Athletics: Scotland’s men delivered an unforgettable performance at the London Marathon, as no fewer than three athletes dipped under the qualifying standard for Rio. Callum Hawkins excelled himself with a blistering personal best of 2.10.52 to take 8th place, ahead of world record holder Dennis Kimetto, in a race where the winning time was close to world record pace. Callum’s time was well inside the 2.14 required for Rio 2016 selection as was that of Eritrean-born Scot, Tsegai Tewelde with 2.12.23. As the first two British athletes across the line, Callum and Tsegai claim automatic selection for Rio. There is now a tantalising wait for Callum’s elder brother, Derek, who could take the third, discretionary, place after a huge personal best of 2.12.57 also took him inside the qualifying time. The marathon athletes for Rio are due to be announced tomorrow, Tuesday 26 April.
Meanwhile, Nick Percy made it two Scottish records in as many weeks, as he launched his discus out to 60.52m to take silver at the Kansas Relays and add three centimetres to his previous mark.
Boxing: Gold medals for Lee McGregor and John Docherty led the way in a strong Scottish showing at the Belgrade Winners Tournament. Lee McGregor recaptured the form that saw him named boxer of the Scottish Championships, with a commanding display against Riccardo D’Andrea of Italy to win the 56kg final. Commonwealth Youth Games Champion, John Docherty, continued his impressive start to his senior career with Middleweight gold. Glasgow 2014 stars Reece McFadden and Aqeel Ahmed both took silver, while Sean Lazzerini looked in great form until his tournament was brought to an end through a hand injury. Withdrawing from his semi-final bout he had to settle for bronze.
Table Tennis: Gavin Rumgay claimed an incredible 11th Scottish title at Saturday’s National Championships, leaving him just one away from Euan Walker’s record tally of twelve. There was high drama in the final as Gavin, with a two game lead, and within two points of victory over Glasgow 2014 team mate Craig Howieson, needed an injury time out. Craig subsequently took that game, and the next two, to level the match and looked on course to win. The lead changed hands throughout the deciding 7th end but Gavin rallied to take it 12-10 and secure the title.
In the ladies event, Ayrshire 16 year-old Rebecca Plaistow claimed her first senior national title with a 4-1 victory over Rachel Crawford.
Squash: Samoa 2015 Youth Games athlete Carrie Hallam joined forces with Georgia Adderley, Claire Gadsby and Elspeth Young as Scotland’s women put on a stellar display at the European Team Championships in Bucharest. Remaining undefeated throughout the group stages, the team overcame Finland in the semi-final and Italy in the final to claim the championship and promotion to Division II. With every member of the team under 20 years old, the result bodes well for the future.
Judo: Sally Conway was top Scottish performer at the European Championships in Kazan as she came through a world class field in the 70kg category, just missing out on a medal finishing in 5th place. She was joined in the GB team by Andy Burns and Sarah Adlington, both coming up against tough first round opponents and exiting the competition.