Hansard

As Liz Smith pointed out, the legacy from the most successful Commonwealth games ever is not easily defined. Every single person will have a view of what that legacy is, and I suspect that nobody will be wrong.

These Commonwealth games were a showcase for Glasgow and Scotland, and they certainly did not let us down. There were the Clyde-siders, and the personal hardship stories from the likes of Lynsey Sharp and Libby Clegg. Eilidh Child handled the pressure of being the poster girl of the games, and who will forget the wonderful smile and look of sheer happiness shown by 13-year-old swimmer Erraid Davies?

Those are some of the stories that made the games, which were simply magnificent. I add my congratulations to everyone who was involved. Of course, there was much more to the games than just competition, and the question is, what do we do now that they are finished?

As we know, the Scottish Government produced a games legacy document, which focused on building an active, connected, sustainable and flourishing Scotland, and covered every aspect of life.

Glasgow produced a games that was so enlightened that the world could not help but see that, in the 21st century, our nation stands tall. As a result of the actions that were taken by those participating in the whole event, this country did not need its politicians to stand up and inform the Commonwealth about what we as a nation feel about issues of community, equality and diversity. That alone would be a tremendous legacy for our latest Commonwealth games, but we can do more. We have issues with health, particularly in our cities, which could be helped if we could encourage people to rediscover exercise.

I am sure the irony of someone who is as overweight as I am lecturing on the dangers of obesity and diabetes is not lost on members. Perhaps it looks a tad hypocritical. However, if someone like me, who was privileged to receive international honours in his younger days, can let themselves go physically, how much easier it is for someone who has grown up with a bad diet and difficult circumstances to follow the wrong direction?

I commend initiatives such as the physical activity implementation plan in that respect, but the big issue will always be how to change people’s attitudes to exercise and health. Once we start to change attitudes, will we be able to get away from the perception that some people have that they need a pair of £100 trainers to take part, or from the difficulties of taking part in sport without having to pay substantial amounts of money to use facilities? Sport and general exercise should not be out of bounds to anyone in our society.

On the legacy for elite sport, we should be delighted that the Scotland team achieved so much success. For many of the athletes, a medal or a personal best performance will be seen as a stepping stone to further success.

The sportscotland institute of sport is obviously starting to reap rewards, and I heartily commend the director of high performance, Mike Whittingham, and his team for the job that they are doing. I hope that there is constant review of what happens at the institute. Even the much-lauded and successful Australian institute of sport came under fire as the rest of the world caught up with Australia and elite performance levels were perceived to have dropped.

We also should identify young talent to help it through into elite competition. Although youngsters may find a sport and enjoy it at around the age of nine or 10 years, it is important to offer other options. Not only might they find something new that they like, but I would like to think that there may be a talent-spotting method to encourage youngsters who may be physically more suited to another sport, perhaps in their teens, to move to a discipline in which they may achieve elite success. I believe that that was done in United Kingdom rowing a few years ago on a larger scale and is common practice in countries such as Australia.

There is one other thing: team Scotland achieved remarkable results at the Commonwealth games, but that is the top level at which our country can compete. In most sports—athletics is the perfect example—our athletes must challenge for places in a Great Britain team to compete at the highest level: the world and European championships and the Olympics. That usually means that fewer athletes are able to compete at the top level.

Is it a coincidence that we have had less international success in long-distance running since Scotland stopped sending a team to the world cross-country championships 30 years ago, for instance? The biggest legacy at elite level will be to see our Scottish teams compete at the highest level, but I am afraid to say that—to bring a little bit of politics into the matter—the only chance that that can ever happen is with a yes vote on 18 September.