With only a few hours to go until the Opening Ceremony, the Queen’s Baton Relay drew towards the end of its 288 day, 190,000 mile journey around 70 nations of the Commonwealth with a stopover at its new spiritual home at Scotland Street in the Games Village.
The baton was warmly greeted by both the Scottish sunshine, and by athletes from Team Scotland, who passed it hand-to-hand down one side of the street and back up again, ensuring everyone present got their own special reminder of the visit.
But the Queen’s Baton visit didn’t end there. In a special gesture of goodwill, Team Scotland decided to use some of the time allocated to it to transport the baton down to the nearby residence of Team Fiji – the only nation in the Commonwealth the Baton Relay hadn’t managed to visit on its round the world journey.
Led by Team Scotland deputy flagbearers, Linda Clement of Hockey and Alex Marshall of Lawn Bowls, a procession of blue and white snaked its way round to Fiji, marching to a spontaneous rendition of Flower of Scotland by the athletes.
There they were met by a welcoming and clearly emotional Fijian Team whose Chef de Mission thanked the Scots warmly for their gesture before the athletes treated the Scots visitors to a melodic rendition of their own national anthem in a memorable Commonwealth Games moment.
Photo credit: Jeff Holmes
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Team Scotland could get off to a flying start tomorrow as the swimming competition begins its 6-day run at Tollcross International Swimming Centre.
Defending Champion Hannah Miley will look to regain her Commonwealth crown in the 400m IM. The 24-year old had to wait until the last day to secure victory in Delhi but this time has the opportunity to win Scotland’s first swimming medal of the Games. It will be a tough ask as her main rival, Aimee Willmott of England, is currently ranked number one in the world for the event. Miley holds the current Games record of 4:38.83, which she set in Delhi.
Glasgow-born Michael Jamieson will undoubtedly raise the roof when he steps onto the blocks in the 200m breaststroke. The Olympic silver medallist also won silver in the event in Delhi in 2010 but is favourite for gold here in Glasgow. He will be pushed hard by his English training partner Andrew Willis, as well as his Team Scotland team-mates Ross Murdoch and Calum Tait.
Heat three of the men’s 400m freestyle features all three of the Scottish swimmers entered in the event with Robbie Renwick, Dan Wallace and Stephen Milne set to make their mark. While Renwick freely admits to his preferred event being the 200m freestyle, he will be keen to use this race to shake off any nerves before Friday’s 200m race.
Caitlin McClatchey, competing in her third consecutive Games for Scotland, contests the 200m freestyle, one of the two events she won in Melbourne back in 2006, upsetting the form book and beating home favourite Libby Trickett. McClatchey’s winning time from Melbourne of 1:57.25 remains the Games record.
Club training partners Andrea Strachan, Corrie Scott and Kathryn Johnstone will all look to progress to the semi-finals of the 50m breaststroke. Scott is the fastest of the three on paper, setting the current Scottish record time of 31.38 at Tollcross during the Trials back in April.
In the 100m backstroke, Craig McNally and Ryan Bennett will feature for Scotland. McNally is better known for the 200m backstroke, but says he will use this to help his speed work and to get rid of any pre-race jitters. Bennett was a finalist in this event in Delhi for the English team.
The Swimming competition starts on Thursday 24 July and continues until Tuesday 29July, before the Aquatics Diving programme begins on Wednesday 30 July at the Royal Commonwealth Pool.
Photo Credit: Duncan McEwan
Head Coach Stephen Maguire believes Team Scotland’s track, field and Marathon athletes are ready for action at the Commonwealth Games – after the perfect preparation in Ayrshire.
Maguire spoke at a media conference at the Ayrshire Athletics Arena in Kilmarnock where athletes have been training and preparing for Glasgow 2014, with individuals moving into the Village two days before their event.
He was joined for the session by seven of the 58-strong Team Scotland group, with those presented for media activity ranging from 19-year-old Discus thrower, Nick Percy, who is based on the Isle of Wight to 38-year-old Dumfries doctor, Joasia Zakrzewski, who is one of three women in the Marathon.
“We are so close now and you can feel the sense of anticipation within the team camp,” said Stephen.
“I’ve been operating at the Village and it is huge. There are 24-hour meals and everyone wants to be your friend. It is a massive unreal bubble in many ways.
“So we’re delighted to have created our own performance environment in Ayrshire with Team Scotland staying at a hotel in Irvine, and training and preparing at the track at Kilmarnock.
“We’ve some community involvement so it is not completely unreal but it is also the right venue for people to do their training and work with their coaches. The preparation has been perfect in that sense.
“I confess I had no idea where Kilmarnock was when I came to Scotland a couple of years ago. Our chief executive, Nigel Holl, asked me to take a look around the Ayrshire Athletics Arena and see if I thought it might be somewhere we could use in the countdown to the Commonwealths.
“I dropped in at the track and nobody knew who I was. Within a few minutes of my visit I was on the phone back to Nigel to say ‘this is exactly the right kind of place for Team Scotland to be immediately before the Games’.
“In terms of the overall performance, I am comfortable where we are at in terms of a stated medal target of ‘more than two’. We’ve a lot of athletes now performing at a good level, being picked for GB teams, competing in major championships.
“But, and I keep stressing this point, every medal will be very hard-earned at these Games. All the nations are here and that’s not always been the case. There are world class athletes among the opposition in many disciplines.”
High Jumper Jayne Nisbet said: “The facilities here are great and everyone is enjoying training and staying at the hotel.
“We’ve full teams in the high jump with three women and three men competing and that’s brilliant for the event in Scotland. I am not sure if that has happened before and it shows standards are rising.”
Shot Putter Alison Rodger said: “My dad was a footballer with Airdrie and Clydebank and his last match as a professional was at Hampden. I think it was a Cup semi-final about 1990 or 1991.
“He’s always had playing at Hampden over me so to speak so it is brilliant that my first major champs are taking place in Glasgow.
“Now I will throw at Hampden. Is it 1-1 between me and my dad? I think actually I’ve trumped him because this is the Commonwealth Games . . .”
Marathon runner Ross Houston said: “I went to watch the Marathon, the Athletics and the Mountain Biking at the Games in Manchester in 2002. I can honestly say that running in the Marathon here was nowhere on my radar back then.
“When the standard was announced for Scottish men for Glasgow 2014 at 2 hours 19 minutes, I was a couple of minutes adrift in terms of my PB. But it was something I thought I could make my goal.”
Scotland’s five Marathon runners are up first for the Athletics squad when they run 26.2 miles around Glasgow early on Sunday, followed by the first Track and Field session that afternoon at Hampden.
Photo Credit: East Ayrshire Leisure
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Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) has announced its ‘Medallist Rewards Scheme’ for Team Scotland athletes competing at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, with an overall fund of £300,000 allocated to recognise and support medal-winning athletes.
First introduced for Scottish athletes at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, the scheme is designed to kick-start longer term savings and investment planning for athletes once they retire from their high performance sport career; for example to help with setting up a business, or for vocational training. It is structured so it complements rather than duplicates existing sources of performance funding.
Under the Medallist Reward Scheme athletes will receive the following:
Gold Medallists – up to £10,000
Silver Medallists – up to £5,000
Bronze Medallist – up to £2,500
Announcing the scheme today Michael Cavanagh, CGS Chairman said: “The Medallists Reward Scheme is designed to give athletes a boost at that financially uncertain time when they make the often difficult decision to give up competing in their chosen sport.
“It aims to recognise the sacrifices they have made to pursue their sporting career over the years and reward their achievements on the Commonwealth stage.
“The scheme has been designed to be a positive investment in our athletes that is affordable, fair and equitable across all 17 sports on the Glasgow 2014 programme.”
Delhi 2010 medallist David Carry paid tribute to the scheme having been a beneficiary on his retirement from swimming following London 2012. “Funds from the Medallists Reward Scheme really helped me when I stopped competing and it’s fantastic to see it being announced again for Team Scotland medallists at Glasgow 2014,” said Carry.
This brings the total amount available to be invested in Scottish athletes through this scheme to just short of £500,000 over the last two Games cycles.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Team Scotland has been drawn against New Zealand, Guernsey and Seychelles in Group C for the Team Event which starts the 11-day Badminton competition at the Commonwealth Games on Thursday.
In the individual event second seed Kirsty Gilmour has a first-round bye in the Women’s Singles and should not be tested until she faces New Zealand’s sixth seed Michelle Chan in the quarter-finals.
But it is a different story in the Women’s Doubles where Gilmour and Imogen Bankier face a tough start against England’s fourth seeds Gabby Adcock and Lauren Smith in the pick of the first-round matches.
Third seeded Mixed Doubles pairing Bankier and Robert Blair, who defeated Chris and Gabby Adcock on the way to the Yonex German title earlier this year, have been drawn in the same half as the Hong Kong Open Superseries winners.
Blair and Bankier will be boosted by the fact that they have already been on the podium in the Emirates Arena this season, having won the Scottish Open Grand Prix in November.
In the Men’s SinglesKieran Merrilees is eighth seed and begins against Richard Cribb of Norfolk Island. In the Men’s Doubles Martin Campbell and Patrick MacHugh begin against Afjan Rasheed and Nasheau Sharafuddeen of the Maldives in the second round.
Blair and Paul Van Rietvelde also start with a bye before their first big test, which should come against Canadian fifth seeds Adrian Liu and Derrick Ng.
Van Rietvelde also faces Liu in the Mixed Doubles. He and Jillie Cooper take on the Canadian and his partner Michelle Li in the first round, with Singapore’s second seeds Danny Chrisnanta and Vanessa Neo awaiting the winners in the second round.
The Team Event starts on Thursday at the Emirates Arena with Scotland facing Seychelles in the morning session and Guernsey the same evening, with the New Zealand match on Friday evening.
Groups:
Group A: Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Barbados
Group B: India, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana
Group C: Scotland, New Zealand, Guernsey, Seychelles
Group D: Australia, Canada, Falkland Island, Wales
Group E: Singapore, Norfolk Island, South Africa, Jamaica
Group F: England, Mauritius, Jersey, Northern Ireland
Team Event: Thursday-Monday. Individual Event: Tuesday-Sunday week
Photo Credit: Jeff Holmes
Team Scotland’s Aquatics squad has arrived in the Athletes’ Village and enjoyed a relaxing dip in the water at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre ahead of six days of fierce competition from Thursday morning.
Fresh from their holding camp in Aberdeen, experienced Commonwealth medallists Robbie Renwick and Michael Jamieson, and emerging talent Ross Murdoch, admitted to having butterflies when seeing the normally familiar pool in which all three will compete on the opening night.
Jamieson is bidding to add a Commonwealth Gold to his Olympic Silver in the 200m Breaststroke on the first night of Swimming action. The Team Scotland poster-boy is fighting fit and knows all eyes will be on him on the opening day of competition.
“I’m OK with the pressure although now and then it’s not unknown for me to have a minor meltdown,” joked Jamieson. “The support I’ve been getting from everyone has been immense. Scots really know how to get behind their own. I’ve prepared the best way I can; at the holding camp in Aberdeen I was able to do my own thing, relax and just hang out with the rest of the team, which was ideal.
“It took a world record to beat me in London and I swam a PB during that final. This year alone I’ve matched that time of 2:07 twice, and I know I’m going to have to post a best time again on Thursday to be in the mix. I am feeling refreshed, I’m well prepared and I’m ready to race.”
Whereas Jamieson is now the experienced pro, Murdoch has quickly established himself as one to watch, his British 100m Breaststroke title at Tollcross another marker of his rising stock in the Swimming world.
Murdoch said: “Aberdeen was really calm and it was good to be away as a team. It was almost overwhelming when we arrived in Glasgow with the bus driving through town and people waving at you and cheering. I’m embracing this opportunity and know it will push me on come Games time. I think the crowd will play a huge part. I’ve not experienced a home crowd support at this level and I don’t think there are words to describe how I’m going to feel when I hear them cheer.
“Going into the competition I’m not feeling pressure apart from the pressure I put on myself. I’m in a good place physically, looking forward to racing and I’ll go into each event and perform the best I can for my Country.”
Defending Commonwealth 200m Freestyle Champion Robbie Renwick will clock up his third Commonwealth Games appearance this week and despite tough competition, can’t wait to get going.
He said: “There’s a couple of good Australians in my events, but at the end of the day rankings don’t matter, it’s all about the race and who touches the wall first and I know with home support that I can do well.
“Sports like swimming don’t get the huge amount of audiences as football, but I don’t do this for the fame, I do it to get the best out of myself and compete at the highest level against the best athletes in the world. Scotland continues to punch above its weight and the swim team are in great shape and we’re out to get medals this week.”
The Swimming competition starts on Thursday 24 July and continues until Tuesday 29July, before the Aquatics Diving programme begins on Wednesday 30 July at the Royal Commonwealth Pool.
Photo credit: Duncan McEwan
After the heavy rain of yesterday, the sun shone through today at Barry Buddon where the shooting begins on Day Two of the Games.
On the 50m small bore range Delhi Gold medallists Jen McIntosh, Jon Hammond and Neil Stirton were all getting in practice ahead of their events which start on Monday 28th.
The Scottish small bore shooters have been training on a similar range in Hannover, Germany, before coming back last week.
Neil Stirton, Gold Medallist in the 50m Rifle Prone Pairs in Delhi with Jon Hammond, said the conditions at the range were testing today.
“The wind turned around lunchtime to become a headwind,” explained Neil. “Normally when you’re shooting it’s the bullet that can be affected by the wind. However when there’s a predominant headwind it can shift your entire pattern, especially when shooting standing or kneeling,” explained Stirton.
“Even when lying prone, a headwind plays on the elevation of the shot. It can get under the bullet and lift it up, or push it down.”
When you are talking millimetres between Gold and missing the podium, understanding and adapting to the changing wind conditions is key. For the 50m small bore rifle shooters at these Games, there is an additional challenge as they won’t be able to experience the range in its full Games set up until the night of the 26th.
That’s when the indoor air rifle and pistol events finish and the temporary wall erected to create the indoor range within the 50m range area comes down, leaving the 50m outdoor range fully opened up to the east coast winds.
For Stirton, adjusting to the wind is just part of normal preparations. “I quite like windy conditions because I train in the North East, shooting in Aberdeen for the last 20 years where you just don’t get too many calm days,” joked Stirton.
Air Pistol shooter Alan Ritchie was excited to see the Barry Buddon range and surroundings all getting branded up in Glasgow 2014 livery. “Four years since Delhi have gone by so quickly,” said Ritchie who will be competing in his fourth consecutive Games. “It’s ready to go and so are we.”
Elsewhere on the site, the shotgun cartridges were flying with Trap shooting trio of Shona Marshall, John MacDonald and Jonathan Reid all getting in some solid practice, whilst Skeet shooters, Sian Bruce and Drew Christie were sharing the round with the Australian Team who included triple Commonwealth Gold Medallist Lauryn Mark.
Photo credit: Jeff Holmes