THE five athletics victories which Scotland achieved in the Sainsbury's International at the Emirates at the weekend add up to the greatest performance the country has ever enjoyed against International Association of Athletics Federation opposition, surpassing even the four wins of the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, perceived as the golden age of the sport.

Opposition from the US (even if it was not all out of the top drawer) and many leading Commonwealth nations, plus some of the best England has, make these successes far more significant than wins against non-IAAF nations in minor matches over recent years.

True, it was not a full programme, and had it been so, Scotland would have finished even further in arrears. Yet it was resoundingly heart-warming and encouraging. Laura Muir, Chris O'Hare, Guy Learmonth, Libby Clegg and Stef Reid will rightly go forward with increased belief in what is possible. And many of their colleagues will be inspired, having had horizons lifted by a glimpse of the possible.

It was timely evidence, as if it were needed, of the so-called "home effect" which we will enjoy at Hampden come the summer and Scotland's governing body is commended for brokering it.

Clegg and Reid might well have been considered potential gold medallists by rivals before last weekend. The other three would not. They have now advertised their capability dramatically, just as Tom McKean did over 800m the year prior to the 1986 Games in Edinburgh, in beating Steve Cram on his home track at Gateshead. "We showed our hand too soon," as coach Tom Boyle said after Cram defused McKean at the Games. But so be it.

Those considering the impact of independence might care to note that if the Scots had been part of a GB team on Saturday, Britain would have won convincingly, not the Commonwealth Select. The actual outcome was 1, Commonwealth 62; 2, GB 59; 3, USA 53; 4, Scotland 40. Yet if the best Scots had been in a GB vest, Britain would have finished with 72 points.