The SEC Armadillo will be the place to be on Friday 24 July with the first medals of the Games up for grabs in the Para Powerlifting competition.

After taking in the competition environment during training, two Scottish athletes will thrill the crowds tomorrow. Scotland will be represented in both sessions with Finlay Davidson in the men’s lightweight from 13:00, while Hope Gordon – who has competed at Paralympics (summer and winter) in Para Canoe and Para Nordic Skiing – will go in the women’s heavyweight category from 18:00.

Finlay, said: “I am excited, it is really good to be in the camp and getting our last bit of prep done. Coming into the Team Scotland environment is quite different to other camps and competitions I have been to. It is good to mix in with the same team but different sports and interact with all the athletes. There are so many different dynamics.

“I was having a look at the competition view and it looks giant! It’s got to be the biggest place I’ve competed in, so I am excited.”

Hope, having won two gold at the Montreal Para Canoe World Cup just 10 days ago, said: “It is really exciting to see everyone arriving and checking out the venues, so it is a privilege to be a part of it. It means everything to represent Team Scotland. It’s something I’ve been trying to do for a while, so to finally get here is amazing. I never thought it would be within this sport, so I am very thankful to everyone who has got me here. I am just really grateful for the opportunity.”

Bowls

Jason Banks was the first Scot to compete at Glasgow 2026 and got off to an incredible winning start against Jamaica’s Robert Simpson. He won the first set 10-2 then the second 8-5, for a 2-0 sets victory in the men’s singles event.

Speaking about his match, Jason said: “It was a difficult one to start off with. Robert made me work for it, especially in that second set. I’m relieved to make it over the line and get off to a good start.

“It’s a short sharp format so there’s not much room for making mistakes. Anything can happen, you just need to be on your toes.”

This is Jason’s first Games and the crowd helped ease his nerves by cheering him on.

He said: “It just helps having them on your side.”

Jason plays his second match of the Games when he takes on Pakistan at 16:25.
Tomorrow has a full day of activity at the SEC for bowls with Caroline Brown and Beth Riva getting underway in the Women’s Pairs at 09:55 against Jersey, then the Mixed Para Pairs B2/B3 VI has Scotland facing South Africa at 12:45. Robert Barr and Mary Stevenson with directors Sarah Jane Ewing and Jim Aitken will feature in this contest.

The Mixed Para Pairs B2/B3 VI are back in action at 20:40 as Scotland face New Zealand.

Swimming

Scottish Swimmers and Para Swimmers took to the pool at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre for the final time before competition starts tomorrow ahead of six days of competition in the East End of Glasgow.

There will be strong representation from Scottish athletes across all events in the water on Friday including 13x Commonwealth medallist Duncan Scott in the 200m Individual Medley.

Also featuring are Paralympic champions Faye Rogers and Stephen Clegg in the SM10 200m Individual Medley and the S13 100m Freestyle respectively. Hometown swimmer Katie Shanahan also kicks off her programme in the 200m Backstroke – the event in which she picked up one of her two bronze medals at Birmingham 2022.

Gymnastics

On the eve of the Artistic Gymnastics competition getting underway, the women’s squad of Ellee Cheetham, Crystelle Lake, Ava McFarlane and Lottie Smith got a feel for the competition arena for the first time as they went through their routines during the podium training session. The Men’s Team Event gets the gymnastics competition underway on Friday evening, where Scotland will be aiming for silverware on day one, before the Women’s Team Event takes centre stage on Saturday afternoon.

Looking ahead to Saturday, Crystelle said: “I’m really excited – the arena looks amazing. All the work is done, so we’re just excited to put it all out there on Saturday.”

Basketball 3×3

All four of Scotland’s 3×3 teams were training today but it is the men’s running team that kick off competition with three matches tomorrow. In the morning session they face Guyana, followed by Cayman Islands in the afternoon and Australia in the evening session.

The Men’s Wheelchair team start their campaign against South Africa on Saturday and Tyler Baines is feeling confident. He said: “I’d love a medal, preferably a gold. We’ve had a couple of close friendlies today and we will just need to see what happens.”

His teammate Finlay Erskine added: “This is really exciting. I can’t wait to hit some chairs, score some baskets and see what we can do. 

“Having this exposure for our sport is great. Getting people in the door to see that we are so much more than a disability sport. It’s so competitive, physical and just really enjoyable.”

Boxing

Aaron Cullen and Leo Church are ready to step into the ring tomorrow and lead the charge for Team Scotland. Both of them have their eyes on a podium place so will be looking to get through their first fight unscathed.

Athletics and Para Athletics

Several members of the athletics team are busy preparing at their holding camp pre-Games, with a combination of really experienced Championship performers joining brand new faces to the Games environment. We caught up with two Games debutants, Allie Routledge and Jamie Phillips, who both kick off their event on Tuesday 28 July at Scotstoun.

Allie, who will compete in the heptathlon, said: “I am buzzing. The fact it is Opening Ceremony night makes it even more fun. Everyone is in prep camp now, it’s all getting closer, so it is very exciting.

“Being able to come back for seven events across two days, the crowd will start to recognise me. They will get behind me a bit more, so that is a really fun experience that combined eventers get. The crowd are even more in your corner than they already are. It’ll be a lot of fun to compete in front of a home crowd.

“To have your first major championships at a home Games makes it ten times more special, and that some people might not get to do in their whole career, never mind how many championships they go to. For Glasgow to be my first one makes it even more special.”

800m runner Jamie said: “This is my first major Championships or Games, I’ve never had the opportunity to race for Scotland or Great Britain, so I am experiencing it all for the first time and it is all new to me. My sessions so far have given me that boost that I needed.

“It is really cool being at the holding camp. I’m surrounded by some great athletes like world record holder Ben Sandilands, so it’s great. I’ve done nothing yet in comparison to those guys, so I have lots of questions I am asking, I’m a curious person so I’m learning all the time.

“The majority of this year I have been based and competing in America which is not easy for my family to get to, so I have a lot of family and friends coming to watch me in Scotstoun. It will be a super cool experience to step onto the track and see some familiar faces in the crowd.”