IT is just 10 weeks since the Commonwealth Games closed to universal acclaim and record Scottish performances.

A verdict on legacy may seem premature.

However, Roger Bannister reminded me that it was nearly 17 years after Sydney Wooderson set a world mile record in 1937 that he broke the four-minute barrier. Yet he speaks of that as having been Wooderson's legacy. And Seb Coe was a 13-year-old schoolboy television viewer when David Hemery won 400 metres hurdles gold at the Mexico Olympics in 1968. Coe determined then to make the Olympics "what I wanted to do in life". Nearly 40 years later, as a double Olympic champion, he delivered the speech which ensured London would host the 2012 Olympics. Then he chaired the organising committee.

Legacy has a demonstrably long, unpredictable and immeasurable reach. Sportscotland are still assessing 2014 and financial implications for the 17 sports, but note "terrific successes in our collective legacy ambitions, with many already being delivered".

Commonwealth Games Scotland are focused on next September's Youth Games in Samoa, with staff currently on Australia's Gold Coast, the 2018 Commonwealth venue. They, too, are bullish about final legacy evaluation, while last Thursday's Scottish Budget statement delivered what I believe is an unprecedented endorsement of sport by the Scottish government.

John Swinney said the Games and Ryder Cup had "provided Scotland with an extraordinary platform to build a deep and sustained legacy", and that priorities for 2015/16 would include, "ensuring a deep and sustained legacy" from them, plus "continued development of Scotland's world-class system for sport, focused on increased participation and improved performance".

We await delivery of these but it is encouraging.

CGS remind us, meanwhile, that previous Youth Games blooded a number of Team Scotland athletes and medallists in Glasgow, so focus on Samoa is intense. "One can't ignore the 'home Games effect' but the massive recognition and profile of our athletes in Glasgow is unprecedented," said a CGS spokeswoman. "With far more people suddenly aware of the Games and Team Scotland competitors, we hope interest will continue towards Samoa and the Gold Coast."

That interest is evidenced by a 1600% increase in the CGS Twitter following over the past year.

Evidence of legacy impact is already clear, enormously encouraging, and ringingly contradicts the brigade of negative doom-sayers. Glasgow 2014 will help change the face of our country far beyond the foreseeable future.

It helped re-emphasise Scotland's ability to host a major multi-sport event with style and panache. The Ryder Cup, immediately on its heels, was further endorsement. These two events have helped create, "a step-change in Scotland's capacity, capability, and credibility within the major events industry." That's the opinion of Paul Bush, chief operating officer of EventScotland, which helped bring these events to the country. "There's no doubt that momentum is growing following the hugely successful stagings of two of the biggest sporting events in the world," he told Herald Sport.

"There has been a step-change in how we are perceived around the world in terms of major events, and we are now most certainly amongst the global elite. We are now renowned for our experience and expertise in event delivery."

It was recently announced that Glasgow will host the World Gymnastic Championships next year. This was secured against competition from Orlando and Paris and came just a week after Glasgow's Tollcross pool was named as the 2018 European Swimming Championship venue.

Glasgow's facilities, and their flexibility, make just about anything possible in arts and entertainment, and not simply sport. Even the Turner Prize is coming to Glasgow. A proven track record helped bring the Games to the city in the first place, and that continues.

Other major sports events in Scotland in 2015 include world championships in orienteering and IPC swimming, European championships in eventing and judo, golf's Open Championship and Women's British Open.

"We have several irons in the fire," adds Bush. "We will bid for the Tour de France again and the European Indoor Athletics championships at the Emirates in 2019 is a target. We have to continue to invest. We need appropriate resources to maintain momentum. If we don't, it will disappear as quickly as it came."

Eventscotland was born of Scotland's failure to land the 2008 European football Championships. A joint bid with Ireland had been among the first to be eliminated in 2002. Yet Scotland has now secured four matches for Euro 2020.

"It's not the biggest thing we have won," Bush acknowledges, "but really significant. It shows how far we have come in terms of international credibility.

"The event industry is not just what you see on TV and in newspapers. It's Portaloos, food, fencing, grandstands: a whole range of services. There's now much more capacity within the Scottish environment; 99% of the Ryder Cup food was Scottish. Five years ago that would not have been delivered. All that provides a great export platform."

Bush said independence was "a hypothetical question" but that their core mantra would have remained the same: "promoting Scotland on the international stage and driving the economy, sport, and social benefits".

A snapshot of sport reactions is also encouraging. Scottishathletics has increased its membership (now 10,991) by 38% in five years, almost 2000 up since Olympic year and up a further 800 in 2014. The sport will tell you this is the pay-off for years of hard work, but legacy impact can't be ignored.

Tennis Scotland has increased members by 45% (32,715 to 47,657) since 2008: a lot of this, surely, represents the Murray effect.

Badmintonscotland report a 15% increase in clubs from last season (213 to 245) and 21% increase in club membership (to 10,143). The forthcoming Scottish Open has a huge increase in spectator demand for tickets, and school and legacy disability festivals are fully booked.

The first major cycling event since the Games, the national track championships, opens at the Emirates on Friday. Scottish Cycling membership in more than 160 clubs has increased by 169% since 2009 and racing licence-holders by 34%, while last year showed an increase of 83% in female competitors. On the run-in to this year's Games, level-two coaching courses ran at capacity and volunteer numbers increased.

Sportscotland credit the greatest investment in facilities (not all Games-related) and say Scottish Government and Lottery investment are "implementing a world-class system at every level".

They highlight several legacy indicators, among them the Active Schools programme. The 2013/14 academic year shows record levels in more than 100 activities. These include 5.9m participant sessions, up 15% on the previous record in 2012/13, with 21,000 school and club links, up 16% on last year. AS is receiving £50m over the next four years.

The quango cites 818 sports clubs in 134 sports hubs across the country with a membership of 86,373 and 9000 deliverers or coaches, mostly voluntary. Coaching figures are little short of amazing. Level-one holders of the UK Coaching Certificate numbered 4808 four years ago but it is now 16,489. Level-two coaches have increased in that time from 764 to 4202.

Scottish sport appears to be in the best position it has ever enjoyed, with its best facilities and highest investment.

It's not a bad start on legacy.