Nominations are invited from those connected with SDS for the following awards that will be presented at the Online Annual General Meeting on Sunday 3rd October 2021. It is important that there is a clear indication why the individual/group is being nominated.

• Angus Trophy – sports person of the year (excluding athletics and swimming)
• Brian Dolan Memorial Trophy – swimmer of the year award
• Elspeth Watson Trophy – individual outwith SDS who has contributed significantly to disability sport
• Fife Trophy – coach of the year award
• Findlay Calder Trophy – athlete of the year award
• Glasgow Trophy – service to sport award
• Gordon Brown Trophy – athletes’ athlete of the year
• Janice Eaglesham Trophy – club of the year
• John de Courcy Trophy – most promising newcomer
• Russell Hogg Trophy – development coach of the year
• Special Recognition Award

The Awards Panel will then meet to consider all applications and decide the winner for each category in advance of the presentations at the AGM on Sunday 3rd October 2021.

A list of former award winners can be seen on our website here: https://scottishdisabilitysport.com/sds-award-winners/

All nominations should be submitted in confidence, before Thursday 9th September 2021.

The nomination form can be completed online here. 

The 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games drew to a close with Scotland’s final member of ParalympicsGB taking to the track prior to the spectacular closing ceremony.

Athletics

Fife’s Derek Rae exorcised the demons of his Rio 2016 experience, where he was unable to finish, by completing the Tokyo course and finishing 9th in the T45 Marathon. The Fife AC athlete suffered a stress fracture in his lower back in June and his 2:47:04 run was a testament to his resilience and professionalism.

Following his race, Derek commented;

“I’m proud of myself for getting to the start line,”

“There was a doubt in my mind as to whether I’d compete but it was an honour to get here and represent ParalympicsGB.”

“I ran pretty much the whole race on my own and I wouldn’t have got through it were it not for the crowds. They’ve given us such a warm welcome here.”

“Rio has motivated me since it happened, it never left my mind. It was a demon but the final nail is now in that coffin.”

 

Scotland’s final medal tally at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games is 21, with two gold, nine silver and ten bronze. This total surpasses the 17 medals won by Scots on ParalympicsGB at the 2016 Rio Games.

Photo – courtesy of imagecomms

Today was the penultimate day of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games and the medals continued to come for the Scots on ParalympicsGB.

Wheelchair Tennis

Scotland’s Gordon Reid MBE won the Men’s Singles bronze medal, defeating double’s partner, Alfie Hewitt in an enthralling tie.  The pair were left devastated yesterday after suffering a second successive Men’s Double’s final defeat to French duo Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer. Men’s Singles Rio champion Gordon, who had beaten Hewett in the final five years ago, once again came out on top when it mattered. The Scot edged a tight encounter 6-4 3-6 7-5 in two hours and 22 minutes to ensure another podium finish.

Commenting on an emotional week in Tokyo, Gordon said;

“The last thing we wanted to do was come and play against each other on the same court,”

“There have to be winners and losers and to be honest it doesn’t feel like I’m a winner today at the moment,”

“But I’m sure that as soon as the emotions settle down, I’ll be proud of that fact that I’ve come here and won another singles medal.”

“Also, I now have the full collection of medals so that’s a cool thing.”

Athletics

Ben Rowlings has made a real impact on his Paralympic debut in Tokyo and had set a time of 1:48.21 to finish in 4th position in his heat and so qualify for the final of the T34 Men’s 800m today. Ben couldn’t improve on that time in the final but raced home in 1:48.63, on a rain soaked track in the Olympic Stadium, to finish the final in 8^th place. A really positive introduction to Paralympic competition for Ben who will now turn his attention to Paris in 2024.

Scotland’s medal tally rises to twenty one with two gold, nine silver and ten bronze after ten days of competition.

Photo – courtesy of imagecomms

It was a “Fantastic Friday” on day ten of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games with five medals for Scots across four different sports.

Athletics

Fife’s Owen Miller is making his Paralympic debut in Tokyo and what a debut it was destined to be. Owen took to the track for the final of the T20 Men’s 1500m and blew the field away to take the gold medal. Owen was in fifth position with 400m to go but stayed patient and kicked hard down the back straight to move into second place. He hovered on the shoulder of the Russian Paralympic Committee’s Alexander Rabotnitskii and overtook him on the last bend before sprinting home to stop the clock in 3:54.57.

After his gold medal winning performance. Owen said;

“It is my first Paralympic Games and what an experience, it is really hard going but the work I have done in the last 18 months has really paid off and helped me,”

“If it wasn’t for all the support back home I wouldn’t be here today. It means the world to me and I have done my best.”

“I was third in the world in Dubai 2019 so to be number one now is quite the experience and I have never done it in my life. This is the best day of my life.”

The 4x100m universal relay team of Scotland’s Libby Clegg, Jonnie Peacock, Ali Smith and Nathan Maguire safely made it through to the evening session’s final by qualifying third fastest in a time of 47.86. The ParalympicsGB quartet set a time of 47.50 in the final to secure the silver medal behind the USA who took gold.

Libby said this medal trumped her double gold in Rio;

“I’m so privileged and proud to be a part of this team and share this moment with these guys,”

“Right now this is my proudest moment – being part of this team.”

“I’m going to take some time out but this is my last running competition, unless I dabble in a sports day when my son is at primary school.”

“To end my athletics career with this medal is a dream come true.”

Reigning Paralympic champion, Jo Butterfield, started the defence of her F51 Women’s Club Throw title in the Olympic Stadium today. Despite throwing a season’s best of 21.77, Jo finished the competition just outside the medals in 4^th place.

Ben Rowlings was back on action in the Olympic Stadium for the heats of the T43 Men’s 800m. Ben raced home in a time of 1:48.21 to finish in 4^th position which was enough to see him through to tomorrows final.

Swimming

Stephen Clegg qualified second fastest in his heat to set up a push at his own 100m butterfly S12 world record and Paralympic gold. The Scot led the race throughout, turning in 26.98 and winning in a time of 59.13. Stephen was determined to break 56.75 in the final, the new world best time he set in Sheffield in April.

He had already won a pair of bronze medals in Tokyo and came into this final as the world record holder. However, he was to face Azerbaijan’s Raman Salei, who had won two golds coming into this event and had also qualified fastest for the final. Stephen surged into the lead on the final 25m, but Salai fought back and touched in 57.81, six hundredths of a second ahead of Stephen, but a full second outside the ParalympicGB swimmer’s world record.

After the final Stephen said;

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, I came here to win and it is quite far short of where I wanted to be. I can’t really make any excuses, my prep coming into the meet was really good and I’ve been where I wanted to be in my other events.”

“I definitely want a gold medal from my career, so there’s no chance of me retiring any time soon. I’ll go away from this and come back with a vengeance for Paris.”

Wheelchair Tennis

Gordon Reid and doubles partner Alfie Hewett suffered further Paralympic heartbreak at the hands of French pair Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer following a dramatic three-set doubles defeat in Tokyo. The ParalympicsGB pair had lost to Houdet and Peifer in Rio and once again had to settle for silver medals at the end of a gripping match which the experienced defending champions snatched 7-5, 0-6, 7-6 (3).

Reid and Hewett fought back from losing the opening set to lead the decider 3-1 but could not capitalise before a tense tie-break went against them. The pair will return to court at the Ariake Tennis Park tomorrow to face each other in the bronze medal singles match.

After the mammoth encounter, Gordon said;

“We’re devastated right now; we came here with one job to do and that was to win the gold.”

“We both believed we were going to do it, we came in with brilliant form and tried so hard to change it from five years ago.”

“It’s going to take a while for it to sink in, I’m just proud of the way we fought to the end. We backed each other up the whole way through the match. We win together, we lose together.”

Cycling

Jenny Holl was back on her bike as pilot to Sophie Unwin for the Women‘s B Road Race at the Fuji International Speedway track. The ParalympicsGB pair posted a time of 2:36:00 to win the silver medal and round-off a hugely successful Games for the cyclists. World champions Unwin and Holl kept up with the leaders, only briefly dropping off the back of a breakaway made by Katie-George Dunlevy of Ireland and Sweden’s Louise Jannering. Dunlevy and pilot Eve McCrystal sprinted away in the final stretch to claim their second gold of the Games, while Unwin and Holl pipped the Swedes on the line to add silver to their individual pursuit bronze on the track.

Boccia

The Tokyo boccia competition was drawing to a close and today witnessed the final encounters in the pool stages ahead of tomorrow’s medal matches.

Hamilton’s Stephen McGuire was a member of the ParalympicsGB BC4 pair who faced Canada with a shot at the medals still in their own hands. ParalympicsGB were one shot down after two ends but staged a brilliant fight back to close out the match 5-2.

This led to a final Pool A encounter against Portugal for the opportunity to compete for the medals. Again, it was a close encounter which sat all square at 1-1 after two ends. However, on this occasion it was the Portuguese pair that upped their game in the latter stages and took a shot in each of the remaining two ends to win 3-1. No medal opportunity for Stephen on this occasion but some fantastic play during the Games from the world number ten.

After his last match Stephen said;

“I’m pretty disappointed to be honest. There was nothing I would have loved any more than to provide a medal for ParalympicsGB. It’s been my dream. It’s been a fantastic tournament, the third end was where the game turned around, so credit to Portugal.”

The McCowan family were also back in action today for their concluding Pool A ties in the BC3 Pairs competition. Their first match of the day was against the Thailand pair currently only one place behind them in the world rankings. At the halfway stage of the match, the ParalympicsGB pair found themselves trailing 6-0. They rallied toward the end of the match but it was too little too late and the match was eventually lost 7-3.

Their final Pool A match of the Games was against the pair from France. The ParalympicsGB pair hit top form to record a thoroughly convincing 7-0 win. Unfortunately again, not enough for progression to the medal matches but a memorable Games for Scott McCowan in particular after some great form to finish 4^th in the BC3 individual competition.

After his match Scott said;

“It’s great to have so many people enjoying boccia and enjoying what they’ve seen from me playing on the court. It’s been brilliant to be back at the Paralympics again. We’ve had a great time in Tokyo.”

Shooting

Scotland’s Lesley Stewart finished 13^th in the R8 Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions qualification after three years out with a major injury. Lesley finished two places ahead of ParalympicsGB team-mate Lorraine Lambert in a high-scoring qualification event. The Blairgowrie shooter scored 1133, just 14 off the eighth and final qualifying spot.

Speaking off her Tokyo experience, Lesley said;

“It has been a great experience for me at my first Paralympic Games,”

“I only qualified for these Games two months ago, so it has been a very quick turnaround from qualification to performing here in Tokyo.”

“After three years out with major injury, I am so proud to have made it here and be part of a great team.”

“This will make me stronger and know more about performing at major Games and I will reflect and learn from the experience.”

“The support from the whole team has been immense as has the welcome here in Tokyo.”

 

Scotland’s medal tally rises to twenty with two gold, nine silver and nine bronze after ten days of competition.

Photo – courtesy of imagecomms

Highlights from day nine of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games.

Cycling

Strathpeffer’s Fin Graham is making his Paralympic debut in Tokyo but was full of confidence coming into his Men’s C1-3 Road Race. He had won a silver medal on the track earlier in the week and took this form into the road event at a rain-soaked Fuji International Speedway. Fin was in the leading pack from the outset and pushed hard to the finishing line in a thrilling climax. He claimed the silver medal in a time of 2:05:43, only 1:20 behind fellow ParalympicsGB rider Benjamin Watson who took gold.

Athletics

Border’s wheelchair racer, Sammi Kinghorn, was back in action today in the T53 Women’s 400m and won her heat in a time of 56.73 to see her comfortably through to the final. Sammi had claimed a bronze medal in the 100m yesterday, her first Paralympic medal. She was back in the Olympic Stadium to face a quality field in the 400m final line up and didn’t disappoint. She recorded a time of 57.25 to claim the silver medal by 0.04 ahead of Hongzhuan Zhou from China, with Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner taking gold in a time of 56.18.

A T11 Women’s 200m heat 3rd place finish for Libby Clegg MBE and her guide Chris Clarke, in a time of 27.93, was not enough to see Libby qualify for tomorrows semi-final.

Following the race Libby announced her retirement from athletics. The two-time Paralympic champion from Rio was still pleased with her performance after a disrupted campaign and will draw her stellar career to a conclusion after Friday’s Universal Relay.

Commenting on her decision, Libby said;

“To finish my career in the Paralympic stadium in Tokyo is amazing,”

“I wasn’t even sure I was going to be here so I’m happy. I’ve still got the relay to come tomorrow which I’m really looking forward to, so I’m ready for that one.

“It has been such an honour to be on such a successful team. There are some incredible young athletes coming through on the Futures programme who are just starting their journey so I’m happy to see them developing out here.”

Mel Woods finished 6th in her T54 Women’s 400m heat in a time of 59.11 but failed to progress to the final.

Wheelchair Tennis

Gordon Reid MBE had played some scintillating tennis to progress to the semi-final of the Men’s Singles competition where he found himself facing world number one, Shingo Kunieda from Japan. The Scot put up a good fight but ultimately lost the tie 6-3, 6-2. Gordon will now fight for the bronze medal on Saturday and will also be back on court tomorrow for the final of the Men’s Doubles competition.

Boccia

Stephen McGuire was a member of the ParalympicsGB pair for their opening Pool A match up against Brazil in the BC4 Pairs competition. They got off to a flying start to lead 6-0 after two ends. However, the Brazilians staged a fight back but couldn’t do enough to stop ParalympicsGB winning the match 6-4.

In their second match of the day the ParalymicsGB pair faced Slovakia, who had also won their opening Pool A match. They came up against a Slovakian pair on top form, who dominated the game from the outset and ran out winners by 8-0. Currently second in their pool, it could be a straight shootout with Canada for the second semi-final spot.

Speaking after his last match, Stephen said;

“They are very, very strong, physically, and that shows why they’re world champions and Paralympic champions.”

“We could have been a bit more clinical. We were creating opportunities, we just needed to take them. If we play them again and take our opportunities, it will be a better game.”

Following the disappointment of just missing out on a medal in the individual competition, the McCowan family were back on court for their opening match in Pool A of the BC3 Pairs Competition. The Scots, along with Beth Moulam, were up against the South Korean pair and it was destined to be a gripping encounter. The match finished 2-2, necessitating an extra end which the South Koreans won by a single shot.

The ParalympicsGB BC3 Pair had to regroup quickly as they were back in action later in the day to face a Greek pair who had won their first Pool A match. It was to be another close match but unfortunately the Greek pair proved too strong and won the match 4-2.

Following the tie, Scott McCowan commented;

“We tried really hard there and I thought we played a great game.”

“I’m struggling a bit more to explain how we lost because at the start we played at a really good level, particularly in the last end. We thought we had the game plan and tactics to play well enough but we didn’t get the job done so it’s extremely disappointing.”

Swimming

Aberdeen’s Toni Shaw laid down a smooth S9 Women’s 100m Butterfly heat with a 3^rd place finish in a time of 1:10.41 seeing her through to the final. Toni swam magnificently in the final to record a time of 1:08.87 and a 4^th place finish, agonisingly close to a medal.

Toni was back in action at the Tokyo Acquatics Centre for the final race of the day, as part of the ParalympicsGB Women’s 4x100m Medley – 34pts team. Toni swam a fantastic leg in a time of 1:09.22 but unfortunately, the ParalympicsGB time of 4:58.76 resulted in another 4^th place finish for Toni.

Louis Lawlor finished 4^th in a time of 1:01.43 in his S14 Men’s 100m Backstroke heat which was enough to see him qualify for the final later in the day. Louis set a time of 1:01.80 in a final of exceptional quality to finish in 8^th place.

Wheelchair Baketball

Scots Robyn Love and Jude Hamer were involved in the ParalympicsGB 7/8 Classification Playoff match against Spain today. ParalympicsGB dominated the game from the outset, establishing a 22-8 lead in the first quarter, before stretching to a 62-43 victory and ensuring a 7^th place finish in Tokyo.

Scotland’s medal tally rises to fifteen with one gold, five silver and nine bronze after nine days of competition.

Photo – courtesy of imagecomms

Highlights from day eight of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games.

Athletics

Scotland’s Sammi Kinghorne took to the track in the Olympic Stadium for the first time for the T53 Women’s 100m Final. Sammi ended her wait for Games glory with bronze, to give ParalympicsGB a first women’s T53 100m medal since 2004. Sammi recorded a time of 16.53 to take the bronze medal ahead of China’s Fang Gao and Hongzhuan Zhou, who took gold and silver respectively.

Speaking after her final, Sammi said;

“To be able to call myself a bronze medallist knowing there were moments in the race I definitely could have done more and done better is huge for me.”

“I know there are only three years to Paris 2024 and I know that I can get stronger.”

“Coming fifth in Rio, coming third now, hopefully that trajectory continues to go up and up and up.”

“I just didn’t want to come fourth again. I’m up on the podium this time and I can’t believe that I am, which is amazing.”

Sammi will be back in action for the T53 400m heats which start tomorrow.

Wheelchair Tennis

Scotland’s Gordon Reid MBE had battled to the quarter final of the Men’s Singles competition without dropping a set. However, his quarter-final opponent, Gustavo Fernendez, is currently ranked world number four, so he knew this would be a difficult task to overcome the Argentinian. Gordon battled back from 4-0 down in the opening set, which he eventually won 7-5. However, Fernendez upped his game in the second set, which he won 6-3. It was all to play for in the final set and it was the Scot who dealt with the pressure, triumphing 6-2, to take the match.

Gordon initially feared his title defence was over without hitting a ball in Tokyo after a member of the ParalympicsGB tennis squad tested positive for COVID a day before the opening ceremony. He was eventually cleared to play but had to follow a strict routine that included only leaving his room for matches and practice and not socialising with team-mates.

Gordon said;

“This morning was the first time that I could get out and go to the food hall myself and not have it delivered to the room because it’s 10 days since the test,”

“I was pretty emotional because at that stage, him testing positive and us being around – not close contacts but still being in similar places for the last few days – was a scare.”

“But it’s not been an issue so far so I’ve got no complaints.”

Gordon now progresses to the semi-final where he will face world number one, Shingo Kunieda from Japan.

Boccia

Ayrshire’s Scott McCowan, along with ramp assistant dad Gary, took to the court for his bronze medal match against Australian, Daniel Michel, in the BC3 Individual competition. Scott had played superbly well during the individual competition but couldn’t keep this momentum going into the medal matches. The bronze medal match ended with a 6-1 win for Michel but Scott can be proud of his 4^th place finish as he now switches his attention to the BC3 Pair’s competition.

Scott commented;

“I’m devastated at the moment,”

“To have two chances at a medal and then not to get one, that’s absolutely gutting.”

“I’ll bounce back and start again in the pairs. We’ve got a really good chance in that for a medal.”

“I’m playing some of my best boccia ever, I think we’re definitely one of the favourites to go all the way here and I’m confident.”

“I love playing with Jamie, we have that relationship where a lot of the time we don’t even have to say anything. We know what each other is thinking, we are very similar in terms of our mindsets and our personalities.”

“I’m just loving being here again. One of the wonderful things about boccia is it is truly about the sport. There’s a great camaraderie between the players. There’s not really any egos but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to win.”

Swimming

Andrew Mullen rounded off his third Paralympic Games with a 13^th place finish in the S5 50m freestyle. The Glasgow sprinter touched in 36.01, finishing seventh in a heat where the Paralympic record fell and missed out on a final place by 0.74.

After his swim Andrew said;

“This has been a hard meet for everyone, but the attitude and mood within the team has always been incredibly upbeat and positive,”

 

Scotland’s medal tally rises to thirteen with one gold, three silver and nine bronze after eight days of competition.

Photo – courtesy of imagecomms