‘Closing ceremony is my retirement party’: double gold medallist eyes Commonwealth Games hat-trick

Having won gold the last time Glasgow staged the Games in 2014 and again in Birmingham eight years later, the possibility of a glorious swan-song hove into view for the 39-year-old judoka.

The dream scenario for Adlington involves standing atop the podium at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) on August 2, the final day of the Games, with another gold medal around her neck.

Judo wasn’t going to be one of the sports on offer in Australia but it was back on the table as soon as Glasgow stepped in. And no wonder. Judo provided 13 of Scotland’s 53 medals in 2014 - almost a quarter - and more than any other sport.

Adlington has twice triumphed in the +78 kilogramme category and will go again in the heavyweight class this time around.

“Judo wasn't due to be in this one, so for judo players, and for me especially, it is 100 per cent a bonus Games. Everyone keeps telling me to enjoy it, so I'm doing my best to enjoy everything that comes with it, but you want to win as well, don't you?”

She says the Games will be her final competitive judo event.

“And I'll compete on the last day as well, so, the closing ceremony is my retirement party, that's what I'm telling everyone! It had better be a good one.”

Adlington will turn 40 three days after the Games ends, by which point she hopes to be the proud recipient of another Commonwealth medal. She has worked hard to be ready for Glasgow and there is a determination to replicate her success of 12 years ago and bring down the curtain on a glorious career.

“Of course,” she says. “I'm an athlete, I'm a winner, and I want to win, and to finish my career on top of the podium would be absolutely amazing, and I think that's why I'm still striving every day to be the best I can be when I step on the mat on August 2. But it's judo, it's sport, and the margin for error in judo is so small.

“But the fairy-tale ending would be to stand on the podium with another medal, a gold medal preferably, but, if not, what a fantastic way to end my career, and to have had the opportunity to represent Scotland three times.”