Scots athletes get funding ahead of Glasgow 2014

Potential Commonwealth and Winter Olympic Games medalists will receive individual funding to help them reach their goal next year, it has been announced.

Aileen McGlynn is among those receiving funding. Picture: Getty

A total of 62 athletes and three teams have received grants from the sportscotland Lottery Fund as they prepare to compete at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

It is the second round of sportscotland athlete personal awards (Sapas) and will support 15 sports with a total of £396,917 - an increase from £204,000 for 13 sports in the previous round.

The third and final announcement of Sapas will see the total financial investment rise above £1 million for more than 100 athletes.

Team awards were announced today for badminton and cycling, with investments of £30,000 and £40,000 respectively, and hockey will also receive funds, with the amount not yet confirmed.

Delighted

Three-time Paralympic track cycling gold medalist Aileen McGlynn was present at the event at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, where it was announced that she will receive Sapa funding.

“I am delighted to have been awarded an individual sportscotland athlete personal award, which will provide the added assistance required to help me compete at the highest level in Glasgow next year,” she said.

“With cycling also receiving a team award, the sport will be the best-prepared it has ever been heading into a Commonwealth Games.

“This investment, coupled with the passionate home crowd cheering us on in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, will undoubtedly help all the cyclists to perform to the best of their abilities and hopefully see us deliver medals for Team Scotland.”

Legacy

Shona Robison, minister for Commonwealth Games and sport, said: “We are now approaching the business end of the athletes’ preparations and all the work they are doing with the Scottish governing bodies of sport and the world-class support they are receiving from the sportscotland institute of sport coaches, scientists and experts has ensured that Team Scotland’s athletes will be the best-prepared going into a Commonwealth Games.”

The Sapa funding along with investment from the Scottish Government will support training, competition and living costs for the athletes.

Sportscotland chair Louise Martin CBE said: “Using a mixture of lottery and Scottish Government funding, we are building a world-class system for high-performance athletes in Scotland and this is an important component of delivering the sporting legacy from hosting the Commonwealth Games. Initiatives such as Sapas can help deliver success on the global stage.”

Three Winter Olympic hopefuls, Andrew Musgrave and Andrew Young, who are cross-country skiers, and snowboarder Ben Kilner have also been awarded Sapas.