‘Tattie’ Marshall wins record-breaking fifth gold medal on the Gold Coast
Alex ‘Tattie’ Marshall became Scotland’s most successful Commonwealth Games competitor yesterday after winning the fifth gold medal of his lawn bowls career on Australia’s Gold Coast.
The 51-year-old sales manager’s historic victory as part of the men’s fours saw him surpass the four medals won by sprinter Alan Wells and paracyclist Neil Fachie.
Yesterday’s victory was hard won – at one stage the Scottish team were 8-2 down to the Australians.
But Marshall, accompanied by Ronald Duncan, Derek Oliver and Paul Foster, delighted the massed ranks of the Tatterati, who shouted encouragement from the stands, by emerging from a tense final bowl to secure a 15-13 win over the home nation.
Afterwards Marshall paid tribute to his fellow bowlers. “The guys I’ve gone past at the top of the list are real athletes,” he said. “But we’re part of the same team. To win five gold medals is a dream come true. When you think of some of the names up there, it’s just incredible. We’ll definitely have a few celebrations.
“All of my medals have been hard-fought. In Glasgow, that semi-final against England is something I’ll never forget. I threw two bowls within two inches of the white to give us a chance of going for the gold medal. Every single game at this level is hard, so I treat them all the same.”
In Australia, Marshall’s supporters swarmed around offering congratulations and snapping selfies with Scotland’s new Commonwealth Games medal record holder.
Marshall’s wife, Diane, meanwhile, was in tears. “Oh, greetin’ all day,” she told the BBC. “Greetin’ with worry and happiness. I’m an emotional wreck.”
This year’s Commonwealth Games mark 30 years since Marshall, from East Lothian, first represented his country. He began bowling at the age of eight and was supported during his early career by his father and his grandfather.
Marshall began bowling at the age of eight supported by both his father and grandfather and first represented his country in 1988.[7]
Yesterday also marked a second gold at the games for duncan and Oliver, who also won the triples, while Foster now sits just one behind his longtime cohort in the all-time standings, level with Wells and Fachie with time, at the age of 41, on his side. “I’ve come through a lot to be here, but I can’t dwell on that,” Foster revealed. “You’ve got to move on in life. I knew he was up there thinking about me and that I had to put in the best performance I could for these guys. We’ve proved once again that we’re a solid, solid team.
Later Marshall admitted his record winning game was not his finest. ”I was going about kicking myself, because these guys would have sorted me out good and proper later on if the guy had got the winning bowl,” he said. “But it didn’t happen. The guys were fantastic. I’m ecstatic, over the moon.”
He is a magnificently unlikely sporting hero, a man of a certain age and of a certain shape who has entered the record books as Scotland’s most successful ever Commonwealth Games athlete.
Lawn bowler Alex “Tattie” Marshall now has five Commonwealth gold medals after leading his men’s fours team to victory over hosts Australia on the Gold Coast. And we couldn’t be happier that this great champion is anything but a musclebound specimen of physical perfection (yes, of course we admire Chris Hoy and Andy Murray but, well, it does look like they have to put in rather a lot of effort.)
Naturally, we’re very much in favour of people participating in all the vigorous exercise they can endure but we’re also rather enchanted by the gentle sport of bowls. Tattie, 51, may not look like a finely-honed athlete, but on the green he moves with all the grace of a gymnast, picking his lines with the precision of a marksman.
We look forward to Tattie’s return to Scotland, where he should henceforth be regarded as a role model for anyone who is more everyman than superman.