Going for gold: Liz McColgan relives her success at controversial 1986 games

LIZ McColgan will never forget the tidal wave of emotion she felt when she stood on the gold medal podium in Edinburgh at the 1986 Commonwealth Games.

Two friends had struck a wager with the Dundee athlete that she would cry during the ceremony.

McColgan – then known by her maiden name Lynch – said she wouldn’t.

But when the anthem started playing and she listened to the rapturous ovation from the packed crowd at Meadowbank Stadium, even this redoubtable competitor, who surged to victory in the 10,000m, was overcome and the tears flowed.

As she recalled: “I didn’t think I would but the crowd were something else and Scotland the Brave sounded so wonderful.

“It was so overwhelming, totally unbelievable. I could never, ever relive that moment.”

She was joined by a spectacular cast list who lit up the track and field programme at the games.

Steve Ovett left the 800m and 1500m races to Steve Cram, and participated instead in the 5,000m, which he won convincingly.

Daley Thompson triumphed in the decathlon, while Linford Christie was beaten in the 100m by Ben Johnson, who was subsequently disgraced at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

Steve Redgrave was already a major performer in the water and secured three rowing golds and Lennox Lewis – then representing Canada – was victorious in the super-heavyweight division – against young Welshman Aneurin Evans, who didn’t have to throw a single punch to claim a silver medal.

The mass boycott of the Games – in protest at the UK Government’s links with apartheid South Africa – damaged boxing more than any other sport.

Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia all had contenders who might have competed in the different weight categories but were stymied by the politicians.

And, as the opening ceremony loomed with countries withdrawing right up to the eleventh hour, the fears over the economic viability of the games threatened to take precedence over any achievements by the athletes themselves.

A few weeks before the opening ceremony there had been talk of crisis, even of cancellation.

Peter Heatly, who was later knighted for his services to sport, headed up the Commonwealth Games Federation and possessed the expertise and experience to make things happen.

But that didn’t extend to persuading political leaders not to withdraw from the games schedule as political pressure mounted and the snowball gathered momentum.

He later recalled: “Talk of a boycott had always been around but when it hit, the full extent and range of it surprised almost everybody.

“It broke 10 days before the games and, every morning, you would wake up and another country had decided not to come. It was terrible.

“You died a little bit every