WIC Glasgow 24 - Visit Scotland
With anticipation building towards the start of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow next month, the city now stands at the forefront of another momentous sporting spectacle, ten years on from the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, hailed ‘the best Games ever’, and an event that continues to shape the city’s sporting heritage today.
Since the summer of 2014, Glasgow has seamlessly evolved into a global sporting hub, a transformation marked by the city’s recognition as the European Capital of Sport in 2023, affirming its unwavering commitment to sport and power to change lives for the better.
The excitement that swept through the city for two plus weeks in July, from the spectacle of the Queen's Baton Relay to the fervour of the competition, marked Glasgow's true initiation into the global sporting arena and signalled the start of a journey that is still going, ten years on. During that time Glasgow has hosted numerous other major events like the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships, the inaugural multi-sport 2018 European Championships, the 2019 European Athletics Championships and most recently the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.
Whilst the word legacy is often overused, it is clear that the Games were not just a one-time spectacle; they served as a catalyst for sustained growth and achievement within the city on many levels. Now, as the World Athletics Indoor Championships beckon, Glasgow stands ready to add another chapter to its illustrious sporting history, ready to welcome the world’s best to compete for indoor glory in this important Olympic year.
Eilidh Doyle, Guy Learmonth, and Jemma Reekie have all competed at the top level of the sport and all three athletes were a part of the Games in 2014 - either as a competitor or a spectator. Looking ahead to the world indoors, each athlete has taken the time to reminisce on the events of ten years ago, with Reekie and Learmonth amongst the athletes looking to compete whilst Doyle now retired is the event’s ambassador. Sharing their memories of the event, all three individuals still look back at Glasgow 2014 with extreme fondness and are hopeful that Glasgow can continue its athletics legacy into the next decade.
A young athlete in 2014, Eilidh Doyle is now Scotland’s most successful track athlete after retiring with a silver medal at the 2019 European Indoor Athletics Championships. Reflecting on Glasgow’s mood before the event, Doyle remembers the buzz as a young athlete when the Games were first award to the city.
“When they announced Glasgow had won the bid, my mum said to me you could maybe go there,” recalled Doyle, as the whole country began to make plans for the Games as Glasgow was chosen ahead of Nigerian capital city, Abuja, back in 2007.
Fast forward to 2014 and Scotland as a nation was ready and expectant to see the world’s stars arrive in the city and Doyle, a young athlete at the time, remembers the excitement.
“The whole buzz around all of the athletes, the city and Scotland in general was better than I ever expected,” she said.
“We weren’t sure what the crowds would be like, but Hampden was completely sold out. Stepping onto that track and hearing the noise and the crowd was something I’ll never experience again.
“The crowd weren’t just behind the Scottish athletes; a lot of the other home nation athletes as well, it just seemed like one big celebration, one big party.”
Competing at home was certainly a boost to Doyle, as she went on to claim silver in the 400m hurdles, a memory the athlete now holds above anything else in her illustrious career.
“To win a medal and be able to do a lap of honour was amazing.
“I retired in 2021 and it gave me the chance to reflect on my whole career. My favourite moment is still that lap of honour at Hampden. I’ve competed at Olympic Games, but to compete in Glasgow and do that lap of honour at Hampden was just an incredible experience.”
Eilidh Doyle with her silver medal at Glasgow 2014 (© Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
It was also an unforgettable Games for fresh faced 22-year-old, Guy Learmonth, who would go into the event desperate to make an impact.
Expressing his excitement looking back on the competition, Learmonth said: “My fondest memories in athletics are of competing in Glasgow. At Hampden in 2014, the noise was deafening. When I was on the start line, I was struggling to even hear the announcers.
“After getting through my heat, I faced David Rudisha in my semi-final. That was my standout moment. I was so nervous before the race I was sick in the shower. That had never happened to me before but when I got to the track, I put my poker face on. I remember hearing the noise and it was so deafening, then I walked out and I felt like a gladiator.
“I qualified outright in the first spot and that was a big surprise, it gave me such purpose. I realised that this is what I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t care how nervous I was, I just wanted to get out there and run. Out of all the championships I’ve done, 2014 is my best ever memory.”
Guy Learmonth racing in the semi finals of the men's 800m at Glasgow 2014 (© Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Whilst Guy Learmonth used the Games as a springboard for the rest of his career, for Jemma Reekie, the Games in Glasgow came at a completely different point in her career. Still at school, the young athlete watched on as a fan, aiming to one day take her place on the track in Glasgow.
Reekie was involved in Glasgow’s hosting of the Diamond League two weeks prior and the ‘Commonwealth Baton Run’ as the hype began to build in around the country.
Recalling her involvement, Reekie said: “The Diamond League was the first big athletics competition I’d ever been to. I was amazed and it inspired me. I remember looking at the girls running in different events and feeling so relatable to them”
“I also carried the Commonwealth baton ahead of the Games, which was special as I was able to run with it close to my hometown, I felt like I was part of the games.
“During the event, I remember Glasgow being buzzing and thinking this is incredible having it right on my doorstep, I really wanted to compete in something like it one day.
“In Scotland the event was just everywhere. In school we were talking about it and at home it was on the TV the whole time. Me and my family watched everything, and it really made me think I want to be part of it.
Jemma Reekie will be hoping to build on her recent win in Liévin by winning a medal in Glasgow (© Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
Looking forward to the World Athletics Indoor Championships this March, Reekie is keen to finally realise that dream of competing in Glasgow and she firmly believes the fans can spur her on to success.
“It would be so special to compete in Glasgow next month. To get there and win a medal in front of a home crowd, my first senior medal, would be so special on a home track I used to train on.
“Scottish people are always loud, noisy and encouraging and in the UK in general, the fans are amazing. They don’t just come and watch, they support us the whole time.”
With another major championships now on the horizon, it’s hopefully time for Reekie, Learmonth and Doyle to make new memories in Glasgow as the future generation of young athletes watch on. Taking place from 1-3 March, it’s not long to go until there is a buzz in in the air around Glasgow once more and all three hope this event can be every bit as memorable as the one ten years ago.
