Jack Carlin (Cycling)

Silver in the keirin and bronze in the sprint for Team Scotland at Birmingham 2022 was followed by bronze and a gutsy silver medal at the European Championships in Munich later in August, coming within millimeteres of gold after a semi-final crash that ripped apart his skinsuit. He capped the year with a bronze medal at the UCI Track World Championships in the team sprint.

Sam Hickey (Boxing)

The Dundonian Middleweight made Scottish boxing history in 2022. He followed bronze at the European Under-22s in March with bronze at the senior European Championships just two months later, making him the first Scot to medal at the event for 16 years. He took gold at the Commonwealth Games, where his performances in the ring were so impressive that he was named the Male Boxer of the Tournament, beating out boxers from all 55 countries and 10 weight categories.

Duncan Scott (Swimming)

Having broken the Commonwealth and British Record in the 400 IM in April, Duncan recovered from illness to perform outstandingly at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games for Team Scotland. Winning six medals for the second time at a Games, including gold in the 200m Free and IM events, Duncan becomes the most decorated Scottish Commonwealth Games athlete ever with a grand total of 13 medals over three Games.

Jake Wightman (Athletics)

Jake produced the run of his life to become World 1500m Champion, only the second Scot to win a World Championship gold medal and the first British man to win the 1500m World title since 1983. Two weeks later he claimed Commonwealth Games 1500m bronze in a thrilling final, followed by European Championships silver over 800m. A new Scottish 800m record in September – eclipsing the 33 year old mark – ended a stunning track season. before he defended his title at the prestigious New York 5th Ave mile.

Sarah Adlington (Judo)

Sarah made history at Birmingham 2022 by becoming the first Scottish Judoka to claim two Commonwealth Games gold medals, successfully defending her +78kg title from Glasgow 2014. In 2022 she also claimed gold at the Winterthur Senior European Cup and Bronze at the Dubrovnik Senior European Cup.

Neah Evans (Cycling)

Neah became the first Scottish female cyclist to win three medals at a single Games in Birmingham, as she took silver and bronze on the track, before winning a stunning silver medal in the Women’s Road Race. In October she also claimed her first major individual title with gold in the Points Race at the Track Cycling World Championships, and silver in Team Pursuit, adding to three golds at British National Track Championships earlier in the year.

Eilish McColgan (Athletics)

In 2022, Eilish set British records on the road at 5K, 10K and Half Marathon, the 10K also a European record. Then in June, on the track, broke the Scottish record in the 10,000m, which had stood for 31 years, having been set at the same venue by mum and coach Liz back in 1991. She took a remarkable ‘double double’, in terms of podium finishes at both the Commonwealth Games and European Championships. Eilish thrilled Team Scotland with 10,000m gold in the Alexander Stadium and a few days later added 5000m silver. In Germany, it was 10,000m silver and 5000m bronze.

Laura Muir (Athletics)

An injury early in the year threatened to blunt Laura’s 2022 ambitions but Laura and coach Andy Young slowly and steadily built her return to form to set up what became an historic season for the 29-year-old. Ultimately, she delivered big time on the big stage with no fewer than four major medals from four finals. Across a five-week period, Laura took bronze in an epic Women’s 1500m final in Oregon and then doubled up at Birmingham to take 800m bronze and 1500m gold and then went on to successfully defend her European title at 1500m.

Neil Simpson MBE with Andrew Simpson MBE (Skiing)

Brothers Neil and Andrew won Super Combined silver at their maiden World Championships in Norway in January 2022 before being selected to ParlympicsGB for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. The pair made history, claiming Britain’s first male Paralympic gold on snow, triumphing in the men’s Super-G competition and also picking up a bronze in the Super Combined.

Sean Frame (Athletics)

Sean delivered an incredible performance on the opening day of athletics competition at Birmingham 2022. Never daunted by the challenging nature of the marathon course, Sean raced aggressively throughout the early stages of the race to put himself in a strong position. And coupled with his commitment and hard work in the second half of the race – he was rewarded with an incredible silver medal.

Neil Fachie OBE with Lewis Stewart (Cycling)

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games with pilot Lewis Stewart, Neil won the gold medal in the Men’s Tandem B 1000m Time Trial final and the silver medal in the Tandem B Sprint Finals. Bringing his total to five gold and one silver across three Games, Neil is Scotland’s most successful para-sport athlete in Commonwealth Games history and sits second on the overall all-time list.

Stephen Clegg (Swimming)

Competing at his second World Championships Stephen improved on his silver medal from 2019 returning from Madeira with three individual medals including two gold in the S12 100m Butterfly and S12 100m Backstroke, he also took silver in the S12 100m Freestyle and bronze in the 49 Point Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay. At the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, swimming up a classification, he took a silver medal in the S13 50m Freestyle, missing out on gold by 1/100th of a second in a new British Record time.

Niamh Mitchell (Boxing)

Niamh won gold at the European Junior Boxing Championships in Italy, becoming the first Scottish female boxer to win a major international competition and just the second Scot to do so at the European Junior Boxing Championships. The 16-year-old defeated the tournament favourite – unbeaten on the international stage and a two-time European champion – in the final after overcoming competition from Ireland, Hungary and England in earlier rounds.

Kirsty Muir (Skiing)

Team GB’s youngest competitor at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, 17-year-old Kirsty competed in the big air, finishing in fifth place, and slopestyle events. She beat Sarah Hoefflin (the 2018 slopestyle Olympic champion) which was a huge achievement, but she said making it to the Olympics alone was a dream come true.

Toni Shaw (Swimming)

With a string of global medals already to her name, Toni continued her form into 2022. She won gold in the S9 400m Freestyle at the World Para Swimming Championships in Madeira and a bronze in the S9 100m Butterfly. She then went on to claim a fantastic bronze medal for Team Scotland at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in the S9 100m Freestyle.

Katie Shanahan (Swimming)

19 year old Katie won Team Scotland’s first Aquatics medal at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, taking bronze in the 400m IM in a lifetime best, before winning bronze again in the 200m Backstroke. She took silver in the 200m Backstroke at the European Championships, also making finals in 200m and 400m IM. At the World Short Course Championships, she reached the final of the 400 IM in her first ever swim at a global senior meet, placing 8th.

Rosemary Lenton and Pauline Wilson (Lawn Bowls)

Rosemary and Pauline made headlines this Summer, winning gold in the Para Women’s Pairs B6-B8 at the Commonwealth Games, Team Scotland’s first ever gold medal in Women’s Para Bowls. Having only just sneaked through their qualification rounds after a slow start, like all great champions their performances peaked in the latter stages of the event, beating both 1st and 2nd ranked teams in the draw to take their place on top of the medal podium. Rosemary was also bestowed with the honour of being the oldest gold medallist in Commonwealth Games history at the age of 72.

Robert Barr, Sarah Jane Ewing, Melanie Inness, George Miller (Lawn Bowls)

Scotland’s Visually Impaired B2-B3 Mixed Pairs at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games were simply unstoppable. Unbeaten in the group stage, they then followed this up with an even better knockout stage going all the way to gold. With Melanie and George making their debut at the Commonwealth Games, and Robert and Sarah having just missed a medal at Gold Coast 2018, it proved to be the perfect mix.

Garry Brown and Kevin Wallace (Lawn Bowls)

Kevin and Garry took Team Scotland’s first bowls medal of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, winning gold in the B4-B6 Men’s Pairs and sparking a gold rush as all three para-bowls teams took top spot. Both Kevin and Garry have competed at previous Games with neither having won a medal, so to bounce back with such a dominant performance and with Garry only added to the team less than a week before the team departed as a last-minute replacement, the achievement is all the more remarkable.

Greg Lobban and Rory Stewart (Squash)

In 2022, Greg and Rory combined youth and experience with a new partnership at the 2022 World Doubles Championships in Glasgow. The pair secured the silver medal and confirmed a strong pair to compete at Birmingham 2022, where they went on to create history, winning the bronze medal in the men’s doubles. After narrowly losing out to England in the semi-final, 2-1, the pair bounced back to convincingly beat Malaysia in the bronze match and secured Scotland’s first squash medal at a Commonwealth Games for 24 years.

Team GB Women’s Curling Team

From missing out on a top six spot at the 2021 World Championships and auto qualifying for the Winter Olympics, the re-formed team took the European title and powered through to win the Olympic qualifying tournament. In Beijing, they defied the odds once again, coming back from conceding a four at the opening end in their semi-final against Sweden, the defending champions. After that epic victory, the final against Japan proved little more than a formality as they dominated throughout to win a first Olympic curling title for Team GB in 20 years. On the back of that Olympic triumph, they went on, in early March, to claim top spot in the world rankings.

James Heatly and Grace Reid (Diving)

With four fourth place finishes in the individual competitions at Birmingham 2022 between them, the duo showed resilience to win the final competition with gold in the Mixed Synchronised 3m Springboard. The Edinburgh Diving Club partnership won bronze in the event at the World Championships in Budapest and knew they’d been pegged as the ones to beat in the ten-team final. Diving first, they set the standard in a closely fought competition with little margin for error, finishing just under two points ahead of Australia’s Shixin Li and Madison Keeney. They completed the 2022 medal set with silver at the European Aquatics Championship.

Bob Christie (Para-Lawn Bowls)

Bob is Bowls Scotland’s Head Coach for the High-Performance Para Squad. He coached the squad to a successful test match against Australia, winning the 3-day series and led the first Para Squad to compete in a mainstream event taking on Jersey. He also coached the Scottish squad at the Home Nations Championships in Weston Super Mare where the Scots ran the hosts close for the title. The pinnacle of a hugely successful year was undoubtedly Team Scotland’s para bowlers claiming all three gold medals at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, making history as the first nation to achieve the clean sweep.

Craig McEvoy (Boxing)

2022 was the year that Craig McEvoy got the pay-off for his vision and willingness to make bold decisions with the direction of boxing in Scotland. After a disappointing Commonwealth Games in 2018, when only two bronze medals were won, Boxing Scotland Performance Director and Joint National Coach Craig decided to rip up the script and start fresh. In 2022 he hit the jackpot. Three gold medals – for the first time ever – and two bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham made it Scottish boxing’s most successful ever. Two European gold medals soon followed in late 2022 – only the 6th and 7th in history – which included Niamh Mitchell’s European Junior title, Scotland’s first ever female gold at a major international competition.

David Murdoch (Curling)

Having implemented a major overhaul of the sport after his appointment as Olympic Head Coach in 2018, David has overseen the introduction of the new discipline of Mixed Doubles, guiding Scottish pairs to the World title in 2021 and 2022. In the face of the women’s team missing out on automatic Olympic qualification, David had to manage the sport’s first-ever squad system at the start of the Olympic season, as nine players battled for five places. The quintet that emerged would go on to make history as Scotland’s men and women claimed gold at the same major championship for the first time ever at the 2021 European Championships. That proved the precursor to Team GB’s greatest ever Olympic curling success at Beijing 2022 as the men won silver and the women gold.

Steve Tigg (Swimming)

As Head Coach to the University of Stirling programme, Steve guided 12 swimmers to selection for the Commonwealth Games, with five winning medals and Duncan Scott securing his place as Team Scotland’s most decorated athlete of all-time. Earlier in the year Duncan had also set a new 400IM Commonwealth and British Record. Steve coached Lucy Hope to three gold and a silver at the European Championships, with Keanna MacInnes a finalist in the 100m and 200m Fly. He was appointed Head Coach to the swimming team for the Commonwealth Games and Head Coach to the GB swimming team for the European Championships 2022.

Scottish Cycling

2022 has been an incredibly exciting year for Scottish Cycling, with a record 11 medal haul at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games a stand-out moment. In addition, there have been World and European titles, and World Cup wins, across a range of disciplines, from road to downhill mountain biking. Thanks to investment from Transport Scotland they launched their Rock Up & Ride programme, giving a bike to children who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford one and developing skills, confidence and an inclusive pathway into clubs. They are also undertaking, in collaboration with sportscotland, a £16m development of cycling facilities across the country. In August, they launched Bike and Blether in partnership with SAMH, which promotes cycling as a powerful tool in achieving and maintaining positive mental wellbeing and have created the Scottish Cycling Foundation, which is already raising funds to support key strategic projects and removing barriers to either entry or excellence.

Scottish Handball Association

With just 2.5 staff members, the Scottish Handball Association has placed a major strategic focus on the growth of the game at school level with approximately 60 free Coach Education school courses run in 2022. In addition they developed free school resources that were downloaded 250 times. Introducing a Scottish National Team programme in 2022, they also worked with partners at British Handball to host the newly adapted British Handball Super Cup, the largest national club handball event in the UK. They secured national broadcasting rights with BBC Sport and iPlayer, with live stream viewing figures topping 6,500 for the two day event. They have also succeeded in securing funding for two new full-time Scottish Handball Development Officers.

Scottish Hockey

After a comprehensive member engagement process in early 2021, a governance reset was instigated which reinvented the way Scottish Hockey governs itself. This saw the formation of three key sub committees, consolidating the structure and making governance clear, concise, easy to follow and transparent to members. These new committees see a focus on well-being, diversity, inclusion and equity through the formation of Scottish Hockey’s first “People Committee” and a platform for members across Scotland to be heard through a “Districts Committee”.

Scottish Squash

As a relatively small SGB, Scottish Squash continue to punch above their weight, with the sport bouncing back and seeing growth following the challenges of the pandemic. On the performance side, bronze for Greg Lobban and Rory Stewart, the first Commonwealth medal for 24 Years, as well as a European Team bronze medal for the men and the successful hosting of the World Doubles Championships which saw three medals for Scotland has made 2022 a special year for the sport. Through initiatives like Girls Do Squash, more women and girls have become involved in the sport and Scottish Squash has also rolled out a new individual membership programme and coach development programme, encouraging coaches to work together.

Ayr United Women and Girls Club

Ayr United Women and Girls academy have progressed massively and are still on the up. With their first team being in complete association with the men’s team, including shared sponsorship, press conference, social media output, the women’s game in Ayr is on the rise. All teams now receiving free training kit upon signing, and all coaches and players who are looking to progress into a coaching role are supported to attend coaching badges at all stages, paid for by the academy. Ayr United are at the forefront helping to continually shape the game into a positive place for all women and girls.

Biggar Netball Club

This year Biggar Netball Club grew from 50 to 150 members and are working hard to bring netball to a diverse rural community. Operating in three towns and linked with Active Schools in all four local secondary schools, they run holiday camps and do outreach in small villages that too often miss out and have poor transport links. To this, they’ve added walking and social netball and are building interest in men’s netball. Five junior members were selected to represent the District and two were selected for the U17 Scotland squads. The club also has a strong focus on mental health and wellbeing with campaigns this year relating to being positive about periods and actively promoting the social, physical and mental wellbeing benefits of the sport.

Falkirk Junior Bike Club

Falkirk Junior Bike Club (FJBC) delivers inclusive, accessible, and fun cycling sessions that offer opportunities across participation, performance, and grass roots events, as well as hosting the biggest cycle sport events on the Scottish Cycling calendar. FJBC have run 10 open events in 2022, with 2000 entries across all events. Putting young people at the heart of what they do, FJBC have developed a strong young leaders programme which has developed 22 young coaches all aged between 14 and 21, seven of whom have been trained in 2022. These young coaches lead weekly sessions, as well as community outreach programmes including the Holiday Hunger Programme which saw FJBC feed 1400 children and young people this summer.

Hamilton Judo Club

Inclusion and accessibility is at the heart of Hamilton Judo club who cover all bases when delivering sessions, so that all participants, both able-bodied and disabled, can take part in fun, engaging judo sessions together. They have 30 young people who attend the Junior Disability/ASN session and 10 students who attend the senior Disability/ASN session. With an understanding of the potential for sport and activity to improve people’s lives, they have strong links with schools, deliver Health and Wellbeing sessions for adults of all ages and fitness levels, provide clear pathways for members to transition from the Disability/ASN to the mainstream sessions, as well as numerous programmes for adult and youth members from age 14 to transition into coaching and volunteering.

Arran High School

Arran High School, through its Mountain Bike Club, have embedded cycling and sport broadly in so many aspects of school life, providing opportunities to participate in Mountain Biking and encouraging the wider school community to choose cycling as an alternative travel option. The club has also recognised the need to cater for girls in the school in a different way and developed a female leader who now leads a thriving girls’ group on a weekly basis. The club nurtures resilience by continuing to run activities through the winter months via regular night riding, when most other outdoor activities on the island cease. The wider community is encouraged to volunteer in the annual month long IMBA (Europe) Take Care of Your Trails campaign and there are leadership pathways for senior pupils, free bike repairs through the school workshop and the club is currently spearheading a project to develop the first purpose built cycling facility on the island.

Balfron High School

Balfron High has a strong ethos of participation and excellence with 20 clubs running at lunchtime and after-school each week, including pupil led Frisbee and Water Polo sessions, learn to swim sessions and access to the gym. Their PT Equity ensures that money is never a barrier to participation and opportunities are provided for pupils with disabilities to participate. Their LGBT+ charter allows support for LGBT+ young people to participate in PE by reducing barriers like changing areas. A leadership programme involves pupils in S3/4/5 working with primary pupils and leading festivals, while S6 Sports Leaders are trained in a variety of sports then visit the local primary schools to deliver lunchtime clubs.

Kirkcaldy High School

Kirkcaldy High School have made remarkable efforts to utilise the power of Sport and Physical Activity as a key driver for motivating, inspiring and reengaging more than 1200 children and young people. S1/S2 Outdoor and Adventure days are designed to actively engage young people in their personal development, supporting them to develop skills that will empower them to make a positive start to their secondary school journey and future. A special young leadership pathway at KHS sees more than 70 pupils actively engaged in roles delivering phenomenal outcomes for the local community and Fife, with their Sports Leaders as just one example, peer delivering core sports such as Basketball, Football, Rugby & Netball in cluster primaries and supporting regional Disability Sport Fife events. 2022 has been a very successful year for competitive sports with Kirkcaldy High School awarded: U18 Fife Cup winners, U16 Fife Cup winners and the U14 Scottish Schools winners.

Rosebank Primary School

Rosebank Primary School has a refreshing and empowering view towards not only sport and physical activity, but health and wellbeing as a whole. Towards not only the young people within the school, but the wider school community including families and carers. With the help of Active Schools, partnerships with NHS, Active Travel, local food companies and charities and local sporting opportunities, they have developed a family programme called Best Foot Forward creating and sustaining healthy habits for life. A 15-week programme encompasses the wider agenda for health, including sleep and screentime. Every lunch or afterschool has at least 1 club on offer and Rosebank has an agenda for change, and awareness for those who do not traditionally access sport and physical activity, employing an additional Activity Inclusion Worker to target and enhance the experience of those at Rosebank Primary School. On the opposite end, they have pledged to recognise talent within their young people and are committed to financially supporting those young people who show an outstanding commitment and enthusiasm to a sport.

Kiana Coutts

Leading the Stronger Families Inside Out and CLUB 10 programmes at the Denis Law Legacy Trust, Kiana is using sport to make a lasting difference on young people and their families that are affected by imprisonment. She has guided participants who rank as some of the most deprived and disadvantaged in our communities through restrictions and lockdowns and back into mainstream physical and mental wellbeing activities that have helped shape and change their lives. Working in an environment such as a prison and with families affected by the circle of imprisonment could be difficult for some but by acting with respect for all and being completely non-judgmental, she has broken down barriers that prevent these families from engaging and made a big difference to their family’s cohesion and lives.

Graeme Doig

Graeme is quite simply an inspiration to all around him. He does not champion just one sport but many throughout Perthshire and on occasion throughout Scotland. In addition to his day job, he spends more than 20 hours every week volunteering with Perth Strathtay Harriers, Perth Eagles Wheelchair Sports club, and the Dolphins swim club. Graeme doesn’t break down barriers to participation he smashes them! In 2022 his partnership links with active schools and education delivered Para Sportshall athletics for over 200 children, a swimming gala for 150 young people and he has worked with partners in North Perthshire to deliver a range of successful inclusive activities, e.g. bowling, para-football, Boccia. This year Graeme has been a leader in a charity programme combining social and wellbeing life skills alongside physical activity to provide positive steps to the future for these young adults.

Graham Harvey

Graham wears many hats within disability sport in his local area, one of which is a voluntary coaching role in the sport of athletics. Since 2007 he has led the Sport Central Disability Athletes squad and in 2010 was closely involved in founding the Forth Valley Flyers athletics club. For the last 12 years he has supported the club at training sessions twice a week, coached athletes to Special Olympics National Summer Games. He also continues to support Forth Valley Flyers athletes to local, regional, national and international level events. His passion, motivation and commitment towards Forth Valley Flyers athletes is evident for all to see as is the high esteem that he is held in both locally and nationally.

Raza Sadiq

Founding member and chairperson of Active Life Club, Raza has worked determinedly for over 23 years in the voluntary sector to promote diversity and inclusion within the community, using sport as the mechanism to create social cohesion. ALC supports the physical, mental, and social development of black and minority ethnic groups through access to sports, outward bound and wider skills development programmes. ALC volunteers to go on to become active citizens within their respective communities, thus developing transferable skills to enable them to succeed in their lives. When ALC was first established, there were no paid staff, and it was solely run by volunteers, but Raza has created employment opportunities within the club for others, whilst still contributing himself daily to the project despite having his own full-time work. He has also contributed to policy development, improving inclusive provision for all communities. Raza’s dedication and vision has changed the lives of thousands of children and young people, and his strong leadership has transformed Active Life Club into a hub which helps its community to prosper.

Aberdeenshire Sailing Trust

Aberdeenshire Sailing Trust have been trying to reduce their impact on the planet for the last 5 years, one piece at a time. They use an electric vehicle to tow our boats & equipment between venues and have supported a host venue to get solar panels & battery storage so that for 6 months of the season, the building largely runs off-grid and showers & heating are solar powered. In addition, they have two electric rescue boats to avoid emitting CO2 during sailing sessions, have partnered with Trees for Life to plant a tree for every school group coming to a session using a school bus until school buses are Zero -emission and recycle their broken old plastic boats rather than putting them into landfill.

Adventure Oban

Led by a volunteer board of directors, Adventure Oban is a not-for-profit community group with members brought together through a shared love of the outdoors. As part of the club’s increasing awareness and access to outdoor activities, Adventure Oban have recently launched the country’s first Adventure Library, which stems from the success of the Edinburgh Tool Library. Members of the community can contribute and recycle spare or no longer used outdoor equipment such as wetsuits, gloves, paddles and SUPs that other members of the community can borrow – exactly like a normal library. The initiative will help reduce equipment being thrown into landfill and save members from purchasing their own equipment and clothing. It will also encourage community members to try sports they otherwise wouldn’t try due to the initial expenditure on equipment.

GEO Foundation

2022 was a huge summer of golf in Scotland, featuring The Open, AIG Women’s Open, DP World Scottish Open, Trust Scottish Women’s Open, Senior Open and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. For the first time each event made consistent, comprehensive and deliberate efforts to integrate sustainability and climate action. Activities included behavioural change, best practices and new technologies for carbon reduction; circular economy; increased community value; promotion of nature. A consistent approach united efforts across venues, staging, legacies and communications. From a strong emphasis on local, ethical and certified catering to using low- carbon energy and fuels, reduction of single use plastics and education initiatives reaching local families, tens of thousands of staff and spectators, and millions more through added media and broadcast outputs. The project was coordinated and is being reported by GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf, in partnership with VisitScotland, the event organisers and Scottish Golf.

Ullapool Community Sports Hub Feel Good Festival

Started in 2019 as a free community festival to connect residents, help improve their mental health and wellbeing and link them closer to the local environment, the Feel Good Festival has continued to grow and adapt over the past 4 years to meet the needs of communities in the North West Highlands. With litter picking along beaches collecting over 40kg of marine plastic each time, the project was able to start producing skipping ropes made from the repurposed plastic waste. The first batch of free ropes were taken to primary schools and nurseries in 2021 and served at local seniors and dementia groups to inform people about the project, share memories and inspire them to get involved in skipping. The Feel Good Festival and Ullapool Community Sport Hub continue to support and develop the Ocean Plastic Skipping Rope project, with more ropes eventually sold to fund the project and potential for new products to be developed.