Scots play leading roles as Team GB rack up medals

Hugh Macdonald

Chief Sports Writer

Thursday 2 August 2012

SCOTLAND toasted success in Olympic waters yesterday with a celebration of a golden double only a touch away.

Michael Jamieson took silver in the 200m breaststroke

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Hugh MacDonald

Helen Stanning, who was brought up and has her home in Lossiemouth, partnered Helen Glover to Team GB's first gold medal of the London Games with victory in the women's pairs, while Michael Jamieson, the 23-year-old Glaswegian, was just beaten in the final of the 200m breaststroke last night.

These outstanding performances straddled a sensational ride by Bradley Wiggins that brought him a gold medal in the cycling time trial to add to his Tour de France triumph. It was Eton Dorney, the venue for the rowing, that erupted in joy first, though. Stanning and Glover raced to a comfortable victory over the 2000m course.The 27-year-old Stanning, a captain in the Royal Artillery, declared herself "ecstatic", adding that she and her team- mate had not been unnerved by the burden of expected to win Team GB's first gold of the Games. "I hope I was calm. I tried not to think about the race until it came to the time," she said after 25,000 spectators had roared her home.Of the aftermath of her triumph, she said: " It was a complex mix of emotions. I was exhausted and felt like collapsing but I also wanted to jump up and down. There's massive relief, too."Jamieson's defeat by Daniel Gyurta of Hungary, who set a world record of 2:07.28, was shown on screens at Celtic Park and the swimmer said that had spurred him on. However, he initially believed a message from Neil Lennon, the Celtic manager, had been a prank. "I asked my sister this afternoon to see if she could confirm it. Yeah, it was pretty great," he said.And so was his performance in the first event last night at the Aquatic Centre. Jamieson, who will turn 24 on Sunday, broke the British record for the second time at the Olympics and he admitted his ambition has been increasing as his times have improved. "In the last 18 months, getting a medal here has become more of a target. I think before that it was always a bit of a pipedream," he said.After his time of 2:07.43, he said: "I was pretty relaxed in the call room and I think that's just because I've played it over in my head so many times. I've been in good form this week and it's a lot easier to swim when you've got a bit of confidence. I knew I could swim fast and was just hoping that was going to be enough to get on the podium."It was, with a brave swim being rewarded with silver. Now Jamieson is targeting the 2014 Commonwealth Games in his home town. "I am going there to win," he said.

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Scots play leading roles as Team GB rack up medals

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