Olympic great Allan Wells hopes that the Commonwealth Games will prove to be a stepping stone, rather than a career peak, for Scotland’s latest athletics heroes.
Reflecting on the tally of four home Commonwealth Games medals (Lynsey Sharp, Eilidh Child, Mark Dry and Libby Clegg) in track and field, 1978 Moscow gold medallist Wells is confident that the best is yet to come for many of Team Scotland.
The Glasgow 2014 ambassador said: “What Scotland’s athletes did at Hampden was reasonable. We have to be pretty happy with four medals.
“It is a young team. Many of them are still learning about themselves and about the big moments in sport. I was 26 when I went to the Commonwealth Games for the first time so there’s the majority of this team under that age.
“Let’s see if they can step-up a wee bit over the next few years. Can they use Glasgow 2014 as the platform? Everybody has to be so professional I mean the governing body, the athletes, the coaches.
“The attitude must be 100% and the motivation has to be right. That can come from coaches as well as the athletes themselves. It is so important.”
That process of building on Glasgow starts next week for seven Scottish athletes who have been picked by Team GB and NI for the European Championships in Zurich, including Hampden silver medallists Sharp and Child.
Laura Muir will be looking to recover from her 1,500m final appearance in Glasgow which faltered in the final 100m. Jake Wightman has had to withdraw with the hamstring injury which troubled him at Hampden.
Meanwhile, Nigel Holl, chief executive of governing body scottishathletics, said: “We had an agreed and stated medal target of ‘more than two’ and that was achieved with four medals in athletics which is a source of satisfaction but not complacency.
“Over the next few weeks we will, of course, undertake detailed review and analysis of performance. That review will capture the essential lessons and learning from selection policy, the build-up to the games and the actual performances at Glasgow 2014.
“We will absorb that detail and we will look to the future to ensure that the concepts that worked, and those which maybe didn’t work quite as well, are clear and insightful for future scottishathletics teams, coaches and programmes.
“The team as a whole performed. By that team I mean athletes, coaches, medical staff and administrators. It is no surprise that with 57 athletes competing there were those who stepped up and delighted audiences; those who delivered exactly what you would expect; and others for whom the pressure of the home games effect may have ensured they were not at their best. Athletes are human, after all.”
Holl added: “I am left satisfied by the medal haul and the points tally is good in the context of top eight finishes. Medals in athletics were hard won in Glasgow, I don’t think there is any doubt about that.
“The most encouraging aspect for us at scottishathletics is that 30 of the team were aged 23 or under really quite young in terms of competing at major competitions.
“Just experiencing the ‘Hampden Roar’ the inspiration but also the expectation and pressure that stirred will help them in the future.
“I saw plenty to make me feel sure that the next 10 years look very positive indeed for athletics in Scotland with the help of athletes, coaches and clubs as well as volunteers and officials.
“All of those are vital for the sport’s wellbeing in a team effort.”