From the Gold Coast to Tokyo: Part Two
Of the 53 Scots set to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games, 20 represented Team Scotland at Gold Coast 2018, including 10 medallists. For many, the Commonwealth Games has acted as a springboard in their journey to Olympic selection. In our second update we review the progress of our Athletics, Badminton and Shooting stars…
ATHLETICS
Gold Coast 2018: Having run for Team Scotland at both the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, Zoey was a semi-finalist in the individual 400m in Gold Coast. She was also a member of the Scotland 4x400m team that finished 6th in the final.
Road to Tokyo: Already a World silver medallist and World Indoor bronze medallist in the 4x400m prior to Gold Coast, Zoey has been a regular member of the GB relay squad, winning bronze at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin and silver at two successive European Indoor Championships in 2019 and 2021. Tokyo will be her first Olympic Games.
Gold Coast 2018: Callum received an outpouring of concern and well wishes from supporters both Scottish and from further afield as he succumbed to the heat with just a mile to go in the Marathon, having led for much of the race.
Road to Tokyo: Callum finished ninth on his Team GB debut at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, with brother Derek in 15th. Following Gold Coast Callum was in superb form at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, taking 4th place and was one of the first athletes selected to Team GB for Tokyo, being pre-selected in December 2019.
Gold Coast 2018: Having competed in the Steeplechase at Glasgow 2014, Eilish switched from the barriers to the flat following a serious foot injury. She was a finalist in both 1,500m and 5,000m in Gold Coast, finishing 6th in both events.
Road to Tokyo: In the summer of 2018, Eilish followed up her Gold Coast 2018 by taking silver over 5,000m at the European Championships in Berlin, adding to her European Indoor bronze from the previous year. She has been in brilliant form in 2021, erasing Paula Radcliffe’s long-standing British 5,000m record at the Oslo Diamond League. Tokyo will be her third Olympic Games following a debut in the 3,000m steeplechase at London 2012 and qualifying as a finalist in the 5,000m at Rio 2016. She will contest the 5,000m and 10,000m in the Japanese capital 30 years on from her mother Liz McColgan’s Tokyo World Championship win.
Gold Coast 2018: Steph won 1500m bronze and was 4th in the 5,000m on her Commonwealth Games debut at Delhi 2010. A broken ankle in 2011 and a further foot injury in 2012 set her back, but by Glasgow 2014 she returned to international action and competed at her third Games in Gold Coast, where she was a finalist in the 5000m and 1500m, finishing 7th in the latter.
Road to Tokyo: Steph made her Olympic debut at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, narrowly missing the 1500m final, having won World Junior gold in that event earlier in the year. She competed in the competed in both the 3,000m and 5,000m at Rio 2016 before running her first competitive Marathon in 2018. A year later she broke Liz McColgan’s long-standing Scottish record with a time of two hours 26 minutes and 40 seconds and having overcome a hamstring problem that caused her to drop out of the 2020 London Marathon, she is set to compete at her third Olympics at a fourth distance in Tokyo.
Gold Coast 2018: Competing at his second Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast 2018 saw Jake go comfortably through the rounds in both 800m and 1500m. He went one better than his fourth place finish in the 800m to bag a spot on the 1500m podium on the final night. Making his move down the back straight, he chased down Kenyan’s Elijah Manangoi and Timothy Cheruiyot, who finished one-two at the 2017 World Championships, to take bronze.
Road to Tokyo: Jake rounded out a hugely successful 2018 by taking bronze in the 1500m at the European Championships in Berlin. 2019 saw him make the final of the 1500m at the World Championships, finishing 5th, while in 2020 he followed up with a Scottish record of 3:29.47 at the Monaco Diamond League. A second place finish behind Edinburgh AC clubmate Josh Kerr in a thrilling Olympic Trials race saw him claim his place in Tokyo.
BADMINTON
Gold Coast 2018: Kirsty became the youngest badminton player to attend a Commonwealth Games for Scotland when she competed at Delhi 2010 having just turned 17. At Glasgow 2014 she became the first Scottish woman to reach a Commonwealth Games Badminton Singles final, winning silver. Gold Coast 2018 saw a return to the podium with a second successive Singles medal, this time a bronze.
Road to Tokyo: Since Gold Coast Kirsty has racked up two wins and two silver medals on the BWF World Tour, including gold on home soil at the Scottish Open in 2018. She took bronze at the 2019 European Games in Minsk and has been in superb form in 2021, winning her third European Championship medal of her career with bronze Kyiv, Ukraine. Tokyo will be her second Olympic Games.
SHOOTING
Gold Coast 2018: Competing at her second Games, added to her family’s Commonwealth Games legacy with two bronze medals in the 50m Rifle Prone and 3 Positions events, to add to the five medals won by elder sister Jen and four from mum Shirley at previous Games. She also took 5th in the 10m Air Rifle.
Road to Tokyo: Since Gold Coast Seonaid has gone from strength to strength, winning World Championship gold in the Women’s Prone 50m Rifle and rising to become World #1 in Three Position Rifle after winning silver at the 2019 Munich World Cup, followed by gold in Rio de Janeiro, becoming the first British Woman to win a World Cup gold medal. She also won 2019 European Championships bronze in the 50m Prone Rifle Mixed Team event with teammate Kenneth Parr and gold in the 300m Prone Rifle, equalling the World Record.