Mile duo in focus: Erin belongs to Glasgow and Sarah sets sights

Monday 6th July 2026

Photos by British Athletics for Getty Images

Picked for Scotland: 39 head for Scotstoun as full Games team named

There are a handful of Glaswegians in our Team Scotland selection for the Commonwealth Games but few fit the label better than Erin Wallace.

The 1500m runner emerged in the sport via Giffnock North AC after being brought up on the outskirts of the city.

As a sports-mad teenager, Erin went to Glasgow 2014 as a fan – there is a selfie somewhere with a certain Usain Bolt – and then later attended the University of Glasgow.

So Scotstoun feels like a full circle moment with a second Games appearance incoming after competing in triathlon at Gold Coast 2018 in Australia.

‘I am very excited to be selected to compete in front of a home crowd at a Commonwealth Games crowd,’ said Erin, selected for the Women’s Mile along with Jemma Reekie and Sarah Calvert.

‘When I was a teenager getting into athletics – I was 14 in 2014 – I never thought the Games would come back to Glasgow in my time as a competitor.

‘Watching those Games was the best week of my life at that time because I just loved sport and I went to watch hockey, swimming, athletics. And loved it all.

‘I was having a great time and I was not thinking then that one day I would be wearing Team Scotland kit.

‘But that happened for me only four years later in triathlon. I was picked for the Mixed Relay at Gold Coast 2018 and had an amazing time in Australia. My toes were heavily dipped in triathlon for a while – I started aged 11 – but then I focused fully on running.’

Erin is a member of the M11 training group based near Manchester with Georgia Hunter Bell lined up to lead England in the Women’s 800m.

‘There should be four of us competing from the training group,’ explained Erin.

‘And we are from four different countries – Scotland, England, Wales and Canada

‘That is across the 800m and the Mile so that will be so much fun as well as being with my Team Scotland team-mates for the duration of competiton.’

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Photo by British Athletics via Getty Images

Sarah Calvert‘s journey in track and field has been a circuitious one and the road has been blocked on occasion by first a spinal condition and then injury.

But, after following up her 2025 UK Champs gold in the Women’s 1500m with another win in the same event at the Alexander Stadium last month, she is entitled to feel anything is possible.

‘There would have been more pressure that day if I had gone in as favourite but probably I was more the underdog again,’ the Livingston AC athlete told the Sunday Post.

‘I wasn’t super consistent in the spring and because I didn’t have fast enough times I didn’t get in the races I had hoped for during the indoor season.

‘But being an underdog is so much fun. I just have to keep the confidence in myself I have and the confidence in me that my coach has (Luke Gunn).

‘Glasgow 2026 is coming soon and I want to make that final in the Women’s mile.

‘If I do, then when I stand on that start-line I will be looking for a medal. I know for that to happen it might need to be a crazy day and a big Personal Best. But what is the point if you don’t have that as your goal?’

The question did not require an answer . . .

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Tags: Erin Wallace, Glasgow 2026, Sarah Calvert, Team Scotland