Eight Scottish athletes travelled to Vichy in France to be part of the GB team for the Virtus Global Games, the largest event in the world for athletes with an intellectual impairment.
The games opened on Sunday 4 June with the opening ceremony being held and Scottish Tennis player, Dominic Ianotti, selected to be the flag bearer for team GB.
The sport competition started on Monday 4 June and much success was had by the Scots in the team.
Swimming
Ayrshire swimmer, Cerys McCrindle and teammates won silver in the II-2 4 x 100m Medley Relay event and a gold medal in the 4 x 200m free relay where Cerys swam a fantastic last leg of the race to bring home the medal.
Athletics
Sam Fernando put in a brilliant performance in the 3000m steeplechase to take silver in a time of 10.05.89, close to his PB. He also competed in the 5000m putting in a solid performance with a time of 16.22.02. Steven Bryce faced a top-class field in the 800m final running a highly respectable 2.01.12. He also competed in the 1500m, posting a time of 4.06.79 in the final. Matthew Power in his first international GB call-up posted two PBs; in the 100m semi-final he finished his race in fourth in a personal best of 11.40 to secure a place in the finals, where he had another strong run finishing fourth in 11.55. Matthew also managed a huge PB in his 200m heat with a time of 22.79 (down from 23.23) to secure a place in the final.
Judo
Scottish Judoka, Chris Murphy, was competing in the games and successfully retained his U81kg title. It was a tough day of competition for Chris as he faced mixed categories but brilliant to win gold in the U81kg category once again.
Tennis
Three tennis players took part in the Games, Dominic Ianotti, Luke Turnbull and Aidan Moody. Dominic Ianotti and Luke Turnbull won 3 gold and 2 bronze medals between them. Ianotti won Bronze in the II1 Singles and Gold in the mixed doubles tournament with partner Anna McBride, beating Australia’s Archie Graham and Kelly Wren. Ianotti and teammate Fabrice Higgins went on to win another 2 Gold medals in the Mens II2 Doubles and team event. Meanwhile Luke Turnbull and partner Olly Beadle won the bronze medal in the II2 Doubles competition. This was Aidan Moody’s first Global Games and he competed in the Singles II1, finishing in 9th position.
More information about the games and results can be found on the link below:
Virtus Global Games 2023 | Vichy France (gg2023.org)
| Athlete | Sport | Region |
| Steven Bryce | Athletics | Wishaw |
| Sam Fernando | Athletics | Fife |
| Matthew Power | Athletics | West Lothian |
| Cerys McCrindle | Swimming | Ayrshire |
| Chris Murphy | Judo | Drumchapel |
| Dominic Iannotti | Tennis | Preswick |
| Luke Turnbull | Tennis | East Lothian |
| Aidan Moody | Tennis | Glasgow |