A stellar year for north athletes on the world stage was justifiably recognised by the Scottish Sports Awards shortlist.
At a ceremony in Edinburgh tonight, the great and good of Scottish sport will come together to celebrate a year of achievements.
The Commonwealth Games in Birmingham unsurprisingly plays a big part in the list of nominees, but recognition is also given for important work right on our doorstep and on the opposite side of the world.
In their own words, the nominated north sporting figures outline why 2022 has been a special year for them.
*category nominated for in italics
Neah Evans
Female athlete of the year – World points race champion, three Commonwealth Games medals
It’s really nice to be nominated. You can get wrapped up in your own personal bubble and the world of cycling, so it’s a reaffirming moment when someone outside of that recognises you’ve had a good year.
It vindicates what you’ve done and how it fits across all the sports – it’s not just cyclists.
I guess what’s made it special is that it’s not just been over one event. Getting multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games, then the world title, while having Jonny (Wale, fiancé) coaching me has made it feel like a family effort.
Ultimately, the world title is very cool. The points race is pretty prestigious within cycling; it’s a very honest race and given the length of the race, there’s a huge amount of tactics.
As world champion, you get to wear the rainbow bands for the next year. I’ve had it with the team pursuit and madison at the Europeans, where you wear the stripes and stars, but the rainbow bands are such a universal indicator that you are world champion.
It’s nice for Scottish Cycling to be nominated in the team category too. It’s quite a relaxed atmosphere with Scottish Cycling because you’re confident in your processes and the staff just elevate and support you.
It’s a very different dynamic to what you’re used to with British Cycling and it’s quite refreshing. I’m hopeful they get the recognition they deserve because they’ve done well.
Louise Christie
Moment of the year – Silver medal-winning performance at the Commonwealth Games in the rhythmic gymnastics ribbon event
On the final day, I knew I wanted to do the ribbon justice, how I’d been doing it in training. The reception I had from the audience was quite overwhelming and it was hard to keep the emotions in.
I was grateful at the end of it because we’d put so much work into it – hours and hours – for 90 seconds. It was a big relief for it to have gone well.
I didn’t necessarily think it was going to be a medal. I just knew I couldn’t have done the routine better and I was proud to do a routine with a Scottish theme.
I knew I had done it justice and it was a special moment, but I didn’t expect what came from that.
I went to the 2014 Games to watch one of my team-mates and it was amazing to see them taking part. To be part of it eight years later and come away with a medal is a lot more than I was expecting.
I’m glad I can put Scotland on the map in rhythmic gymnastics.
It was Scotland’s best away Games, so there’s been a huge amount of success and records broken. It’s great to be able to celebrate that.
Greg Lobban
Team of the year (with Rory Stewart) – Commonwealth Games bronze medal winners, Scotland’s first squash medal since 1998
This year has been different – with having the World Doubles it’s been more of an incentive to play as a team.
We’ve got accustomed to playing as a Scottish team, which is great. With this nomination, it’s a result of all that coming together and it’s special to be nominated in that category.
I think I said to Rory after we secured the bronze that no-one can take that away from us. Fortunately or unfortunately, we had other events to go into straight after and although it was important to recognise what we achieved, we had to move on pretty quickly.
It’s important to look back and realise what a significant six months it was leading up to the Games. To come away with something for Scottish squash, for the first time in a long time, was pretty special.
Throughout the whole period leading up to the Games, I had total faith in Rory. He makes me feel comfortable on my side of the court, because I know how it feels when you play doubles against him.
For our sport, it’s a constant battle to get people into it, because it’s not necessarily in school programmes. The Commonwealth Games is a great opportunity to get people into the sport – it’s on the BBC and all the matches are broadcast.
It’s an important time to build the awareness around squash.
Toni Shaw
Young athlete of the year – Commonwealth Games bronze-medalist, World Para Swimming Championships gold medal winner
It’s been quite a busy year but an exciting one as well. At the Commonwealth Games you get to swim for Scotland, which is pretty special, but winning the world title was a good surprise too.
I would have liked some of the times to have been quicker but the outcomes of the races I was happy with.
The Commonwealth Games was incredible. It’s so different to any competition I’ve been to before and being part of the Scottish team is special.
Scotland did so well, with some amazing results, so these awards will be a good chance to celebrate what everyone has done.
I was so surprised to be nominated. Seeing what everybody else had done, I didn’t expect to be up there with so many other amazing athletes.
I’m super-excited for the next year then the year after is Paris. It’s a big couple of years ahead but I’m looking forward to it.
Kirsty Muir
Young athlete of the year – Two-time finalist at 2022 Winter Olympics
(Words by her father Jim Muir – Kirsty was travelling to Colorado for competition)
Kirsty has had a really good year, with the Olympics. That was the big event and she did incredibly well.
She thought a good result would be getting to the final but she got to the final in both events, so she was very pleased.
Until the Olympics, I don’t think she felt it was that real. She was knocking on the door of the top 10 in the world and had some good results before that. But getting to the finals and being signed up as a Red Bull athlete, that’s made a difference in feeling like she’s there.
It’s big for her to be nominated for an award like this. It’s a confidence thing. She enjoys being an athlete and trains really hard; freestyle skiing is maybe seen as a minority sport here but when she competes at events in Europe, the skiers are treated like rock-stars.
To get nominated for this award is massive as she really wants to encourage other people to get involved in the sport.
Bucksburn Academy were phenomenal in supporting her studies, as she was away most of the year. Equally, they were chuffed when she got to the Olympics. They really got behind her.
She’s going to give her sport a real crack over the next couple of years ahead of the Olympics.
Neil and Andrew Simpson MBE
Para-athlete of the year – Gold and bronze medal winners at 2022 Winter Paralympics
Andrew: It’s been a big year and to be nominated for this is another huge thing. At the start of the year, we didn’t think any of this was going to happen.
It’s pretty much gone as well as we could have hoped for. To go to the World Championships, get second, then go to the Games and do what we did, it couldn’t have gone better.
Both myself and Neil work as much as we can at home to raise money to do the sport. We’re in the gym three-to-six times a week then there’s the logistics of the training camps to organise.
You miss family events, seeing your friends, you need to make quite a lot of sacrifices.
Neil: My aim for this year was just to take as much experience as we could from the World Championships, then try apply those learnings to the Paralympics. It wasn’t about focusing on results, more applying what we’d done in training into the races, which we did pretty well in the end.
To be put on the same page as a lot of the other people who have been nominated – there’s some other amazing athletes and you just have to look at some of the previous winners to know it’s a huge honour to be nominated.
For 2023 we want to just focus on the training and tweak the techniques where we can. We want to find those extra hundredths-of-a-second, as they all build up eventually.
Neil Fachie
Para athlete of the year – Gold and silver Commonwealth Games medals, retained tandem kilo title at World Track Championships
This year began with being told I didn’t have anyone to ride the bike with. I didn’t really think I’d be going to the Commonwealth Games, let alone coming through to get gold and silver there.
Lora finding out she was pregnant was great news but also a bit of an unknown. To take the Commonwealth title was pretty sweet and then getting two World titles before Fraser – who has turned our world upside down – came along has been pretty mad.
It’s mind-blowing to think about everything that has gone on. There’s been so few races but they were all major races and now we have a baby here. 2023 will be interesting, that’s for sure.
It still means a lot to get nominated for awards like this. It’s an award ceremony for able-bodied sport where para-athletes are recognised on an equal playing field, which is something we’re still pushing for.
Often in sport, you don’t take time to reflect on success – you focus on the next thing. This gives you the chance to look back at what you’ve gone through over the last few years.
It’s been a really successful year for Scotland so to be recognised amongst that does mean a lot. There’s a lot of people who won medals that don’t get nominated, which is a shame really but that’s the level we’re at.
Kiana Coutts
Community hero of the year – Delivering Stronger Families Inside Out and Club10 projects with Denis Law Legacy Trust
The nomination came as a surprise but it’s a nice one, for the charity to get recognition at that level.
The Stronger Families Inside Out project is done in partnership with Families Outside and funded by Children In Need. It aims at supporting children and their families affected by imprisonment in the Grampian region.
It tries to tackle the stigma and isolation around having a loved one in prison and for children, it’s often their parents who have come into contact with the criminal justice system.
It’s about making sure they’ve got connections with other individuals who are going through the same situation and letting them know they’re not the only ones. It’s also helping them access different activities, things they might not otherwise be able to do, such as sporting activities.
A big part of my job is that I love to help people but I wouldn’t call myself a hero. Over the last year, I’ve gotten to know the families involved but the programme wouldn’t be what it is without them.
We like to be a constant support for the family throughout the process. It’s brilliant working with the children and young people and getting their feedback as well.
There is a stigma and taboo around imprisonment so to get that spoken about at a national level is good.
