie Berryman, Emirates’ Area Manager UK North, said: “The Commonwealth Games remains a remarkably unifying sporting tradition that we have enjoyed for 79 years.”
“The Scottish Commonwealth Team brought back its highest medal tally in 2006 and Emirates are proud to be a part of their journey as they strive for renewed Commonwealth success next year in Delhi.”
Pictured alongside 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games Medallists Martin Campbell (Badminton), Jonathan Slowey (Boxing), Robyn Matthews (Swimming), Lynsey Sharp (Athletics), Douglas Scott (Swimming) and Craig McKenna (Wrestling) are Gillian Turner and Jill Sutherland (Emirates), Laurie Berryman (Emirates Area North Manager, Gavin Hastings (2006 Commonwelath Games Ambassador) and Jon Doig (Chief Executive Commonwealth Games Scotland)
Sports Team Managers selected for Delhi
Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) today announced the first tranche of Sport Team Managers for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
Eight of the 17 participating sports have completed their recruitment process in conjunction with CGS, with the remainder to be finalised by the end of October this year.
Commenting on the appointments Jon Doig CGS Chief Executive and Chef de Mission for 2010 said: “I am pleased to welcome the ten new members to the team. These individuals have a wealth of experience in some cases as competitors or performance directors and all as team managers. I know they are looking forward to the challenges ahead as we start our preparation programme for Delhi.”
A comprehensive training programme for Sport Team Managers is already underway and will continue in the build-up to 2010, to ensure they are fully equipped to provide the best possible support to their team. They will also go to Delhi on a familiarisation visit in May next year.
Aquatics Team Manager – Derna Campbell, Stirling
Archery Team Manager – Bob Provan, Montrose
Badminton Team Manager – Julie Hogg, Dunfermline
Men’s Bowls Team Manager – George Sneddon, Broxburn
Women’s Bowls Team Manager – Betty Forsyth, Larkhall
Cycling Team Manager – Alasdair Maclennan, New Elgin
Cycling Deputy Team Manager – Gary Willis, Stewarton
Shooting Team Manager – Joan Watt, Tillicoultry,
Squash Team Manager – Paul Frank, Edinburgh
Tennis Team Manager – Peter Nicolson, Edinburgh
1 May 2009 marked the start of the selection period for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and today Sportscotland backed up athlete aspirations to make the team by investing over a million pounds of funding in Commonwealth Games sports.
Four Commonwealth Games sports will receive a share of the £1,139,490 of funding. Cycling, triathlon, wrestling and target shooting all gained from today’s announcement, with Scottish Cycling claiming the lion’s share.
Announcing the funding, Sportscotland Chair, Louise Martin CBE, said: “With the selection period for 2010 underway it is more important than ever to ensure that Scottish sports receive the funding and support they need to deliver on the world stage.
“However, our investment will also ensure that this key group of sports continues to develop on towards 2014, and indeed beyond. The programmes supported through our investment of £1,139,490 will provide more opportunities for Scots to participate in healthy, active lifestyles and to realise their own potential, up to the highest level.”
Sports Minister, Shona Robison added: “In the year of Homecoming, and looking ahead to the 2011 International Children’s Games in Lanarkshire, the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Ryder Cup, this is an exciting time for sport in Scotland. This funding will not only ensure our athletes can continue to develop and be the very best they can be on the international stage, it will also encourage and enable more people to take up sport and physical activity as part of their daily lives”.
With the ‘Chris Hoy’ effect still boosting participation figures, Scottish Cycling, is developing a number of initiatives designed to capitalise on the feel good factor, supported by today’s investment of £527,960.
Graeme Herd, the man who coached the Scottish cycling team to Commonwealth Games medal success in 2002 and 2006 is back in the saddle to head up the new Elite Athlete Programme (EAP). EAP will support a small group of athletes who have the potential to medal at the Games in Delhi next year, and of course for the Glasgow Games in 2014.
While the athletes who will represent Scotland in 2010 are almost certainly already in the system, a new talent ID initiative has just been launched to discover the next generation of sporting stars. Headed up by Tony Stanger at the Sportscotland institute of sport, Gold4Glasgow held its first talent ID event last Sunday in a bid to find Scotland’s own Rebecca Romero. Girls between 16 and 27 were invited to participate in an open day to identify athletes from a range of sports with the potential to succeed in cycling.
Welcoming the investment, Jackie Davidson, Chief Executive of Scottish Cycling said “The increased investment from Sportscotland will support the ongoing development of cycling across the whole sporting pathway from grassroots to elite.
“It is an extremely exciting time for the sport as we continue to build strong partnerships with local clubs, volunteers, local authorities and key agencies in each of our regions. The profile of cycling has never been higher and the opportunities to engage with the sport can only be increased through the investment provided by Sportscotland.”
Triathlon Scotland also benefitted from today’s announcement receiving £235,030 of funding to support the development of this rapidly growing sport. Triathlon will be the first event at the 2104 Commonwealth Games and a real opportunity to get the Scottish team off to a great start. Scotland already boasts the World Junior Champion in Kirsty McWilliam but there are also plans to boost the talent pool through the Sportscotland institute of sport’s talent transfer programme.
Providing further inspiration and a home advantage to aspiring triathletes, Scotland will host two major events in the triathlon calendar over the next year. 2014 venue Strathclyde Country Park welcomes the first British elite event of the year on 17 May while Edinburgh will be the venue for the 2011 World Duathlon Championships.
Jon Doig, Chief Executive of Commonwealth Games Scotland said: “CGS has been working closely with Sportscotland and the governing bodies of Commonwealth Games sports to finalise their high performance plans towards Delhi in 2010. It is great news that these plans are being reflected in the latest round of investments from Sportscotland.”
The other two sports to benefit from today’s announcement, target shooting and wrestling, will receive investment of £228,500 and £148,000 respectively.
The plans for the village, which stands in a 59.28 hectare site close to the river, look excellent and building is well underway. The accommodation blocks, which are a maximum of nine stories high, will be finished to a high specification, air conditioned and with two athletes per room each with an en-suite bathroom. There are also plans for extensive recreation facilities and a 50m training pool will also be on site. It is being billed by the OC as the “best Commonwealth Games Village ever”.
Virtually all the sports facilities are still under construction, either new build or undergoing major refurbishment with much work still to be done. However the OC are confident that they will all be completed by March next year.
There was particularly good news for the delegation and Scotland’s cyclists, when a visit to the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex and site for the new velodrome showed that work is now underway. This follows months of speculation as to whether it would be built in time, or if track cycling would be dropped from the sports programme.
This would have excluded Britain’s greatest Olympian, the talismanic and charismatic Chris Hoy, a demoralising blow to the whole team. Not only would this have denied Scotland half a dozen strong cycling medal shots next year, but would have removed a major stepping stone for Scots with London 2012 track cycling aspirations, and damaged the continuum for Glasgow 2014.
However, site of the velodrome rising from the dusty ground was backed up further with confirmation that UCI approved track designers have now been appointed and Britain’s triple gold medallist from Beijing was overjoyed to hear the news. “It’s a relief to hear that track appears to be in the Games after so many mixed reports”, said Hoy.
“It’s good for the Games and for Scotland. Track cycling is an important sport and the level of competition is so high in the Commonwealth. Australia has just come out top in the World Championships, Malaysia had two medallists, and New Zealand is going well.
“And it is my only chance, once in four years, to compete for Scotland, and that means a great deal to me. I have said I want to continue until 2014 but that’s a long time until my last chance to compete for my country, and it’s a dream still to come”.
Also joining the Delhi visit were representatives from the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council, Culture & Sport Glasgow and Glasgow 2014. They were there with a range of interests and in particular, to consider how Glasgow takes forward its plans for a 10 minute cultural slot in the Closing Ceremony that will see the responsibility for the 20th Commonwealth Games handed over to Glasgow for 2014.
Commenting on what he saw in Delhi, Jon Doig CGS CEO and Chef de Mission for the team in 2010 said: “Our visit has been extremely useful for both the GTM and our partners to understand the environment we will be working in and where Delhi is at in the planning process.
We have seen some progress since our last visit and the OC has been very receptive to our ideas and suggestions. However there is a considerable amount of work to be done across all areas and there is no margin for error in the short timescale left before the Games”.
“We have major concerns particularly on the operations side. There have been delays in the sports programme, in appointing competition managers. They’re all supposed to be appointed by June 1, and we believe this is critical to the Games success.
Our preparations and those of our sports need to be better than ever before and if we do this and other countries don’t there are real opportunities for us in terms of medal prospects”.
A series of forthcoming visits mean the Delhi organising committee must now tick boxes to a tight schedule. The Co-ordination Commission and the Commonwealth Games Federation General Executive will visit in May, and the CGF Assembly – with all Commonwealth countries attending – in October, followed by a Chef de Missions visit in March 2010.
Commonwealth Youth Games gold medallist , Kay Copland from Banff won bronze, at the International Shooting Competition of Hannover last weekend, the first ever medal for Scotland at this event.
The 18 year old had been competing in the 50 metres Rifle Prone, the same discipline in which she won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India, last October.
“I don’t often shoot against Germany and they’re really good at it so I didn’t know if a medal was possible,” said the University of Aberdeen music student who is supported by the Grampian Institute of Sport.
“I went to this event last year and didn’t shoot up to standard. That got me quite annoyed and I went back this year adamant that I would do so much better and I’m really pleased that I did.”
In Hannover Kay equalled her personal best score of 594, shot in the Czech Republic in 2007. She tied for second place, one point off the lead, but in the tie break just lost out on the silver medal. And she achieved this result having recently changed to using a new rifle as part of her plan to switching to the 3 Position discipline.
“I wanted to start the 3P and Donald McIntosh (Scottish Target Shooting’s High Performance Manager) said I would need something a lot shorter and lighter so I’ve been using it for a month and settled in pretty quickly,” she said.
“It’s three inches shorter which makes it so much more balanced and it feels like you’re holding nothing. The rifle I had been using before was meant for someone a lot taller and stronger.”
With the season entering its busiest phase Kay will compete in a Grand Prix event at home this weekend before heading abroad at the start of June for a junior international in the Czech Republic.
Following the appointment of the General Team Management in February this year, Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) announced today the medical team for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi which will comprise six doctors and 10 physiotherapists.
The Scottish team will be supported by one of the most experienced groups of sports medicine doctors and sports physiotherapists in the UK, providing valuable pre-Games support and advice as well as immediate medical care in Delhi.
The team of doctors have extensive experience including supporting teams at three previous Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games holding camps, Winter Olympic Games as well as Youth Commonwealth Games and Youth Olympic Festivals. The whole medical team regularly work with sports governing bodies across the UK including the SFA and the SRU, delivering medical care at the highest level of international sport. The majority of those appointed are also closely associated with the sportscotland Institute of Sport in Stirling and the Area Institute network around Scotland.
Over the coming months the medical team, led by Dr Niall Elliott, Head of Medical Services, will be linking closely with the athletes and coaching staff of the sports competing at Delhi 2010 to develop their plans. The first full gathering of the healthcare professionals will take place shortly after the April 2009 site visit to Delhi.
Announcing the team staff, Jon Doig CGS Chief Executive and Chef de Mission for 2010 said: “We were extremely impressed with the number and quality of applicants for these posts. We had a difficult job, but we are confident we have selected the best all round medical and physiotherapy staff which will be able to meet the needs of the team, in what will be a new and challenging environment for many of our athletes and staff.
“Without question, keeping the team healthy will be a critical success factor in Delhi as it is for every Games.”
Head Doctor/ Head of Medical Services
Dr Niall Elliott – Dundee
Team Doctors
Dr Catriona Boyle – Cumbria
Dr Jane Dunbar – Dunblane
Dr John Maclean – Glasgow
Dr Alastair Nicol – West Lothian
Dr David Pugh – Blanefield
Head Physiotherapist/ Deputy Head of Medical Services
Lindsay Thomson – East Linton
Physiotherapists
Maggie Bush – Stirling
Fiona Cameron – Dunfermline
Lesley Dawson – Alva
Maggie Hendry – Dundee
Sandi Lyall – Edinburgh
Neil Maclean- Martin – France/ Glasgow
Stephen Mutch – Edinburgh
Luke Smith – Lytham St Annes
Karen Young – Aberdeen
Vicky will support the Chief Executive and lead on the technical planning and preparation of Scotland’s Commonwealth Games Team headed to Delhi next year. She will also be the General Team Manager for the Scottish Team.
Vicky is the former Manager of the Tayside and Fife Area Institute of Sport, and was a member of the Scottish Team Holding Camp staff at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
Vicky, who brings a wealth of experience with her, said “I am very excited to be taking up this post with Commonwealth Games Scotland, and I am very much looking forward to working with all the athletes and staff in the build up to Delhi.”