Fantastic Weekend for Scots in Hunt for Tokyo and Birmingham
Olympic and Commonwealth Games places were on the line this weekend and Scotland’s athletes rose to the occasion in style…
Athletics
Six Scots guaranteed their Olympic places over an action-packed weekend at the British Athletics Championships in Manchester. With athletes who had already recorded a qualifying standard needing to place in the top two to book their seat on the plane to Tokyo, Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman, Nicole Yeargin, Andy Butchart, Jemma Reekie and Beth Dobbin did just that.
Edinburgh AC club mates Josh Kerr and Jake Wightman battling stride for stride down the home straight for gold and silver respectively in the 1500m was the Scottish highlight on Saturday, both booking their place at Tokyo 2020. Silver in the 400m in a time of 51.26 saw Nicole Yeargin do likewise and Andy Butchart secured his second Olympic Games selection with silver in the 5,000m.
How it started How it’s going@joshk97 and @JakeSWightman take it from East Districts to Olympic Trials 1-2 at #MullerBritishChamps
Pics from @EdinburghAC via @keithmdunlop and Getty Images for @BritAthletics, respectively! pic.twitter.com/galTM6AmA9
— scottishathletics (@scotathletics) June 26, 2021
Beth Dobbin ran an impressive 23.09 into a strong headwind to take silver in the 200m to assure Tokyo selection and almost snatched gold on the line in a great race with Jodie Williams. Jemma Reekie booked her Olympic place in the 800m with silver in an exciting race which saw Keeley Hodgkinson take gold and Laura Muir bronze.
With Muir all but guaranteed an Olympic place in the 1500m, a minimum of 11 Scots are now due to be named to the Team GB athletics team later today.
Scottish athletes won a total of 14 medals across the weekend including 1500m silver and a first ever British senior medal for 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games gold medallist Erin Wallace, having placed 4th last year.
Read in depth reports from scottishathletics:
Saturday – Muller British Champs (Saturday): Four top Scots land Olympic places – Scottish Athletics
Rugby 7s
Scotland women put on a stellar performance to finish third at the Rugby Europe Championship Series in Moscow. With the event doubling as a European Regional qualifying event for Birmingham 2022, it’s result that should see them qualify for their first Commonwealth Games appearance, subject to an invitation from the Commonwealth Games Federation.
Day one was flawless with wins over Wales (24-5) and Spain (29-14) to top their pool, followed by a win over Romania (33-5) to end the day in a strong position in the second round of pool matches. Day two began with a walkover, Portugal unfortunately having to forfeit the match due to an inconclusive COVID test, and the Scots topped their group once again and advanced to the top tier.
Scotland produced some great play in the final stages of the tournament but ultimately Poland (14-29) and Russia (5-22) proved too strong and the Scots had to settle for bronze.
🏴 Scotland collect their medals for third place after producing some great 7s rugby here in Moscow. pic.twitter.com/nLwKkeO9pp
— Rugby Europe (@rugby_europe) June 26, 2021
Weightlifting
A strong Scottish contingent headed to London for the British Weightlifting Championships, returning with six medals.
The women’s events saw Gold Coast 2018 competitor Lisa Tobias get the Scots off to a great start with silver in the 49kg event with a total of 142kg, three kilos more than she lifted in Gold Coast and just 1kg shy of her Scottish Record total. Bronze medals followed for Lesley Brown in the 64kg event, finishing on 164kg, and Alice Aitchison in the 71kg event, lifting a total of 188kg.
Six years on from finishing 4th for Team Scotland at the Samoa 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games, Jason Epton broke his own Scottish Clean & Jerk record with 161kg en route to winning silver in the 81kg event with a total of 283kg. There was also silver for David Steel in the 96kg event with a total of 295kg and Ashley Wiles rounded out the day with gold in the 102kg category with a 267kg total.