 The final item of business is a member's business debate on motion 5639, in the name of Liz Smith, on Team Scotland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would ask those members who would wish to speak in the debate to please press the request to speak buttons. I call on Liz Smith to open the debate. Up to seven minutes, please, Liz Smith. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It's my great privilege to lead this member's debate, most especially at the end of a summer in which it's not been very easy to be optimistic about anything, but our extraordinary athletes lifted the gloom. By their sheer determination, their professionalism and their very strong sense of national pride, they are to be warmly congratulated as are the many thousands of coaches and support teams who do so much hard work behind the scenes and often without the public accolades. At the start of recess, I was part of the cross-party parliamentary group that visited Munich, a city that I was last in, a way back in 1972, when, as a very young child, I was taken by my parents to two events at the Olympic Games. Driving past the Olympic park in its quite remarkable and groundbreaking architecture reminded me of just how special it was to be at the Games and the inspiration that I derived from them at a very young age. Of course, the same was true for many of us eight years ago when we attended several events at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. There are other speakers in the debate this evening, most notably my colleague Brian Whittle, who knows better than any of us what it means to be competing on the world stage. I do know what it feels like to be selected to represent your country seven times in my case and about all the hard work, commitment and team spirit, as well as the athletic ability, of course, which are the essential ingredients for success. In this Parliament, I have also had the privilege for 10 years now to chair the cross-party group on sport, which brings all our members into close association with the sporting bodies across Scotland and with the Scottish Sports Association, so ably looked after by Kim Atkinson and our colleagues. It is evident for all to see that the passion in Scottish sport is as strong as ever, and the success that we have just witnessed in Birmingham should reflect those administrators as well as our athletes. During the last 10 years, Scotland's athletes in Glasgow 2014, the Gold Coast in 2018 and in Birmingham 2022, they have been outstanding and it is right that this Parliament pays tribute to them, which brings me to Birmingham between 28 July and 8 August. After the extraordinary successes of the previous Commonwealth Games, in which 53 and 44 medals were won respectively, Team Scotland was widely presumed by many to be on course for a more modest success by comparison, and they were certainly not expected to top the extraordinary performance in Australia four years previously. But 13 gold medals, 11 silver medals and 27 bronze medals, plus a sixth place overall, tells its own story. I do not have time this evening to pay individual tribute to all our medalists, but I do want to say something about some of the highlights. That tense final lap of Ailish McColligan's gold medal in the 10,000 metres is every bit as hair-raising, watching it on repeat as it was watching it live. Not to mention the 36 years after her mother Liz McColligan achieved the first of her 10,000 metres Commonwealth gold medals in Edinburgh and, of course, the following coming in Auckland. Fairy tale endings indeed. Another highlight, particularly historic, was Laura Muir winning Scotland's first ever 1500 gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, only to replicate it a few weeks later by retaining her European title in Munich. Laura Muir, of course, grew up in Milnithort in Cynrosha in the region that I have the privilege to represent here. To another athlete from Mid Scotland 5 who brought back two gold medals to Scotland, Duncan Scott grew up in Alloa and has become a very familiar name in recent years, thanks to his outstanding versatility in swimming events. Scott won the men's 200m freestyle and the men's 200m individual medal, as well as two bronze medals. I want to thank Duncan Scott for coming to this Parliament some years ago to inspire others with his story. When it comes to major sporting events, it is not only a time to celebrate the achievements of those participating, but it is also time to take stock and to look forward. We all know that sport and physical activity matters, but it is also, or it should be, the golden thread that connects health, communities and opportunities. It also has a positive effect on our economy, on educational attainment, on employability and on community cohesion, and my goodness we need more than that than ever these days. However, there are considerable challenges out there, which is vital to address if we are to continue Scotland's upward path in athletic success. We need to pay attention to the resources that underpin our sport, access to playing fields and indoor centres, to the financial structures that help our governing bodies to put in place the appropriate support and training facilities, to the collaborative projects that help local authorities, central government and the sporting agencies to work together on the same page, and we need to deal honestly and openly about the issues of discrimination and racism. In my own sport, cricket, no-one could fail to be deeply concerned by the recent findings of the independent report into institutional failings at Cricket Scotland. I want to thank Malcolm Dingwell Smith for offering MSPs yesterday the opportunity to hear what measures are being put in place, and tomorrow evening, in Cauchab Stewart's debate, we'll have the opportunity to debate some of these issues in greater detail. However, I want to commend Sport Scotland for helping us all to understand the extent of the challenge that we face. We often talk about the legacy of international games. Munich is rightly proud of the fact that every single facility that was built for the Olympics in 1972 is still in good working order and is booked up on a daily basis. Barcelona is proud of its new infrastructure and investment that came into the city. Glasgow is proud of the regeneration of many of its derelict lands, and in Birmingham, Sir Chris Hoye heralded fellow cyclist Laura Kenny as the perfect role model to get young people active despite what had been a very tough year for her. However, there is one other thing that I would like to see is the lasting legacy of Birmingham, and in Scotland we are a well on the way. In recent years, we have seen an increase in sporting volunteers to 200,000. To young people, especially, these volunteers are the lifeline into sport. They are our unsung heroes and heroines, and they matter a lot. For every medal won in elite sport, there have been thousands of volunteers, and I want to finish by thanking them all for what they do for Scottish sport. Birmingham's success was partly yours. Thank you, Ms Smith. We now move to the open debate. The backbend speeches have up to four minutes. I call Rona Mackay to be followed by Brian Whittle. I thank Liz Smith for bringing this debate to the chamber, and I'm really pleased to be speaking in it today. The title of my colleague's motion is Team Scotland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. What a magnificent Games for Scotland it was. As my colleague points out, our most successful Games away from home with our athletes simply shining on the world stage. The medals just kept coming, 51 in total, 13 of them gold, 11 silver and 27 bronze. This was bettered only by Team Scotland's performance at Glasgow 2014 when we took 53, 19 of them gold, 15 silver and 19 bronze. To say these outstanding young athletes, did Scotland proud as an understatement, and I heartily congratulate the 260 strong team for coming in sixth overall at Birmingham during 11 days of nail-biting competition. For a small country, we are once again pushing way above our weight. I would also like to express my pride in multiple medal-winner in the pool swimmer Katie Shanahan from Bishop Briggs in my constituency. It was a truly magical moment watching the former Bishop Briggs academy pupil lifting a bronze medal in the 400 metres medley followed by another bronze in the 200 metres backstroke and all at her debut Games at the age of 18. Absolutely outstanding. The icing on the cake was Katie's silver medal win in the 200 metre backstroke a few days later at the European Aquatics Championship in Rome, an incredible achievement in such a short space of time. I had the privilege of meeting Katie and her mum Alison at her old school yesterday to present her with the motion that I submitted to Parliament to congratulate her success. Katie is a remarkable young woman, self-effacing, passionate about her sport and to top all an academic high achiever, having swept the board with advanced hires and qualifications this year. It was a pleasure to meet her and her mum, who she credits with her success due to the amazing support that she received throughout her sporting career. If she starts another chapter of her life-studying sport and journalism at Sterling University while training for the next international competition, I wish her nothing but the best. She deserves it. There were record halls and swimming and cycling and a sweep of the parables in Scotland claimed medals in five of the six parasports. For the first time in history of the games, the Scottish team comprised more women than men, 134 females compared to 125 males, and around 43 per cent of the medals earned were clinched by female athletes. There were many momentous achievements from Scotland, including, as my colleague Liz Smith pointed out, Eilish Macaulgan's stand-out record gold medal in the 10,000 metres 32 years after the win by her mum Liz. Laura Muir became the first-ever Scot to win gold at the 1,500 metres at a Commonwealth Games. Swimmer Duncan Scott, again mentioned by Liz Smith, claimed six medals at Birmingham to become Scotland's most decorated Commonwealth Games athlete. What an accolade? Who could possibly forget the inspirational Mickey Ewell, one of Scotland's flag bearers during the opening ceremony? Twelve years ago, the former Royal Engineer woke up from a coma after stepping on an improvised device during Afghanistan. He lost both legs. This summer, he took a Commonwealth bronze medal, finishing third in the para-heavyweight bench press final. What an incredible journey. Presiding Officer, Katie and the rest of team Scotland's dedication and drive are truly inspirational. Their successes are a testament to their years of hard work and commitment and can only serve to encourage aspiring young athletes to reach for the stars. I would like to finish by paying tribute to the encouragement of our schools in nurturing those young athletes while supporting them in their studies and the dedicated support and sacrifice of family members and volunteers in helping them to achieve their ambitions. I thank my colleague Liz Smith for giving me the opportunity to talk about sport again in this chamber. I was there. I took my youngest daughter, who wanted to go down and see the 200m arm. I managed to get tickets for the Saturday. On that day, I got to see Jake Whiteman when he was 1500m bronze medal. Having just won the world title, he took a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in three minutes 30, which was way inside the Commonwealth record and was beaten by another two athletes. Those who say that the Commonwealth Games is one of the lesser global events do not understand how difficult it is to win a medal at those championships. Let me tell you from personal experience that I tried every event that I could possibly do to try to get a flipping medal at the Commonwealth Games. I did 200m, 400m and 800m, 400m, and 4x4. Last minute, I managed to sneak in a wee sneaky silver medal. It is flipping hard to get a medal at the Commonwealth Games. It indicates to you how difficult with Jake being the world champion and managing to get an incredible bronze. I am going on to take an 800m silver medal at the European Championships and has just broken one of the hardest records to break in the Scottish record books, Tom McKean's 800m record. It is quite an incredible achievement. I ran with his dad and his mum back in the team. That is how old I am. Looking at the Commonwealth Games, it is a lot of time when you bludge new athletes and new performers, but looking down the great list of medalists, we see Neil Fackey, Duncan Scott and Sam Kinghorn and Ross Murdoff who have come back and done us so proud. As I said, I was lucky enough to be there. I saw the athletics, I took my daughter to see the hockey and I took her to see the squash. By the way, one of the most important medals that was won down there was the squash bronze medal, the first time that Scotland won a medal in that. I think that is something that is worth mentioning. Laura Muir has been, I have talked a lot about Laura Muir quite a lot in here. Her 1500m gold medal was outstanding, her 800m bronze, her European 1500m gold medal in her world championship bronze. She is an astonishing athlete, but I was quite rightly mentioned that Eilish Macalgen won the 10,000m emulating her mother. It got me thinking that I was in the stadium both times that her mother won. I was thinking how old I must be. After Liz gave birth to Eilish, I ran with her in her first session after giving birth to Eilish with her mum and her dad. I am just such an old man. He has made a happy man very old. Liz won in 1986 in 1990. It is just quite an astonishing achievement by the Scottish team. What I wanted to say here is that we are quite rightly basking in the reflected glory of such fantastic Scottish achievements. While we rightly acknowledge the background staff of the coaches, clubs and officials and all the families that have impacted on the great performances of sportsmen and women, it is important that we look beyond the elite and ensure that those watching who are inspired and therefore aspire knows that follow and get the same opportunities. It was brought home to me when my 14-year-old daughter said to me in the stadium that, where is the next Commonwealth Games? I said, Australia, will I be too young then? She said, if you are fast enough, you are old enough, and she aspires to be there. We are very, very good in Scotland and in the UK at developing elite performance with support from sport Scotland and UK sport. However, I worry that the opportunity for those who follow is reducing. Covid without question led to a misstep in sports development that we have not quite recovered from yet. Facilities that closed are yet to reach pre-Covid opening to air levels, and we have lost some officials and some help. We have to acknowledge that two years of Covid have left our children less active and less able to access sport and activity. In many cases, we have changed behaviours that we need to address. Scotland's achievements at the Commonwealth Games and on the world stage are quite remarkable. We are always back above our way in the world stage. I can tell you that those world-class athletes are inspiring to the next generation. I can testify that from my own daughter's response and from my own coaching squad. However, we need to ensure that we match their aspiration and ensure that sport is available for all. I have said often in here that sport is grossly underfunding. I have also said that sport has such a force for good, and we need to recognise and enable that participation. If we want to be here again in four years' time and to report on similar successes, that is something that we will have to address. I am sure that the minister and I will have discussions about that long into the evenings. I now call Carol Mocken, who will be followed by Stuart McMillan, and Stuart McMillan will be the last speaker before I ask the minister to respond. I thank Liz Smith for bringing this very upbeat and lovely debate to the chamber. On behalf of Scottish Labour, I also start by congratulating each and every member of Team Scotland for their efforts at the Commonwealth Games as we have heard, securing the second largest medal hall in the team's history outside the home games. Winning 51 medals, 13 of them gold. It is a huge success, and it is right that people have spoken so fondly of that time across the summer. However, I highlight, although it is the athletes that we see, there are many more in the background, as Brian Whittle mentioned, who help out from the coaches at national level to the volunteers at local clubs, to families and friends, who give up so much of their time to support individuals. Those who have campaigned for years to ensure sport and leisure facilities, the length and breadth of our country can stay open. Despite often significant difficulties and cuts to services, our sports facilities still open often due to the commitment of those volunteers. There are people who allow us, our athletes, to flourish and to make such a successful contribution. Deputy Presiding Officer, what possibly stands out, as has been mentioned, is the success of the female athletes, and I will focus some of my contribution on this this evening. Like other members, I was delighted to see Elish McCoglin win gold in the women's 10,000m, setting a Commonwealth Games record along the way. Equally, Laura Muir has also been mentioned in our 1,500m, yet another significant success for Team Scotland. That is Scotland's athletes performing on one of the highest stages, winning in some of the most competitive events, as Brian Whittle had mentioned. Those are special moments that live with athletes, their support teams and the viewers at home for a lifetime. Indeed, for the first time, Team Scotland was led by Eleanor Middlemist, the first female to hold the role of Team Scotland leader, and we hope that there will be many more women holding that position. There were also more female members of the team, which is another great success for the country. Therefore, Deputy Presiding Officer, it is abundantly clear that we have come a long way in smashing that glass ceiling, although, as always, I would argue that there is much more further to go. We must use that as a platform and as an opportunity that women and girls across the country will be inspired and be inspired by more summer of sporting success for Scottish athletes. We need to make sure, as Brian Whittle has mentioned, that there is investment allowing Scottish sport to continue to grow and improve. However, it remains the case in Scotland today that, for many children, a gym membership is too expensive. Paying to access sports pitches and running tracks would be too much financial strain on families and, due to lots of cuts in local services—let's be clear to local councils—we have a long way to go before we can truly achieve equality of opportunity in sport. We hear plenty of commitments from the Government, but, too often, those commitments are not met with sufficient action. I appreciate that the Covid-19 pandemic put sport in a hold for a significant period of time and made community sport that bit more difficult, but I call on the Scottish Government to use the success of Team Scotland as a catalyst for greater focus on sport, to ensure the opportunity for all to take part in sport. I once again congratulate Team Scotland on their success in the Commonwealth Games. I wish them well on their preparations for the Olympics in 2024, but I urgently call on the Scottish Government to ensure a positive response to allow all to access sport and sporting facilities. I now call on Stuart McMillan, our last speaker. First of all, I would like to congratulate Liz Smith on securing this member's debate. It was certainly great to watch Team Scotland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this summer. The pictures and social media suggest that the athletes, coaches and support staff had also had a fantastic time celebrating their second most successful games at the special reception at Stirling Castle last week. I congratulate the 260 strong team in winning 51 medals in Birmingham, a record tally, only too shy of Glasgow's 2014 total of 53, and a game that saw more females than the males in the squad for the first time. I also want to congratulate the chef of mission, Eleanor Middlmys, who has made history as the first female lead to Team Scotland at this year's games. The success does not stop there with Team Scotland's para-athletes winning more medals than ever before, although it was also the first time more medals were won by female than male athletes there, too. Those milestones are hugely important and I truly hope that it certainly will encourage more women and girls to get involved in sport at all levels, and not just competing but in support and coaching roles, too. Something that colleagues from across the chamber have touched upon. My Greenock and Inverclyde constituency can claim ties to this year's Team Scotland, with former cross-country champion Mark Pollard from Greenock leading the 33 strong athletics squad. Mark is also head of performance at Scottish athletics, demonstrating the fantastic setup at Inverclyde athletics club, which is considered one of Scotland's leading amateur athletics clubs. Events such as the Commonwealth Games help to showcase the variety of sports that people can participate in, and the athletes can be the great role models for young people to look up to. I think that, particularly when it comes to the Commonwealth Games, there are some sports that are showcased there that do not happen in any other major event. My personal highlight was watching Ailish Macaulayn win gold in the 10,000 metres and becoming the Scottish record holder. After breaking her modern Elizabeth Macaulayn's record. I remember as a 14-year-old boy watching a sit in my living room, then jumping up and down in my living room, watching a mother get the gold in 1986. I am not going to say that I was jumping up and down as much this time, but for me it was just a stand-out moment of the Games. The other point about it for me was winning the gold was just outstanding, but that was the scenes of joy afterwards with mum and daughter embracing and the emotion that came from that. I am quite sure that the plenty of tears were shed in the stadium, but I am quite sure that the plenty of tears were shed across Scotland as well at such an emotional moment. I want to conclude, because I am not going to repeat the things that other colleagues have said, but I want to wish Team Scotland dead of success. Is it prepared to compete at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago next week before setting the sights on the next Commonwealth Games in Victoria this year in 2026? Who knows? Maybe Brian Whittle's daughter will be one of the team at that point. I now call Minister Marie Todd to respond to the debate around seven minutes. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I would want to thank Liz Smith for raising this motion tonight and also for the contributions from around the chamber. We have all relived many of the highlights of the Commonwealth Games, and I see so many smiles. The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games was absolutely an immense celebration of sport and culture, and I have to congratulate the Commonwealth Games Federation, the Organising Committee, Birmingham City Council and the 13,000 volunteers from the city and surrounding areas who came together to make the Games such an unforgettable experience. My colleague Liz Smith is absolutely right to highlight the role of volunteers in bringing the Games to life. They absolutely make the Games, and there will be opportunities here in Scotland for volunteers who want to get involved in sporting events with next year's UCI Worlds, that pioneering event of 13 cycling events coming to Scotland. As Minister for Sport, it was truly a privilege to be in Birmingham and to see Team Scotland compete. Because of the disruption of Covid in the training programme and the qualification events, there was no medal target set that the hard work and the determination and commitment of Team Scotland was demonstrated by not only reaching the Gold Coast record, but they absolutely smashed it. That commitment, as many have said, was not just demonstrated by the athletes but by an entire team of coaches, managers, doctors, physios, nutritionists and volunteers who all got the athletes into peak condition and to the start line to enable them to perform at their best. Eleanor Middlemass, Team Scotland's first female chef de missionale, along with her team, were absolutely outstanding at looking after everyone. That is a challenging enough task when the team are in one location, but because of the challenges of Covid, the team were spread across a number of athletes' village. I am delighted that Carol Mochan and Stuart McMillan chose to highlight the role of women and girls in sport. Eleanor Middlemass is indeed a pioneer and an absolute role model. We cannot be what we cannot see. I hope that everyone in the chamber will join in with our weeks-long celebration of women and girls in sport in Scotland from the third to the ninth of October. She can, she will. Somehow, despite the challenges, we came together as a team and that showed in the results. The achievements of Team Scotland are not just reflected in the medal table. I have to say that there was an incredible 18 fourth place finishes. Three mechanical failures where medals seemed like an absolute win in the bag. My sense was that we were very close to being even better than we performed, and next time we will be better. Although everybody wants to go for gold, absolutely every result was celebrated together by the team and in the stands. There are a number of other significant achievements behind the medals. Brian Whittle is quite right to highlight the squash medal. That medal was a quarter century in the making, and it was my privilege to be involved in the medal ceremony. Scotland has now won over 100 medals in the pool at the Commonwealth Games. Overall, Scotland has now won over 500 medals since the Games first began. We are a small country, but do we achieve great things? Rona Mackay and others brought very vividly to life the connection that we feel the length and breadth of Scotland with the athletes from our communities. The Games will be remembered for many reasons, but before I share some of my highlights, I want to pay tribute following the tragic passing of Rob Wardell. In a long and very successful career, Rob made a fantastic contribution to Scottish cycling, and he competed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. In the days before his death, he won the Scottish mountain bike championships in Drumfries and Galloway, adding to the many other titles that he won throughout his career. Rob's death shocked people across the sporting world and beyond, and he will be deeply missed. I know that all our thoughts will be with Rob's partner and team Scotland member Katie Archibald at what is an unimaginably difficult time. For the first time at a major Games, as many have said, there were more female athletes than male, bringing back a fantastic 21 medals and a further two in mixed events. We saw more para-athletes competing in more sports and achieving more medals than ever before. I want to, as others have done, take the opportunity to mention our para-power lifter, Mickey Yw, who, after two fourth place finishes in previous Games, finally managed to get the Commonwealth medal that he absolutely rightly deserved, and the emotional images of him celebrating with his daughter, which I am sure we have all seen, for me, demonstrates the power of sport. In fact, the entire team recognised Mickey's drive and determination before his medal success by nominating him as one of the flag bearers for the opening ceremony. This honour is chosen by the rest of the team. Again, Mickey was the first para-athlete to be chosen, a clear statement by the team to show that sport should not have any barriers of any kind. Mickey was joined by badminton star Kirsty Gilmour, who was the first openly gay athlete to carry the saltire at an opening ceremony. The uniform that I am sporting tonight, designed by Siobhan MacKenzie, was absolutely stunning, and indeed meant that the team was named the best dressed at the opening ceremony. I am so proud to be sporting a team Scotland kilt today. With the closing of Birmingham 22, though we move on to Victoria in Australia in 2026, many of the athletes who competed for Scotland in Birmingham will hope to be on the plane, and many young athletes who have been inspired by watching the games, either in the stands or on TV, will hope to join their heroes. As Minister for Sport, I want to make sure that the next generation has the opportunities to achieve their ambition. It might not be at the same level as competing at a major sport event, but we will work with Sport Scotland and its partners to harness the energy and the desire so that they can reach their full potential whatever their aspirations may be. The grassroots is absolutely vital for the health of our nation, both physically and mentally, and when we shine a light on the achievements of our elite athletes, we inspire the country to be more physically active. Sport has the power to transform lives and to reconnect people, especially after the last few years of the pandemic. I have been so impressed by the resilience of the Scottish sporting sector during the pandemic. It has been adaptable, creative and it has worked together to serve the communities that it works with. In closing, I want again to thank everyone involved with Team Scotland for supporting our athletes. I want to wish them well for the rest of this year. Let us not forget the preparations for the Paris Olympics in 24 and the Games in Victoria in 26. The Scottish Government is really proud to support our athletes and we will continue to work with all of our partners to maintain and further develop our sporting offer to people of all ages and backgrounds.