SPORTSCOTLAND announced yesterday that 31 Scots will head to Beijing for the Olympic Games next month, while another 15 competitors from these shores will be in the Chinese city in September for the Paralympic Games.
It represents the biggest contingent of Scots in the British team at recent Games. In 2004, 23 Scots were selected for the Olympics in Athens, four years previously 27 competitors travelled to Sydney, and the figure in Athens in 1996 was 28.
Indee
d, Scots representation at the event, which gets under way a fortnight on Friday, could be swelled even further if the services of any of the additional six on the stand-by list are called upon. The encouraging news for Scottish sport was confirmed when Team GB officials lodged their 313-strong team of competitors with the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Organising Committee (BOCOG) over the weekend.
Among the highest-profile Scots on the roster will be tennis brothers Andy and Jamie Murray, who will be making their Olympic debuts when they pair up in the men's doubles, and cyclist Chris Hoy.
Despite being reigning Olympic champion, Hoy has found himself in the unusual position of having to change his specialist event, after the kilo was removed from the Olympic programme. He will now feature in the keirin, the individual sprint and the team sprint. He will be joined by fellow Scot Ross Edgar, who will contest his second Games.
It is in the water, however, where the tartan tinge will be most evident, with an all-time high of 10 Scots swimmers due to compete. Edinburgh's Gregor Tait and Kirsty Balfour and Aberdeen's David Carry will be aiming to build on their success of two years ago when they accumulated 12 medals between them at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, although the competition in the Beijing pool will be far more formidable than it was in Australia.
The canoe slalom team is made up entirely of three Scots, with Campbell Walsh, who won silver in Athens, leading the charge in the whitewater of Shunyi. Also taking to the water in her third Games is Aberdeen rower Katherine Grainger.
Elsewhere pommel horse hopeful Daniel Keatings will become Scotland's first ever gymnast to participate at the Olympics, Jon Hammond will have his sights set on three rifle events at the shooting range, while Stephen Dick and Ali McGregor have made the cut for the hockey squad.
The dojo will see three Edinburgh-based judo players in action. Sarah Clark and Michelle Rogers will have past Olympic experiences to draw on, whilst Euan Burton will be making his debut in the under 81kg category. Fencer Richard Kruse will be hoping to better the quarter final placing he achieved in the foil event in Athens in 2004, while archer Simon Terry returns to the sport some 16 years after winning two bronze medals in Barcelona.
In track and field, Scotland's Lee McConnell is included in both the 400m individual and relay events while Andrew Lemoncello, Susan Scott and Allan Scott all received last minute call-ups. Meanwhile marathon runner Hayley Haining will have to wait to see if Paula Radcliffe is forced to withdraw on injury grounds to guarantee her call-up.
Less than a fortnight after the Olympics draw to a close, the Paralympics will begin in the same city, with 15 Scots hoping to make an impact.
Edinburgh's Jim Anderson will take part in a fifth Games alongside fellow swimmers Andrew Lindsay, Sean Fraser, Mhairi Love and Charlotte Henshaw, while visually-impaired cyclist Aileen McGlynn will bid to add to her gold and silver haul in Athens four years ago.
On the track, Stephen Payton will be joined by young sprinters Libby Clegg and Neil Fachie. Graeme Paterson, Jonathan Paterson, Keiran Martin and Mark Robertson are in the seven-a-side football squad while Gordon Reid and Kevin Simpson have made the wheelchair tennis team. Borders archer Kate Murray could take the Scots contingent to 16 if she can qualify.
FACT BOXTHE number of Scots selected in the British team for the Olympic and Paralmypic Games in recent years:
2008 BEIJING Olympics: 31Paralympics: 15
2004 ATHENS Olympics: 23Paralympics: 15
2000 SYDNEY Olympics: 27Paralympics: 25
1996 ATLANTA Olympics: 28Paralympics: 41
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