countdown issue 15

8/6/2019 Countdown Issue 15

1/8

Chairmans view

There was great excitement as TeamScotland touched down in Glasgowon Saturday 16 October on EmiratesEK27.

Sports Minister Shona Robison wasthere to greet the medallists who haddelivered 26 medals - Scotlands secondbest result ever, 9 gold, 10 silver and 7bronze. The athletes were then dazzledby a gallery of photographers in thearrivals hall, before being embraced byfamily and friends proudly waving thesaltire.

Jon Doig, Team Scotland Chef de Missionsaid: When we announced our team Isaid Delhi would give the opportunity fornew heroes to emerge and that certainlyhas proven to be the case. Our team spirithas been second to none and this hasundoubtedly contributed to our success.

I am delighted with the overall teamperformance and the fact that we haveexceeded our target of 18-25 medals. Webelieve this provides a strong platform

going into a home Games in Glasgow,however we will not be complacent andwe are always looking for ways to improve.We will be conducting a full review of ourGames operation and results over the nextfew months and starting to build our plansas we go into one of the most excitingperiods in our sporting history.

Goldenhomecoming forTeam Scotland

count d wnCOMMONWEALTH GAMES SCOTLAND NEWSLETTER ISSUE 15 WINTER 2010

The last 12 monthshave own by and wecan now look back withconsiderable satisfactionat the performance ofTeam Scotland in Delhi2010. We anticipated aspectacular Games in anamazing country, and they certainly were

that. We also anticipated a number ofchallenges, in a culture and competitionenvironment that few members of TeamScotland had previously experienced.

So we prepared accordingly, with anumber of site visits which proved to bevital, as we faced a situation where theGames delivery slipped, to a point wherethe participation of Team Scotland was inquestion, and the Games themselves mayhave been in jeopardy. However in thisenvironment Team Scotland respondedmagni cently, and delivered as one

united team, despite the most trying ofcircumstances. It was also a landmarkmoment when Flower of Scotland wasplayed for the rst time to celebrateRobbie Renwicks gold in the pool.

I would like to acknowledge the governingbodies, who worked so hard to prepare theathletes. Also our public and commercialpartners who supported us so well andour 2014 Games partners who all helpedmake Scotland House, our supportersbase, such a huge success. With the magni cent Scottish sectionof the Closing Ceremony giving a tasteof things to come, we now look aheadto Glasgow 2014 with con dence andexcitement as the host CommonwealthGames Association. CGS is determinedto help deliver an athlete centred, sportfocused Games and one that puts thefun and friendship back at the heart of it.We look forward to working with all ourpartners to deliver our biggest and mostsuccessful team ever in 2014.

Michael Cavanagh

FACT FILETeam Scotland won 26 medals 9 gold, 10 silver and 7

bronze, their second most successful Games ever.Only at Melbourne 2006, has Team Scotland ever won more gold medals 11.28 team members won a total of 38 medals in seven sports. There were 10 gold

medallists, including two double gold medallists.Shooting was Team Scotlands most successful sport winning nine medals (4

gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze). This is the most medals shooting has ever won.Scotlands top athlete was shooter Jonathan Hammond who won 2 gold, 1 silver

and 1 bronze and he is Scotlands best performing athlete in any sport at a singleGames, whilst fellow shooter Jen McIntosh was Scotlands most successfulfemale athlete of any Games winning 2 gold and 1 bronze.19 of the 28 medallists were competing in their rst Commonwealth Games and

four athletes were repeat medallists - Robbie Renwick, Neil Stirton, Andy Hunter,David Carry.The 192 Scottish athletes were joined by 56 athletes, coaches and mentors on the

Achieve 2014 programme. The programme has already received a lot of positivefeedback.

D E L H

I

R E V I E

W


2/8

The First Minister hosted a reception atStirling Castle on 18 November to celebrateScottish Sporting success including at theCommonwealth Games. Then in was on tothe Commonwealth Games Scotland SportsAwards Dinner in Glasgow, supported byClydesdale Bank, where the top award ofthe evening went to swimmer Hannah Miley.She saw off stiff competition to win the titleof Scottish Sportsperson of the Year 2010and was awarded the Emirates LonsdaleTrophy.

2010 was a golden year for Hannahnishing the year ranked as the world

number one in her favoured 400mindividual medley (IM) event and asboth the European and Commonwealthchampion, taking some notable scalps and

records in the process. In runner-up spotwas triathlete, Catriona Morrison.

Further awards were also given tospeci cally recognise performances atthe 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.This programme, supported by ClydesdaleBank, has recognised an Athlete of theMonth since October 2009 as they vied forselection for the Games and has culminatedin four overall awards.

It was shooting that stole the showwith Jonathan Hammond collecting theClydesdale Bank Male Athlete of the Gamestitle and 19 year old Jennifer McIntoshtaking the female title. Both John and Jenwere Scotlands most successful individualmale and female athletes at a single Games.John won two gold medals a silver anda bronze, whilst Jen won two gold and abronze.

Swimmer Robbie Renwick was recognisedwith the Clydesdale Bank InspirationalPerformance Award. Robbie won Scotlands

rst gold of the Games in the mens 200mfreestyle, coming back after bitterdisappointment in the 400mfreestyle on day one. Afterhearing Flower of Scotlandplayed for the very rsttime on the podium, Robbiededicated the hard foughtgold to his former coach,Eileen Adams, who sadly

died earlier this yearafter a long battlewith cancer.

The ClydesdaleBank Memorable

It wasnt long before the team started to realise the impact their performancesin Delhi had had both on the country and their own local communities andthere was recognition for many of the medallists in the end of year awardsceremonies.

Sporting celebrations forCommonwealth stars Moment of the Games was awarded toweightlifter Peter Kirkbride. A red upKirkbride shouted Scotland as he lifted

himself into silver medal position in the94kg weight category. So pleased with hisperformance, he leapt up from the liftingplatform in sheer delight and then eludedto the rapturous crowd just how easy it allwas all captured on camera! Peter has alsobeen awarded an Olympic Solidarity AthleteScholarship by the International OlympicCommittee.

Also recognised were ve winners ofScottish Sports Aid Merit Awards supportedby John Lewis Glasgow. These were madeto: 22 year old triathlete David McNamee;15 year old tennis player Jonathon OMara;Lisa McKenzie a 21 year old fencer; GraceReid a 14 year old springboard diver; and17 year old swimmer Craig McNally. Itwas Grace Reid who went on to win theScottish Sports Aid Junior Sportsperson ofthe Year 2010. Grace had an outstandingyear nishing an incredible fourth at theEuropean Senior Diving Championships inAugust, a result which saw her qualify for

selection for Team Scotland at the 2010Commonwealth Games as its youngest everteam member. In Delhi she had a wonderfulexperience and nished in sixth placesetting the highest ever score for a British

junior.

But it was at the Sunday Mailsport scotland Scottish SportsAwards Dinner in December thatTeam Scotland as a whole wasrecognised and voted Team ofthe Year, recognised for its

outstanding team spirit and

performance both on andoff the eld of play. Robbie

Renwick and Grace Reidwere also recognisedfor their achievements twice in a week.

Triathlete Catriona Morrison with CGS Chairman Michael Cavanagh and Denise Holmes, Emirates Airline

Jon Doig and Donald McIntosh collect Team ofthe Year Award.

Grace Reid awarded Junior Sportsperson of the Year

Jen McIntosh is Female Athlete of the Games.

Hannah Miley


3/8

Scotlands Lauren Smith was lying in thirdplace following a strong execution of hertechnical routine. She put in a superbperformance in the free routine thefollowing day to hold off Malaysias KatrinaAbdul Hadi and win bronze, Scotlands rstever synchro medal.

DIVING14 year old Grace Reid was Scotlands solerepresentative in the diving, following thewithdrawal of the Galashan twins withHelen sustaining a fractured wrist just daysbefore departing for Delhi.

Grace whowas Scotlandsyoungest everteam member,made her Gamesdebut in the 3mspringboardevent. She divedsteadily through the quali cation round to

nish in seventh position and qualify forthe nal. She continued her good form in

to nish sixth overall, settings anew PB in the process and the

rst time a British junior diverhas ever scored over 300points.

3

SWIMMINGThe action got underway at Dr SPMukherkjee Swimming Complex on the

rst day of the Games with David Carryout to defend his 400m freestyle title. Hehad to settle for bronze but still collectedScotlands rst medal of the Games.

Day two saw David back in action along withfellow Aberdonian Robbie Renwick in the200m freestyle. This time it was Robbiesturn to come out on top and win Scotlands

rst gold and hear the Flower of Scotlandplayed on the podium for the very rst time.

On day three with both Renwick and Carrykeen to add to their personal medal tally,they teamed up with Andy Hunter and JakScott in the mens 4x200m freestyle relayto take silver in the nal. Cameron Brodieand Lewis Smith also were awarded medalsfor their contribution in the heats. It wasSean Frasers turn to stand on the medalpodium on day ve, powering to silver inthe 100m freestyle Para Sport S8 event.

On the nal day of competition in thepool Michael Jamieson took silver inthe 200m breaststroke touchedout to miss gold by 0.08 seconds.European Champion Hannah Mileywaited all week to compete in herfavoured 400m individual medley. Sheheld her nerve to take gold in stylewith a time of 4:38.83, a new GamesRecord and crowned a fantastic day forTeam Scotland.

SYNCHROAfter the rst day of the synchronisedswimming solo competition,

AQUATICS It was always going to be dif cult for the swimmers tomatch their truly exceptional performance of the 2006Games, where they won a historic 12 medals. However,

they were determined to deliver to their potential and won two gold, three silver and abronze in the swimming plus a bronze in the synchronised swimming.

Archery made a return to theCommonwealth Games arena

in Delhi for the rst time sinceBrisbane in 1982. Team Scotlandhad 10 archers selected for theGames in both compound andrecurve disciplines.

In the team competition the mensrecurve and compound teamsboth nished ninth , whilst thewomens compound team were eigth. Therewere mixed fortunes for the archers in theindividual events with Tracey McGowangiving the best Scottish performance to

nish sixth overall.

A R C H E R Y

At the impressive JawaharlalNehru Stadium there were mixedperformances from the Scots andit was the women that reached thepodium contributing a silver and abronze to the teams medal tally.

Steph Twell, representing Scotlandfor the rst time, had a magni centrace in the 1500m against worldclass opposition. She dug deep andheld her line on the inside to take

a well earned bronze. Later inthe week she gave another neperformance in the 5000m and

just missed out on the medalsnishing fourth.

On day seven Eilidh Child wentinto the nal of the 400m

hurdles as second fastest fromthe heats and lived up to herbilling. She ran a fantastic race to

clinch the silver medal in a time of 55.62 toend a successful season which saw her stepup and establish herself amongstworld class opposition.

A T H L E T I C S

DelhiTracey McGowan

Eilidh Child

Hannah Miley

Sean Fraser

LaurenSmith

GraceReid

Robbie Renwick

highlights


4/8

Scotlands women gave asolid performance in the teamcompetition to nish in fth place,with all three girls qualifying forthe individual all-around nal. Inaddition they each quali ed for oneindividual apparatus nal with Amyon the oor, Tori on beamand Jordon on bars. Itwas Amy who came outon top nishing fourthafter a good routine.

Scotlands sole male competitormade it through to the individualall-around nal after a late withdrawal andset a personal best to nish 17th, whilstin the rhythmic gymnastics competition

16 year old Vicky Clow quali ed forthe individual all-around nal and

nished 14th.

BOXINGThere was a great buzz in the boxingcamp from the off, with all seven boxersdetermined to show what they could do.They didnt disappoint and came awaywith a bronze, silver and gold to maintainboxings incredible record of a medal atevery Commonwealth Games.

In his opening bout of thecompetition Stephen Simmons

in the 91kg Heavyweightcategory was up against SouthAfrican Masana Manganyi and

gave a dominant performance to win 10-2.In the quarter nals there was anothercon dent win for Simmons 7-4 againstCanadian Samir El Mais. But there wasdisappointment in the semis when he lost6-1 to Northern Irelands Steven Ward andhad to settle for bronze.

Josh Taylor started strongly inthe 60kg Lightweight categorydefeating Melbourne bronze

medallist, Darren Edwardsof Wales 5-1. He gave another

winning performance 4-1against Benjamin

Lamptey of Ghana,before conducting awhitewash againstKautoa Roddy ofKiribati in the quarter

nals to win10-0 and

guarantee himself a medal. In the semi-nals Josh put in a composed performance

to beat Tongan Lomalito Moala 5-0, but inthe nal it was a tough ask when he was upagainst Englands Thomas Stalker, currentEuropean Champion. The experience of theEnglishman showed as he took the bout 11-3and Taylor had to be satis ed with silver.However it was an outstanding result forthe 19 year old from Edinburgh who hadonly conceded two points on his way to the

nal.

It was Callum Johnson inthe 81kg Light Heavyweightcategory that went all the way

and took gold, a repeat of thefeat performed by Kenny Andersonin Melbourne four years earlier. Havingseen off Krystian Borucki of the Isle of Man8-1 in his opening bout, Johnson was upagainst Englishman Obed Mbwakongo inthe quarter nals and came out on top 6-2.In the semis Johnson continued to show hisdominance against Wales Jermaine Asareforcing the referee to stop the contest at

11-1. There was no stopping Callum nowas he executed a clinical performancefrom the start of his nal against ThomasMcCarthy of Northern Ireland 8-1 to takegold and secure Team Scotlands nal gold

medal of the Games.

On nals night Stephen Simmons donnedhis morph suit once more to support histeammates, before changing back into teamkit to collect his own bronze medal.

Following the draw, both Scotlandmen and womens team knew theywere in with a tough challenge toqualify through the pool stagesof the competition, with only thetop two in each ve team poolprogressing. The women got offto a good start holding hostsIndia to a 1-1 draw in their openingmatch. This was followed by a loss

to South Africa, a win against Trinidad &Tobago and a loss to Australia. Followinga fourth place result in the pool stages,Scotlands women played-off against Wales

to determine 7th/8th positions. With thescore standing at 1-1 the nal result wentdown to penalty icks. The nal scorewas 4-2. Abi Walker saved three penaltieswhile Kareena Marshall, Vicky Bunce andCatriona Forrest slotted theirs in the net tocement the win.

The men had a frustrating campaign losingall four pool games against higher rankedopposition in Pool A. In the play-offs theybeat Trinidad & Tobago to nish ninthoverall and equal their ranking going in.

In the mixed team competition Scotlandgot off to a winning start, rst againstBarbados then Wales and Kenya, all to thesame impressive 5-0 score line. Hosts Indiawere the rst to beat Scotland 4-1. It wasthen Scotlands turn to face the Auld Enemy

H O C K E Y

BADMINTON

England in the quarter nals where theylost 3-1 and with it their chance of winninga team medal as they had in Manchester in2002.

In the individual events it was GlasgowsSusan Egelstaff that led the charge forScotland in the womens singles. HoweverScotlands hopes of ending the badmintoncompetition with a medal ended indisappointment when third seed SusanEgelstaff lost the bronze medal play-off togreat rival and fourth seed Elizabeth Cannof England.

Egelstaff had been hoping to repeat hervictory of four years ago over the EnglandNo. 1 at the same stage in Melbourne andshe went into action boosted by a good winover Cann in the quarter- nals of the teamevent. However after taking an early lead inthe rst game she lost 21-18, 21-16.

G Y M N A S T I C S

Scotland v India

Amy Regan

Callum Johnson

Josh Taylor

Susan Egelstaff


5/8

wind. The racewas held on anexpressway,with a tailwind-assisted rst20km beforethe riders hadto turn and ridedirectly intothe wind - an

experience Millarlater said waslike pedallingthrough treacle.Yet as othersstruggled alongthe at course,Millar was a modelof ef ciency - head down, legsslicing up and down, he cutthrough the wind like a blade.After leading Englands AlexDowsett at half-distance by justfour seconds his margin of victory was a

whopping 54 seconds on the line.

For the second time in a week David Millarmade history by becoming the rst Scotever to win a gold medal in a road cyclingevent and it was proudly presented to himby Scotlands First Minister Alex Salmond.

5

On the rstday of thecyclingcompetition,Jenny Davis

and Charline Joiner won silver in thewomens team sprint, a new event on theCommonwealth Games programme. Havingonly trained together for this event for afew months it was a fabulous achievement.Part of the Gold for Glasgow campign,success came early for the pair.

But there was heartache for the Team

Scotland ag bearer, Ross Edgar, whocrashed out of the keirin following acollision in the semi- nal stages. He wasalso unable to bounce back in the individualsprint with the toughest possible drawagainst Australias Shane Perkins in thequarter nal. Perkins beat Edgar in two

straight rides on his way to winning thegold medal.

For David Millar, Delhi waswhere his dreams of winningCommonwealth Games medalsfor Scotland came true. Aftera fabulous tactical battle in theroad race which Millar controlled for muchof the second half, he was outsprinted atthe nish to take an excellent bronze. Witha full complement of six Team Scotlandriders in the race, Millar was well supported,and he paid tribute at the nish to the work

done by David Lines, James McCallum andRoss Creber, Evan Oliphant and Andy Fennin the 168km race held in 41-degree heat.

After his bronze in the road race, Millar wasthe favourite going into the 40km timetrial, which was made challenging by strong

CYCLINGAfter the six medal haul for Scotland in Melbourne on the trackthere was some disappointment this year in the velodrome, with just one silver medal to celebrate. However it was a differentstory in the road events where David Millar was determined todo Scotland proud and won a gold and a bronze.

LAWN BOWLSFor our bowlers it was a case of so near and

yet so far losing out on the tie breaker onnumerous occasions. They nished theircampaign outside the medals for the rst

time since 1966.

The mens pairs of Darren Burnettand Neil Speirs came closest

to the podium losing out inthe bronze medal match toMalaysia in a tie break. Themens and womens singles

players both lost in the semi-nal play-offs and the womens

triples went out in the quarter

nals. One highlight for lawnbowls was the appearance of 72year old Willie Wood in his eighthCommonwealth Games as partof the mens triples team, makinghim the most capped ScottishGames athlete to date.

RUGBY 7sScotland created history as they made

it into the quarter nals of the rugbysevens competition for the rst time at theCommonwealth Games. They opened proceedings with a 26-0victory over Guyana then faced a toughmatch against Canada and came out ontop 19-17. Their nal pool match was against

New Zealand who had stood out all day withtheir speed and skill. Scotland went down44-0 but were pleased to go through assecond in their group.

On day two Scotland faced South Africa,and having beaten them at Murray eldin the IRB Sevens World Series in May,they hoped they could produce a repeatperformance. It wasnt to be and in aclosely fought contest they lost 10-7.They quickly picked themselves upand overcame a strong Kenyanside after extra time in thesemi- nal of the plate winning22-17. The nal showdownwas against reigning IRBchampions Samoa whodominated the match andlifted the plate. Scotland 7s endedtheir most successfulever CommonwealthGames campaign in sixthposition.

Jenny Davis and CharlineJoiner seize silver

Andy Turnbull on the attack against CanadaWillie Wood

The mens road race passesthe iconic India Gate

DavidMillar


6/86

SHOOTING Scotlands shooters were on target inDelhi and nished as the top sport at theGames winning four gold, three silver andtwo bronze. In the small bore ri e events Jen McIntoshand Kay Copland started the medal haulwinning bronze in the 50m ri e 3 positionpairs competition which was soon matched

It was in the doubles events that Scotland hoped to shine at the Siri FortSports Complex. Lyall Paterson and Chris Small and Lisa Aitken and FraniaGillen-Buchert progressed from the group stages of the mens and womensdoubles, but lost out in the quarter nals. Similarly mixed doubles pair LisaAitken and Harry Leitch also made it through their group and went out inthe quarter nals. It was left to mens doubles pairing of Harry Leitch and Alan Clyne to y the

ag for Scotland and they battled all the way to the semi nals. In a matchof extraordinary doubles which lasted an hour and 24 minutes the Scots went out11/10 11/6 to Australian opponents Palmer and Boswell. This gave the Scottish pair one nal shot at bronze and again they faced Australianopposition in the play-off in the form of Ryan Cuskelly and Cameron Pilley. After atight affair in the rst game and a ght back in the second, they were nally beaten

11/5 11/7 to just miss out on a medal.

S Q U A S H

by Jon Hammond and Neil Stirton. Jonthen went on to win silver in the individual 3position event.

But it was in the 50m ri e prone eventsthat Scotland swept the board with theabove quartet winning an incredible fourgold medals in the mens and womens pairsand individual competitions, an outstandingachievement and one that made coach andfather Donald McIntosh extremely proud. Jen put in an exemplary performanceto take the gold, only dropping threepoints during the entire match toequal the world record and seta new Commonwealth Gamesrecord of 597-42x. This medalhas a particular signi cance toJen, whose mother Shirley wonthe event at the 1994 Games inVictoria. Jon Hammond with two gold,a silver and a bronze was theathlete of the Games and

Jon Hammond

Kay Coplandand Jen McIntosh

Harry Leitch

the most successful male athlete ever ata single Games for Scotland, whilst JenMcIntosh with two gold and a bronze wasthe most successful female athlete ever at asingle Games.

Keen to contribute to the medal tally,the other shooting disciplines did notdisappoint. For the clay target shooters itwas Shona Marshall in the individual trapevent that came up trumps and won silverand in full bore Angus McLeod and IanShaw also delivered a hard earned silver inthe pairs competition, which was fraughtwith technical dif culties on the range.

Jon Hammondand Neil Stirton

Jen celebratesat India Gate


7/8

WRESTLING Scotland had 10 wrestlers competingin Delhi, including seven women whowere making their debut in this newCommonwealth Games sport for women.A number of them had transferred from

judo and were hopeful that they could reaprewards in their new found sport.

However their medal charge was repeatedlythwarted at the bronze medal stage despitesome hard fought bouts. Jayne Clason(55kg), Sarah Jones (72kg) and AshleaMcManus (67kg) all lost out on bronze,whilst Viorel Etko was Scotlands best malecompetitor, losing out in the repechagesemi nals.

7

Fourteen men contested the 94kgcategory including Kilmarnocksvery own Peter Kirkbride whoumped for joy when he wasawarded the silver medal, breakingwo records on the way. Theeigning British Champion and

holder of three Scottish and Britishecords before competition wasooking to add a medal to his

accolades.

Going into the snatch at 140kg, 5kgheavier than originally intended,Peter shook off his nerves andhad a good lift. 144kg was thenext challenge which he liftedcomfortably, but 146kg was just out ofeach. Kirkbride, who competed four years

ago in Melbourne nishing 6th, and claimedgold at the 2004 Commonwealth YouthGames, was lying second going into theClean & Jerk discipline.

He started with 182kg, movinghim into the lead; maintainedhat with a 186kg second liftand went for 189kg in his nalattempt and made it look easygiving him a combined total of 333kg. Heumped for joy as he left the podium andwaited anxiously for the nal two opponentso challenge him. But when gold looked allbut his, Faauliuli of Samoa, in the last lift ofhe competition, successfully lifted 192kg tograb the gold by a single kilogram.

Nevertheless, Peter and his long-time coachCharles Hamilton were delighted with silverand proud to win Scotlands eleventh medalof the Games.

W E I G H T L I F T I N G

TENNISTennis was making its Games debut inDelhi and the players were determined tomake their involvement count, despitethe late withdrawal of Elena Baltachawho was a strong prospect in thewomens singles.

It was the mixed doubles pairing of ColinFleming and Jocelyn Rae that took thetournament by storm, beating the hostsand second seeds India and fourth seedsEngland in the semi- nals, on the way to

TABLE TENNISThe Scottish trio of Gavin Rumgay, CraigHowieson and Stewart Crawford startedtheir Games campaign in the teamcompetition. They won two out of threegroup games, but then lost in the play offfor the quarter nals to Malaysia by 1/3.Left to contest the minor team placings,they beat Sri Lanka then Canada to nish inninth place. In the singles Gavin was Scotlands topplayer reaching the last 16 where he lost tothe Indian second seed with a world rankingof 40 compared to Gavins 228. Craigquali ed for the singles, but went out in thesecond round, whilst Stewart just failed toqualify after winning his initial game. Gavinand Craig got through to the last 16 of themens doubles but lost by 0/3 to a strongAustralian pair.

clinching gold in a nail biting nal that hadall the Scottish supporters on the edge oftheir seats. The unseeded Scottish pair, whohad never played togetherbefore the Games, completeda truly remarkable ght-backin the nal to beat the Australiantop seeds Paul Hanley and AnastasiaRodionova 7-6 6-7 6-2 to become the

rst ever mixed doubles tennis championsin Commonwealth Games competition.Their outstanding achievement securedScotlands third gold medal of the Games.

Ashlea McManus

Peter Kirkbride jumps for joy

GavinRumgay

Colin Flemingand Jocelyn Rae


8/8

Commonwealth Games Scotland, Gannochy Sports Centre, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LATel: +44 (0)1786 466480 Fax: +44 (0)1786 466481 Email: [email protected] www.cgcs.org.uk

The Isle of Man Youth Games will be thefourth since the inaugural Games held inScotland in 2000. Since then, Scottishathletes have won over 100 medals at thethree Games held in Edinburgh, Bendigoand Pune, with many going on to competefor the senior team at the CommonwealthGames and again win medals. Many starsof the Delhi Games including Hannah Miley,Robbie Renwick, Jen McIntosh, Kay Coplandand Peter Kirkbride were all Youth Gamesmedallists in Bendigo or Pune.

The Youth Games provide an excellentopportunity to prepare our athletes of thefuture by exposing them to a multi-sportGames competition, usually for the rsttime, and provide an exciting opportunityfor our young athletes to get their rst tasteof Commonwealth competition.

There is a maximum of 1000 athlete placesavailable for the Youth Games, so for theIsle of Man places have been allocated toall Commonwealth nations on a pro ratabasis of their athlete numbers in the 2006Commonwealth Games. Scotland has beenallocated 43 places, including a Rugby 7ssquad. The sports which will compete inthe Isle of Man are: Athletics, Badminton,Boxing, Cycling, Gymnastics, Swimming andRugby 7s. The age of athletes will rangefrom 14 18 yrs (depending on the sport)and each sport is currently working withCGS to con rm selection policies, with thestandards to be reached next year to gain aplace on the team.

The general team management will be leadby Vicky Strange. Deputy general teammanagers, medical and media staff will beappointed by the end of 2010 and the sportteam leaders and coaches will be appointedearly in 2011.

Commonwealth YouthGames Isle of Man 2011With the Delhi Games now over,the new focus for CGS is the 2011Commonwealth Youth Games to beheld on the Isle of Man from 7 to 13September 2011.

Further details ofthe next Youth Gamescan be found onwww.cyg2011.com.

Glasgow 2014 venues progressWork has now begun on the Kelvingrove Bowls Centre, which will host the Lawn Bowlscompetition at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

CommonwealthGamesmovement. Thisbeautiful venuewill provide ourathletes with rstclass facilities ina great location,showcasing thebest of Glasgow.

Michael Cavanagh, Chair, CommonwealthGames Scotland said: Lawn Bowls is a hugesport in Scotland and I know our bowlers willget a real buzz from competing in front ofsuch a knowledgeable home crowd, againstsuch a historic backdrop. We have a strongtradition of success in lawn bowls and I knowthat a home Games will make our bowlerseven more determined to do well.

This rst phase is expected to be completedby early summer in 2011, with the entireproject expected to be complete by summer2012.

The centre is located immediately adjacentto the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum,and close to the University of Glasgow.All ve bowling greens will be upgradedto international standard for use duringthe Games for competition, warm-up andtraining. Works will include the installationof a new drainage system, the completereconstruction of greens and ditchesincorporating a new automated irrigationscheme and there will be seating for around2,500 spectators.

Once complete, the new bowling venue willbe among the nest in Scotland.

A project to deliver a new pavilion to meetthe legacy requirements of club membersand casual users following the Games iscurrently being developed by Glasgow City

Council and Glasgow Life.Glasgow 2014 Chief Executive John Scottsaid: Lawn Bowls is a fantastic sport whichholds a very special place at the heart of the

Kelvingrove will be the inpressive backdrop to the lan bowls competition.

PHOTO CREDITS: Steve Lindridge and Rebecca Lee, Ideal Images; Duncan McEwan; Donald McIntosh;Sunday Mail; Glasgow 2014.

countdown issue 15

Documents