Team Scotland has been hailed for the "medal avalanche" which has turned Glasgow 2014 into a record-breaking Games for the hosts.

Halfway through the 11-day competition, Scottish athletes have already earned 36 medals - surpassing the 33 won at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986.

The previous record was smashed this afternoon after the men's gymnastics team won silver. However, the Scots team, consisting of Daniel Keatings, Daniel Purvis, Frank Baines, Adam Cox and Liam Davie, had to wait a few more hours before they officially celebrated their win.

But shooter Jen McIntosh officially claimed the 34th medal first, when she took silver in the women's 50 metres rifle three positions.

'Braveheart' swimmer Dan Wallace then added another silver, with a Scottish record in the 200m individual medley that was to push the legendary Chad Le Clos into third. Le Clos has now won six medals in Glasgow.

Scotland's First Minister described the medal haul as "phenomenal" and paid tribute to the home crowd which has spurred the sports men and women on since the 20th Games kicked off on Thursday.

Alex Salmond said: "This fantastic achievement is testament to the hard work of the Team Scotland athletes, coaches and support staff, and their preparation and dedication is inspiring the whole nation.

"The Commonwealth Games XX team is surely among the best-prepared in history and the world has watched extraordinary performances from our athletes.

"That includes both established stars such as Euan Burton and Libby Clegg, and new stars such as judo sisters Kimberley and Louise Renicks and 13-year-old Erraid Davies.

"From day one Team Scotland has had the full backing of the home crowds. They have turned up in their thousands and have played their part in cheering Team Scotland on to personal bests and a record number of medals.

"With half of the Games still to go it is very likely that Scotland's medal avalanche will continue.

"Team Scotland of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games have set the bar for Scotland teams of the future and their phenomenal achievements will have a fantastic knock-on effect for the next generation of young Scots athletes."

Louise Martin, chair of sportscotland, thanked athletes for "a week to remember".

She said: "It has been an incredible effort by everyone involved with Team Scotland to have set a new record for Games medals by only the sixth day of competition.

"Our men gymnasts will go down in history as the athletes who delivered the record-breaking medal, but it has been a real team effort over many years.

"There is no substitute for hard work and meticulous preparation. Thanks to the work done by experts at the sportscotland institute of sport, the coaches and Team Scotland support staff, we knew that this was the best-ever prepared Team Scotland for what is being increasingly recognised as the best-ever Games."

Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland, said: "Scotland is not only experiencing a gold rush in terms of sport, a surge of additional visitors to Glasgow as a result of the Games presents a golden opportunity for tourism too. The atmosphere in Glasgow is incredible and that's largely due to the people.

"The most important ingredient of Scottish tourism is our people. It's the warmth of our welcome that encourages people to visit, and come back and see us time and time again."