Middlemiss appointed to lead Team Scotland

COMMONWEALTH GAMES

Former Scotland badminton international Elinor Middlemiss has been appointed as Team Scotland’s chef de mission for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

She is the first woman to occupy this post since the Games began in 1930, and the first former Commonwealth Games athlete to lead the Scottish team since Sir Peter Heatly in 1978.

Scotland’s highest capped female badminton player of all-time, Middlemiss represented Scotland at five Commonwealth Games, winning a women’s doubles bronze medal with Sandra Watt in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur and team bronze in 2002 in Manchester.

Her appointment follows two spells as deputy chef de mission at the most recent Commonwealth Games at Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast 2018.

David Somerville, high performance manager at sportscotland and a judo medallist for Scotland at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, takes on responsibility for performance services, continuing the role he performed at Gold Coast 2018.

Jen Barsby returns for a second Games as general team manager for accommodation and village facilities while Joanne Deponio and Chris Purdie join Team Scotland for their first Games, the former leading on transport and logistics, the latter taking on the team services role.

Welcoming the appointments, Jon Doig, the Commonwealth Games Scotland chief executive said: “I am delighted that we have brought together such an exciting blend of returning staff and those stepping into new roles for 2022. This will bring the expertise, experience, and enthusiasm necessary to help us build on our success from the past two Games.

“Just as we have a rigorous selection process for our athletes, ensuring we have the right staff in the right positions plays a key part in providing leadership and creating our Team Scotland ethos.”