MARC Austin allowed himself a grand total of three days off after winning his historic triathlon bronze medal at last month’s Commonwealth Games. Such is the non-stop nature of elite sport, the 24-year-old has barely had a chance to take in what he achieved in Australia’s Gold Coast, with his attentions turning almost immediately to the ITU World Series Race in Yokohama in Japan next weekend.

But a month on from becoming Scotland’s first medallist of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and the first triathlete to win a Commonwealth medal for Scotland, it is beginning to register just what his silverware means for both himself and the sport in Scotland.

“Now I’ve had a few weeks for it to sink it, it feels quite strange and it actually feels like the medal means more to everyone around me who has been a part of it,” said Austin, who beat both of the lauded Brownlee brothers to a spot on the podium. “To me, it was just a one-off race but I think the medal came as a real surprise to everyone else and so it means they’re maybe reflecting on the whole journey more than me.

“What it means for the sport in this country is a really big thing for me though. I do the majority of my training on my own and I’ve been based in Scotland my whole life so I’m pretty proud of having shown that it’s not necessary to move away.

“But this is a massive confidence boost for me - and knowing that I can do it when it really matters is huge. I feel like I’ve been capable of that kind of performance so it was nice to see it all come together.”

There is another significant upside for Austin to have won a medal. Since the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the Glaswegian, who trains at the University of Stirling, has been known for one thing, and one thing only.

At Glasgow 2014, Austin manfully took the race to the Brownlees, staying with them on the swim before being the third man in a three-way breakaway on the bike. However, he faded in the later stages of the race to ultimately finish 22nd and since then, that race has been mentioned in the same breath as Austin’s name almost without fail.

In the lead-up to Gold Coast, he talked about his desire to get that monkey off his back and it is safe to say his medal-winning exploits in Gold Coast have accomplished this, much to his relief.

“I feel like in the last four years, I’ve had a lot better races than Glasgow but that’s the one that everyone still talks about,” he said. “So I wanted to shake that off. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy Glasgow. It was great to be a part of that race but I wanted to be known for something else. And nobody has asked me about Glasgow since Gold Coast so that’s a good sign.”

Austin’s hectic season meant he was not even able to stay for the closing ceremony in Gold Coast but he admits that on his return to Scotland, the emotions he had invested in the build-up to the Games finally hit him and he allowed himself the luxury of easing himself back into training.

His adapted training schedule since means he heads into Yokohama uncertain of his form, but he is optimistic that he will be at the sharp end of the race.

“I thought that I’d get straight back into training but actually, that didn’t feel like the right thing to do so I’ve more eased myself in,” he said. “I needed to stop for a bit and do some stuff like I don’t normally do like mountain biking and running in the hills. I don’t think that, at the time, you realise how much of a toll all of the training takes on you so it’s nice to just wind down a little. I don’t know how Yokohama will go but I’m confident I’ll still be in the mix.”

Next weekend’s race is just the start of a busy spell for Austin, which includes his other major target for the year, the European Championships, which will be part of Glasgow 2018 in August.

And having raced in front of the home crowd at Glasgow 2014, he cannot wait to experience that again, despite the fact that he will be forced to deal with significantly raised expectations following his Gold Coast performance.

“It’s massive getting the opportunity to race in Glasgow again and I’m already getting pretty excited about it,” he said. “I’m not really bothered by the pressure. I’ve got a Commonwealth medal now. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but I was never sure if I would. And so what I’m concentrating on now is to just continue to enjoy my training and racing.”