31/01/2014 Sport XIV

Well, at last, it is 2014. A year that promises so much and when so

much of the international gaze will be on us here in Scotland. It starts

with Sochi and our winter athletes trying to win gold. And then we have

the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup. This is our year. This is our

time. Welcome to Sport XIV. Coming up tonight... It is Chris

O'Hare of Scotland. It is going to go right to the wire. He gets it.

We go behind the scenes on an unforgettable day for Scottish

athletics. As judo returns to the Commonwealth Games, we assess the

form of some of our top stars. It was a bit tough today. An

extraordinary tale of determination from a squash veteran. I mean, it

was absolutely excruciating at the time. And Olympic snowboarder Ben

Kilner tells us about his half pipe dream. One of the reasons the Games

is so special is, it gives us a chance to see our athletes compete

under our national flag. And last weekend, at the Emirates Arena, some

of our top track stars got a glimpse of that magic as Team Scotland took

on GB and Northern Ireland, USA and the Commonwealth Select in an

international indoor meet. To athletics and Eilidh Child

believes that the perfect... When they complete in front of a sell-out

crowd at Emirates Arena. As we go to Glasgow, the first major indoor

athletics event of the season. There is lots of sport on the BBC this

afternoon. There is international athletics from Glasgow. Let's come

to you, Lee. You train here. What is it like? It is a fantastic arena.

Even today it looks even more special, it is all lit up, ready for

the TV. Ready for the stars to arrive. Stephen, this is a great

event. Is there one thing you are looking forward to specifically

today, to see one athlete, how they come through? I am looking forward

to our people competing to their potential and I know that is a very

cliched thing. It is the real start of the Commonwealth preparation.

Nothing is going to be decided come July what happens today, but it is a

nice marker. Go out with a smile on your face, guys, that is all we can

hope for. I competed in Manchester in 2002. For Glasgow, it is going to

be that level notched up again because London has raised

expectation. It is great to talk to you, we will let you get off and

rehearse for your TV duties, the action is on BBC One here later on

this afternoon. Just before we came on air, there was a very proud and

emotional moment for Lynsey Sharp of Scotland as she received her gold

medal for the European Championships over 800 metres. That was back in

2012. My dad was presenting me with it. At the time, he has got a silver

from the Europeans and I have a silver so we had the same medal, and

then when I got my gold it was a bit sad because we did not have the same

any more, but I couldn't have got it from a better person. Let's have a

look at the medal, Lynsey. Hold it up for us. Nice, clean start out of

the blocks. Eilidh Child started pretty quick on the outside. Jones

just starting to tie up a little. As indeed is Eilidh Child. It is going

to be tight. The American is going to get this. Francena McCorory, 400

metres specialist, takes it. 51.8. Jones in second. Ohurougu third. And

Eilidh Child, perhaps paying for that aggressive first 200. I think I

probably did not take into account the shape I am in and I kind of went

off a lot harder than I should have. It's like my first up this season. I

went a bit too quickly. And then I struggled in the last 100, I was

just can't get to the finish line as soon as possible. -- I was just

trying to get to the finish line. Was that for you? It was a good

race. Personal bests so very happy about that. -- how was that for you?

It was great to see the crowd. I am really happy with that.

Laura Muir will have a support here. Heavily into her studies to become a

vet. She is at Glasgow University. She is training here in Glasgow. The

crowd trying to lift her down the back straight. She is trying to

attack the American and take the initiative. Laura Muir discovering

new found confidence to go with the ability she showed last year. Laura

Muir, the Glasgow student, takes the victory and look at that time. Just

outside two minutes, two minutes .95. A new personal best, a new

Scottish record. How delighted are you? I am so happy. I am just so

happy. It is between the two here. The

Scottish crowd is cheering Chris O'Hare. The Kenyon is finishing

quickly. Chris O'Hear of Scotland. It is going to go right to the wire.

But Chris O'Hare gets it. To be in that finish was great, very happy.

It is fantastic. It always makes for a better race for the crowd.

The Kenyan is behind him. He is just starting to tie up a little bit

here. This could be a big shock. Who is going to get it? Well... What a

victory. What a surprise. Look at his face. He cannot believe it. I

have managed to get on my heels with 150 to go. The roar of the crowd was

incredible. I couldn't believe it. It is a smidge compared to what we

are going to get at the Commonwealth Games. She starts as favourites. The

start is a crucial part of the race. Libby Clegg gets away well. She is

being chased down the straight. Look at a Libby Clegg. Absolutely flying.

7.97 seconds. Lifetime best. I am happy with that performance. We ran

well. It felt easy. It is quite nice to have a race like that. This was

good today, and it was nice and that has given us a nice impetus to move

forward. The Commonwealth Games are going to be incredible difficult.

People should not forget that. We are going to have the cream of the

crop, the cream of world athletics are coming to Glasgow but we are

going to be able to lift ourselves and compete. Scotland has 191

gold-medal that the Commonwealth Games. And every month between now

and Glasgow 2014, we will try to bring you the stories behind those

rate sporting moments. Starting in the swimming pool 12 years ago. She

has got a fine start. Going so quickly. The gold medal is going to

Scotland. I was kind of nervous in the morning, but once I got in the

swimming pool I just felt calm. Although watching back the footage,

my hands would say otherwise. I am thinking that is just the

adrenaline. She looks a little nervous. I always had the ritual of

fixing my cap and goggles before the race. People would see my hands

shaking. It was just the adrenaline going through my body. Really

confident going into the final. I had broken the Commonwealth record

in the morning time, with a personal best of 24.68. In the semifinal, I

had gone under 25 second again and I knew that as long as I was able to

dive in, not get disqualified, I was fairly confident I would win the

race. She has got a fine start. Very quick up into a stroke. Once I had

dived in and seeing that I came up ahead of the field, just after the

dive, that is when I felt that I could relax and just let my swimming

takeover and not have to think too much about what I was actually doing

in the race until I touched that wall. The gold-medal is going to

Scotland. 24.76. And Alison Sheppard has waited 48 years, Scotland has

waited 48 years for a gold medal in the swimming pool. I did not know

the statistics of the last female gold medallist from Scotland before

that day. I knew that the whole nation was behind me, wanting me to

perform well. Alison Sheppard wins gold for Scotland. Her time, 24.76.

And winning gold by a huge margin. It was unbelievable. I was just so

excited to win the gold medal and to do it in a great time in front of an

almost home crowd in Manchester, because there was a lot of

travelling support from Scotland going down to Manchester. My brother

was in the crowd and he threw me the sole tyre and I marched proudly

around the stadium with that. -- threw me the saltire flag. I got

goose bumps when I watched that on-screen.

Judo makes a return to the games after 12 years and back in Scotland

cleaned up, winning ten medals. Hopes are high they can do just that

this time. We went to the Scottish judo Championships in Edinburgh to

assess how preparations are going ahead of seven hectic months.

Younger viewers may be forgiven for thinking that Scotland's judo

domination in Manchester was a lifetime ago. But little has changed

in 12 short years. One moment of brilliance. And Graeme Randall gets

that gold medal. 12 years later, one of the survivors of that team is in

line to qualify for Glasgow 2014. And in doing so, earn a shot at

redemption. I think everyone is getting edgy and trying to do the

final two elements -- the final tournament is to make qualification

before the end of March. There is a lot of nervous flying but it is an

opportunity for people to competing Glasgow. It is getting closer and

closer and it is exciting. The silver medallist, Sarah Clark. Where

has the time gone? 12 years ago. It is clear as the day. That was my

first major sporting event. This could potentially be my last. For

Sarah Clark, team selection will likely car at the expense of regular

training partner Jodie Mullen. But for others like Conor Ramsey and

Patrick Dawson, ranked in the world's top 50, qualification is

virtually assured of form and performance are key. The Scottish

open does not offer Commonwealth Games qualification points, so some

stars, legs Ali Conway and Sarah Adlington, have not entered. But the

event is still offers plenty in terms of preparation. It has

traditionally been a good event for Scotland and judo, and it is a great

opportunity to see people who may make the Commonwealth Games team on

action on the matter. The coaches are looking at little things all the

time. Small observations. But it is really a training event rather than

anything that is going to significantly impact the training

selection process. It will be interesting to see how the

performances are. As well as Scottish interest, it was a good

opportunity to see some opposition in action. There was gold for

England's Michael Harley. And silver for the Olympian Danny Williams.

Both should play a big part this summer. Despite a knee injury, Sarah

Clark took silver. Patrick Dawson was pipped to the gold medal by

Julien Elfaiz. Connie Ramsay took her fine form

from 2013 into the New Year with a gold medal performance in the 57

kilograms weight class. The final is pretty much tough, the girl is a

really good junior. It was a good victory to get. You want to do as

best as you can, especially in front of the home crowd and making sure

you are number one, it doesn't count as points but it is on paper,

Scotland's number one. In March, that is when we are ramping it up,

it is the last few qualifying tournament. I am going to Argentina

and Uruguay to compete there and after that, the team will get

announced and from there, it will be straight into training,

competitions, training camps, conditioning camps and different

things. In an all Scotland 63 K decider Sarah Clark sort of Jodie

Mullen. It is good to get a run out and fight a view girls, a few young

and up-and-coming girls. It was always going to be a difficult

fight. Into the next couple of weeks we have training and then a

tournament in Sophia which will be a really big tournament so this will

mentally help you to prepare and get into the feeling of competing and

start the year off well. Jodie is aiming to beat me all the time so

for me it is good to know that I am still one step ahead of Jodi and

going into the Commonwealth Games and selection that is happening,

that can only be a positive thing for me to come out today as the

winner. From one hero of 2002 to another, what chance of another

Graeme Randall coming down the line this summer? I hope there is more

than one. We have will have a very strong team for the summer and we

are looking forward to some exciting young athletes coming through and a

really good balance of experienced athletes. Euan Burton will be trying

to qualify and he is a household name when it comes to competing at

that level so we are looking forward to seeing him hopefully lead the

team out combined with some young athletes who are really pushing for

qualification. We have had a number today that I shown they have made

good progress, in particular Connie Ramsay and Patrick Dawson. We have

set them things to work on and I think they have demonstrated they

are moving in the right direction. Overall we have a number of good

performances. Everyone is aware that judo is first aid and hoping for

some good performances from the judo team and hopefully that happens for

everyone involved in judo and everyone involved in Team Scotland

and I am equally confident of my colleagues in the other sports and

if they were meant does not come from the judo mat it will come from

a or the track and I'm pretty sure that no matter what Scotland is

going to achieve what wants to do. You might not know but one of the

driving forces behind the success of that event was actually one of our

top squash players. She is Frania Gillen-Buchert who combines her

rigorous training regime as her job as a event coordinator at Judo

Scotland. She is born in South Africa but Scottish through and

through and makes unbelievable sacrifices as she makes ready for

her third games. I am Frania Gillen-Buchert. It is a

bit tough today. I am ramping up the weights a bit. I am experimenting,

seeing what works best. It is a lot of farm work and for me that is

quite tough. Frania's programme at the moment is primarily about

developing recovery processes. When she lunges at the streams of the

courts pay restraint requirements of that lunge quite extreme. As a

squash player I do not need to lift weights but I need to be quite

strong and I need to be able to move quickly as well. The movements in

the weights are quite similar to what we have in the squash court so

there is a lot of lunging. Have you changed your programme? What

happened to your four sets? I never do those.

I am events and communications executive at Judo Scotland. Coming

into work next door is a pleasure because if I am having a tough day

at training I next door and there is 20 people in there doing really hard

work as well and I feel it is good to see them, it is quite motivating.

I would probably say the timing of when Aida is probably more important

than the content. I have to make sure that ie every couple of hours

to make sure the blood sugar levels are high. With the Scottish Open

coming up I am putting it all together so I am quite conscientious

about that. Maybe I am a bit of a control freak about every detail I

need to know and I have two check it. I have to make sure it is 100%.

I want to run a really good event and make sure that everyone who is

coming has a great time. We are running around trying to come

ordinary between everyone in the space of the deadline so that I can

make my training on time. Tonight is one of our harder and longer

sessions. Everyone will have an individual area that they want to

work on but for me I am mainly focusing on sharpening up and making

sure my intensity is correct. Frania is not training for singles. In

mixed doubles the female tends to get picked on so having the physical

capacity to resist that constant raj of attack, that is the primary focus

of what she is doing. We work well together because we come up with

tactics and strategies. He is very good on court at managing me. I have

great admiration for Frania getting up before the crack of dawn in

Scotland, coming in to train in the mornings and training in the

evenings straight after work six days a week. It is a tough life. I

do not know many people who can do exactly that. I will go home and

have my dinner and then I will probably be embedded within an hour

and a half. The alarm goes off at about 6:10am.

It is incredible dedication and a round-up now of everything out that

is happening ahead of the Commonwealth Games in terms of

preparation. Scotland's netball team will have

learned a lot despite two defeat by New Zealand. Glasgow 2014 organisers

have confirmed the final has been moved. Lee McConnell is cautiously

optimistic of making it to Glasgow. The two times medallist gave birth

to a boy in October. If I can build up in the next month I would say I

can get back to more regular training and that would be an

indication that I am on the right track and progressing and moving

forward. Jessica Ennis Hill will miss out because she is giving birth

later this year. For Eilish McColgan her secret weapon is the experience

of her mum, Liz. I am taking advice from an athlete who has been there

and done it. If you do -- she has done everything I want to which even

so there was nothing I can complain about. For Katie Archibald the games

will be about more than just making up the numbers. You spend so longer

be two races and thinking about learning and tactics and what you

can gain and it is brilliant to actually get a medal and not just a

story to go home with. Our bold man Darren Burnett is the champion,

beating Mervyn King from England in the final.

The Winter Olympics start a week today and for Ben Kilner it will be

his second games. We caught up with him.

I was almost throwing up. It was absolutely excruciating at the time.

It is the pinnacle. Tell us how you got into snowboarding. I started off

by going to my local golf course in the winter time when there was snow

and I used to go sledging there all the time and I would see the

snowboarders at the side building a jump and I started off by just

standing up on my sledge and that is how things got started. My mum

eventually booked us a family lesson up here in Glenshee, actually on

this slope, just outside this window. It is a sports like golf,

you cannot perfect golf. In snowboarding it is just so hard to

achieve new things and tricks and just get to a level where you are

happy with it. You cannot quite get there, you are constantly chasing

it. You are constantly striving for perfection.

I do the halfpipe which is one of the disciplines in snowboarding. It

just requires staying on your feet, executing a different variation of

spins and tricks. The whole side to it is to stay as clean as possible,

go as high as you can and just stay on your feet without fumbling about

and try to impress the judges as much as you can. How do you even

start to attend these tricks? They looked dangerous. Yes, snowboarding

is getting more dangerous as we are having to push our sport and go into

the unknown. For me, going up to the mountain and just having to try a

new trick for the first time, it is really scary. You have got to do a

lot of visualisation and study what you are about to do and make sure

that that first attempt is as safe as possible.

My worst injury is dislocating my knee. My kneecap. It was absolutely

excruciating at the time but luckily when I got home SportScotland, the

Institute of sport, they really took care of me and they gave me all

these sport that I needed to get back on my feet -- all the support

that I needed. They sent me to Glasgow to see a specialist and got

me physio and strengthening and conditioning which has been a

massive help. I would not have been able to get back on a snowboard if

it was not for them. Tell us about the cage fighting. Well, my dad has

done quite a lot of stuff with cage fighting is and he used to fight

himself. He just suggested for me to come along one day and I went along

to a training session and I loved it. I was almost throwing up but it

was great fitness and it is a different kind of fitness. In

snowboarding you need to be tough so that sort of training is perfect.

You didn't fancy getting the gloves on? No, that would probably be the

last thing I do. By lens is not the answer! Such a relaxed rider. He is

21 years old. Your first Winter Olympics was 2010 in Vancouver. Will

that help you this time around? Certainly, I think the experience in

Vancouver will be a massive thing for me. It is an event like no

other. It is the pinnacle of most sports so it is just a great thing

to have that experience to take to Sochi. What are your hopes for 2014

in Russia? I came 18 in Vancouver and my goal is to get to the

semifinals which I did. This time around finals are my main aim. I

want to get their so that I can throw everything that I have and put

in a more difficult run. Although it may be less consistent, I will

certainly be able to just throw it down and hope that then I can kind

of challenge all of the top guys. Finals is the main point. If you

were to get on that podium, what would it be like? I do not know. It

is a thought that I have kind of had in the past and four snowboarding,

for British stove boarding it would be an massive thing And I would hope

that it would inspire future generations to come through. Yes, I

think that if that happened, I would just be made.

That is all for this month. Don't forget, you can catch up with

everything on our website at BBC Sport Scotland. It is just 173 days

until Glasgow 2014 begins. As you can see, the excitement is building

and preparations are well under way. Goodbye.