SCOTTISH Athletics are to be complimented on the inauguration tomorrow of the Scottish Athletics Hall of Fame, but those who voted in an online poll have scant appreciation of their own sport's history.
Allan Wells and Eric Liddell are more than worthy inductees, but some laudable candidates did not collect a single vote. Others did not even merit consideration.
These include four other Olympic champions (one of them the last Scotsman to hold a world record in an Olympic endurance event), a women's world marathon record-holder, and six individual Commonwealth Games gold medallists.
The Olympic champions are Arthur J Robertson (three-mile team race, 1908), Wyndham Halswelle (400m, 1908), Robert Mcintosh (4 x 100m, 1912), Mike Lindsay (4 x 400m, 1920).
Robertson was the first of only six Scots to win Olympic athletics gold, and the only one apart from Liddell to set a world record in an Olympic track and field event. He also won Olympic steeplechase silver. In 1908 he sliced 12 seconds from the world 5000m record with 15:01.2. Some of his Scottish records lasted for more than 40 years.
Halswelle (pictured) actually outdid both Wells and Liddell by collecting the complete set of individual Olympic gold, silver, and bronze, a feat as yet unmatched by any other UK athlete. He had won 400m silver in 1906, and bronze in the 800m.
Liddell never surpassed Halswelle's Scottish 440 yards record of 48.4 which lasted until 1958, and his UK 440 record lasted until 1934 when it was written out by Godfrey Rampling.
Father of film star Charlotte, he was an Olympic 4 x 400m relay gold medallist in 1936.
Halswelle also clocked 71.8 seconds for 660 yards (Scottish best until 1968).
Next year will be the centenary of his unique one-day Scottish championship sweep of the 100, 220, 440 and 880 yards titles. Killed by a sniper in World War I, he did not collect a single vote.
Dale Greig, who lives in Paisley, is still the only Scots woman to set a world mark in a recognised Olympic event. Her marathon time of 3:27.45 was in an era when officialdom banned women from the event, but this is the first women's record logged by the world body of athletics on a certified course.
She ran this while working full-time and never made a penny from the sport. She was never considered.
No fewer than 13 Scots have won individual Commonwealth gold, but only seven rated even one vote.
Three-times Commonwealth champion and 1980 Olympic 100m gold medallist Wells topped the poll with 31percent, ahead of Liddell whose era predated the Commonwealth Games.
He polled 24percent, with double Commonwealth and world 10,000m champion Liz McColgan third (19percent).
Four other Commonwealth champions who rated any acknowledgement were Lachie Stewart, Ian Stewart, Jim Alder, and Yvonne Murray.
COMMONWEALTH GOLD
Dunky Wright (marathon) . . . . . . 1934
Alan Hunter (440yd hurdles) . . 1934
Duncan Clark (hammer) . . . . . . . . 1950
Joe McGhee (marathon) . . . . . . . . 1954
Jim Alder (marathon) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1966
Lachie Stewart (10,000m) . . . . . . 1970
Ian Stewart (5000m) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1970
Rosemary Stirling (800m) . . . . . . 1970
Rosemary Payne (discus) . . . . . . 1970
Allan Wells (100m) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1978
Allan Wells (100/200m) . . . . . . . . . . 1982
Meg Ritchie (discus) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1982
Liz McColgan (10,000m) . . . . . . . . 1986
Liz McColgan (10,000m) . . . . . . . . 1990
Yvonne Murray (10,000m) . . . . . . 1994
ONLINE POLL
Allan Wells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31percent
Eric Liddell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24percent
Liz McColgan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19percent
Lachie Stewart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5percent
Ian Stewart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4percent
Linsey MacDonald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4percent
Chris Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2percent
Yvonne Murray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2percent
Jim Alder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1percent
Les Piggot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1percent
James Flockhart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1percent
Ross Baillie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1percent
Tom Hanlon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1percent
Don Ritchie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1percent
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