Four athletes from the Endurance Performance and Coaching Centre (EPACC) at St Mary’s University, Twickenham have been selected for the Scottish Team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The competition, which takes place every four years, will be hosted in Gold Coast Australia in April 2018, and will see the leading athletics talent from across the Commonwealth compete in a range of disciplines.
Rio 2016 Olympian and Alumna Steph Twell, will be competing in her third Commonwealth Games, running in the Women’s 5000m. Steph also competed in the London 2017 World Championships and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Steph is joined on the track by Olympian Lennie Waite, who will compete in the women’s 3000m steeplechase.
They will be joined by fellow Rio 2016 Olympian and Alumna Beth Potter, who will become the first Scottish athlete to represent two disciplines at a Commonwealth Games, competing in the Women’s Triathlon and 10000m. Beth, who changed discipline following the Rio 2016 Olympics, also ran in the Women’s 10,000m at London 2017.
Elsewhere EPACC Athlete Jake Wightman will be competing in the Men’s 1500m, alongside alumnus and fellow EPACC Athlete Charlie Grice, who will be running for Team England. Jake also competed at London 2017, reaching the Men’s 1500m final.
The Scottish athletes join a further six athletes and alumni from St Mary’s who have been selected for the England team, including Charlie Grice, Andy Vernon, Adelle Tracey, Andrew Osagie, Elliot Giles and Jade Lally.
Speaking of their selections Director of Sport Andrew Reid-Smith said, “St Mary’s EPACC athletes are well represented in a strong squad of Scottish athletes. There’ll be opportunities to make finals and compete for medals and if the scheduling allows, it would be wonderful to see Beth competing in two different sports.”