 Felly, rwyf ni'n wedi'i gael i mor hwn. Felly, rydw i'n wneud gwybod am ffordd, a'r ddysgwladau, ryfwn ni'n gwybod am y gallu'r mewn cyfave i amdal, ym ei lle? Rydw i'n fyrdd â'r mewn cychYNig, ac i ni'n gweld i'r mewn cyfrif Behind the Chamber ac i ni'n gweld i'n gweld i'n gweld i'r paddffyn am gwasanaethu peren o'r ceite The final item of business is a member's business debate on motion 838, in the name of Brian Whittle, on team GB success. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put. Any members wishing to contribute to the debate, please press your request-to-speak buttons now or as soon as possible. I call on Brian Whittle to open the debate around seven minutes, Mr Whittle. Easy, easy. Save your applause, I've got a weak finish. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and can I say, Deputy Presiding Officer, that I am delighted to bring this debate to the chamber, hardly able to contain my excitement at the prospect of talking all things sport for the next hour or so. The Paralympics have just concluded, just after the Olympic Games in Tokyo, on what a veritable feast of all things sport. We have to witness the prowess of the very best physical specimens that the human race has to offer. What can we say about the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team? 65 medals in the Olympics finishing fourth in the medal table and 124 medals at the Paralympics finishing an incredible second in the medal table. Scotland, of course, was very well represented. In fact, Scotland made up more of the team than our comparative population would suggest. Scots won medals in athletics and cycling and hockey and rowing, sailing and swimming. For the first time, there were more women in the British Olympic team than men. That glass sailing has well and truly been smashed. While we are discussing the Scottish women athletes, I want to highlight Katie Archibald's gold in the Madison in the Velodrome. Other golds came in the pool from Kathleen Dawson in the mix four by 100 metres medley, really, and Duncan Scott in the four by 200 metres freestyle, really. Duncan, of course, also became the first Britain to win four medals at a single Olympic Games. Owen Miller won the immense T20 1500 metres, and Neil Fackey took gold in the men's 1,000 metre second time trial. I have to give a shout out to the indomitable Sam Kinghorn. I need two medals to her Paralympic Hall on the track, and Gordon Reed added a further two medals to his collection in the wheelchair tennis. I have to declare my bias. I want to tell you that the medal that I celebrated most was Loramure's silver in the 1500 metres. The field was absolutely stacked full of the highest-quality athletes, but she fought her way on to the podium in a global final at last after so many close attempts. Now, Deputy Presiding Officer, you know me as cool, calm and collected individual, not taken to outbursts of emotion. However, when she came off that final bend, I was out in my seat and screaming at the television. In fact, I think that I actually may have hurt myself. Loramure's silver was so well-deserved in an event that was of the highest calibre globally. If you saw the work that she puts in day in, day out, you would perhaps understand the lens that those athletes are prepared to put their bodies through to achieve their dreams. Her coach Andy Young also coached Gemma Rike, who narrowly missed a medal in the 800 metres when she came forth. To me, that highlights the importance of a support network and training partners as she strives to achieve in the arena, a topic that I will come on to shortly. I also have to mention Jos Kerr's bronze medal in the 1500 metres and a time that ranks him second on the UK all-time list. Pond will up for a second. That is quicker than the track legends that are Steve Overt, Sebastian Cole and Steve Cram. Only Mo Farah has run quicker, just astounding and coached in the US by an old friend of mine, Mark Rowland, himself a bronze medalist in the Staple Chase from 1988. However, the performance of the championship by a country mile was cast in Vorholm from Norway and the astonishing obliteration of the world record in the 400 metre hurdles in a time that would have won him the UK 400 metre Olympic trials. A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting about it to the current British record holder, a certain Chris Acabusi. His take on it was that Vorholm has shown him that they were only playing at it when it was back in his day. I think that it was a bit harsh on him, but I do get his meaning. The journey to the Olympic podium is a long one. It takes relentless dedication from athletes searching for fractions of fractions of seconds, the difference between greatness and being back in the pack, from the coaches and the volunteers, from all the clubs across the country giving their time for free, the families who traipse across the country to ensure that athletes get to the training competitions and national governing bodies. The local authorities play such a huge part in developing and maintaining facilities. Sport Scotland and the Institute of Sport, Scottish Disability Sport and the funding from the national lottery, which was the game changer when it was introduced in 1997 after a disastrous Olympics for the GB in Northern Ireland team in 1996. Then there is UK Sport, chaired by our own Kath Granger, who funds the elite plurium programme and that all of our elite sportsmen and women benefit from. Last time, I looked, they put £13 million directly into the elite plurium programme in Scotland, which allows them to train full-time. It takes all of that and more. The UK sport investment in the development of bike technology, for example, which has helped Chris Hoy win his six Olympic gold medals, same in the boat technology in Kath Granger's trick case, seeking those incredibly small margins. The training camps around the world that our athletes have access to are all part of the jigsaw. The doctors, the physios, the nutritionalists, the sports psychologists, sports physiologists and on and on. Selecting for the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team is the very pinnacle of a sportsman or woman's career in this country. It takes a long-term significant investment both in terms of effort from the athlete and the backroom team behind the athlete, the ones that we do not see. Scottish Sport is a huge beneficiary of that support from local clubs all the way to the lottery and the UK sport. We benefit enormously from that investment economy of scale as part of the GB and Northern Ireland team. Speaking of background support, I want to mention at this point the sudden passing of one of Scotland's true coaching heroes, Ian Robertson. Former director of coaching, Frank Dick, called me three Fridays ago to say that Ian had just been diagnosed with cancer that day. We were utterly shocked to hear of his passing the following Thursday. Not only did Ian coach women to Olympic World, European and Commonwealth teams, but he was instrumental in developing the modern coaching philosophy. He was an educator to so many coaches in Scotland and the UK and changed women athletics when he had the vision to push Mary Hill Harriers into Glasgow Athletics Club, who have been so successful in the UK Women's League. He was a true innovator and a lovely man to boot. He taught me how to lift weights, so he is a patient man and he will be desperately missed by his family and friends and the whole of the athletics community. I want to finish by talking about the importance of sport as a force for good. We are beginning to wake up to the huge physical and mental benefits of being active. We are starting to understand the positive contribution that physical activity can have towards educational attainment, including up to 40 per cent higher test scores for students, the reduction in staff turnover in business among some of the many other positive stats. It is not about training our children for sport. It is more about educating them through sport, because sport is the vehicle to learn so many skills, social interaction, resilience and confidence, tackling isolation and loneliness. It is about learning to take the knocks, falling short of perhaps expectation and coming back for more with greater determination, skills that can seep into every aspect of their lives. A very few will go on to take sport more seriously, but it is not a level playing field. The Olympics and Paralympics are a shop window—a marketing tool, if you like, for sport's participation. To do it, you have to be able to see it. Too many of our communities have watched community assets ripped out and opportunities to participate are becoming more and more remote. If you want proof, just look at the make-up of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team. A disproportionate number was privately educated. That is not a slight in those educational establishments. What they should be doing is looking at the opportunities that are afforded in those schools and seeing how we can replicate some of them across all of education. If we want to prevent the lure of addiction, sport has a significant part to play. Covid is taught as health has an impact on the economy. If we want to grow an economy, we have to tackle our poor health record. Sport has a significant part to play, likewise tackling the attainment gap. Given the money that we spend on health and education, sport is chronically underfunded in Scotland. There is a better way. We should be utilising all of the community facilities that are available to us, especially the school estate funding national governing bodies to help to deliver at local level, ensuring that our councils are funded to deliver sport locally. It will take a real paradigm shift if we are to finally use sport to make the difference that it can. Opportunity for all irrespective of background or personal circumstances. We say those words all the time in this place, however, on the ground, not enough has been done. It is time to get serious about sport and its benefits. I, for one, do not see this in any way as party political. It is a conversation that we should all want to be part of. Mr Whittle, thank you for the timely reminder that we, gentlemen of a certain age, need to take care of getting in and out of chairs too quickly. I now call on Emma Harper, who will be followed by Jeremy Balfour. I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate and congratulate Brian Whittle on securing it. Mr Whittle has outlined extremely well the number of medals won by all our team Olympians, and he has name checked many of our outstanding team members. I want to congratulate Team GB and the Team GB Paralympic team on their outstanding achievements at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics. Both captains, Dina Asher-Smith of the Olympic team and Jim Roberts of the Paralympic team, have led both teams to much success. Those achievements in a range of sports cannot be understated and every athlete can take pride in the inspiration that they provide to people across Scotland. The thinking behind the modern Olympics from the Olympic committee is, and I am quoting, the elevation of the mind and soul, overcoming differences between nationalities and cultures, embracing friendship, a sense of solidarity and fair play, ultimately leading to the contribution towards world peace. As well as supporting positive health and wellbeing, which Brian Whittle has absolutely outlined, the positives for health and education that sport brings. We absolutely need to support the international forum focusing on sport, which rightly strives to build relationships between nations of the world and takes a progressive stand on humanitarian issues. For example, to highlight the fact that over 65.3 million people across the world have been displaced from their home and are classed as refugees under the United Nations definition, the International Olympic Committee supported the creation of the IOC refugee team, which featured 29 talented athletes across 12 sports in this year's games. Such steps, as they are acknowledged and should be welcomed. Daphries and Galloway in my South Scotland region is home to one of the members of Team GB, modern pentathlete Jo Muir from the Hach of Ur near Castle Douglas. 26-year-old Jo completed in the modern pentathlon alongside fellow team member Karen French. Jo's take-home message from the games is that all, regardless of ability, should try a sport, whether it be sprints in the local park, planks in the living room or even a walk around the neighbourhood. Residents of the Hach could be prouder, they couldn't be prouder of their Olympian, they produced a wee video showing their support for her during the Olympics, which can be viewed online. The Tokyo Olympics saw a number of people across Scotland inspired to try a new sport, whether it be traditional sports like running, cycling or swimming, to new sports like speed climbing, skateboarding and mountain biking. To aid access to these sports, I welcome that the Scottish Government has funded and has plans to double investment in access to sporting facilities for younger people, particularly those in the most deprived areas around Scotland. Across my south Scotland region, we have fantastic mountain biking, BMXing and skating facilities. Mountain biking is the seven stains, and there are various skate parks and pump tracks. One of the pump tracks is a brand new one at Glentrol Park in Lochside and de Vries. There is a skate park at Carcubrie, a BMX arena in Berwickshire and a BMX track in Newton Stewart. The seven stains mountain biking places at the forests of maybe A, Carock trade, Dolby E, Glentres, Glentrol, Innerleithan and Newcastleton. They are all world-renowned and they are all in the south Scotland region. They offer a perfect training ground for all those interested in taking up mountain biking who could be our future Olympians. However, I have been contacted by constituents who think that we are missing an opportunity to better market these facilities. I have written to Forestry in Land Scotland and visited Scotland previously, but I would ask the minister whether the Government would consider a national marketing campaign based on Scotland's seven stains, which enhances access to and the promotion of these fantastic assets. One final event is the Raiders Road international cycle gravel festival. It seeks to attract people from across the globe and has various opportunities for local people to try gravel cycling. It is also proposing to have accessible cycling at this event in October 7 through 10. The gravel cycling event could be a fantastic way to inspire our future Olympians. I want to again welcome this debate and congratulate all athletes and both teams in GB for all they do and thank Brian Whittle again. I congratulate my colleague Brian Whittle in securing his debate this evening. I congratulate everyone in their success, whether they won medals or whether they are turning up and being there. We as a nation are deeply proud of what we have done. I am pleased that next week in the chamber we will be able to debate the Paralympics and the success of that. I look forward to all being well to taking part in that debate as well. We have heard from Mr Whittle that the Olympic Games is a showcase of what sport is and what sport can be like. For me, the real success of the Olympics is not just those that turn up to compete and not just those that win medals, but it is how that will affect the grass roots of our society in regard to sporting achievements. I know from looking at my own daughters the excitement that they got at watching the Olympics over the past few weeks on telly, learning about sports that they did not know about but are also being motivated to go back to doing the activities that they are already involved in. However, we are all aware from the community that we represent across Scotland that, due to the pandemic, many of those activities have been closed down. Before the pandemic, 300,000 people were being attracted by access to sport and other activities such as that. However, due to the pandemic, a lot of those activities have closed down in our schools and in our communities. What we need to do across parties and across Governments is to ensure that those events and grass-roots sporting activities start again. We need to re-encourage people to volunteer, whether that is Saturday morning or Wednesday evening. We need to look at why less people are coming forward to volunteer for grass-roots sport. We need to make sure that our young folk see the benefits both physically and mentally in regard to taking part in grass-roots sport. Very few of them, as Brian Whittle said, will become Olympians, but that is not necessarily the benchmark of the success here in Scotland. The benchmark is if we have fitter, healthier, better children coming through the system who can achieve what they can achieve within their own limitations. I hope that we do that. My final comment is in regard to that. We have to make sure that we do not have a missed generation. I know that, for example, my daughters up until a few weeks ago were not able to swim for nearly 18 months. There will be children who have not been able to go to swimming pools, who have not gone through basic swimming lessons, who have not been able to progress to the next level because of that. I hope that, when we are looking at our figures, when we are looking at the system, we will leave nobody behind, but we will put extra time and extra resources into those who have missed whether it is running, football, swimming or whatever activity that they take place. Let me conclude, Deputy Presiding Officer, again to congratulate everyone who took part in Tokyo. As I said previously, you have made us proud as a nation and you have given us hope that we can come through the pandemic and we look forward to power in three years' time. I congratulate Brian Whittle on securing the debate and I enjoyed your enthusiasm for sport. I, like my colleagues and people across the country, watched on during the summer as our Olympians delivered major success for team GB in Tokyo. No doubt, it inspired a generation of young athletes to dream of reaching the very top of their sport. The commitment of our athletes, their coaches and their local clubs across the UK is admirable and the timescale and effort that is put in to developing first-class athletes has undoubtedly paid off this summer. Winning, I think, is worth seeing again an impressive 65 medals equaling the London 2012 total. Although indoor events took place behind closed doors, I think that the return of the Olympics was much needed for all those who have been looking forward to a summer of sport. The Olympics brought a sense of normality, albeit in the most abnormal of times. However, in the excitement of a global Olympic Games, I sometimes think that we forget where, from many, it all begins, and that is at the grassroots levels. It is in the towns and villages across Scotland and, indeed, the whole of the UK, where future Olympians and Paralympians are first introduced to sport, where they enhance their skills and where they prepare for a future of success. It is in local communities where future champions develop what will become a lifelong love of sport. It is a local sports team such as the Nithdael Wander's Football Club in Sankirk that I visited recently that allows local accessibility, the opportunity that allows people to dream of playing for Team GB at an Olympics sometime in the future. A small games hall in the village of Carchan has, over many years, championed badminton, giving young people the pride of performing in tournaments across the country. Yet it is a shame, Deputy Presiding Officer, that for so many young people to do these opportunities simply do not exist. Accessing outdoor green spaces or using football pitches or multi-use game areas come at a significant cost, a cost that, for many families, is just too much. If we consider the power that sport has and others have spoken about it to unite communities, spark friendships, showcase talent and improve mental health, it is beyond belief that we do not give it the recognition that it deserves or prioritise it in the way that we should. Austerity has hit sport hard. It is taken from the communities who need it most when the Government's target is reducing public spending. What is hit first? Community spaces, sports halls, kids clubs and so on. We know that that disproportionately affects poorer communities. Would she agree with me that, in those circumstances, when councils decide to shut down community assets, it is a false economy? We take that money out of one side of the ledger but it goes in the other side of the ledger through the cost to the health service and to the education service. I see the thread that you are going with, Mr Whittle. I believe that austerity in itself causes great detriment to the communities that need it most and that we need to look at the way in which services are funded. Of course, the compensation around the money that is used if you do not have sport facilities will then come off at the end of the NHS, so I agree with that point. Of course, we can highlight the availability of national lottery funding and sportscotland's grants, which are available to local sports clubs to enhance their services. Through the national lottery awards for all projects, sportscotland was awarded more than £375,000 to 96 groups across Scotland. That was good, but the truth is that, if we here in this room believe that sport should and must be available to all, we must argue against austerity. For the valued place of sport in sports facilities in every community, every community deserves decent sports facilities and they should be able to be used by all. The Tokyo Games took place in the most difficult of circumstances. It is widely believed that it is the fans who make sport what it is, and the President would have undoubtedly taken the success of the Games to another level. I think that it is right that we came here today to debate this motion. I thank Brian for bringing it to the chamber and I again applaud the success of the Olympians. The hard work of the clotches and the influence of local sports clubs, we have a lot of work to do to make Scotland a fairer and more equal place. We know that we can do it and where there is opportunity that children should not be defined by their postcode and that they may become Olympians themselves. Today, I hope that we can move forward to a fairer strategy helping to progress all to the hopeful Olympians tomorrow. I now call on Christine Grahame, who will be the last of the speakers in the open debate again. I congratulate Brian Whittle on securing this debate and, indeed, all the UK athletes who took place in the Olympics, especially after a delay of a year and have to keep training during Covid and lockdown and to be quite inventive in their training methods. Pre-empting somewhat next week's debate, which I was unaware of, I am focusing my comments on the Paralympics. I acknowledge Brian Whittle's commitment to increasing sport for all, although, as he knows, I would distinguish that from activity, which I prefer being one of the many who has no sports DNA in my DNA. I do not believe, apart from the views that some may be inspired by Olympians to progress in their chosen sport, that the Olympics brings about any substantial cultural change. Rather than, like Wimbledon, when, briefly, you see children out with tennis rackets, that soon disappears. Activities are quite a different matter for another debate. Paralympics, however, does, in my view, change and has changed society, and the London Olympics was for me when that sea change took place. The sight of those with disabilities to use that broadest term in all manner of sports, not only displaying their skills but, in many cases, their physical disabilities has, I think, had a profound impact on the way that disability is viewed. However, the Paralympics is not, as an event nor for its participants, equal with the Olympics in many respects. A fundamental respect is funding. In support of that, I turn to a campaign by Paralympians David Weir, Johnny Peacock and Hannah Cockroft, three top track stars who have repeatedly raised issues of unequal pay, poor promotion and a lack of technical investment in the Tokyo Games for Paralympians. David Weir is, to quote, sick of being second best, close quotes, and challenged Sebastian Coe to a fight for the future of Paralympics. After finishing in the Paralympic marathon, I call him the werewolf, let rip on the parless state of his sport and now wants world athletics of which Coe is president to intervene. Along with swimming, Paralympics is reluctantly governed by the International Paralympic Committee, and I say that it is reluctant because, in July, he openly invited interest in taking it off its hands. He also said, we deserve more. That's why he also said, I'm going to fight for now and I'm going to keep pushing and knocking on the door. On a positive note, let me too congratulate from Melrose Samantha King on her success in winning a bronze medal in Tokyo in the T53 100 metres, finishing just a quarter of a second behind the winner, such as you know, Mr Whittle, are the narrow margins. She's come a long way since her first competition in 2012 in the London mini marathon. She's come an even longer way from her injuries in 2010 when she was crushed by snow and ice breaking her back. She had emergency surgery and spent five months in hospital. The injury to her spine left her paralysed from the waves down and she has said, I thought I'd been a bed forever. So then to get into a wheelchair was amazing. I know it sounds strange but I was so happy. Then to find I could actually compete in sport. In my wheelchair has just been incredible. Sport has helped me hugely, helped me to accept it really. That and for me the cultural change in public perception of disabilities are inspirational from the Paralympics and I would say while I congratulate those in the Olympics I certainly value the Paralympics more for that reason. Thank you very much indeed Ms Graham. I now call on the minister to respond to the debate. Minister, you have around seven minutes. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I'm delighted to be able to close for the Scottish Government. I'd like to thank Brian Whittle for bringing this motion to the Scottish Parliament and also to others who have contributed to this debate. As Mr Whittle knows, I share his passion for sport although not his skill. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be forever known for having taken place in 2021, rather than 2020. They will also be remembered as the best games in history for Team GB both in terms of performances and medals. On behalf of the Scottish Government, I would like to thank everyone in Team GB, including those involved in preparing the athletes and putting in all of their arrangements to keeping them safe during the pandemic. Of course, it is not simply about athletes turning up on the day. There is an entire programme and network of coaches, managers, physios, nutritionists and more behind the scenes working tirelessly to make sure that everything is in place. I would also like to put on record our congratulations to the Organising Committee of the International Olympic Committee and the Japanese Government for putting on such wonderful games across 33 different venues despite the challenges of the pandemic. Scottish athletes certainly played their part by contributing to 14 medals in the Olympics and 21 in the Paralympics. As Mr Whittle said, the Scots on Team GB certainly punched above their weight and all of Scotland is proud of them. I want to make a special mention of the family and friends who were unable to travel to Japan to watch their loved ones perform at a very highest level. I hope that their sleeping patterns are back to normal now. Others who have watched the performances at the Games must have been inspired by our athletes and their accomplishments. It is not just the medals and the records galore that were smashed from British and Scottish to new personal best. To do that during a pandemic where training has been difficult and an empty stand without the extra lift from spectators demonstrates their dedication and their desire to do their best for their team, for themselves, for their coaches and for their loved ones. I would like to personally congratulate all of our competitors and medal winners and I want to make a special mention of Swimmer Duncan Scott, who became the first British athlete to win four medals at one Games. I also want to take this opportunity to thank our sports governing bodies, Sport Scotland and the Institute for Sport, UK Sport and the National Lottery for their continued work to support our athletes. I have mentioned the work that goes on behind the scenes in order to get our athletes to the start line and in the best possible condition. I am also aware of the thousands of people across Scotland who volunteer and give people of all ages and abilities the opportunity to participate in sport and physical exercise. That has been recognised by several members during the debate. Clubs, groups and classes can only be held with thanks to an army of volunteers who cut the grass, paint the lines, open the buildings, clean facilities, maintain equipment and, of course, coach the participants. As a rugby player myself, I know firsthand how many hours a week people put in to provide this opportunity for others. Sport, as many have said, is such a powerful tool to improving our physical and mental health and, also, vitally important at this moment in time in bringing communities together. That is why our programme for government commits to doubling the investment in sport and active living to £100 million a year by the end of this Parliament. That investment will enable us to rebuild capacity and resilience in the sector following the pandemic and ensure that we address the inequalities in access to physical activity in sport, which so many have mentioned. A priority will be to support participation across all groups and to tackle inequalities. We will work with Sport Scotland as well as organisations and individuals across Scotland to break down the barriers financial or otherwise that keep too many people from leading active lives. Physical activity and sport can be central to Scotland's recovery from the pandemic, providing the boost that we all need to our physical and mental health and bringing us together within our communities. That approach has been central to our changing lives work as the sector is pivoted to the changing needs of its communities, which has resulted in them playing an important role during various phases of the Covid lockdowns. Sport and physical activity is in a good position to support communities in rebuilding through learning and through engaging in programmes that will achieve local focused outcomes as well as sporting outcomes. The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly brought its challenges to the Scottish sporting sector, but it has also brought opportunities in strengthened relationships and greater partnership working. Sport clubs are often in a unique position in communities. Since becoming minister, I have been so impressed with the conversations that I have had with the sector around their commitment to breaking down those barriers to activity that exists. In conclusion, Presiding Officer, I want once again to thank everyone involved in Team GB, our inspiring athletes, our sporting sector and especially to the thousands of volunteers. 2022 brings us the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, where our athletes will look to build on successes from the Gold Coast and, of course, from Glasgow. In only three years' time, we will be again supporting Team GB at the Paris Olympics, where many of our athletes will be targeting further success, as well as the next generation of athletes who will be looking to stamp their mark on the sporting global stage. During this period, we will be working with our partners right across the sporting sector to address inequalities and access to physical activity in sport and to aspire to be a more active nation. Thank you to everyone who has made a contribution here tonight and to Brian Whittle for bringing forward the motion. Thank you very much indeed Minister. That concludes the debate and I close this meeting.