Shooting and Weightlifting step into the Gold Coast 2018 Sport Focus spotlight this week, two sports which have been regular contributors to the Team Scotland medal tally at the Commonwealth Games. Both sports have named athletes who will compete at Gold Coast 2018 as Team Scotland target their best overseas Games in history.

Look out for all things Weightlifting and Shooting on Team Scotland’s website and social channels this week as both sports share the spotlight in our Sport Focus Series, which features each of the 18 sports on the Gold Coast 2018 programme through athlete interviews, facts & figures, competition news and more.

Shooting at the Commonwealth Games

Shooting is an optional sport in the Commonwealth Games and was first contested in Kingston in 1966. After a gap in 1970, the sport has appeared at every Games since.

Shooting can boast both Scotland’s most decorated athlete of all-time, Allister Allan winning 10 medals over five Games, and Scotland’s most decorated female athlete of all-time, Jen McIntosh, currently on five medals and about to compete at her third Games in Gold Coast.

All Shooting events were open until 1994, when pistol and most rifle events were segregated by gender. Trap and Skeet events followed suit in 2002, with the Full-Bore Rifle the last remaining open event.

Find out more about Shooting in the Commonwealth Games, including the competition format, rules and equipment on our dedicated Shooting page.

Weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games

Weightlifting is a core sport and had been included at every Games since Auckland 1950, with events for women first introduced in 2002.

Philip Caira is Scotland’s most successful weightlifter with two gold medals, won in 1958 and 1962, and he remains Scotland’s only gold medallist to date in the sport. Scotland’s most recent medallist was Peter Kirkbride with silver at the Delhi 2010 Games.

Para-Sport Powerlifting was integrated into the Commonwealth Games in Manchester 2002 and has featured ever since, with Micky Yule just missing the podium at Glasgow 2014 in 4th place.

Find out more about Weightlifting in the Commonwealth Games, including the competition format, rules and equipment on our dedicated Weightlifting page.

Team Scotland 2018

Team Scotland have named 11 shooters to date for Gold Coast 2018, including multiple medallists Jen McIntosh, Neil Stirton and Ian Shaw. Seonaid McIntosh, Caroline Brownlie and Linda Pearson all return for their second Games while five athletes will make their debut in Gold Coast.

Click here to meet the Shooting team for Gold Coast 2018.

Four weightlifters have been selected for Gold Coast 2018, all making their Games debut, while para-sport powerlifter Micky Yule returns for his second Games after 4th place in Glasgow.

Click here to meet the Weightlifting team for Gold Coast 2018.

A total of 117 athletes have been named to Team Scotland for Gold Coast 2018 to date, with athletes announced in Athletics, Basketball, Boxing, Beach Volleyball, Lawn Bowls, Shooting, Squash, Swimming, Table Tennis, Triathlon and Weightlifting.

Show Your Support!

You can show your support by uploading photos and messages on our supporters page and give Team Scotland’s athletes a boost as they prepare to do the country proud on one of sport’s biggest stages!

Look out for other ways to get behind the team in the countdown to Gold Coast on Team Scotland’s social media channels.

Scotland at the Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is the only occasion where Scotland gets to compete in a multi-sport event as a nation in its own right and is one of only six countries to have competed in every Commonwealth Games since their inception in Hamilton in 1930. Represented by 15 athletes participating in six sports at those first Games, winning a very creditable 10 medals, Scotland have gone on to win medals at every Games since.

Edinburgh became the first city to hold the Games twice in 1970 and 1986 and also became the first city to host the Commonwealth Youth Games.

Scotland hosted the Games for a third time when Glasgow welcomed athletes and officials to the XXth Commonwealth Games which was held from 23rd July – 3rd August 2014. Team Scotland celebrated their most successful Games in history, winning a total of 53 medals.

Find out more about the Commonwealth Games and Team Scotland’s past success in our Past Games section.