London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jul 20, 2026

Four golds in under four hours for stunning Scots

Four golds in under four hours for stunning Scots

Scotland claimed an astonishing four gold medals - and six in total - during less than four hours of incredible Commonwealth Games drama in Birmingham on Wednesday.

Para-bowlers Pauline Wilson and Rosemary Lenton started the rush, the latter becoming Scotland's oldest gold medallist at the age of 72.

Then, Sarah Adlington retained her +78kg judo title and became Scotland's first ever double judo gold medallist, before swimmer Duncan Scott added his second gold of these Games.

And Eilish McColgan produced the most remarkable result of all to rampage to victory in the 10,000m and match her mother Liz's success in 1986 and 1990. And just for good measure, she did it in a Games record with her maw watching trackside.

Those coruscating few hours were bookended by Adlington's team-mate Rachel Tytler taking bronze in the -78kg category, and Scott joining Craig McNally, Ross Murdoch - in the last races of their career - and Evan Jones to claim third in the 4 x 100m medley relay.

It also added an enormous dollop of polish to Scotland's standing. Medals have been surprisingly bountiful, but golds vexingly rare. Not any more. The nine won in Goal Coast four years ago are now in significant danger of being surpassed.

The tally now stands at 32 in total, with seven gold, eight silver and 17 bronze just past the halfway point, with another three bronzes - at least - secured by the boxers earlier on Wednesday.

Reese Lynch, Sam Hickey and Sean Lazzerini all won their quarter-finals in Birmingham, and will watch team-mates Lennon Mulligan, Matthew McHale and Tyler Jolly try to do the same on Thursday.


'In a couple of weeks I'm 73...'


Lenton and Wilson, with a combined age of 130, were perhaps the most gladdening of the successes, though, on an enthralling day.

The duo didn't just beat their Australian opponents, they overwhelmed them 17-5 in a dominant display, having seen off England in their semi-final. It matched the achievement of their male pairs counterparts.

"I'd never thought we'd be going home with a gold medal," Lenton told BBC Scotland. "I hoped and prayed we would. When it really mattered - the semi-finals and finals - we really turned it on, both of us.

"In a couple of weeks' time, I will be 73, but records are there to be broken and somebody will break that."

Scott is your man for that kind of business. The swimmer has not only ransacked 78-year-old Alister Allan's record of 10 Commonwealth Games medals this week and pushed the mark out to 13, but he has also now stripped the shooter of the consolation that he still had won more golds.

The Olympic medallist now taken gold in the 200m freestyle and medley, as well as bronze 400m medley, 100m free, 4 x 200m freestyle and 4 x 100m medley relay, all in the past five days. And he took one of those off to rest.

"I'm absolutely exhausted," the 25-year-old told BBC Sport Scotland. "I was really hurting and I'm really glad that I'm finished, to be honest.

"It's been a really long week and I just scraped the barrel there and the team helped me out. I'm just absolutely buzzing for the four of us, and the four that did the heat. It's been all of us coming together to get that bronze."

Given her recent difficulties with illness and injury - and the stacked nature of the 10,000m - it seemed a bronze might be the best McColgan could hope for. But the 31-year-old Dundonian is one of the most obdurate athletes on the circuit.

She led early and maintained her form throughout, before finding herself in a duel with Irine Cheptai with a lap to go.

The Kenyan surged ahead on the back straight but McColgan wasn't having any of her capers, digging in and rampaging past to record the biggest win of her career.

"I have never sprinted like that in my life and without the crowd I could never have done that," she told BBC Sport. "It was vibrating through my body.

"I couldn't have asked for anything more to have my family here. Your family know the ups and downs and this is my fourth attempt over four events and I have come sixth every time. You could see I wanted gold. To win it tonight was so special."

Mother Liz, a redoubtably presence at the best of times, stood emotionally beside her as she spoke.

"To witness your daughter win in the same event is incredible," she added. "She just ran the race I knew she was capable of running. I know how hard she works and it's fantastic it came together and she won."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
London’s Housing Starts Collapse as Planning and Building Costs Stall Development
Charlie Sheen’s Daughter: "My Dad Didn’t Buy Me a House, My Breasts Bought It"
Vivienne Westwood Casts Cicciolina, 74, in Its New Autumn Campaign
Dejavu: Germany’s Military Expansion Reshapes Europe’s Strategic Balance With France
Jingye Demands Full Compensation After Britain illegally Nationalized British Steel
Just Another Liar or a Robin Hood? Andy Burnham Pledges Cost-of-Living Help in First Speech as UK Prime Minister
Morgan Stanley Builds a Wall Street Lead in AI Infrastructure Finance
High Prices Push Coffee Drinkers Toward Whole Beans and Home Brewing
Trump Draws Boos and Podium Scrutiny at Spain’s World Cup Triumph
Brilliant move: Péter Magyar Moves to Nominate Chess Grandmaster Judit Polgár as Hungary’s President
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Police Block Cockroach Janta Party’s March to Parliament as Education Protests Intensify
Current AI Seeks to Build an Open Global AI Infrastructure Outside Big Tech Control
Turkey Explores S-400 Transfer to UAE in Bid to Rejoin F-35 Program
Josh Kerr Breaks Twenty-Seven-Year World Mile Record at London Diamond League
Thames Water Crisis Deepens as South East Water Outages Hit Thousands in Kent
EU Ban on Destroying Unsold Clothing Forces British Fashion Brands to Change Operations
UK Government Confirms Existing North Sea Oil and Gas Licences Will Be Honoured
UK Covid Inquiry Finds Nearly Ten Billion Pounds Lost in Pandemic Protective Equipment Procurement
Thames Water Moves Toward Possible Temporary Nationalisation Amid Rescue Plan Dispute
Andy Burnham Cancels One Point Eight Billion Pound Digital ID Programme After Taking Office
UK Government Takes British Steel Into Full Public Ownership to Protect Jobs and Supply Chains
Andy Burnham Becomes UK Prime Minister and Pledges Focus on Living Costs and Public Services
Germany’s Economic Malaise Reopens the Sunday Shopping Debate
Singapore Considers Lower Taxes for Fund Managers as Hong Kong Intensifies Talent Contest
US Retaliates Against Iran After Two American Troops Killed in Jordan
Bank of Asia BVI Enters Court-Supervised Liquidation After Regulators Find It Insolvent
Proposed U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Pact Could Permit Limited Uranium Enrichment Under International Safeguards
Netherlands Declares Water Shortage Emergency After Drought Pushes Rivers to Historic Lows
Why Kentucky Fried Chicken Became KFC—and Why the False Explanations Persist
Iran Claims It Destroyed Bahrain’s Main Artificial Intelligence Center in Missile and Drone Strike
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
Brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate Who Turned "Toxic Masculinity" Into a Brand Arrested in Miami as Britain Seeks Their Extradition
Reported CIA Mission Helped Clear the UAE’s Path to Advanced US AI Chips
Artificial Intelligence Capital Fuels Markets While Governments and Regulators Face Mounting Strategic Tests
China’s Moonshot’s Kimi K3 Narrows the Gap With Anthropic Through Scale, Openness and Lower Cost
Gold and Cash Seizure Puts Indonesia’s Senior Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Under Investigation
The Ledger Will Not Trust on Faith
Bank of England Warns Climate Shocks Could Trigger Sudden Asset Repricing
UK Treasury Places Microsoft, Google, AWS and Oracle Under New Financial Resilience Rules
Scottish Government Faces Pressure Over Delays in Vulnerable Group Background Checks
Crown Prosecution Service Authorises Additional Charges Against Andrew and Tristan Tate
NHS Approves At-Home Cancer Treatments for Rare Blood Disorders
Bank of England Gains Oversight of Major Cloud Providers Supporting UK Financial System
UK Government Plans Major Overhaul of English Local Councils Through New Unitary Authorities
British Steel Nationalisation Dispute Escalates as Chinese Owner Jingye Seeks Compensation
Bank of England Signals Interest Rates Will Stay High as It Warns of Financial Risks From Climate and AI
Trump Administration Pressures Banks to Restrict Financial Access for Undocumented Immigrants
Passenger Bound for Germany Refused to Sit Beside a Woman on a Plane — Then Slapped a Flight Attendant
Ukraine’s Leadership Rift Spills Into the Streets as Protesters Target Army Chief
×