Scotland Celebrates Sportsmen And Women During 2009 Year Of Homecoming

First Minister Alex Salmond and Sports Minister Shona Robison will tonight host a reception to honour and celebrate Scotland’s athletes and successes during Scotland’s Year of Homecoming.

The Edinburgh event will celebrate and recognise Scotland’s athletes, who have won a total of 55 medals and other championship honours so far in 2009.

This year Scotland has been successful in a wide range of sports including golf, cycling, athletics, bobsleigh, canoeing, curling, hockey, judo, rowing and swimming.

Sports starts due to attend the reception include golfer Catriona Matthew, Paralympic athletes Jim Anderson and Aileen McGlynn; bobsleigh world champion Gillian Cooke and Ronald Ross, shinty’s top scorer.

First Minister Alex Salmond said:

“Scotland’s sportsmen and women are a real source of pride and inspiration and it gives me great pleasure to recognise and celebrate their magnificent achievements during the Year of Homecoming.

“2009 has proved another successful year in which Scotland has made a big impact in the sporting world. Highlights include Catriona Matthew becoming the first Scottish female golfer to win a major title, Gillian Cooke securing the crown of world bobsleigh champion, and Daniel Keatings becoming the first British gymnast – male or female – to win an all-around medal at the World Gymnastic Championships.

“Sport plays a vital role in building community spirit at national as well as local level and I believe that sporting success can inspire and motivate people of all ages to get more active or to get involved in physical activity.

“It is important that we recognise the achievements and work of our sports men and women and also the many committed administrators and stalwarts of governing bodies, coaches, organisations and clubs around the country which provide the support and opportunities for our sporting talent to develop.

“The Scottish Government continues to do all we can to maximise access, development and excellence at all levels of participation in sport and physical activity. I look forward to supporting our athletes on home soil in 2014 when the Commonwealth Games are held in Glasgow.”

Some of the athletes being celebrated on the night include:

• Jim Anderson OBE, from Broxburn, is a swimmer who has cerebral palsy and has won an incredible 17 medals, including six gold medals, at five Paralympics stretching back to Barcelona 1992. At the 2009 European Championship he won the silver medal in the men’s S2 50m Backstroke
• Catriona Matthew, from North Berwick, is undoubtedly one of Scotland and Britain’s most successful women golfer at both amateur and professional level. She made history in 2009 at Royal Lytham and St. Annes becoming the first Scottish golfer to win the Women’s British Open
• Aileen McGlynn, who is visually impaired, is Scotland’s most successful disabled cyclist. In November 2009 she won the Gold medal in the women’s Blind and Visually Impaired Individual Pursuit at the UCI Para-Cycling World Championships breaking the record she set at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing
• Katherine Grainger is Britain’s most successful Olympic female rower having won silver medals in Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008, making her the first female British athlete – in any sport – to gain medals in three different Olympic Games. In 2009, having switched to the single sculls after the Beijing Olympics, she claimed a surprise silver at the World Championships in Poland
• David Murdoch and his team are the current World and European champions. He is also a two time World Junior Curling Champion. It is expected that he and his team will be selected to represent GB at the forthcoming Winter Olympic Games

Topics: 2014 Commonwealth Games, achievements, athletics, bobsleigh, Britain, canoeing, curling, cycling, golf, Governance, hockey, judo, physical activity, rowing, Scotland, sports, swimming, Year of Homecoming

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