Team Scotland Tops 200 as Further Athletes Named
Team Scotland’s selections for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games raced past the 200 mark as a further 92 athletes across 10 sports were announced at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum today (14 February). The list of newly selected athletes includes Olympic and World medallists, defending Commonwealth Games champions and a host of athletes breaking through to make a Commonwealth Games debut.
Olympic champions Katie Archibald and Callum Skinner head a list of 16 Cycling selections, with fellow Olympian, Grant Ferguson, also named. Tandem pairing Aileen McGlynn and Louise Haston take to the boards once again, after double silver in Glasgow 2014 while Neil Fachie, double gold medallist four years ago, teams up with Matt Rotherham in the Men’s Tandem events, looking to defend both titles. There is also a raft of young talent on the track with Jack Carlin, Mark Stewart, Jonathan Wale and Neah Evans all medallists on the World Cup circuit in the past two years.
John Archibald, elder brother to Katie, also makes the team following a rapid rise on the track. Better known as a road cyclist, he made the switch in 2017 with the aim of making the Gold Coast Games, a decision that has been vindicated by top results. Most recently brother and sister won Points Race gold on the same weekend at the British Championships.
In Gymnastics, World and Olympic medallist Dan Purvis and reigning British Floor and Vault champion, Frank Baines are the returning members of the team which won a historic silver medal in the Team Event at Glasgow 2014. They are joined by three 19 year-old rising stars; 2017 Scottish All-Around champion Kelvin Cham, double British Championship medallist Hamish Carter and David Weir, who took seven medals at last year’s Scottish Championships including two gold.
After a fifth place in the Team Event in Glasgow, Cara Kennedy leads a women’s trio which includes Shannon Archer, who took four gold, including the All-Around title, at the 2017 Scottish Championships and Scottish Uneven Bars champion, Isabella Tolometti.
Dan Purvis said: “I was so proud and relieved to win the full set of medals in Glasgow, especially with it being a home Games. The biggest medal for me though was the team silver. I felt so proud standing on the podium with my team-mates having created history for Scottish Gymnastics. It’s something I’ll never forget.
“I’m so excited looking forward to the Gold Coast Games. It’s a huge opportunity to show my gymnastics to the world and as the senior team member this time, I hope I can help the others enjoy the occasion, do as well as possible, and hopefully come away with a medal or two between us.”
With Scotland recently drawn alongside top seeds India in the Badminton Team Event, eight players are selected, four of whom competed in Glasgow. Silver medallist on that occasion, Kirsty Gilmour goes in her third Commonwealth Games and will be in the medal hunt once again, with the Rio 2016 Olympics, two European Championships silver medals and a first Scottish Open title the highlights of her recent success.
Also making his third Games appearance is Kieran Merrilees in the Men’s Singles, while Men’s Doubles pairing Martin Campbell and Patrick MacHugh return from Glasgow 2014. Four exciting young talents will make their debut in Gold Coast, including European Junior Mixed Doubles silver medallists Eleanor O’Donnell and Alex Dunn, Adam Hall who has enjoyed a string of tournament wins in Men’s Doubles with Dunn and Julie MacPherson, who played both Women’s and Mixed Double at the 2017 World Championships.
Kirsty Gilmour said: “I’m ecstatic about competing in my third Commonwealth Games, and it will be a very different experience than my previous ones.
“In Delhi I was there to soak it all in and gain experience and then in Glasgow I was second seed and met that expectation with a silver medal. This time however, the competition for the three medals in ladies singles will be fought between maybe five or six of us, so really anything can happen. It’s going to be tougher not having the Scottish crowd right behind me like I had in Glasgow but I’m sure they’ll be with me in Gold Coast in spirit.
“We’re sending a relatively young team but one with a lot of potential. Everyone is coming off of some strong performances in tournaments and channeling all that energy towards the Games. It’s a really positive feeling, we just want to get started now!”
Netball select an exciting squad of 12 players, with an even split of youth and experience. Six return from the Glasgow 2014 team, including Claire Brownie who will captain the team in Gold Coast, vice-captain Lynsey Gallagher and stalwart Hayley Mulheron, who has over 100 caps for the National side. Of the six athletes making their Games debut, three are age 20 or younger; Bethany Sutherland who captained the 2017 World Youth Cup team to eighth place, Beth Goodwin, named Player of the Tournament on her senior debut at 2017 Netball Europe and Niamh McCall, the first player born in the 2000s to receive a senior cap.
Team captain Claire Brownie said: “I am honoured and very excited to be selected for the Commonwealth Games. It is an amazing experience to be part of Team Scotland, I absolutely loved it in 2014 and cannot wait to join up with the wider Team Scotland family, get out to the Gold Coast and put all of our hard work into practice. We have an amazing squad full of youth and experience, we are delighted with our new Team Scotland playing kit which nods to both our Scottish Thistles presence mixed in with the Team Scotland design, and we are really excited for the opportunity to represent our country in front of the world.”
Team Scotland will take to the field in both the Men’s and Women’s Hockey competitions at Gold Coast 2018, with both sides a mix of returning players and debutants. Scotland’s men took an outstanding victory in the 2017 EuroHockey Challenge II and go into Gold Coast 2018 set on bettering their eighth place finish of four years ago. There is a wealth of experience in the squad with Kenny Bain, Alan Forsyth, William Marshall and Gordon McIntyre all selected for their third Games and a further four players returning from Glasgow 2014.
After qualification for the World League semi-finals in 2017 and a successful recent test series against Wales, the women’s side will be looking to build on sixth place at Glasgow 2014. Twelve players make their Games debut while five return from the Glasgow 2014 side, along with defender Kareena Cuthbert whose last Games appearance was Delhi 2010.
Scottish Hockey CEO David Sweetman said, “We’re incredibly proud to announce such exciting hockey squads for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, and I’d like to offer my congratulations to all the athletes selected. This announcement is a great testament to all the hard work and dedication shown by each athlete in the squads.
“Our players and staff are fantastic ambassadors for hockey. We look forward to cheering them on as they compete in Australia and we wish the whole of Team Scotland the very best of luck for April’s Games.”
Diver Grace Reid is selected for her third Commonwealth Games at the age of just 21. The youngest athlete on Team Scotland in 2010, Grace stepped up at Glasgow 2014 to finish fifth in the 1m Springboard and since then she has made her Olympic debut, taken World silver and European gold in Mixed Synchro and become the first Scot since 1954 to take an individual medal at the European Championships. James Heatly, who recorded two top ten finishes in Glasgow, has also been a recent visitor to the European Championships podium, taking bronze in the Men’s 3m Synchro in 2017.
They are joined by 19 year-old Gemma MacArthur and 16 year-old Lucas Thomson who have already found success in the 2018 Games Diving venue, teaming up to win Mixed Synchro gold at the Gold Coast Grand Prix in November. Thomson was also a 2018 British Championship gold medallist alongside Heatly in the Men’s 3m Sychro event. The Swimming squad has also been boosted by the addition of Rio 2016 Olympian Camilla Hattersley and 2016 European University Games gold medallist Abbie Houston.
A four-strong Wrestling team sees Glasgow 2014 medallists Alex Gladkov and Viorel Etko return to Team Scotland, where they are joined by Commonwealth Championships bronze medallist, Ross Connelly, and British Open champion, Joe Hendry. Gladkov and Etko’s bronze medals in Glasgow were Scotland’s first in the sport for 20 years and the team will be looking for more medal success in Gold Coast.
High jumper Nikki Manson joins the Athletics line-up and has been in sparking form in 2018. She leapt to a personal best of 1.87m in the Czech Republic in January and followed up with a Scottish National and Native indoor record of 1.90m at last weekend’s Scottish Universities Championships. Pistol shooter Jessica Liddon has also earned a place at Gold Coast 2018 after two top 10 placings at the 2017 Commonwealth Championships.
Today’s announcement bring the number of athletes selected for Team Scotland for Gold Coast 2018 to 207. Further selections, including the Rugby 7s squad, will be announced in March.
SELECTED ATHLETES
ATHLETICS (1)
Name Hometown / Lives
Nikki Manson Glasgow / Glasgow
BADMINTON (8)
Name Hometown / Lives
Martin Campbell Edinburgh / Glasgow
Alexander Dunn Motherwell / Motherwell
Adam Hall Mauchline / Paisley
Patrick MacHugh Kinross / Glasgow
Kieran Merrilees Glasgow / Glasgow
Kirsty Gilmour Bothwell / Glasgow
Julie MacPherson Edinburgh / Edinburgh
Eleanor O’Donnell Beith / Beith
CYCLING (16)
Name Hometown / Lives
John Archibald Glasgow / Milngavie
Jack Carlin Paisley / Manchester
Neil Fachie Aberdeen / Aberdeen
Andy Fenn Birmingham / Maidstone
Grant Ferguson Peebles / Manchester
Kyle Gordon Alness / Ardross
Matt Rotherham Bolton / Bolton
Callum Skinner Edinburgh / Manchester
Mark Stewart Dundee / Manchester
Jonathan Wale Edinburgh / Amersham
Katie Archibald Glasgow / Wilmslow, Cheshire
Neah Evans Cuminestown, Aberdeenshire
Louise Haston South Queensferry / Edinburgh
Aileen McGlynn Glasgow / Manchester
Eileen Roe High Valleyfield, Fife / Dunfermline
Isla Short Peebles / Peebles
DIVING (4)
Name Hometown / Lives
James Heatly Edinburgh / Edinburgh
Lucas Thomson Balerno / Balerno
Gemma McArthur Fleet, Hampshire / Fleet, Hampshire
Grace Reid Edinburgh / Edinburgh
GYMNASTICS (8)
Name Hometown / Lives
Frank Baines Liverpool / Liverpool
Hamish Carter West Bridgford / Birmingham
Kelvin Cham Paisley / Paisley
Daniel Purvis Southport / Southport
David Weir Dreghorn, North Ayrshire / Dreghorn, North Ayrshire
Shannon Archer Uphall / Uphall
Cara Kennedy Paisley / Paisley
Isabella Tolometti Alford, Aberdeenshire / Alford / Aberdeenshire
MEN’S HOCKEY (18)
Name Hometown / Lives
Tommy Alexander Virginia Water / Virginia Water
Russell Anderson Chester / Derby
Kenneth Bain Paisley / Amsterdam
Michael Bremner Kilbarchan / Glasgow
Gavin Byers Dundee / Dundee
Callum Duke Glasgow / Glasgow
David Forrester Glasgow / Glasgow
Alan Forsyth Paisley / London
David Forsyth Paisley / Amsterdam
Cameron Fraser Edinburgh / Edinburgh
Chris Grassick Balerno, Midlothian / Surbiton, Surrey
Rob Harwood Milngavie / Glasgow
William Marshall Paisley / Leatherhead, Surrey
Gordon McIntyre Greenock / London
Lee Morton Glasgow / Paisley
Nicholas Parkes Glasgow / London
Duncan Riddell Edinburgh / Readling
Jamie Wong Aberdeen / Aberdeen
WOMEN’S HOCKEY (18)
Name Hometown / Lives
Amy Brodie Edinburgh / Edinburgh
Camilla Brown Edinburgh / Glasgow
Nicki Cochrane Dunblane / Dunblane
Robyn Collins Fenwick / Surbiton & Loughborough
Rebecca Condie Birmingham / Birmingham
Amy Costello Edinburgh / Edinburgh
Kareena Cuthbert Greenock / Glasgow
Mairi Drummond Edinburgh / London
Amy Gibson Dumbarton / Cardross
Alison Howie Glasgow / Glasgow
Sarah Jamieson Edinburgh / Edinburgh
Lucy Lanigan Glasgow / Edinburgh
Nikki Lloyd Beckenham / Surrey
Sarah Robertson Selkirk / Selkirk
Katie Robertson Freuchie, Fife / Freuchie, Fife
Nicola Skrastin Helensburgh / Helensburgh
Rebecca Ward Dundee / Glasgow
Charlotte Watson Dundee / Dundee
NETBALL (12)
Name Hometown / Lives
Claire Brownie Aberdeen / Airdrie
Fiona Fowler Mooroopna, Australia
Lynsey Gallagher East Kilbride / East Kilbride
Ella Gibbons Worcester / Renfrew
Bethan Goodwin Glasgow / Cambuslang
Niamh McCall Strathaven / Strathaven
Nicola McCleery East Kilbride / East Kilbride
Hayley Mulheron Glasgow / Glasgow & Biggera Waters, Australia
Samantha Murphy East Kilbride / East Kilbride
Emily Nicholl Biggar / Rutherglen
Jo Pettitt West Linton / Rutherglen
Bethany Sutherland Golspie / Hertfordshire
SHOOTING (1)
Name Hometown / Lives
Jessica Liddon Lockerbie
SWIMMING (2)
Name Hometown / Lives
Camilla Hattersley Perth / Glasgow
Abbie Houston Dumfries / Sheffield
WRESTLING (4)
Name Hometown / Lives
Viorel Etko Aberdeen / Old Meldrum
Alex Gladkov Glasgow / Glasgow
Joe Hendry Edinburgh / Edinburgh
Ross Connolly Cumbernauld / Cumbernauld