Torphins sprinter Alisha Rees believes Team Scotland can be confident in themselves after making the Commonwealth Games 4x100m final.
Rees, alongside Keith’s Rebecca Matheson and Taylah Spence from Orkney, finished third in their semi-final in a time of 45.39s.
It was enough to bring them through to Sunday’s final (12.54pm), as they qualified behind Jamaica and India.
Rees, who was back on the track after competing in the 100m heats earlier this week, was eager to return to action and feels the quartet – including Edinburgh’s Sarah Malone – can improve for the final.
“I was so excited to come back to the track and just experience it one more time,” said Rees. “Now we can call ourselves Commonwealth finalists when we come back tomorrow.
“A lot of athletics is individual but being part of a relay is a fun part of the sport. I love coming out as a team.
“The time is a little bit down on what we normally run. I think with nerves and stuff, our changeovers weren’t as slick as they are in training.
“It doesn’t matter now, we’re through to the final. We’ll work on our changeovers and we just need to be confident in ourselves; we’ve done it all in training and we can do it in competition.”
Spence brought Scotland home with a strong finish at the packed Alexander Stadium in Birmingham.
It has been a memorable week for the midwife from Kirkwall, who got married last weekend prior to heading down to the Games.
“It was good to be out there representing Scotland, whatever name is on my back,” said Spence. “It’s been brilliant, a week I’ll never forget for a long time.”
Matheson, who set Scotland off with the first leg, felt the buzz of the crowd in Birmingham in her Games bow.
“It was amazing, the crowd have been amazing,” said Matheson. “It’s a great honour to represent Scotland on the international stage.”
