Olympic silver medalist receives national honor as Sammy Kinghorn and Ben Sandilands share Para award at Glasgow ceremony
Josh Kerr was named Sportsman of the Year at the annual Scottish Athletics 4J Awards on Saturday evening (October 26). The Olympic 1500m silver medalist and world indoor 3000m champion leads Gemma Rickey, Laura Muir, Scout Adkin and Megan Keith at the ceremony in Glasgow.
The Para-athlete of the year award was shared by Sammy Kinghorn and Ben Sandilands, who both won Paralympic gold in Paris this summer.
(Bobby Gavin)
Former 10,000m world champion and Olympic silver medalist Liz McColgan, the evening’s guest of honour, insisted that the level of performance in 2024 meant the Scottish track continued to perform well.
Kerry’s silver, coupled with Nicole Yaregin’s two relay medals, made Paris the best Scottish performance at the Olympics since 1988, the year McColgan was runner-up on the sport’s biggest stage. There has also been at least one Scottish athlete on the podium in the last eight consecutive championships.
“The track and field development has been working well in Scotland for a number of years and we can see that now with elite athletes we are competing at world level,” said McColgan.
“The Scots are getting the opportunity to develop in an age-appropriate way and are moving up the ranks. It’s working, as we can see now, and has been for several years now with a much higher percentage of Scots in the GB and NI team for the main events than you’d expect.
“Of course it’s not perfect and Scottish Athletics needs support and sponsors to help them deliver programmes. But the sport as a whole has a huge contribution.”
(Bobby Gavin)
McColgan, who coaches daughter Elish, added: “Josh’s victory was not a surprise. He had an incredible year, capturing world indoor gold and silver at the Olympics. That men’s 1500m was one of the best and toughest races in Paris and I was lucky enough to be in the stadium that night.
“The joint Para-athlete of the year award was a good idea. Both have won the Paralympic Games. Ben Sandilands set a world record (in the T20 1500m) and Sammy Kinghorn won four more silver medals (as well as his T53 100m title).
“Both Sammi and Ben have brought tremendous determination to their sport. And if you can share high jump medals at the Olympics, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be Scottish Para-Athlete of the Year.”
Award winners:
4J best athlete of the year – Josh Kerr
4J Para Athlete of the Year – Sammy Kinghorn and Ben Sandilands
Eric Liddell Olympic/Paralympic Achievement Award – Laura Muir
Dallas Trust Trophy – Nick Percy
Master athlete of the year – Paul Forbes (Edinburgh AC)
The best athlete of the year U20 – Angela McAuslan-Kelly (Aberdeen AAC/Princeton)
The best athlete of the year U17 – Josh Mungin (Kilbarchan AAC)
The best coach of the year Ross Cairns
The best coach of the year Steve Doig and Roger Harkins
» Subscribe to AW Magazine herecheck out our new podcast! here or subscribe to our digital archive of back issues from 1945 to the present day here
The post Josh Kerr has been named Scotland’s sportsman of the year appeared first AW:.
