Latest news with #Dundonian
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Sport
- Scotsman
'Hard to turn down' - Eilish McColgan on her Glasgow 2026 dilemma and doping spectre
Scottish runner who lit up Birmingham 2022 has switched focus to road racing Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... She delivered the defining moment of the 2022 Commonwealth Games but Eilish McColgan is not 100 per cent sure if she will defend her 10,000 metres title at Glasgow 2026. The Dundonian athlete lit up the Alexander Stadium four years ago as she stormed to victory over 25 laps. In doing so she emulated her mother who won the 10,000m as Liz Lynch, her maiden name, at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh then retained her crown four years later in Auckland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Her daughter has further followed in Liz McColgan's footsteps by making the move to road running. She made her marathon debut in London in April and it is where she sees her future. Eilish McColgan with Finnie, the mascot for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. | Craig Watson/Glasgow 2026 There will be no marathon at next summer's Commonwealths in Glasgow, with the city staging a slimmed down version of the Games after stepping in at the last minute to host when the Australian state of Victoria withdrew due to rising costs. It has left Eilish McColgan in a quandary but she admitted the pull of performing at a home games might persuade her to return to the track. 'Obviously I'm not qualified and I don't have a crystal ball so I don't know what the future holds but I think if it had been any other championship anywhere else in the world, I probably wouldn't be gearing towards it because my main ambitions now are certainly on the road,' said McColgan who was this week named as the first official ambassador for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. 'But I think, for me, it's hard to turn down an opportunity to race in Glasgow, a home championship. How often do I get to do that? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'So yeah, I'll definitely be making it high on my agenda to try and be here as an athlete and compete.' McColgan, 34, thought Birmingham 2022 was going to be her Commonwealth Games swan-song. As well as winning the 10,000m, she secured silver in the 5,000m. Not surprisingly, she feels it would have been a good way to say goodbye to the 'Friendly Games'. But Glasgow's late rescue mission has moved the goalposts and she could now find herself competing at the Commonwealths for a fourth time. 'It wasn't something I had originally planned in all honesty. It wasn't in my schedule. I thought Birmingham was a great way to cap off what was a brilliant track career but as I said, it's hard to turn down a home games opportunity. Eilish McColgan celebrates winning gold in the 10,000m at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at Alexander Stadium. | Getty Images 'I think for me there's just something about being back in Scotland knowing that my family, my friends, people from the community, my club where I have grown up and who have supported me can be here to watch. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Obviously there's a lot of pressure going in as a defending champion - it's not easy to defend it. I don't know many people who have but, yeah, I'll give it my best go.' Mum Liz is one of the few to do the double and family is a huge driver for Eilish. She has fond memories of her late gran watching her Commonwealth Games debut when Glasgow last hosted in 2014 and would love to make more memories for those closest to her. 'The Commonwealths means a lot to my mum and it was probably one of the only races where my granny and grandad - her mum and dad - were in the stadium and were watching her win gold [in Edinburgh in 1986] and then similarly for me there's only been London 2012 and Glasgow and Birmingham, the home championships, where my mum and dad have been in the crowd. 'Glasgow 2014 was the only championships that even my granny came to watch. Unfortunately, my gran's no longer with us but that for me will always be a standout memory, my little granny in the stands with her little tartan beanie on her head cheering me on. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'There's something so unique about hosting home championships so I think my mum was really proud that I'm here today in an ambassadorial role showcasing how good the Commonwealth Games can be and the legacy that can leave behind.' Gold medallist Eilish McColgan celebratesvictory in the women's 10,000m event at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022. (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images While Glasgow 2026 hovers on the horizon, Eilish sees her future as very much on the road. The four-time Olympian was the first Briton home at this year's London Marathon as she finished eighth in the women's elite race on her debut. Her time of 2:24:25 was more than two minutes quicker than the Scottish record set by Steph Twell in 2019 (2:26:40) and also beat her mum's marathon best of 2:26:52. 'That is the priority now moving forward for me,' she said. 'The next big one will be a half marathon in September and then to be honest I haven't actually planned any further than that just because I'm building back my training at the moment.' Ruth Chepngetich, the women's marathon world record holder, had been scheduled to run against McColgan in London but the Kenyan was last week provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit after testing positive for a banned substance. It is a blow to the sport's credibility and McColgan feels the authorities need to look beyond just the athlete involved. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It is really disappointing. I think a lot of people now look at that and suspect that doping's rife within the sport. When the top, top person is doing it it is really disappointing but I think the agents and coaches need to be a little bit more responsible as well. I mean this isn't just Ruth doing this on her own. 'There's a deeper team involved here, whether there's coaches, doctors, agents… I think they need to be held responsible in some way. 'The ban is on the athlete but there needs to be something on the coaches and the people that are administrating this to try and cut it down. They're really having a big crackdown in Kenya at the moment which is amazing to see. Kenya Athletics, to be fair to them, have invested a lot of money in catching people and it is obviously clearly working which is great.' Eilish McColgan and Finnie the Unicorn during a Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games photocall at Kelvingrove Art Gallery. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group) | SNS Group One of McColgan's first ambassadorial duties for Glasgow 2026 was to unveil the Games' new mascot, Finnie, a unicorn named after the city's famous Finnieston Crane. The mascot was devised with the help of 76 children from 24 schools across Glasgow and its signature feature is a horn inspired by the famous traffic cone on top of the Duke of Wellington statue outside the Gallery of Modern of Art. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I did like that, it's a very Glasgow touch,' said McColgan. Despite its last-minute nature, she is certain Glasgow 2026 will attract some of the sport's biggest names to Scotstoun, the venue for the athletics. 'I keep seeing people saying, 'do you think the top people will show up?' but your Laura Muirs, your Jake Wightmans, your Josh Kerrs, they're there all the time and I think there's something so unique about representing Scotland. 'We're very patriotic, we're a small nation but it's just special. We don't get the chance to do it very often so everyone does turn up. I remember Jake saying when he won the world championships: 'I need to get myself ready now for the Commonwealth Games'.
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Eilish McColgan backing Glasgow Games to be success with a year to go
Back on terra firma, Finnie took her place at Kelvingrove alongside dignitaries, Games competitors both past and present, a gaggle of photographers and reporters, and an even larger phalanx of PR folk and media management types, the latter surely one of Scotland's growth industries. Tourists and passers-by curiously poked their heads in from time to time, too, wondering what all the fuss was about. The trick, of course, is to ensure there are still similar levels of intrigue by the time these watered-down, largely unloved and unwanted Games get underway in 12 months' time. Glasgow has taken the hit - if not financially - by agreeing belatedly to take on the burden of hosting, sparing the Commonwealth Games from likely extinction after Victoria, Australia backed out of the arrangement and agreed to pay £100m just to wash its hands of it. The hope is, of course, that Glasgow can recapture some of the magic of its 2014 predecessor when the sun shone and the event went on to become a Scottish medal-laden success story. The presence of Usain Bolt undoubtedly helped, too and how the organisers could do with similar magic dust from somewhere with fewer events and no free-to-watch road events to draw in the general public. They have done well to bring on board Eilish McColgan as one of their ambassadors. The athlete is not just the reigning 10,000m Commonwealth champion from 2022 but a refreshingly outspoken figure who will happily put her voice out there to lend her support. McColgan was cagey about definitely committing to defending that title having made the career transition to primarily road racing but the Dundonian believes the cream of British athletics will get behind these Games and help to make it a triumph. 'Obviously I've not qualified and I don't have a crystal ball so I don't know what the future holds but I'll definitely be making it high on my agenda to try and be here as an athlete and compete,' she said. 'My main ambitions now are certainly on the road. But I think for me it's hard to turn down an opportunity to race in Glasgow at a home championship. How often do I get to do that? 'I don't think we are ever short of top athletes competing. I keep seeing people saying, 'do you think the top people will show up?' but your Laura Muirs, your Jake Wightmans, your Josh Kerrs, they're there all the time as I think there's something so unique about representing Scotland. 'We're very patriotic, we're a small nation but it's just special. We don't get the chance to do it very often so everyone does turn up. I remember Jake saying when he won the world championships, 'I need to get myself ready now for the Commonwealth Games'. 'You think, 'you've just won the worlds, it's the biggest title there possibly could be'. But for him, it was actually just equally as important that he made sure he got ready for Commie Games. 'Even in the England team, you have KJT [Katarina Johnson-Thompson], who's an Olympic medallist, you'll have Keely Hodgkinson, everyone turns up. I don't know if it is just something unique, you're representing your smaller nation and you don't get the chance to do that very often. 'It showcases something, maybe it's the community side of it, I don't know what it is. But I think the top athletes will be there regardless.' The comparisons with 2014 will be inevitable but not necessarily helpful, with the Scottish public expecting one thing only to be delivered a much smaller facsimile, like the mini model of Stonehenge descending onto the stage in Spinal Tap. McColgan, though, doesn't believe it's an issue. 'I think people are just excited that the Games are coming back to Glasgow. I think Glasgow has done a great job in stepping in at the last minute. There could have been an alternative world where this didn't even happen at all so I think kudos to them for actually putting it on and making it work. 'Yes, it's going to be scaled down but there's still a hell of a lot of events, there's still going to be a a lot of sports taking part where young kids can go along, be inspired and go along to their local club because that really is the knock-on effect. 'The amount of kids that we had joining the Hawks [Hawkhill Harriers in Dundee]... we have a waiting list to this day and it's all come from Glasgow [2014] and it's just spiralled. People often say, 'is there a legacy? how much does it impact?' 'But I think the waiting list at my local club is a great example of that and it's not just Dundee. I'm sure it's in other corners of Scotland as well, clubs all across Scotland. So for me, that's a really important part of it.' A broadcast deal is yet to be agreed but McColgan is confident the BBC or another station will step in to show it in the UK. 'I think it's really important,' she adds. 'I mean you'll have kids from all corners of Scotland, not even just Scotland across the world, that will see athletes from their local town, their local club and think, 'yeah, I want to do that'. 'If it's not on TV, it's not broadcast, then you can't see it and you can't believe in it. And for me that's really important.'
The National
6 days ago
- Business
- The National
Scotland bucks trend with 'substantial' games industry growth
Figures show employment in the sector in Scotland has doubled over the last 10 years. The statistics also show that there were 130 computer game enterprises in Scotland in 2024, compared to just 15 in 2010 – a 766.67% increase. READ MORE: Martin Compston says Unionist abuse made him stop independence posts In 2022 the industry had a turnover of £339.7 million, compared to profits of £38.1m made in 2010 – a 791.6% increase. The data also showed that there had been a 103.3% increase in the number of staff working in the industry (including additional PAYE units), up from 1,045 in 2015 to 2,125 in 2023. With the sector globally experiencing significant jobs losses and changes to job patterns, Scotland's computer game industry is bucking the trend. Commenting, SNP MSP for Dundee City West, Joe FitzPatrick, said: 'At a time when the computer games industry is struggling globally, thanks to SNP investment, Scotland is bucking the trend. 'Scotland was the first part of the UK to develop a video games strategy to support the industry and invests in exhibiting Scottish-built games across the world. 'Our world-leading computer game developers, including those based in Dundee, are thriving thanks to a unique blend of government support, creativity, innovation, and talent.' READ MORE: TransPennine Express to run up to 3 additional services during Edinburgh Fringe Rockstar North, a computer game studio based in Edinburgh and set up as DMA Design by Dundonian David Jones, is arguably the most notable firm in the Scottish industry. The company are behind the Grand Theft Auto series, including Grand Theft Auto V – the second-best selling video game and reportedly most profitable entertainment product of all time. FitzPatrick continued: 'From globally recognised studios to bold new start-ups, this is an industry that not only creates economic value but connects people across the world and brings opportunity to Scotland.'
Daily Record
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Kyle Falconer makes TRNSMT a family affair bringing kids along for festival
Kyle didn't need a make-up artist for his appearance at TRNSMT, having brought his three eldest children along. Scots rocker Kyle Falconer didn't need a make-up artist for his appearance at TRNSMT yesterday, having brought his three eldest children along. It was left to his eight-year-old daughter Wylde to style him, including applying pale blue eye shadow for his King Tut's stage set. The Dundee -born rocker, 38, who now lives in Spain, said: 'I've got my kids – Wylde, Winnie and Jet – here and my youngest is in Spain with the mother in law. 'They are obsessed with Gracie Abrams so I took them on the plane with me to see her. 'They are really excited. Kids are not meant to be at TRNSMT. There is a great buzz. My kids like to see a lot. They go to a lot of festivals and think TRNSMT is cool.' Kyle, who found fame with Dundonian rockers The View, added: 'I got my daughter this morning to dress me up onstage and do my eye make up. 'The kids were right at the front for my set. 'This is the sixth time I've played her. The first time I played here was on the main stage. I have played the main stage with The View before. 'Today, I'm quite chuffed with the band I've got. It felt good onstage. I have a new album coming out. I felt in control. In May, 2023, the singer brawled with his bandmate Kieren Webster, throwing punches during The View's concert at the Deaf Institute in Manchester. But Kyle insists the pair are on good terms and The View are simply having time out. Speaking to The Record backstage at TRNSMT, he said: 'We're just taking a break. There's loads of other stuff going on. They've got kids and I've got kids. I have my own music because I've got a studio so that's how it works. 'The last time Kieren and I wrote together was when we were kids. But the relationship is all good. We're completely fine and there is nothing lingering there.' He added: 'I'm going to have a couple of beers and watch Gracie Abrams. I'm just getting the kids geared up for it. It's going to be absolutely buzzing. It's the only record I've heard for the last three months. "They've been playing her for years and she has been getting bigger. They're obsessed with this music. All my kids have vinyl players so I get them all records and I've found them all playing Gracie Abrams. They refused to share so I had to get them all a Gracie Abrams record each.'
Glasgow Times
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
Singer of huge Scottish band draws crowd for solo TRNSMT show
Taking to the King Tut's stage, the 38-year-old Dundonian brought the best of his solo career and The View hits to an initially modest crowd which only got bigger as he ramped up the atmosphere. Opening up his set with the 2021 single Stress Ball, he was on top form vocally with his unmistakable tone. READ NEXT: I saw Jake Bugg at TRNSMT - he should have been on the Main Stage READ NEXT: Singer surprises with secret TRNSMT show - and Lewis Capaldi tribute was backstage (Image: Kyle Falconer played the TRNSMT King Tut's stage on Sunday, July 13 2025.) (Image: Kyle Falconer played the TRNSMT King Tut's stage on Sunday, July 13 2025.) The View banger Grace, quickly followed. Taking a minute to fix his guitar, he then admitted: 'This is my old View guitar, I only bring it out for special occasions, hence I need to tune it, man.' Face for the Radio then had the crowd singing in unison with the star, whose voice was packed with power for the rock ballad. His family was watching from the side of the stage when he dedicated Family Tree to them before he rounded off in style with Same Jeans.
