2014 Commonwealth Games
23 July - 3 Aug
Over 2 Billion People in the Commonwealth
-(To Be Held in Scotland, UK)
291 Days 02 Hours, 16 Minutes & 38 Seconds to go.
...
...
Team Scotland Announce First Athletes for Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games
By Daily Mail UK
They're the flower of this generation, pride of the nation, each special in their own individual way. And the first 27 men and women to be officially confirmed as Team Scotland picks for Glasgow 2014 all appear to understand the responsibility that goes with the privilege of selection.
As a group, the four squash players and 23 representatives from track and field named yesterday cut an impressive enough figure. Especially when you consider that European indoor 800 metre champion Lynsey Sharp — a medal contender if ever there was — is missing from the group because of injury.
Individually, there are some remarkable characters to pick out. From para athlete Meggan Dawson-Farrell being selected just months after multiple brain surgery, to more mundane tales of recovery from the inevitable ‘injury hell’, they’ve all leapt beyond normal boundaries in order to get this far.
Team Scotland have named 27 athletes who will compete at next year's Commonwealth Games
ATHLETICS TEAM SO FAR
Susan Partridge, Marathon (Sowerby Bridge, HX6)
Derek Hawkins, Marathon (Elderslie, PA5)
Libby Clegg, T12 100m (Newcastleton, TD9)
Eilidh Child, 400m Hurdles (Kinross KY13)
Guy Learmonth 800m (Berwick upon Tweed, TD15)
Chris O’Hare 1500m (West Linton, EH46)
Laura Muir, 1500m (Milnathort, Kinross KY13)
Meggan Dawson-Farrell, T54 1500m (Tullibody, FK10)
Samantha Kinghorn, T54 1500m (Kelso)
Eilish McColgan 3000m Steeplechase (Carnoustie, DD7)
Laura Whittle, 5000m (Loughborough LE11)
Stephanie Twell, 5000m (Twickenham)
Mark Dry, Hammer (Moray)
Andrew Frost, Hammer, (Broxburn, EH52)
Susan McKelvie, Hammer, (Broxburn, EH52)
Nicholas Percy, Discus (Isle of Wight)
Allan Smith, High Jump (Edinburgh EH30)
David Smith, High Jump (Barrhead, Glasgow G78)
Jayne Nisbet, High Jump (Edinburgh)
Emma Nuttall, High Jump (Edinburgh, EH12)
Jade Nimmo, Long Jump (Falkirk, FK1)
Sarah Warnock, Long Jump (Prestonpans, EH32)
Jax Thoirs, Pole Vault (Glasgow, G13)
Women’s 4x400m Relay
And now? Well, that’s up to them. With the burden of qualification removed, they can run, jump and throw with freedom. Go for the medals that may define this stage of their careers — bringing home a record haul for the nation in the process.
Even this far out, you could predict genuine challenges from the likes of Sharp, Eilidh Child, Eilish McColgan, Chris O’Hare, Laura Muir, Susan Partridge, Derek Hawkins, Mark Dry and Andy Frost, to name just a few. Or how about Steph Twell, a bronze medal winner over 1500m in Delhi three years ago, putting her fitness problems behind her with something special in the 5k?
Having set the selection standards high enough to avoid a surplus of passengers turning up just to wear the jersey and take a few photos, athletics already looks less of a poor relation to the medal factories of swimming and cycling. As encouraging as what some of the picks have done so far is their realisation of the hard work that lies ahead.
Speaking after being handed the Team Scotland No 2 shirt at the People’s Palace, venue for the marathon finish, Hawkins can only imagine what it’s going to be like pushing for the line after 26 miles next year.
The adrenaline of home support should drive him on when his body is all but broken, he thinks. As long as he doesn’t get too carried away with the frenzy at the outset, racing off at an unsustainable pace.
Oh, and if it was up to him, Olympic hero and World Champion Mo Farah would be lining up in Glasgow. Just not next to Hawkins on the start line of the road race.
Eilish McColgan wins the final of the 3000m steeplechase in Birmingham this summer
SQUASH TEAM SO FAR
Alan Clyne, Men’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles (Inverness/Edinburgh)
Harry Leitch, Men’s Doubles (Edinburgh)
Frania Gillen-Buchert, Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles (Edinburgh)
Alexandra Clark, Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles (Edinburgh)
The 24-year-old, who spent five weeks training alongside Farah and a host of distance-running greats in Kenya last winter, said: ‘Mo certainly never mentioned anything to me about the Commonwealth Games. Yeah, I hope he’s here. But I hope he does the track!’
‘I started a couple of runs with Mo in Kenya in January — and then he took off. It was quite good watching Mo, seeing how professional he is and how he goes about things.
‘Kenya is quite an eye-opener. I went there ranked second in Britain for 2012 in the marathon, thinking: “Yeah, I’m not bad.”
‘Then you turn up at the track and there are about 150 athletes battering it out, and the majority of them leave you for dead.
‘It makes you realise: “I am there, I am at X and I need to get to Y.”
‘I know the marathon is going to be maybe one of the toughest events at the Games next year. A few years ago, Kenya had about 24 of the top 25 times in the marathon, and it’s still pretty high now. You’ve also got the world and Olympic champion from Uganda, so it’s a pretty loaded event if they send their strongest teams.
‘Looking at previous results, my PB would suggest a medal. I’ll be able to judge it later on when I know the form I’m in during the build-up. Hopefully top eight, that’s my expectation.’
All smiles: Libby Clegg (left), Sarah Warnock (middle) and Frania Gillen-Buchert (right) after being named in Team Scotland
Hawkins won’t run another marathon between now and Glasgow, knowing that it can take up to eight weeks to recover. He’ll do a half-marathon, some distance races on the track if he feels ready, plus training runs pushing close to marathon distance.
He’ll fit all this in with working up to 15 hours a week in his local Morrisons in Johnstone, where he admits his till shifts are sometimes like torture for someone who has to constantly watch his diet.
‘Quite often, I’m seeing all this junk food going across the till and I feel really tempted,’ he confessed. ‘I get all sorts of cravings for it.
‘Pizza is a weakness and I’m quite prone to biscuits. Jaffa Cakes would be the worst, so I just have to keep away from them.’
Mark Dry competes in the hammer qualification during day two of the European Athletics Championships in June 2012
Temptation will be resisted and training regimes maintained for the next 300 days, at least, as the best athletes available are joined by peers and rivals, as others are invited on board a team likely to number between 250 and 270 competitors in total — easily Scotland’s biggest ever.
As chef de mission Jon Doig said: ‘There were 19 track and field in Delhi and we announced 23 today. The Games I have been involved in, there are more people in contention across a greater number of events than we have had in the past. It’s early stages and things can change but, if you look at that spread at the moment, we are in a better shape, not only in athletics but across the board.’