S
Stuart Weir
Guest
Scotland Team for Commonwealth Games
The official name of our country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain comprises England, Scotland, and Wales. In the Olympics, there is one British team. In the Commonwealth Games, in contrast, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland compete as separate countries. This has two important implications. Firstly, for athletes who are not in the top three in the UK and therefore unlikely to be selected for the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games presents an opportunity for them to be part of an international competition. It is also a unique opportunity for them to wear the colours of England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. The Commonwealth Games is a significant event with 74 nations competing across ten sports from 23 July to 2 August, Glasgow 2026. Of course, we are principally interested in the track and field.
In 2022, Scotland gained 8 medals (2 golds) to leave them 8th on the medal table or 6th in terms of most medals, and remember Scotland has a population of 5.45 million
The Scotland team of 40 athletes is listed below. There are a number of interesting selections
Women:
Middle-distance – Jemma Reekie and Erin Wallace will double up in the 800m and the mile. Sarah Calvert, UK champion for 2025 and 2026, runs the 1500, her first championship. (She did not have the qualifying standard for the 2025 Worlds and still got the qualifying time for the Europeans).
Distance: Megan Keith will double up. Laura Muir, gold medalist at 1500 four years ago, will run the 5000. When Laura ran a 5K in Brussels in May, it was her first for 3 years. Eilish McColgan will defend her 10k title but will not run the 5k in which she took silver 4 years ago.
Relays: Scotland took bronze in the women’s 4X400 four years ago but is not entering a team this year.
Men
Middle Distance: The men’s 1500 team of Neil Gourley, Josh Kerr and Jake Wightman are all global medalists – if only there was a term prize!
Distance: Andrew Butchart, who has run more on the roads than the track in the past few years, is doing the 5K and the 10K.
Full Team Scotland selection and events:
Women
200m: Alyson Bell
400m: Nicole Yeargin
800m: Jemma Reekie, Erin Wallace, Mena Scatchard
Mile: Jemma Reekie, Erin Wallace, Sarah Calvert
5000m: Megan Keith, Laura Muir, Eloise Walker
10,000m: Megan Keith, Eilish McColgan
3000m Steeplechase: Sarah Tait
Hammer: Angela McAuslan-Kelly
Heptathlon: Allie Routledge
4 x 100m: Alyson Bell; Kaya Slater; Lucy Fraser; Alisha Rees; Georgina Adam
Mixed 4 x 400m: Nicole Yeargin; Rebecca Grieve; Georgina Adam
Men
400m: Brodie Young
800m: Jamie Phillips
Mile: Jake Wightman; Neil Gourley; Josh Kerr
5000m: Andrew Butchart
10,000m: Andrew Butchart
Long Jump: Stephen MacKenzie
Pole Vault: Jax Thoirs
Hammer: Chris Bennett
Discus: Nick Percy
Decathlon: Callum Newby; Joel McFarlane
Mixed 4 x 400m: Brodie Young; Bradley Francis
Any further M4x4 runners required will come from within the team
Para Athletics Team :
Men’s 1500m T20: Steven Bryce, Owen Miller, Ben Sandilands
Men’s 1500m T54: Sean Frame
Men’s Long Jump T20: Steven Stone
Men’s 100m T38: Alexander Thomson
Women’s 1500m T54 & Women’s 400m T54: Joanna Robertson
Women’s 1500m T54 & Women’s 400m T54: Melanie Woods