Thousands of athletes from across the globe are gearing up to compete at this year’s Commonwealth Games.
The sporting spotlight will shine on Birmingham as more than 5,000 athletes from 72 nations prepare for 280 events over 20 sports.
And several Dundonians are among those flying the flag for Team Scotland from Thursday (July 28) until Monday, August 8.
Laura Devlin profiles our local heroes.
Charlotte Watson
Birmingham marks hockey forward Charlotte Watson’s second Commonwealth Games after a Gold Coast appearance four years ago.
The 24-year-old plays in the Women’s England Hockey League Premier Division for Loughborough Students.
She has already tasted success with Scotland and was in the squad that won the 2019 EuroHockey Championships II in Glasgow, scoring the winner.
Away from hockey, Charlotte studied accountancy and finance at Dundee University.
Two years ago, the Stobswell native told us: “When I was coming through the age groups I was always one of maybe a handful of people who went to a state school.
“It was mostly just private schools but I’m very proud of where I come from.
“When I was younger I don’t know if subconsciously I knew I had to work a wee bit harder because I wasn’t getting on the pitch as much.”
Eilish McColgan
Dundee’s Eilish McColgan is one of the star names on the Team Scotland squad.
The two-time European medallist – competing in the 5,000m and 10,000m track events – will be appearing in her third Commonwealth Games after featuring in Glasgow and the Gold Coast.
With the help of mum Liz in her corner, can the 31-year-old deliver career-defining performances in Birmingham?
Last month she beat former world champion Liz’s Scottish record with victory in the 10,000m at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Hengelo.
The Hawkhill Harriers star also smashed Paula Radcliffe’s European and UK 10km records in May after a stunning performance at the Great Manchester Run.
But she came up short of medals twice at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon.
Six weeks ago, her form suggested a medal looked perfectly within reach before illness and then a hamstring issue ripped her preparations apart.
“I’m playing catch up on training now,” she said.
“So those first two races were: go to the front and have a hard effort and run as hard as you can.
“I’m not training at the moment so I might as well make the most out of these races but it was such a harder way to run.
“I definitely feel more comfortable at the front and trying to control the pace than having that big injection.”
Laura Muir
Another one of Team Scotland’s star names, Laura Muir was raised in Perth and Kinross but trains with Dundee’s Hawkhill Harriers.
And she also heads to Birmingham in fine form after picking up a 1500m bronze in Oregon to add to her Olympic silver in Tokyo last year.
The qualified vet, from Milnathort, is competing in her second Commonwealth Games.
She ran at Glasgow 2014 but missed the Gold Coast event so she could concentrate on her university exams.
The 29-year-old says: “I’ve seen my own situation around Birmingham described as ‘unfinished business’ and I have to agree with that.
“I was very young at Glasgow 2014, but it still didn’t go the way I had hoped in that 1500m final at Hampden [she finished 11th].
“Four years later, as Gold Coast 2018 came around, I was in the very last stages of completing my degree at university and the final exams clashed with the Commonwealths.
“So that has been in my mind for some time and I’d dearly love to win a medal for Team Scotland at Birmingham 2022.
“Getting on that podium wearing the Scotland vest is very much a goal.”
Sam Hickey
Commonwealth Games debutant Sam Hickey, from Lochee, is competing in one of boxing’s glamour divisions – the 75kg middleweight category.
Previous medallists at the games in this division include future world champions John Conteh (gold), Adonis Stevenson (silver) and James DeGale (bronze).
It’s the 22-year-old’s first Commonwealth Games.
But he has major tournament experience, having picked up a bronze at the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas.
And he has tasted success this year too, picking up a bronze at the European Amateur Boxing Championships held in Armenia in May.
This was Scotland’s first at these championships for 16 years, and Hickey was just the 15th Scotsman to win a medal at the Europeans since they began in 1925.
Last year he told us: “I get about a fair bit and have been to quite a few countries now.
“I’m well-travelled – I’m living out of suitcases here!
“I was too young to go to the Gold Coast because I was still a youth boxer.
“I went to the Youth Games in the Bahamas in 2017, though, so I’ve experience of that Commonwealth Games aspect.
“It’s good for me that it’s Birmingham because it’s probably as close as we can get to a home Games.
“When you go to the Bahamas or Australia or something like that, your mind-frame changes a wee bit.
“When you go to Birmingham you’re there to do a job not for a holiday.”
Hannah Robb
Hannah Robb, 24, is another basketball player who has made it all the way from Tayside Musketeers to the Commonwealth Games, as part of the first Scottish women’s team to qualify for the event.
Her talent also shone on the court at Arbroath Sports Centre and Hannah has represented Scotland at every level from U-13.
The 5ft 9ins shooting guard – born in Dundee – played four seasons with Caledonia Pride in the Women’s British Basketball League.
Hannah has just signed for a third season with Leicester Riders and was a key member of their 2020/21 WBBL Cup-winning side.
Mark Stewart
Cyclist Mark Stewart, 26, is a former Commonwealth Games champion, having won gold at the Gold Coast in 2018 in the men’s points race.
Birmingham 2022 will be his third games – and the men’s road race on Sunday, August 7, is where Mark could add to his list of achievements.
Mark is not the only cyclist in his family and his older brother brother Kevin has also represented Scotland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and is currently the Academy Sprint Coach at British Cycling.
In 2020, he told The Courier’s Eric Nicolson that living in New Zealand had helped him rediscover the joys of cycling.
He said: “It’s fun again. I feel like a kid going out and smashing a climb at the back of Dundee.
“I’ve been finding that feeling again. I leave when I leave and I get back when I get back. Some days it might be an hour but most it’s four or five.
“I grew up watching my dad (Stan) do Ironman races. He’s a scaffolder and myself and my two brothers would go on the building site with him in the school holidays.
“Scaffolding in Dundee in the winter was such a harsh reality.
“So for me, I know that even if it’s six hours on a bike in the freezing cold that’s still not a long or hard working day compared to normal life.
“My usual route when I was younger was from Dundee to Balbeggie, Scone, Perth and Bridge of Earn and then back along the Tay on the Fife side. It was basically a tour of the River Tay.”
Jamie Golden
Jamie, 20, is set for his Commonwealth Games bow in Birmingham.
Born in Dundee and raised in Invergowrie, he plays for Surbiton Hockey Club in Surrey, having previously starred for Grove Menzieshill Hockey Club.
Cammy Golden
Jamie Golden’s older brother Cammy is also making his first appearance at the games.
The 23-year-old plays for UHC Hamburg in Germany, where former Grove team-mate Gavin Byers is a player-coach.
Golden was central to the GB U/21s Sultan of Johor Cup win in Malaysia in 2018 and won the FIH MVP (Most Valuable Player) Award at the Hockey Series Open in Lousada, Portugal, 2018, and the Series Finals in Le Touquet Plage, France, 2019.
Cameron Gammage
Dundee-born Cameron Gammage will represent Team Scotland in the 3m diving events in Birmingham.
The 20-year-old, who grew up in the Hampshire town of Stockbridge, is a student at the University of Michigan.
His father Richard was a pole vaulter who represented England.
Jessica Ross
Dundee’s Jessica Ross is in Team Scotland’s hockey squad.
The 25-year-old debutant is one of a number of Dundonians in the 18-player pool.
Alongside being a hockey internationalist, Jessica is also a design engineer by trade.
She graduated from Dundee University in 2018 and now works as an interior designer at Ikea in Edinburgh.
Rebecca Ward
Rebecca Ward, 33, is another member of Team Scotland’s hockey squad competing at Birmingham 2022.
This will be her third Commonwealth Games, having featured at Glasgow 2014 and the Gold Coast four years ago.
Former Clepington Primary School and Morgan Academy pupil Rebecca – who started playing hockey at the age of eight – works as a PE teacher at a Glasgow secondary school.
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