Brilliant at Birmingham 2022

Students, alumni and associated athletes of the University shone on the Commonwealth stage, breaking personal best times and national records, qualifying for event finals, and securing multiple medal successes.

Medal success

There was medal success for Edinburgh students, alumni and associated athletes in the pool and Judo tatami.

Sarah Adlington, a Sport and Recreation Management graduate, repeated her Gold medal success from Glasgow 2014, becoming the first Scottish Judoka to win two Commonwealth Gold medals.

Applied Sport Science Student, Grace Reid secured her second Commonwealth Gold medal,  following her win in the 3m Springboard at the Gold Coast, with a magnificent victory in the mixed 3m Synchro. Grace competed in the event with James Heatly, grandson of University of Edinburgh Sports Hall of Fame inductee Peter Heatly.

Associated athlete Stephen Clegg added to his Tokyo Paralympic success with a silver medal in the S13 50m Freestyle event, beating his own British record in the process.

Athletics

On the athletics track Alumna Melanie Woods, Sarah Inglis and Sarah Malone performed admirably for Team Scotland. Woods finished fourth in the T53/T54 150m event, Inglis took seventh in the 5000m and Malone was part of the 4 x 100m relay team that finished eighth in the event final.

Aquatics (Diving)

As well as her magnificent gold medal in the 3m mixed synchro, Grace Reid narrowly missed out on bronze medal in the individual 1m Springboard event, finishing fourth and placed eighth in the individual 3m Springboard event. There was also  magnificent performances from other Edinburgh athletes with top 10 finishes from Clara Kerr (1m Springboard, eighth), Danny Mabbott (1m Springboard – ninth), Ross Beattie (1m Springboard – tenth) and Gemma McArthur (10m Platform - ninth). Angus Menmuir placed eleventh in the 10m platform with lifetime best score and teamed up with Gemma McArthur in the mixed 10m Synchro achieving seventh place. Ross Beattie also narrowly missed a bronze medal, finishing fourth in the 3m synchro event, with James Heatly.

Aquatics (Swimming)

In the pool, along with Stephen Clegg’s Silver medal performance, current and former Edinburgh athletes broke both personal, Scottish and British records. Archie Goodburn, who is an incoming 22/23 student, finished ninth, whilst securing a personal best time, in the 50m breast stroke. He was also part of the 4 x 100m mixed relay heat team that qualified for finals. Kara Hanlon, Msc Sport Policy Management and International Development student, secured eighth place in the final of both the 100m and 50m breaststroke events. Imara Bella Thorpe, played a key role in helping Team Kenya reach their first ever Commonwealth relay final, in the 4 x 100m relay, and achieved a personal best in the semi-finals of the 50m Butterfly event.  Scott Gibson took sixth in the 50m backstroke and Thomas Carswell helped Team Wales to a fourth place finish in the final of the 4 x 100m freestyle relay. Lucy Hope and Tain Bruce were part of the Scottish 4 x 100m freestyle relay tea, who took fifth place in a new Scottish record time.

3x3 Basketball (women)

Mathematics student Sian Philips and Applied Sport Science graduate Hannah Robb helped Team Scotland to a fantastic fifth place.

Cycling

Mountain Biker and Mechanical Engineering student Charlie Aldridge was set to medal until an unfortunate crash on the last turn. Despite this Aldridge completed the circuit and finished in fourth place overall.

Hockey (men)

Graduates Callum Duke and Dave Forrester played their part in Team Scotland achieving ninth place in the men’s hockey tournament.

Hockey (women)

A strong Edinburgh contingent including student Eve Pearson, University Sports Hall of Fame Inductee (2021) and Law graduate Sarah Robertson, alumnae Amy Costello and Louise Campbell, and Edinburgh University Women’s Hockey Club players Jessica Ross, Katie Robertson and Nicola Cochrane helped Scotland take sixth place, one position higher than at Gold Coast Games in 2018.

Judo

As well as Sarah Adlington’s medal winning performance, current student Kirsty Marsh and recent graduate Dylan Munro both did themselves proud with seventh place finishes in their respective events.

Netball

University of Edinburgh Sports Hal of Fame Inductee (2020), Claire Maxwell and fellow Alumnae Emily Nicholl helped Scotland to ninth place in the netball tournament equalling their result from the 2014 and 2018 games.

Rugby 7’s (women)

Amazingly, 60% of the Scotland Rugby 7’s team had a connection to the University, with student stars Meryl Smith and Shona Campbell joined by former University of Edinburgh Ladies Rugby Club and Edinburgh Alumnae Megan Gaffney, Evie Gallaher, Lisa Thomson, Helen Nelson, Liz Musgrove and Rhona Lloyd. The team finished in sixth place overall with some fantastic individual performances, notably Rhona Lloyd who finished as the third top try scorer in the tournament.

Hollie Davidson, University of Edinburgh Sports Hall of Fame Inductee (2021), refereed the women's Gold medal match.

Squash

On the squash court, Alan Clyne, University of Edinburgh Sports Hall of Fame inductee (2020) competing at his fourth games, achieved top 10 finishes in both the singles and doubles events. Applied Sport Science student, Georgia Adderley narrowly missed on a Bronze medal in the both the women’s doubles and mixed doubles with fifth place finishes in each. Georgia also achieved an amazing ninth place overall in the women’s singles.

 Related links

• Birmingham Commonwealth Games
• Performance Sport at Edinburgh
• University of Edinburgh Sports Hall of Fame

Images provided by Team Scotland.