Commonwealth

Shaw is a world-class competitor in a sport where the rewards may not make her wealthy.

“Obviously there’s football, Formula One… but I can’t think of many more sports where it is a case of ‘you’ve hit the top level and now you’re financially settled’,” she said.

Shaw is given what is called an ‘Athlete Performance Award’ (APA), a financial grant from UK Sport and the National Lottery that contributes towards her living and training costs.

There are different grades of support, external that athletes receive, depending on their results and prospect of medal-winning performances.

Shaw told BBC Sport that it was “very common” for athletes in sports like judo to have another source of income.

“The money I get [APA] covers my living expenses, which is a blessing and not to be taken for granted,” she said.

“But, for example, the next competition I’ve paid for myself because it wasn’t funded by British Judo.

“Going to Peru [for the Grand Prix] has cost me quite a bit of money and then I’m not really getting that back from anywhere else.

“I’m also a normal person! Like, I want to save for a house.”

Athletes can also earn money through sponsorships, something Shaw says would be a “game-changer” for an athlete at the present stage of her career.

“It just means you can take every single opportunity… put it towards competitions that I don’t get funded.”

Shaw also decided to set up a GoFundMe page at the start of the year, which she sees as a way of helping to fund her dream of going to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Chad le Clos says his apartment in South Africa was destroyed by a fatal fire – the night after the swimmer became the most decorated athlete in Commonwealth Games history.

Le Clos picked up his 21st medal to overtake Australia’s Emma McKeon as the athlete with the most medals in Commonwealths history, when South Africa took bronze in the men’s 4x100m medley relay in Glasgow last week.

It was the 34-year-old’s third medal of the 2026 Games, having won silver in the mixed 4×100 ⁠medley and bronze in the men’s 4×100 freestyle relays.

Only days later, Le Clos has revealed that a fire destroyed his home of more than a decade in Sea Point, Cape Town and killed one of his neighbours.

“It has taken me a while to process this heartbreaking tragedy,” the 2012 Olympic gold medallist wrote on Instagram, external.

“On the evening of 30 July, amid breaking the all-time Commonwealth record, a fire started in my apartment block, which quickly spread to my home. Sadly my home, where I’ve lived for more than a decade, burnt down and there is nothing left to salvage.”

In the post, Le Clos also paid tribute to his “neighbour of many years” who died in the fire, offering his “deepest and most sincere condolences” to the victim’s family and friends.

“No words can truly ease a loss like this, but I hope the family knows that the thoughts of an entire community are with them,” the Durban-born swimmer said.

According to reports, external, a 93-year-old resident died in the incident.

Le Clos added: “To my fellow neighbours whose homes and lives have been severely affected by this fire, please know that you are not alone. This is a tight-knit community and it is in moments like these that we lean on one another.”

Le Clos, who famously beat Michael Phelps to win 200m butterfly gold at the London Olympics in 2012, said he has launched a fundraising campaign to help his neighbours affected by the blaze.

Phelps was a 14-time Olympic champion and had not lost in the event since 2001 when the United States icon was beaten by Le Clos.

The South African won his first Commonwealth medal in Delhi in 2010 at the age of 18 and now has seven gold, five silver and nine bronze medals across five editions of the Games.

Over his career, he has won four Olympic medals, 16 world titles, seven Commonwealth golds and 10 African titles.

After Victoria withdrew in 2023, Glasgow answered the SOS call – and organisers say the past 11 days in the Scottish city have “exceeded all expectations”.

Yes, there have been grumbles – including from those who have seen parking spaces outside their houses taken – and taxi drivers and shop owners the Games have passed by.

On the ground, though, this felt like a meaningful event.

Ticket sales of 434,000 were well down from 1.5 million for Birmingham 2022, but they were always going to be given the smaller venues for this scaled-back edition. It has been rare to enter a venue and not find a joyful, engaged crowd.

There was plenty of excitement for fans, too – Josh Kerr’s golden homecoming at Scotstoun, Angharad Evans making the swimming pool floors shake, and Neil Fachie’s emotional victory on his return to the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.

They also celebrated Jamaica’s seismic netball win over Australia. Live sport rarely fails to deliver.

But a nagging question has remained throughout: is anyone else watching?

Big names such as Kerr and Adam Ramsay-Peaty – with his emotional reaction to taking bronze in the pool – broke out of this Glaswegian bubble, but what else?

Organisers said their social media views passed those of Birmingham within the opening few days and highlighted record-breaking television figures in Australia and New Zealand, where the Games were free-to-air.

Still, without that same coverage in the UK, these Games have – at times – drifted by.

Glasgow 2026 was also hurt by the absence or late withdrawal of big-name competitors, particularly in athletics, which missed Keely Hodgkinson, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Dina Asher-Smith.

The Games’ differing relevance between sports was again clear – for netball, this remains the pinnacle and is treated as such; for others, it is a stepping stone. Many narratives focused on the “next generation”.

Eighteen-year-old Jersey swimmer Filip Nowacki was perhaps the most exciting name to emerge, but gymnasts Ruby Evans (Wales) and Reuben Ward (Scotland) and England track cyclist Henry Hobbs, who won two golds and a bronze, were others.

Swimmer Faye Rogers impressively brought her success at the Paralympics back to Glasgow with gold in the pool – and then competed in the non-para event as well.

Cyclist Emma Finucane turned her three Olympic medals in Paris into four Commonwealth golds in Glasgow.

All will have their eyes on Los Angeles in 2028.

Welsh star Emma Finucane has created history by becoming the first sprint cyclist to win four track gold medals at the same Commonwealth Games.

Finucane added keirin success to the golds she had already won in the team and individual sprints and 1,000m time trial.

Olympic champion Ellesse Andrews finished second when defending her Commonwealth keirin title.

In Birmingham in 2022, New Zealand cyclist Aaron Gate won four gold medals with three on the track and one in the road race.

Finucane has achieved her quartet of successes in four successive days in the Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow.

Australian legend Anna Meares and New Zealander Andrews had previously won three track titles in 2010 and 2022 respectively.

The 23-year-old has also become the first Welsh woman to collect four golds at a single Commonwealth Games.

Finucane is also Wales’ most successful female athlete in Games history after overtaking Para-sprinter Olivia Breen, who held the record for two days.

Weightlifter David Morgan remains Wales’ most successful Commonwealth Games athlete with nine golds and three silver.

Finucane won Wales’ 31st medal of the Games with nine gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze.

England tried to rally themselves following their semi-final defeat by New Zealand, but came up against a Diamonds team recovering from one of the biggest shocks in the tournament’s history.

Australia – who had previously been in every Commonwealth final and won the tournament four times – were stunned by Jamaica on Saturday afternoon, giving them less time to recover for the bronze-medal match than England.

The Roses worked hard to shut down the Diamonds’ forward-passing options from the start, but the team in green and gold found their rhythm with devastating consequences, overturning an early 9-7 deficit to lead 19-11 in a bruising first-quarter spell for the Roses.

Stembridge’s side, who lost 66-47 to the same opponents in the pool stage, then lacked impetus in the second period, showing signs of tired legs against one of the world’s most established shooting partnerships in Kiera Austin and Sophie Garbin.

A loose pass from England captain Fran Williams allowed Austin to calmly extend the gap to 28-16 and her side kept the margin steady, resulting in a half-time score of 35-24.

The presence of substitute shooter Eleanor Cardwell in the third quarter helped the Roses score five without reply to trail 45-34, but they were still 49-36 behind with 15 minutes left to play.

Bronze is not a colour of medal that Australia ever imagined they would be playing for, but what seemed just as important to them was reminding the world what they are capable of and why they have been such feared opponents.

In that sense, Stacey Marinkovich’s Diamonds shone as ultimate professionals, and England again came up short against a top side, losing by one less point than the pool stage match between the teams.

“It’s so tough after we lost yesterday and the disappointment of not making a final, to pull yourself up. I’m just so proud of the girls, the fight that we had through this 10 days to keep showing up and responding,” Williams told BBC Sport.

“Probably a few of our errors came through that fatigue and the mental drain that being in tournament netball is, and that is no excuse.

“For so many of us, 10 of us, that was our first Commonwealth Games experiencing that and maybe that showed in a final-day game where you’ve got to turn it on when medals are on that line.

“I’m not going away from that World Cup next year without a medal and standing on that podium, hopefully with a gold, so we’ll be doing as much as we can in the next 12 months to make sure that we are in a better position to fight in these final games.”

After reaching the final with some tiebreak heroics in the semi-final win over Malaysia, it seemed only fitting that the final would go the same way.

McKeown and Kelly were out of the traps fast in the first set as they took four shots in the third end on route to a 6-2 win.

The English pair fought back in a tight second set to build a 3-0 lead, and they held on to win 4-2 and send the final to a one-end shootout.

It was Kelly who came closest to the jack and Walker was unable to respond with his final bowl, which started the celebrations for a well-deserved gold medal.

“We wish it wasn’t always an extra end but we played really well,” added McKeown.

“We got a huge four shots early on and kicked on from there in the first set.

“In the second set we lost a three early on in probably the worst end of the game, and then clawed our way back into it.

“Gary had a chance to win the game with his last bowl and unfortunately just missed, but he played an absolute bomb on the tiebreak end to secure the win.”

Kelly said he had to grab the chance “with both hands” with the decisive bowl of the match.

“Obviously there’s nerves and there’s pressure, but you’ve just got to have belief and trust.

“I’ve been lucky enough n my career that I’ve done it before, so you’ve just got to reach into those moments and believe.

“You have to enjoy and embrace those moments as well, and thankfully I delivered.”

England’s Jazmin Sawyers was finally able to put previous disappointments at major championships behind her by winning the women’s long jump at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The 32-year-old bounced back from serious injury to celebrate a gold medal on a night when there was a silver for England’s mixed 4x400m relay team and a bronze for pole vaulter Owen Heard.

Sawyers finished just outside the medals in fourth place at the previous games in Birmingham four years ago, failed to qualify for the final of the 2023 World Championships and was then forced to miss the 2024 Olympics.

She had to undergo surgery after rupturing her Achilles tendon on her take-off leg and so, rather than competing in Paris ended up commentating for the BBC.

But the Stoke-on-Trent born athlete put all those setbacks behind her on a memorable evening at Scotstoun with her fourth jump of 6.93m proving to be enough to claim the gold medal ahead of Nigeria’s Ruth Usoro (6.87m) and Brooke BuschKuehl of Australia (6.80m).

“It hasn’t properly hit me how this is the thing I’ve been telling myself all the horrible bits are for,” she said.

“The feeling is overwhelming. I will do the horrible bits 100 times over, I’ll do it and do it and do it. This is amazing.”

Sawyers will now turn her attention to competing for Great Britain at the European Championships in Birmingham, which start on 10 August, but is keen to hang on to the memories Glasgow has given her.

“Twelve years ago almost to the day, I won a silver here in Glasgow (2014 Commonwealth Games) at my first major championships. It was a shock silver and I’ve held Glasgow close to my heart ever since,” she added.

“It was the start of my career and so sensational and I had the time of my life. I take that as one of the best moments of my entire career, but when you’ve done that there’s only one thing to do which is to upgrade.”

At the time, Kerr gave his answer as the bell tolled. In a flash, he made his move, bursting to the outside in pursuit of Myers and Cheruiyot, who made theirs momentarily first.

With 250m to go, Kerr left them behind. Wightman gamely tried to follow but how do you chase down a man this fast? His brave gamble failed and the bronze medallist from the last two Games trailed home in sixth.

By then, Kerr was already celebrating gold, with Myers coming through for silver and Cheruiyot bronze.

“I peeked up at the screen, saw I had a bit of a gap, and I felt great,” added the Edinburgh athlete, who has been racing at Scotstoun since he was a child.

“I was just trying to stay present and enjoy it. I learned how to race on that track – and I’ve had some pretty bad ones out there – so to really enjoy that last 100m was a really important moment.”

It was the moment Glasgow 2026 has been building to. The historic, reinstated, Blue Riband event of these Games got a fittingly elite winner. As a student of the sport’s history, Kerr will appreciate that.

And as a kid who was at the athletics event at Hampden in 2014, he knew how much joy every man, women and child inside this place would derive from every picture he had taken, every word he shared with them, and every scrawl of his name.

“I have to take my time out there because they’ve waited and put their hard-earned money to come out and watch me perform,” he said.

“You’ve got to stay in your lane and realise I’m lucky coming into this championship healthy, ready to go and I’m in the best shape of my life. And to do that in front of a home crowd is very special.”

Saturday’s netball results mean Jamaica and New Zealand will battle it out for the gold on Sunday during some of the final medal awards of the tournament.

England will also try to deny Australia a consolation bronze, before teams transform the Hydro from a netball court back to a gig venue for the closing ceremony on Sunday night.

The venue will be turned around in just six hours.

It has been a scaled-down version of the Games, with 215 medals awarded across 10 sports, however it has hosted a record 47 para-sports events.

Glasgow stepped in to host the tournament – for the second time in eight years – when Australian state Victoria pulled out due to soaring costs.

King Charles and Queen Camilla emerged from a Tardis during the spectacular opening ceremony last Thursday.

Flags from 74 nations and territories were carried into the arena during the event, which also featured the Loch Ness monster and performances from Nathan Evans, Tom Walker and KT Tunstall.

The medal ceremony was just under an hour later.

Morris had heard her victories played out for GB with a different anthem but she looked to be overcome when celebrating this one with the Welsh national song.

No time to immediately reflect on what she had just achieved though.

There was a quick chance for a picture with the Welsh flag and then off it was to the next task.

The scratch race started just 10 minutes later where Morris lined up with Welsh team-mates Megan Barker and Carys Lloyd.

It looked like they had concocted an almost perfect plan, with Barker going off a few laps out and Morris driving through to finish second behind Australian winner Georgia Baker.

A gold and a silver all in one day. Or so we thought.

Morris had already done some interviews celebrating this fact before she was given the message in the media mixed zone about her demotion.

Morris had been relegated for entering the sprinter’s lane when her New Zealand opponent was already there, and Scottish cyclist Erin Boothman was promoted to bronze.

Morris returned to do a couple more interviews, ironically, while the scratch closing ceremony was going on.

Morris reflected on her golden moment.

“It was just a dream,” said Morris. “We get that opportunity once every four years, so for it to come together tonight was amazing.

“I have my family and friends in the crowd and the support team from Welsh Cycling were also there.

“I’m going to carry that with me forever, it’s amazing.”

Morris seemed unaware of her dominance in the race.

“It was only when I crossed the line I knew I’d won the race,” said Morris.

“I focused on my ride and tried to execute it well and really leave it all out on the track.”

It had been a day of mixed emotions and, when asked to sum up her feelings about the scratch race, Morris was whisked off so we will have to wait for that verdict.

So, disappointment to finish the day but that should not take away from her pursuit domination and golden moment.

Morris is a world champion for a reason and she proved why.

Wales cycling have two special world-class talents in Finucane and Morris.

Meanwhile, a boxer from Tuvalu claimed her country’s first ever Commonwealth Games medal without winning a fight.

Because there were only five entrants, Tarona Taafaki received a bye to the last four, meaning she was automatically guaranteed at least a bronze medal.

The 20-year-old lost her first and only fight in the women’s 75kg division – which was a semi-final – to India’s Lovlina Borgohain on Friday, losing every round on all three of the judges’ cards.

Taafaki’s coach and father, Badi Taafaki, says the population of the tiny Pacific island nation – at 10 square miles the fourth smallest in the world – will celebrate the medal and use it to highlight a climate change emergency.

“For the people of Tuvalu, this medal means everything,” he said. “We’re one of the smallest nations in the world, so a medal like this is hugely significant.

“If we can win medals, more people around the world will recognise Tuvalu and begin to understand the challenges we face because of climate change.

“It is very real for us. The coastal erosion is unbelievable, and the countdown is now measured in years, not decades.”

Day nine highlights:

A huge 44 gold medals to be won across two sessions of athletics, boxing, track cycling and judo.

All 14 of the men’s and women’s boxing finals take place at the SEC Centre – with seven English fighters seeking gold medals.

The men’s mile is the highlight of the athletics schedule, with Scotland’s world record holder Josh Kerr favourite to take the gold

Plus, 2018 champions England face New Zealand in the netball semi-finals.

Schedule (all times BST and subject to change):

08:30-14:00 – bowls and Para-bowls

09:00-11:00 – netball – England v New Zealand semi-final

10:00-13:30 – track cycling and Para-track cycling

10:00-14:00 – athletics and Para-athletics – eight gold medals

11:00-14:00 – judo – last 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals

11:00-14:30 – boxing – seven gold medals

13:00-15:00 – netball – Australia v Jamaica semi-final

15:00-19:15 – track cycling and Para-track cycling – six gold medals including men’s sprint final

15:00-20:45 – bowls and Para-bowls – semi-finals

16:00-18:45 – judo – five gold and bronze medal contests

16:30-22:00 – boxing – seven gold medals

18:30-22:00 – athletics and Para-athletics – 11 gold medals including 4x100m relay finals from 20:15, men’s 800m final at 20:45, men’s mile at 20:55, mixed 4x400m relay final at 21:20 and the women’s mile at 21:45

Georgia Hunter Bell is eyeing an ambitious sweep of gold medals in 2026 after winning the 800m Commonwealth Games title in Glasgow.

England’s Hunter Bell dominated the field to add Commonwealth gold to the 1500m world indoor title she won earlier this year in Poland.

The 32-year-old, a training partner of 800m Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson, will also race at next month’s European Championships and the inaugural Ultimate Championships in September.

“There are four opportunities to win gold this year,” Hunter Bell told BBC Sport.

“I am two golds down and two more to go.”

Hunter Bell is blossoming later in her career.

Having taken five years out from the sport before returning during the Covid-19 pandemic, she took 1500m bronze at the Paris Olympics before pipping Hodgkinson to silver at last year’s World Championships in the 800m.

This, though, is her first outdoor title – in the event Hodgkinson is Olympic champion.

“Every medal is a landmark moment but my first outdoor gold is huge,” she said.

Hunter Bell and Kenya’s world champion Lilian Odira were the favourites for this title after Hodgkinson opted not to compete. The final was barely a contest with Hunter Bell setting the pace and then kicking on with 200m to go to win by more than a second.

Hodgkinson has instead taken time off before the European Championships in Birmingham, which start on 10 August.

Hunter Bell is only running in the 1500m in that event, denying the chance to see an intriguing race between the pair, but took her opportunity in her friend and training partner’s absence.

Though she said the win validates her decision to come to Glasgow, she defended the decision of others to withdraw.

Scotland’s Melanie Woods has won the Commonwealth Games women’s 1500m T54 for the second time in under 40 hours after streaking to victory in the restaged final – however England’s Ellis Kottas could not replicate her silver medal.

Woods set a new Games record to triumph in Glasgow on Wednesday evening, but it emerged on Thursday morning that Para-athletics authorities had decided the race should be held again following appeals surrounding a first-lap crash.

However, the Scot kept her composure in her home city to replicate her initial success, break the record again, and reclaim the gold that was already hers – in mind if not around her neck.

Kottas, though, finished fourth, having said she was “low-key traumatised” when the race result was overturned.

Woods led from the start in her home city, although Noemi Alphonse of Mauritius and Australia’s Eliza Ault-Connell kept her honest over the first couple of laps.

The latter had fallen away by the final 200m, though, and the Scot held off the Mauritian as she was roared by down the home straight by the crowd.

“It was in my mind ‘what have I got left?’ and you do question what you’ve got in your arms,” Woods said.

“But I just needed to be confident I could stay out in front and it was nice coming down the home straight and not seeing her wheel moving in front of me.”

Woods – who has used a wheelchair since being hit by a car while riding her bike in 2018 – will also compete in the 400m later on Friday morning.

The heats of that will start a little more than 90 minutes after the replayed final.

Given Keith herself was a tad surprised she scooped up a medal here, her grandad’s take on the event ought to be a good one.

The 10,000m is her preference, but the longer distance final did not go to plan on Monday and she finished seventh.

The Inverness athlete said she was faced with the ‘can Megan win a medal?’ talk earlier this week, but with that weight of expectation lifted – combined with experience of the home crowd and “the help of two other Scots in the race” – she was freed from the shackles to soar to a classy and courageous run.

“If you look at Monday on paper, that was pretty disappointing,” the 24-year-old added.

“I don’t think you’d put me in the running for a 5km medal since the 10km is normally closer to being my strength, so that definitely helped, the removal of that pressure.

“I think I knew if I felt horrendous and dropped out or fell off the pace again it wouldn’t really matter so I may as well shoot my shot.”

And shoot she did. Biding her time in the middle of the congested pact, Keith made her move with four laps to go, weaving past early pacesetters from Kenya and Uganda.

She was afforded a bit of breathing space with two hurls around the track to go. But as expected, the exceptional Australian duo of Rose Davies – who made it a double gold at these Games with her 10km – and Jessica Hull, the 1500m Olympic silver medallist, entered another gear in the final lap.

While the cameras focused on the tremendous tussle between the pair in the matching yellow vests, the majority of the crowd had their eyes a wee bit further back, bawling at Keith on the final stretch.

She was home safe and sound. And swiftly searching for a saltire.

Once that was draped over her shoulders, and she’d caught up with fellow Scots Eloise Walker and Laura Muir, who finished 15th and 16th respectively, she was darting back around the track – the wrong way, this time – in search of her grandad.

He was eventually found for a quick hug, but a bigger debrief – and the declaration, surely, that this topped any other Scotstoun occasion – is still to be had.

Given that impressive 2025 she had, the pressure was on O’Connor to at least win a medal in Glasgow and it only ramped up after Katerina Johnson-Thompson, who had won gold ahead of her in 2022, pulled out.

The Englishwoman’s withdrawal paved the way for a good shot at that coveted gold, but she still had to go out and deliver.

O’Connor ended on 6,569 points, 291 ahead of her nearest challenger, England’s Jade O’Dowda, but it wasn’t all straightforward.

Resilience is a key trait for any sportsperson, but particularly a heptathlete.

Fortunes can fluctuate across the seven events so it is needed in ample supply to come out on top at the end of two days of competition.

It was particularly pertinent for O’Connor in a rain-soaked second session of the event on Tuesday evening.

After a good start in the morning, that brought a third-place finish in the 100m hurdles and a season’s best 1.82m in the high jump, O’Connor struggled in the shot put and dipped well below her high standards by throwing just 12.85m as the torrential rain hammered down.

She said trying to grip the shot put in that rain was akin to trying to lift a bar of soap and that she was “gutted” as she “made it a lot easier for the rest of them to beat me”.

Her resilience was shown in abundance in the 200m that followed as she defied the elements to easily win her heat in a time of 24.14.

The Newry-born athlete added she had to “work really hard” on Wednesday and that she did, finishing with a flourish.

First came a big leap of 6.37m in the long jump, then another season’s best, this time in the javelin, of 52.85m that far exceeded those around her.

It will be particularly satisfying as that was an event she had worked hard at improving heading into 2026.

All that was left was to hold her nerve in the 800m and she did that and more, cruising to victory in a time of 2:10.46 just as the sun broke through for the celebrations at Scotstoun.

“I came here expecting a lot from myself and I really wanted to score like 6,600 or 6,700 and open up my season because that’s the shape I felt I was in,” she added.

“After day one I had to raincheck myself a bit, it’s not always about getting huge big scores but competing and getting the best out of yourself with the elements and challenges.

“I tried to navigate it as best as I could. The shot put didn’t go to plan, it needs work in those conditions, but I’m happy overall with how I did.

“There’s a lot of positives to take from it. I’ve got a gold medal round my neck so I can’t say much more.”

A Scottish gold made up for the fact Scott missed out on his bid to defend his 200m freestyle title and add a 16th Commonwealth medal, having failed to qualify for the final at the end of a rigorous schedule.

And Evans’ success was not the only one cheered to the roof of Tollcross instead.

Aberdeen’s Toni Shaw stopped an Australian clean sweep of medals in the women’s S9 100m freestlye final to replicate the bronze of Birmingham four years ago.

“I had lots and lots of nerves even before the walkout, all day since my heat,” Shaw told BBC Scotland.

“But we’ve got a good support team and they helped me keep my cool and wish me luck. All you can do is swim as fast as you can and that’s the mentality I went into the race with.”

Meanwhile, Keanna MacInnes added 200m butterfly silver, having also come second in the 100m. The 24-year-old played her part in the relay silver too to take her own tally to three.

As she stood next to her relay team-mates Katie Shanahan, Evans, and Evelyn Davis the Stirling swimmer reflected on a Games during which Scottish swimmers have delivered 12 medals, four of them gold.

“If you said to me at the start of the week I’d win two medals I’d be over the moon – sneaking that extra mixed medley one last night was special for all of us,” MacInnes said.

“We heard it a 100 times, about the crowd being amazing but it absolutely delivered. I’m a proud and patriotic Scot so there’s been a lot of tears this week.

“Not only is it 12 medals but there are a lot of golds and silvers, not necessarily sneaking into bronze. That shows the depth.

“There were so many finals with multiple Scots in them. So not just medals but lots of personal and season’s bests which shows how good the team has been this week.”

Olympic champion cyclist Emma Finucane insists she has “nothing to prove” at the Commonwealth Games despite her ambitions of winning an elusive gold in Scotland.

Finucane, 23, collected two bronze medals in Birmingham four years ago but has since won 16 medals at the Olympics, World and European Championships.

The Welsh star says she is targeting “the top step” on the podium in Glasgow.

“I haven’t actually stood on the top step at the Commonwealth Games,” Finucane told BBC Sport Wales.

“That’s something I’d love to achieve this time round.

“I feel like I’m a different person four years on and I can’t wait to show what I can do on the track.”

The Carmarthenshire native credits the Birmingham 2022 Games as the “springboard” to where she is today.

“I would not be where I am today without the Commonwealth Games,” she said.

“The first time I was pretty young, pretty naive to the sport of sprint cycling.

“It was a very overwhelming experience, whereas this time round I feel like I’m more of an established rider.”

She added: “I was 19 [in Birmingham] and the year after I won my first world title, which was crazy for me.

“I think it gave me the confidence I needed as an athlete to develop in my career, and get to where I am so quickly.

“We became Olympic champions two years ago, and I actually don’t even know how that happened.”

Before the super-heavyweight bout Abdul told the BBC he wanted to become the new ‘King of Scotland’ – in reference to Amin declaring himself that name in 1976.

After taking power in a coup in 1971, Amin ran a brutal regime during which an estimated half a million people were killed. He was also known as the Butcher of Uganda.

Abdul, who never met his grandfather, was chasing Uganda’s first Commonwealth boxing medal since Auckland in 1990 – something which would have been guaranteed had he beaten Thomas.

Instead, he was given warnings in the previous two rounds and was trailing on all of the judges’ scorecards.

“All I can say about this is the decision is not right, I am not happy,” he said.

“He elbowed me. He caught me with the elbow.

“It [the head movement] was not intentional. I was trying to come back.

“How can I headbutt someone? I would not.

“He was the person they wanted to win. He was the winner before.

“I knew if I did not get knockout I could not win the fight.”

BBC Sport has contacted Commonwealth Games organisers and World Boxing for a response to Abdul’s comments.

Thomas, who is now guaranteed at least a bronze medal, said it was “not the way” he wanted to win.

“I can’t change what happened today but I can control how I box on Friday,” he said.

Amin, himself a boxer, harboured a fascination with Scotland after serving in the King’s African Rifles in his 20s.

At the height of the regime, he was fond of wearing a kilt and playing the bagpipes – and even declared himself “King of Scotland” in 1976.

Some years later, those predilections even spawned an Oscar-winning film, The Last King of Scotland, starring Forest Whitaker and James McAvoy.

In a previous interview, Abdul said he was “inspired” by Amin, although it was not entirely clear whether he was talking about his boxing feats or not.

Speaking to the BBC, he refused to answer when asked if he was proud to be the dictator’s grandson, but he did address the question of how he feels when he is linked to someone with such a sinister reputation.

After a relatively quiet day, the first medal was claimed by the men’s 3×3 basketball team just before 17:00 BST.

A couple of hours later, three more followed in the space of five minutes.

The women’s wheelchair 3×3 basketball team took silver; Evans added her second gold – and third medal – of the Games in the 200m breaststroke; then Woods claimed gold in the women’s T54 1500m.

Shaw then joined in with bronze in the women’s S9 100m freestyle before MacInnes was edged into second place in the women’s 200m butterfly to take her second individual silver of the meet.

Around the same time, MacKenzie was leaping to long jump bronze, before the haul was completed in the pool when Evans and MacInnes teamed up with Katie Shanahan and Evie Davis to take silver in the women’s 4x100m medley.

Three more further medals are guaranteed in boxing – with fighters in semi-final action on Friday – while further prospects remain in athletics, bowls, cycling, judo and weightlifting.

Kate O’Connor has won Northern Ireland’s first gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in the heptathlon at Scotstoun Stadium.

O’Connor, a World indoor and outdoor silver medal, finished top of the standings with 6569points and is the first new heptathlon champion at the Games in eight years.

England’s Jade O’Dowda claimed silver while Australia’s Tori West won the battle for bronze.

It is O’Connor’s first senior outdoor gold and her first gold at her third Games after she finished eighth in 2018 and claimed silver in 2022.

The 25-year-old becomes NI’s 12th medal winner in Glasgow, claiming the country’s first gold at the Games in athletics since 1986.

O’Connor was favourite heading into the event after the late withdrawal of England’s Katrina Johnson-Thompson, who beat her to gold in 2022 and she certainly lived up to the billing.

The Newry-born athlete led after the first two events on Tuesday. She ran the 100m hurdles in 13.54 seconds and produced a season’s best 1.82m in the high jump.

In a rain-soaked evening session, she dipped in the shot put, throwing just 12.85 in difficult conditions.

While she said she was “gutted” with that performance, she rallied and she bounced back well to run the 200m in a season’s best time of 24.14, which was just 0.07 off her personal best as she strolled to victory in her heat.

She earned 3731 points across the four events to top the standings heading into Wednesday’s second day of the competition and, with a 49-point advantage over O’Dowda, looked to be in pole position for gold.

O’Connor further increased that lead on Wednesday morning as she recorded a leap of 1.82m in the long jump and a season’s best 52.85m in the javelin to move 258 points ahead.

In the 800m, she finished first as she ran 2:10.45 to take home NI’s first multi-class gold medal since Dame Mary Peters won the pentathlon in 1974.

NI team-mate Anna McCauley finished eighth in the standings despite being second-fastest in the 800m behind O’Connor.

O’Connor will receive her gold medal on Thursday evening at 18:30 BST.