JAMIE BRANDON (footballer)
Harry Cochrane has been the young Hearts player who has hogged the headlines since breaking into the first team in Gorgie this season and with good reason. But club-mate Jamie Brandon also has a bright future. A versatile player, he has already been utilised in a number of positions in defence and midfield by both Ian Cathro, who handed him his debut against Celtic last season, and Craig Levein. A former Rangers youth player, will the Ibrox club regret allowing him leave?
ELISE CHRISTIE (speed skater)
The heartbreak the 27-year-old from Livingston experienced at the 2014 Winter Olympics has been well documented – Britain’s top short-track speed skater had three medal opportunities but was disqualified in each of her events, leaving her distraught and on the verge of quitting the sport. However, she has bounced back in remarkable fashion and goes into the Winter Olympics as a triple world champion and world record holder in the 500m.
GEMMA DRYBURGH (golfer)
The 24-year-old from Aberdeenshire will be a new face on the LPGA Tour, having produced a superb performance at the US circuit’s Qualifying School at Daytona Beach in Florida this month to secure her card. She will join compatriot Catriona Matthew on the prestigious tour but the former Curtis Cup player will have her work cut out to make an impact in her rookie season due to the strength of the LPGA Tour.
GEORGE HORNE (rugby)
Five tries have taken this 22-year-old to the top of the scoring charts for traditionally free-flowing Glasgow Warriors and that is all the more remarkable because the scrum-half, who first caught the eye at senior level in the Scottish sevens squad, has made only five appearances, two of them off the bench, before this weekend. Blessed with sharp acceleration off the mark his service has also impressed, to the extent that the younger brother of Scottish international midfielder Peter, is putting considerable pressure within the Warriors pecking order on Henry Pyrgos.
MICHAEL JOHNSTON (footballer)
This 18-year-old is the best footballer in Scotland at his age, hence the strong interest from Chelsea before he signed a long-term deal with Celtic. He does all the things you want to see from a young footballer. He runs with the ball, beats people, scores and create goals. Brendan Rodgers is a huge fan and you will see this lad a lot more in 2018, even if it is out on loan. The talk at Celtic is that the winger is the best to emerge since Kieran Tierney, which is saying something.
BRUCE MOUAT (curling)
On his first competitive trip with a new line-up, the 23-year-old headed to Canada and returned with the Oakville Tankard and the Oakville Fall Classic titles. He and colleagues Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan jr, went back to Canada last month and he made history by becoming the youngest skip to win one of the prestigious “Grand Slam” events – The Boost National – as well as the first Scottish men’s skip to do so. Mouat and Gina Aitken missed out by the narrowest of margins on qualifying for next year’s Olympics in the new discipline of mixed doubles, but it seems only a matter of time before he goes to the sport’s biggest show.
ERIN WALLACE (athlete)
Scottish athletics has no shortage of talent but one of the most promising up-and-comers is this 17-year-old Giffnock North runner. She had a breakthrough year, winning 1500m gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas in the summer, as well as making her Scottish senior debut. Her first race of the year is next weekend’s Great Edinburgh Cross-Country, where she will represent GB in the Under-20 race.
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