Nine Scots headed for Paris 2024 after being picked by Team GB for Olympics

Friday 5th July 2024

Graphic and photos by Bobby Gavin

Full GB and NI team announcement

By Peter Jardine, Head of Communications

Nine Scottish athletes have been picked to represent Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

It’s a marvellous moment for those nine athletes and their families and coaches with selections confirmed today by UK Athletics.

Eilish McColgan is included for the Women’s 10,000m and is thus selected for a record fourth time for the Olympics – no other Scottish athlete has been picked for the Games four times.

Tokyo silver medallist Laura Muir will race the Women’s 1500m in Paris after being selected for her third Olympics.

Megan Keith, Nick Percy and Neil Gourley are all selected for the first time and there are places, too, for Josh Kerr, Jemma Reekie, Jake Wightman and Nicole Yeargin.

With UK Athletics announcing a feam of 64 athletes, we make the Scottish cohort at a very strong 14 percent of the overall British team. That’s almost tice the population ratio which would be at around eight percent.

Each and all of our nine athletes has a different back story and, with the exception of Nicole who was brought up in the United States, the others were all involved in the Scottish pathway. Nick didn’t live in Scotland but made numerous trips to compete.

We send our warm congratulations to all nine athletes and their families, coaches and support teams. We note, acknowledge and celebrate the roles played by their clubs in their development over many years.

Scots picked (alphabetical order):

Neil Gourley 1500m (Stephen Haas) Giffnock North

Megan Keith 10,000m (Ross Cairns) Inverness Harriers

Josh Kerr 1500m (Danny Mackey) Edinburgh AC

Eilish McColgan 10,000m (Liz Nuttall) Dundee Hawkhill Harriers

Laura Muir 1500m (Steve Vernon) Dundee Hawkhill Harriers

Nick Percy Discus (Zane Duquemin) Shaftesbury Barnet

Jemma Reekie 800m (Jon Bigg) Kilbarchan AAC

Jake Wightman 800m (Geoff Wightman) Edinburgh AC

Nicole Yeargin 4x400m Relay (Vince Anderson) Pitreavie AAC

‘I feel the nine selections are a really positive outcome for Scottish Athletics and for the sport in Scotland,’ said Mark Pollard, Head of Performance.

‘It is great to see a high percentage representation on the British team for Paris.

‘Across that group of selected athletes there are numerous different stories and different journeys in the sport. There are clear examples of those who came through the grassroots system in Scotland and now have arrived at Olympic level and are winning medals at major championships.

‘I think it is really positive that we can all see those stories and the pathway that’s been established in Scotland over a number of years now.

‘Younger athletes in Scotland can look up to these role models and see what is possible.’

Laura Muir and Josh Kerr with their medals in Tokyo (photos by Sam Mellish for Team GB)

The tally of nine selected is the third best in the last 48 years since that tally was picked in 1976. The totals for Rio and Tokyo were higher, albeit in larger GB teams.

And the feeling is that both qualification standards and the standard of competition in the UK has risen in the past three years.

‘The standards to make teams for Worlds and Olympics are getting higher,’ added Mark.

‘We saw a big number of Scottish athletes compete at the British Trials and we’ve seen that convert to nine selected.

‘Once the team gets to Paris, they will hopefully inspire each other and they get to as high a level of performance as they can at the Olympics.’

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Tags: Eilish McColgan, Jake Wightman, Jemma Reekie, Josh Kerr, Laura Muir, Megan Keith, Neil Gourley, Nick Percy, Nicole Yeargin, Olympics, Olympics 2024, Paris, Paris 2024