Angus rower Sam Scrimgeour has put Olympic heartbreak behind him by adding to his impressive medal collection with a World Cup gold.
The 28-year-old from Kirriemuir was a victim of his favoured event – the lightweight men’s pair – not being included in the programme for Rio.
The four has been, but Scrimgeour didn’t make the cut for that event. He will, however, be going to Rio as a stand-by in case of injury.
He proved at the weekend that had the pair been included for the Olympics he would have been in with an excellent chance of bringing a medal home, by winning a World Cup race in Poland.
“We’ve (Scrimgeour and Joel Cassells) won two World Cup series events this season,” he explained. “And we’ve won the World Championship.
“Unfortunately the boat classification we’ve been competing in isn’t in the Olympics.
“I’ll be going as a spare to support the four. There was a possibility of making that boat but unfortunately I didn’t get selected.
“It was obviously disappointing. You would never wish an injury on a team-mate but I will be ready to step in if required.”
And the Olympic dream isn’t yet dead.
“You never know, they might get rid of the four and go with the pair at Tokyo for the next Games. I’m only 28 so hopefully I’ll have another four years in me.”
