WITH exactly one year to go until the beginning of the Olympic Games, the Sunday Herald reveals the identities of the world-class Scots we will join every step of the way on their journeys towards the Promised Land of Rio.
They will share their triumphs and their torture, take you inside the cut-throat world of top-level competition and detail the sacrifice required to live the dream of making it at the greatest sporting event on earth.
We believe their experiences at the Olympics and Paralympics will shape the sporting year. We are proud to present them as our ‘Six To Follow’.
Laura Muir
Sport: Athletics (800m and 1500m)
Age: 22. Born: May 9, 1993
Hometown: Milnathort, Kinross-shire
Coach: Andy Young. Started sport: Age 11
Achievements: Reigning British 1500m champion indoor and outdoor; first place over 1500m at 2015 IAAF Diamond League in Oslo, Norway; 1500m bronze in 2013 European Under-23 Championships.
Goals for Rio: To make the final and to be in contention with the top six.
Key dates: 2015 World Athletics Championships in Beijing from August 22-30.
Funding/Support: British Athletics World Class Performance Programme (funded by the National Lottery through UK Sport). Winning Students sports scholarship. Muir also credits Glasgow University Vet School for their help in balancing her studies alongside her athletics career.
Twitter: @lauramuiruns
Daniel Purvis
Sport: Gymnastics
Age: 24. Born: November 13, 1990
Hometown: Southport
Coaches: Jeff Brookes and Andrei Popov. Started sport: Age seven
Achievements: Reigning British and Scottish national all-around champion; all-around bronze at the 2015 European Championships; gold on parallel bars, bronze on rings and team silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games; team bronze at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Goals for Rio: The first aim is to make the team, but the dream is to win another medal for Team GB and make history once again for our country.
Key dates: 2015 World Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow from October 23 until November 1
Funding/Support: National Lottery, UK Sport and JT Hughes
Twitter: @PurvisDanny
Emily Maguire
Sport: Hockey
Age: 27. Born: December 17, 1987
Hometown: Paisley/Reading
Coaches: Merijn van Willigen/Gordon Shepherd/Danny Kerry
Started sport: 1992
Achievements: Gold medal, 2015 World League Semi-Final, Bronze medal, 2012 Olympic Games, Silver medal 2012 Champions Trophy, Gold medal 2011 EuroHockey Nations Championship II
Goals for Rio: Be selected for Team GB and then to medal
Key dates: World League 4 Dec' 2015, Team GB selection June 2016
Funding: Central contract under the Great Britain performance programme (UK Sport)
Twitter: @emilymaguire23
Samantha Kinghorn
Sport: T53 wheelchair athlete
Age: 19. Born: January 6, 1996
Hometown: Gordon
Coach: Ian Mirfin. Started sport: Age 16
Achievements: Reigning triple European champion with gold in T53 100m, 400m and 800m at 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships; fifth place in the T54 1500m final at the 2014 Commonwealth Games; has broken all the Scottish records in T53 class.
Goals for Rio: To make it to Rio and to get to the final of all my events.
Key dates: The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha from October 22-31.
Funding/Support: British Athletics World Class Performance Programme (funded by the National Lottery through UK Sport), Mattioli Woods, Harper Macleod and Christopher Ward.
Twitter: @Sam_Kinghorn
Damon Sansum
Sport: Taekwondo under-80kg category
Age: 28. Born: February 18, 1987
Hometown: Elgin
Coach: Steve Jennings
Started sport: 2010
Achievements: Silver medal in the 2015 World Championship. 2015 Dutch Open and US Open champion. 2014 Commonwealth champion. Silver medal at 2014 European Championships. 2014 French Open champion. Former world kickboxing champion.
Goals for Rio: The immediate focus is on performance by performance, but the ultimate aim is gold.
Key dates: August 15 – World Grand Prix Series 1, Moscow. September 18-20 – World Grand Prix Series 2, Samsun, Turkey. October 18 - World Grand Prix Series 3, Manchester. December 5-6 - World Grand Prix Final, Mexico City.
Funding: Sansum is a member of Team GB, which receives National Lottery funding and support from UK Sport and Sport England. He is also looking for strong Scottish brands to link up with for sponsorship.
Twitter: @DamonSansum
Duncan Scott
Sport: Swimming
Age: 18. Born: May 6, 1997
Hometown: Alloa
Coach: Steven Tigg (Club: University of Stirling)
Started sport: Aged 8
Achievements: Silver in the 4x200 freestyle relay at Glasgow 2014; 3 golds and 3 silvers at the 2015 European Games in Baku; gold in the 4x100 freestyle at 2014 World Youth Olympics in Nanjing; 2 golds at the 2014 European Juniors.
Goals for Rio: To qualify first and then go from there.
Key dates: April 2016 - Rio Olympic trials.
Funding: British Swimming podium potential.
Twitter: @Dunks_Scott
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