The light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Winter training is a crucial part of the season for athletes. It's all about the long runs and tough sessions which will hopefully lead to a strong season ahead. Snow, wind or rain, the show must go on.

 

There are two underground walkways near where I live, one is 150 metres and the other is 600 metres so that’s where some of my training sessions have been taking place. I have to laugh when I can’t even see my mum who has the stopwatch at the other end of the tunnel! It’s just an alternative option for the training which needs to be done.

 

I’ve been lucky enough to spend some time out training in Florida for a few weeks. It was fantastic to be out in warmer climates for some time preparing for the year ahead. It was hard work but it was good to see some progress being made and I’ll be looking to build on that in the next few months.

 

Last year was quite incredible for me. I only started training with my new coach, Dave Sunderland, in January so I didn’t really get a full winter under him. Basically everything throughout the whole season was a surprise. With each race I ran I progressed and this culminated in running a personal best at a race in Prague. I never expected to be running outside of the UK and running well in Prague lead to a flight with the rest of Team GB to the European Under-23 Championships in Ostrava.

 

Throughout the competition, Team GB did really well. So many people in the team were winning medals and I didn’t want to be going home as one of the minority who didn’t get one. The men’s 100m final was just before my race and the call room where athletes wait before going on to the track was under the stand. I watched James Alaka winning gold and I was thinking ‘I have to get a medal now!’ Later that day I was standing on the podium with a new personal best of 2.00.65 and a bronze medal around my neck.

 

Now it’s 2012 and I’m completely focused on the challenge ahead. I’ve run the Olympic B standard and if I shave three quarters of a second from my personal best should make the qualifying time for London 2012. To be involved in a home Olympics would be an amazing experience.

 

At Glasgow 2014, I want to get a medal. I think once London 2012 is over, the spotlight will be on Glasgow. To have a home crowd at London 2012 is special but for the Commonwealth Games to be in Scotland is huge and so unique so hopefully it all works out.

 

I remember when watching Glasgow winning the bid on TV, it seems like so long ago and my mum said ‘that could be you there’. In 2007 it seemed so far away but now it’s a real possibility. I’ll be doing everything I can to make sure that possibility becomes reality.

 

 

Everything I’m doing at the moment is laying the foundations for Glasgow 2014.

 

It’s all about making sure I’m at my fittest, strongest and fastest, allowing me to be the best that I can be for the Games in 2014.

 

I started playing badminton when I was in primary four at Buckstone Primary School in Edinburgh. I was basically there to make up the numbers and I ended up having so much fun and beating all the older girls. From then on, I got into the school team and it just went from there really.

 

I left school at 18 and started training full time. For the first few years I was in Scotland until the Great Britain programme was set up and I moved down to Milton Keynes, where I trained for 2 years before moving back up to Scotland in April 2010. I’ve been up in Scotland since then and I’m loving it, training twice a day, five days a week at the National Badminton Academy at Scotstoun. It’s so good being back in Scotland training and having all my friends and family nearby.

 

I remember watching both the Manchester and Melbourne Commonwealth Games on TV and then last year I was at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and it was absolutely amazing. I didn’t really know what to expect from a multi-sport event because obviously when we travel with Scotland it’s just us but Delhi was amazing. We all lived in the same block as Team Scotland and I couldn’t believe the scale of it, we didn’t get to go to the Opening Ceremony because we were competing the next day but we went to the Closing ceremony which was really great to be a part of.

 

The whole thing was a really great experience. We were a young badminton team, the majority of us were in our late teens and early twenties. It was all about learning and getting the experience, whereas now for Glasgow 2014 we expect to deliver.

 

Glasgow 2014 will mean everything to me. In Delhi, where badminton is such a popular sport, we were lucky that our event was sold out, so we’ve experienced that intense atmosphere. Obviously Glasgow 2014 will be much bigger and better for us because we’re at home and we’ll be in the spotlight.

 

My goal for 2014 is to win a medal, definitely. To do that in Glasgow I think would be the pinnacle of my career. Winning at home is so much more special than winning abroad because you can share it with everything. It’s a daily focus when I’m working through tough training. With the current players in the system and the coaches we’ve got I think it’s definitely achievable for us.

 

We’re on home soil, anything is possible.

 

I can still remember the atmosphere inside Meadowbank Stadium.

 

My first taste of Commonwealth Games action was at Edinburgh 1970. I was a steward and remember walking on to the track to pick up and arrange hurdles for competition. It was a fantastic insight into that world-class sporting atmosphere and it really made me think: ‘I might want to do this’.

 

My main memories of competing at Commonwealth Games were the effort which was put in to ensure that the athletes could compete at their highest potential. A real effort was put in by organisers to make look after the athletes; there were restaurants which would serve you the best steaks or fresh fish 24 hours a day!

 

If I had any advice for any athletes hoping to compete at Glasgow 2014 it would be to do your best every day in training as if it was a hypnotic possessive commitment. Be strong mentally and believe in what you are doing, strengthen the physical weaknesses without forgetting your strengths. It’s about focusing on that goal, building your physical and mental focus towards performing at the best of your ability on the day, but psychologically it is the six inches between your ears that can make the real difference.

 

For Scottish athletes in particular, this is a one-off opportunity in their own front garden. I think that will give the athletes a real boost, it’s a different environment than they’ll have ever experienced before. Lift yourself up and give a little bit more.

 

Glasgow 2014 is so important for Scotland and I’m sure Glasgow will put on a great show. I think everybody should open their arms to it. Experiencing a home Games in Edinburgh in 1970 opened my eyes to elite level competition and I’m sure Glasgow 2014 will give similar opportunities to Scots.

 

It is a huge honour to be included.

 

I’ve never been involved in a multi-sport event like the Commonwealth Youth Games and it will be amazing to be part of Youth Team Scotland. I’ve represented Scotland in age group rugby teams but it will be special being part of a bigger team with all the other athletes from different sports all looking to win for Scotland. I’m really excited and can’t wait for it all to kick off.

 

I’ve grown up playing the fifteen-a-side game of rugby but Sevens really suits my style of play. I was recently named in the first full-time Scotland Sevens squad which was an absolute privilege. Sevens is a loose game with plenty of running and passing and that really suits my style of play.

 

From my point of view, the Commonwealth Youth Games is going to be an amazing experience. As a Sevens team, we’ve spoken about our goals for the Games. Obviously we’re going to be coming up against some tough and physical teams but we’ve been training hard for this and to come away with a medal would be a good achievement.

 

At the moment, I’m training full-time with Glasgow Warriors and spending Wednesday’s through in Edinburgh at Murrayfield with the Sevens squad, where we work on Sevens-specific skills. It may be just under three years to go until Glasgow 2014 but you can already feel the buzz building among the guys. Representing Scotland at Glasgow 2014 really would be the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s my home country, the stadium will be filled with home fans and I really don’t think there can be a better feeling than running out onto a pitch in that atmosphere.

 

Hopefully we can bring back some silverware from the Isle of Man and then build on that success over the next few years towards Glasgow 2014.

 

Hi, I’m William Rountree and my entry won the competition to design the Glasgow 2014 Digital Game.

 

I first heard about the competition around the start of the semester at University and it didn’t take long to convince myself to give it a go. After I got started, I realised that it was going to take a lot longer to complete than I originally thought, mainly because I decided I wanted to present it really well with a PDF made entirely in Photoshop. It was totally worth it in the end though.

 

When I was brainstorming about what kind of game to design, I knew it had to be simple and appeal to people of all ages. I decided to cut out the gaps between sports where nothing was happening, so that the player was always doing something.

 

During the development of the game, I took feedback very seriously. Each time I finished a draft, I sent it to several of my friends and housemates to read over it and give me any feedback, positive or negative. I’ve found that a fresh set of eyes (or ears) will find flaws with your design much faster that you ever could alone. Feedback is an incredible tool that you can use to perfect your design if you are willing to put in some extra work in order to get it.

 

After I had decided the document was finally finished, I noticed that mouse control was the preferred method. This wasn’t good news for me as I had come up with a control scheme for a keyboard. I devised a new control scheme that used only the mouse then went through the document with military precision and changed everything that even slightly mentioned a keyboard to mouse related game play.

 

When I went through my design with the guys at 4J Studios to nail down the fine details of the game, we made the decision pretty early on to go for keyboard control. Changing the document at the last minute only to have it changed back again was however a decision made for the benefit of the game and after playing an early build (early version of the game) I could easily understand that it wouldn’t be the easiest game to play with the mouse.

 

This is something I believe you will need to get used to if you want to work in the games industry, you may work on something only to see it dropped or changed. Talking ideas over with other people seems to be the best way to uncover their flaws and even come up with an even better idea. This was the case with 4J when we discussed the design, and went over everything to figure out what would work and more importantly what parts of the design needed to be changed. Several other ideas from my concept, mainly aesthetic features, had to go because of the visual style we went for, which wasn’t a huge loss.

 

When I actually finished the design I joked with my friends saying “I’d better win!” after spending so long working on it. Then one day while I was doing some group work on a university project, my phone rang and it was a call telling me I’d won the competition. The first thing I said was “AWESOME!”

 

The next few months got really interesting at 4J. I worked on the design of the game, which involved sitting around a meeting room table with three other guys and discussing everything about it. It took a while but it was fantastic to see how an actual development team went about nailing a concept. The rest of my visits only really involved my seeing the progress made, trying the latest build and to give my feedback on how it was coming along, it was amazing to see my design develop from a simple idea all the way to a professionally developed title.

 

To wrap things up I’ll say that I’m stupidly pleased that I somehow managed to win. The experience with the folks at 4J and how this should look on my CV is more valuable to me. I’m one step closer to becoming a designer in the games industry.

 

 

It still hasn’t really sunk in.

 

Winning a silver medal at the World Championships at Wembley last weekend was an amazing feeling. It was my first major final and my partner Chris Adcock and I now know what it feels like to get that major championship final experience. Going into the tournament we expected to do OK but we just took one match at a time and couldn’t believe how far we progressed. Our goal was to reach the quarter-final so we were over the moon standing on the podium with silver medals round our necks.

 

I’ve played badminton since I was nine. Like most young people do, I started playing in the back garden and then I used to play at the local church hall with a good group of kids and I just fell in love with the sport.

 

I’ve been home in Glasgow seeing friends and family after the World Championships for a week but I’m back at the National Performance Centre in Milton Keynes now and we’ve got some hard work ahead of us. The qualification for London 2012 doesn’t close until May next year. Our recent success in the World Championship will definitely work in our favour but between now and May we will be off around the world competing in tournaments and trying get our ranking up.

 

If we make it to London 2012 we’ll definitely be looking to medal. The badminton competition will be held at the Wembley Arena, we’ve experienced a major final there so hopefully we can go one better if we make it to the Olympics next year.

 

I think Glasgow 2014 will be massive. My partner is English so it will be a shame not to be able to compete with him but it will be an amazing experience all the same. I drove past the site of the National Indoor Sports Arena where the badminton competition will take place at Glasgow 2014 and it looks amazing, it’s inspiring to think it will be filled with Scots hopefully cheering us towards medal success in 2014.

 

Having a Commonwealth Games in Glasgow not only inspires us athletes and gives us something to focus on but it will also bring badminton to young people and inspire them to take up sport. For me, London 2012 is a target at the moment but after the Olympics the momentum will shift to Glasgow.

 

In 2014, the goal will be gold. To win a medal in front of a home crowd would be unforgettable.

 

Photo: Sven Heise

 

It was absolutely exhilarating.

 

I spent the day in London earlier this week taking a tour of the Olympic Park, which was an unforgettable experience. Stepping inside the Velodrome at the really hit home what a fantastic event is going to be taking place there in less than 12 months time. You could almost imagine Chris Hoy whizzing around the track, going for gold in front of a packed home support. It's a phenomenal structure both inside and out and a year out from the games it's all but ready for the action to take place.

 

London 2012's partnership with Glasgow 2014 is one of the most exciting aspects of the build up to the Olympics for me. They're sharing stories both good and bad with us, we'll be using some of the equipment and a lot of people from Glasgow 2014 will learn a lot of lessons from the Olympic Games next year.

 

I was in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome last week to celebrate Three Years to Go and although it is very much still under construction, you can see the foundations of a track which is going to host some of the best competition in world cycling in 2014. Seeing the venue develop is fantastic and although we're three years out from the Commonwealth Games, you can really see things coming together in the East End of our city.

 

The track cycling venue for Glasgow 2014 will be complete well before our Games, playing host to the best young track cyclists on the planet at the Junior World Track Cycling Championships in 2013. I’m sure that once the venue is complete next year, entering the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome for the first time will evoke similar emotions.

 

The noise was incredible.

 

The atmosphere inside the athletics stadium at Delhi 2010 was always good, especially when Indian athletes were competing. When India took the lead in the 4x400m final the noise was amazing. Once I completed my leg of the race all I can remember was the electric atmosphere in the stadium as India crossed the line. After the race the girls were saying to each other ‘this is what it could be like in Glasgow 2014!”

 

That was one of my standout memories of the Games but obviously the main highlight was winning the silver medal in my main event, the 400 metre hurdles. My whole focus going into the Games was to get myself onto the podium and bring home a medal so when I crossed the line I was absolutely over the moon.

 

Although Team Scotland was big, the athletics squad was quite small so we all got on really well. I’ve got loads of photos that I took in Delhi and every so often I’ll just go back and have a look because they’re such good memories.

 

Since Delhi, I have been working down in Bath with my new coach Malcolm Arnold in a great group of hurdlers including Dai Green and Natasha Danvers. I had a really good training squad before I started working with Malcolm but they were all sprinters so I couldn’t really relate to anybody. It’s nice to have the company in my event and have people to bounce ideas off.

 

At the moment everyone is building towards 2012 but the amazing thing for us is we’ve got something massive to look forward to after 2012 in our home country. Because it’s in Scotland and we’re such a patriotic nation it’s going to be twice as exciting for us because it’s our little country and we’re doing it ourselves.

 

I think people will really get into it, people who maybe aren’t that sporty will be inspired by the Games because it’s right on our doorstep. I know the crowds will be incredible; it really gives you a boost. It’s so good for sport as well. I’m a PE teacher and a lot of kids at my school have been asking about it and they all know exactly when it is and what’s happening because it’s in Scotland.

 

In terms of personal goals, I want to do better than I did in 2010 which was to get the silver so I’m going there for the gold. It’s still a long way away, I don’t know what shape I’m going to be in and I don’t know what shape other people are going to be in, but at the moment, I would say that gold has got to be my only target. I think it would just be amazing to win a Gold medal at Glasgow 2014.

 

Winning the silver in Delhi was an incredible feeling. Doing my lap of honour was amazing and I could see some Scottish flags in the crowd but I think doing a lap of honour at Hampden in front of a stadium full of Scots would be the best thing in the world.

 

Back where it all began.

 

Being from Robroyston in Glasgow, Tollcross is like my home swimming pool. It’s where I did all my hard work as an age grouper with City of Glasgow, where I developed as a swimmer and where I decided that swimming was the path I wanted to go down.

 

I hadn’t been in Scotland since Christmas so it was awesome to be back for the Scottish Championships at the weekend. The competition came at the end of a hard training block for me and the volume of training will come down now as I start tapering for the World Championships in Shanghai next month.

 

The World Championships are a huge stepping stone towards London 2012 next year. I’ve been looking at some stats, and medallists from the Olympic Games are almost always in the top eight to make the final at the World Championships the year before. The Olympic Gold medallist frequently finishes on the podium at the World Championships the year before.

 

My goals for this year are to firstly make the final in the 200m breaststroke in Shanghai and once I’m in the final, anything can happen. I’ll definitely be going for a medal. I think a medal at the home Olympics next year has the potential to change your life and leading into Glasgow 2014, this is what I’m in the sport for; to win major medals.

 

I can’t wait for Glasgow 2014. The Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games was my first taste of silverware on the senior international stage and it was an amazing experience. I had my eye on the podium in Delhi the whole season, I knew that the Australians were going to be the guys to beat but I think other than that it was quite open. My silver in the 200m breaststroke was my first senior international medal, hopefully the first of many. It was great to make that step up and I’m delighted it was with Team Scotland.

 

Glasgow 2014 is just over three years away and it could be a bit of a fairytale for me. The swimming will be taking place at Tollcross, back where it all began for me. It’s such an amazing time to be involved with the sport with London next year and Glasgow in 2014, I couldn’t really have wished for anything better. Being from Glasgow, it definitely adds fuel to the fire to make sure I get there and I’m obviously looking to go one better than I did in Delhi.

 

Home city. Home advantage. There has already been amazing support and excitement in the lead up to the Games and it’s only going to build from here on in.

Training is going really well at the moment as this year feels like a dress rehearsal for London 2012.

While I was competing Delhi in October, I was overwhelmed by the atmosphere and fantastic support we received from back home - and that’s only a small fraction of  what it will be like come 2014.

The closest I’ve come to competing in a ‘home Games’ was in Manchester in 2002. The crowd support for the English swim team was out of this world and, knowing how passionate Scotland is when it comes to sport, I can’t even imagine just how good the home crowd is going to be in 2014.

They say that when you compete on home soil in a major event like the Commonwealth Games, your performance is given an extra 10% boost. The Scottish swim team has already shown its prowess when competing in other countries and to think that we’ll have that extra boost from the crowd urging us on at Glasgow 2014 is extremely exciting.

I am proudly sporting my trainers today – March 14th. I think the ‘Sport Your Trainers’ campaign is a fantastic idea and a great symbol of the country coming together and feeling part of the Games.

Biography:

Event: swimming
Age: 29
Lives: Aberdeen
Commonwealth Games representation: 2002, 2006, 2010

Main Achievements: 
2010 Commonwealth Games silver 4x200m freestyle relay
2010 Commonwealth Games bronze medal 400m freestyle
2008 World Short Course Championships silver medal 4x200m freestyle relay
2008 British Championships gold medal in 400m freestyle
2006 Commonwealth Games gold medal in 400m freestyle
2006 Commonwealth Games gold medal 400m individual medley
2006 Commonwealth Games silver medal 4x200m freestyle relay
2006 European Championships silver medal 4x200m freestyle relay
2006 British Championships gold medal in 400m freestyle
2006 British Championships gold medal in 200m freestyle
2005 British Championships gold medal in 400m freestyle