Commonwealth Games: Mailman, Tattie, Braveheart and the golden sisters - Scotland's Glasgow 2014 heroes

It turned out to be a glorious affair with Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Mike Hooper hailing them as “the standout games in the history of the movement”.

The sun shone - for some of the time, at least - and there was a clamour for tickets. Usain Bolt was the star attraction and he anchored Jamaica to gold in the 4x100 metres relay on the final day of the athletics at a dreich Hampden Park.

It was a great Games for Scotland and, for one brief, memorable summer, sports such as judo, lawn bowls and boxing supplanted football in the national consciousness.

The hosts produced their best ever medal haul at the Commonwealths, winning 19 golds, 15 silvers and 19 bronzes for a grand total of 53. Here we look back at some of the home heroes of Glasgow 2014.

Judo provides memorable mat finish

No one delivered more for Team Scotland than the judokas. Over three days at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, they won 13 medals, including six golds.

It was compelling stuff and we were all judo fans, for a few days at least.

Kimberley Renicks, a 26-year-old from Bellshill, had the honour of winning Scotland’s first gold medal of the Games, triumphing the -48kg category. Incredibly, just 45 minutes later, her older sister Louise emulated her in the -52kg category.

And the gold medals kept coming. Euan Burton, who carried the Scottish flag at the opening ceremony at Celtic Park, won the 100kg class and Christopher Sherrington, a Royal Marines Commando, topped the podium in the heavyweight +100kg division, and wore his green beret during the celebrations.

Sarah Clark came out on top in the half-middleweight 63kg class and there was gold too for heavyweight Sarah Adlington. In the final analysis, 13 of the 14 Scotland judo team members won medals, a remarkable return.

Adlington, who also won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, is the only one returning for Glasgow 2026 and is aiming for an unprecedented judo treble.

The swimming bravehearts

Dan Wallace made a splash in the Tollcross pool, winning the men’s 400m individual medley. As soon as the Edinburgh swimmer finished, he leapt from the water and shouted “for freedom!”, channelling his namesake, William.

“It’s such a Scottish thing and it warms my heart, seeing this and all the patriotic fans outside,” he said later.

It was a golden summer for Inverurie’s Hannah Miley, who emulated Wallace in the women’s 400m individual medley, retaining the title she had won four years earlier in Delhi. And Ross Murdoch made it a Scottish hat-trick by winning the 200m breaststroke, edging out hot favourite and Olympic medallist Michael Jamieson who had to settle for silver.

Bowled over at Kelvingrove

Over at Kelvingrove, the lawn bowls was proving to be another fertile source of Scottish medals.

Alex ‘Tattie’ Marshall and Paul Foster teamed up to win the pairs, memorably beating England en route in the semi-final during which Marshall gave it his best ‘get it up ye!’ salute.

Marshall and Foster were then joined by David Peacock and Neil Speirs and proceeded to beat England again, this time in the final of the fours.

The third Scottish bowls gold medal of the Games was won by Arbroath policeman Darren Burnett who beat Ryan Bester of Canada in the singles final.

Daniels at the double in gymnastics

Daniel Purvis had won team bronze with Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and when he donned the navy vest of Scotland two years later he ended up clinching medals of all colours.

He won gold on the parallel bars and bronze on the rings, and helped Scotland win silver in the men's team event.

Team-mate Daniel Keatings also won three medals. He won gold in the pommel horse, silver in the individual all-around final and was also part of the silver-winning men’s team.

Only judo and swimming won more medals for Scotland than the two Dans.

Fachie gets on his bike

Sir Chris Hoy announced his retirement from cycling the year before Glasgow 2014 which meant the new velodrome named in his honour would not feature the cycling legend in a racing capacity.

If Hoy’s absence left a big hole, there were still five Scottish medals to celebrate at the excellent facility in the city’s east end. Neil Fachie led the way for the host nation, winning two para-track golds alongside his pilot Craig MacLean in the men’s tandem sprint and tandem kilo time trial.

Aileen McGlynn and pilot Louise Haston also enjoyed double medal success in the women’s equivalent, with a pair of silvers.

And Glasgow 2014 also saw Katie Archibald win the first Commonwealth Games medal of her outstanding career as she took bronze in the women's points race.

Boxing clever with the Mailman and a future world champion

Charlie Flynn was one of the breakout stars of Glasgow 2014, a garrulous lightweight from Lanarkshire who talked as well as he punched.

Rejoicing in the nickname of ‘the Mailman’, he duly delivered, winning gold for Scotland in the -60kg division by beating Northern Ireland’s Joe Fitzpatrick in the final.

Flynn was working in the sorting office of the Royal Mail at the time of the Glasgow Games but turned pro soon after. A back injury cut short his career but his place in Scotland’s boxing history is assured.

Josh Taylor made less noise but the quietly determined Prestonpans man would go on to achieve boxing immortality in the pro ranks by becoming the undisputed light-welterweight champion, emulating his hero, Ken Buchanan. Taylor unified all four major titles in the division by defeating José Ramírez in Las Vegas in 2021.

His Commonwealth Games story began with a silver medal in Delhi in 2010 and he went one better in Glasgow, beating Junias Jonas of Namibia in the final.

On track with Clegg, Doyle and Sharp

If Bolt was the star of the athletics programme at Hampden, there were local heroes, too.

Libby Clegg, a sprinter from Newcastleton in the Scottish Borders, has a deteriorating eye condition giving her only slight peripheral vision in her left eye. Running with guide Mikhail Huggins, she competed in the T11/T12 100m at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and won gold in 12.20 seconds, a world-leading time for the year.

There were also memorable silvers for Eilidh Child and Lynsey Sharp on successive days at Hampden.

Child (now Doyle) finished second in the 400m hurdles behind Kaliese Spencer of Jamaica. Two weeks later she won gold in the European Championships. Doyle would end up with 17 major championship medals and retired in 2021 as the most decorated Scottish track and field athlete of all time.

Sharp, also a European champion, won Commonwealth silver in the 800m on an emotional evening in Glasgow. Laid low by sickness and stomach cramps the night before, she was placed on a drip. She found the strength to compete in the final and finished second behind Eunice Sum of Kenya.

The remaining Scottish medal came in the hammer and was won by Mark Dry who finished behind Jim Steacey of Canada. and Nicholas Miller of England.