April Fool - Glasgow 2014: Scotland athletes get Team GB option

ATHLETES taking part in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year will be able to choose whether they represent Scotland or Great Britain, The Scotsman can reveal today.

By SCOTT ENGLISH Monday, 1st April 2013, 9:11 am

Secret talks have been held in the aftermath of last year’s London Olympics, and every British sportsman and woman who qualifies for Glasgow 2014 will be offered the option of representing Team GB.

The decision means that for the first time in Commonwealth Games history, a catch-all Team GB will compete alongside the individual nations of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland that make up Great Britain. Individual competitors will be expected to choose.

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The announcement means that Scotland’s top competitors, including Andy Murray and Sir Chris Hoy, could opt to compete under the Union flag rather than the Saltire.

Insiders said the idea was given the go-ahead after organisers agreed that the camaraderie and “strong” British label contributed to the UK winning 29 gold medals across the event.

Other sporting greats, including Mo Farah, will be given the option to represent Team GB or England.

It is understood that the measure was discussed with the Queen – head of the Commonwealth – in the weeks after the London Games.

Following the success of Scotland’s Olympians – dubbed “Scolympians” by First Minister Alex Salmond – at last year’s Games, there were suggestions that Scotland could compete on its own at Rio 2018. However, it now appears that a British team could parade at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow - an event that independence campaigners had hoped would swell national pride just a matter of weeks before the referendum vote.

A 2014 insider told The Scotsman: “Clearly, last summer was a huge achievement for Great Britain, and we’re in the privileged position of hosting next year’s Commonwealth Games on home soil. If we can whip up the same kind of positivity and national support, we’ll be in for an excellent run. We feel a Team GB could be a real asset to the Games, alongside the traditional individual nations, and will bring everybody together again.”

Opinion was divided over which flag athletes would opt for.

It is understood that Murray, who was last night crowned champion at the Miami masters, has not yet been contacted about the development, but the Scot said at the weekend that he feels both Scottish and British.

Sir Chris’s office could not be contacted, but the official Chris Hoy Supporters’ Forum administrator said: “While Chris is Scottish born and bred, he trained in Manchester, and he has a lot to thank the English for.

“Would he be where he is today if it wasn’t for his top training down south?”

Insiders, however, speculated that he might feel pressured to remain firmly Scottish as one of the Games’s official venues – the Chris Hoy Velodrome – is named after him.

The source said: “It’d be a bit of a cheek, wouldn’t it?”

Scottish Brave Hearts, a support group dedicated to Scottish trade and tourism, said it would be a great honour for the country to remain exclusively as Team Scotland.

A spokesman said: “We want our people flying the flag for Scotland. Scots never get their day in the sun when they win medals.”

Athletes will have to make a decision on which team they will represent by 1 April, 2014.