SCOTTISH para-cycling legend Aileen McGlynn has said she is calling time on her sporting career.

 

The three-time Paralympic gold medallist was speaking as a new exhibition charting her remarkable journey at the 2014 Commonwealth Games was unveiled at the Riverside Museum in Glasgow.

The 41-year-old visually impaired rider lost her UK Lottery funding in 2013 but went on to represent Scotland at the Games in Glasgow the following summer where she claimed double silver alongside pilot Louise Haston.

"I don't think I'm going to be doing much more as there just isn't the opportunity," she said. "If you aren't on the British team, Scotland can't enter you for the world championships. That doesn't leave much to race. There is no funding either.

"I can't imagine anything will change so I will probably just fade into the background. It was great to be able to compete at the Commonwealth Games and I felt vindicated in showing I was still up there and second in the world.

"The decision made by British Cycling to drop me was the wrong one. I think I proved a lot last year but it is time to move on."

McGlynn ruled out targeting the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and said she believes it is far more beneficial to channel her energy in a new direction. The Paisley-born rider is already mulling over future plans.

"There is no point in continuing because it's too much of an uphill struggle to try and get selected for Rio," she said. "If the people making the decisions don't want you, there is nothing you can do.

"I'm thinking of getting into property in the buy-to-let market and that's something I have been spending my time on lately.

"It's taken me a good few months to come to this decision but the more I get involved in other things then the less I focus on training. I couldn't have asked for a better career in cycling. I've been very fortunate and it has been fantastic. It's time to move onto the next chapter in my life."