Swimmer named athlete of the year
Swimming ace Duncan Scott has added another gong to his ever growing collection.
The 21–year-old Commonwealth Games hero — whose medal haul on the Gold Coast included gold, silver and four bronze medals — was voted as the National Lottery Athlete of theYear.
Scott picked up his prize at a plush awards ceremony in London on Friday.
The Stirling University student won the public vote to secure the title.
The awards are an annual celebration of people and projects who achieve success things with National Lottery funding.
The awards ceremony was attended by a host of celebrities including Michael Sheen, Louis Theroux and Katherine Jenkins, and will be broadcast on BBC One Scotland at 10.45pm tonight (Wednesday).
Duncan, who trains at the sportscotland Institute of Sport in Stirling, said:“It’s a real honour to be crowned athlete of the aear.
“Without the support of National Lottery funding, I would never have achieved this much in the pool so it’s amazing to be recognised in this way.
“It was a dream to represent Team Scotland on the Gold Coast this year – I went there with no expectations other than to race as hard as I could. I never thought I’d walk away with six medals.”
Duncan was presented with his winner’s trophy by Olympic champion, Rebecca Adlington.
She said:“I’m thrilled that Duncan has been recognised as National Lottery Athlete of theYear. He was my one to watch after Rio. We picked out who to keep your eye on and Duncan was mine.
“There were quite a few stand-out performances at the Commonwealth Games but for me it was Duncan by an absolute mile.
“Even his interviews afterwards, you wanted to give him a hug and say‘you’re amazing’.
“He’s such a nice guy and the way he approached the race, you could tell his passion for the sport.”
Duncan beat off stiff competition from seven fellow athletes from around the UK to reach the public voting stage, including cyclist Katie Archibald.
He has chosen to donate his £5000 cash prize to the Edinburgh Limb Loss Association (ELLA).
It has also been revealed that the pool ace has injured his ankle after falling over a pavement.
He ruptured ligaments in his ankle in the incident.