Capital athletes selected for 2018 Commonwealth Games

Edinburgh 800m runner Lynsey Sharp will go for Commonwealth Games medal glory again next year after being selected by Scotland to compete on the Gold Coast.

Lynsey Sharp celebrates winning 800m silver in Glasgow in 2014

Sharp, who claimed a silver medal at Glasgow in 2014, was among 25 track and field athletes named in the squad today.

She was joined by fellow Capital stars Jake Wightman (1500m), Chris O’Hare (1500m), Guy Learmonth (800m), Kirsten McAslan (400m), Emma Nuttall (high jump) and Allan Smith (high jump).

Eilidh Doyle will compete for a third successive Commonwealth medal – she claimed silver in both 2010 and 2014 – in the 400m hurdles while 2014 bronze medallist Mark Dry (hammer) is also included.

Of the group, 19 were part of the team which delivered Scotland’s best medal haul for 20 years at Glasgow.

The Gold Coast 2018 para-sport programme is the largest in Commonwealth Games history and Team Scotland will be well represented on the track.

Having broken her own world record to take gold over 200m at the World Para-Athletics Championships in London, going on to take a second gold in the 100m and bronze in the 400m, Sammi Kinghorn steps up in distance to tackle the 1500m and marathon in Gold Coast.

She is joined by 17-year-old Rio 2016 Paralympic medallist Maria Lyle of Dunbar and 18-year-old Amy Carr, who won two gold and a bronze at this summer’s world junior championships.

Also confirmed for the Gold Coast are men’s beach volleyball pairing Seain Cook and Edinburgh’s Robin Miedzybrodzki.

With beach volleyball making its debut at Gold Coast 2018, Cook and Miedzybrodzki make history as the first athletes from the sport to be selected for a Commonwealth Games.

And Sean Lazzerini, gold medallist for Team Scotland at the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games, has been added to the boxing squad.

Squads:

Athletics: Chris Bennett; Andrew Butchart; Mark Dry; Callum Hawkins; Guy Learmonth; Chris O’Hare; Robbie Simpson; Allan Smith; David Smith; Jax Thoirs; Jake Wightman; Amy Car; Zoey Clark; Eilidh Doyle; Rachel Hunter; Sammi Kinghorn; Maria Lyle; Holly McArthur; Kirsten McAslan; Eilish McColgan; Emma Nuttall; Lynsey Sharp; Kelsey Stewart; Stephanie Twell; Lennie Waite.

Beach Volleyball: Seain Cook; Robin Miedzybrodzki.

Boxing: Sean Lazzerini.