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Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff

Herald Scotland

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Susan Egelstaff: Alba Road Team's success reaches further than just the cycling world Alba Development Road Team has achieved significant success since 2022 and as their third season concludes, its becoming apparent its impact is reaching across Scottish sport.

When the Alba Development Road Team launched in early 2022, I looked on with a mixture of excitement, admiration and scepticism. It was a novel and...

20.10.2024 4

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff: The 'Six Kings' is the latest example of sport selling its soul

Show me anyone who says they care about a sporting exhibition and I’ll show you a liar. Literally no one cares. Not the athletes, not the fans and...

13.10.2024 2

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff: Maybe Scottish tennis will be ok despite Andy Murray's retirement... It seemed the retirement of former world tennis number one, Andy Murray, earlier this year would signal the start of a fallow period for the elite side of the sport in this country but in timely fashion, two young Scottish players have stepped up at just the right moment to fill the void.

I can’t have been the only one that assumed Scottish tennis was going to fall off a cliff with the retirement of Andy Murray earlier this year....

06.10.2024 1

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff: Athlos may just be the answer to track and field's problems Athlos, the new female-only athletics meet, which was founded by Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian, debuted too huge fanfare earlier this week and it may just be what track and field needs to keep it in the spotlight post-olympics.

Track and field has a problem. Its problem is, for one week every four years, it’s the biggest show in town. Track and field ,as we witnessed once...

29.09.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff: Is my cynicism about Glasgow 2026 misplaced? I hope so... The Commonwealth Games will head to Glasgow in 2026 but with a limited timescale and a reduced budget so can it possibly be a success?

I wish I could say, upon hearing the news this week that the 2026 Commonwealth Games will come to Glasgow, that I felt a wave of excitement within...

22.09.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff: Bach still hoping to have the last word in IOC power battle with Coe There are few things pettier than two older privileged men behaving increasingly passively aggressively towards each other in the pursuit of sporting political power.

There are few things pettier than two older privileged men behaving increasingly passively aggressively towards each other in the pursuit of...

15.09.2024 2

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff: 2024 has shown us that the end of tennis' Big Three is truly over At least one of tennis’ “Big Three” has been a constant in the sport for over two decades. But, in 2024, for the first time since 2002, none of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal nor Novak Djokovic have won a grand slam title, proving that a new era of men's tennis has begun.

Tennis’ “Big Three” has been such a constant in the sport for so long that any preceding era seems like a lifetime ago. We’ve known for quite some...

08.09.2024 4

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff: Failure to build Andy Murray Centre is a huge waste of his success The news this week that the Andy Murray centre near Dunblane will not be built may not be surprising, but it is hugely dispiriting. The failure to have a bricks-and-mortar legacy of Murray's hugely successful career is a monumental waste and throws away the chance of improving Scotland as a nation off the back of this country's greatest-ever sportsperson.

I still remember feeling a thrill of excitement when walking into the Susi Susanti Sports Hall in Indonesia; the former Olympic badminton champion...

01.09.2024 4

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff: Could this be the greatest perk of being tennis' world number one? While it was shocking to find out this week that world ranked number one, Jannik Sinner, twice tested positive for a banned substance but his treatment, the like of which has not been afforded to many of his lower-ranked peers, has caused much controversy.

Being world number one in any sport brings plenty of perks.  Fame, money and privilege are all benefits that arrive with becoming the world’s best...

25.08.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff: Why are so many people so deluded about their sporting potential? A recent You Gov survey has found that 27 percent of Brits believe they could make it into Team GB for the 2028 Olympics if they began training now. Why are quite so many people so incredibly deluded about their sporting ability, and about how difficult it is to become an Olympian?

Having spent 15 years of my life as an elite badminton player, I’m no stranger to random people claiming they could beat me. This, despite the fact...

18.08.2024 1

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff: Paris 2024 has been a triumph- here's my takeaways from the Olympics Paris 2024 has been, for so many reasons, a hugely memorable Olympic Games. As the end of the Games approaches, here's what I'll take away from this summer's Olympics.

We have now arrived at the final day of Paris 2024. This summer’s Olympic Games, following the corruption-ridden Games in Rio in 2016 and the...

11.08.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Whether it's gold or silver for Imane Khelif, the controversy will continue

Of the 329 gold medals contested at Paris 2024, few have generated more interest than one which will be awarded today. This evening, Imane Khelif...

09.08.2024 4

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff: Andy Murray's tennis career is finally over. So, what's next? Andy Murray has played professional tennis for almost twenty years but, following defeat at his last-ever tournament, the Paris Olympics, he's now hung up his racquet. Retirement is tricky to negotiate for most athletes so, where will Murray's next path lead him?

It was fitting that Andy Murray’s professional tennis career ended only after impossible victories, tears, jubilation and finally, acceptance....

04.08.2024 7

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff: The BBC's reduced Olympic coverage is a huge blow to sports fans The value of sport being on free-to-air television channels cannot be under-estimated and so the BBC's reduced coverage of Paris 2024 is a huge blow to sports fans across the country. It's also hugely damaging to the future of sport.

I still vividly remember my first taste of the Olympic Games. It was 1992, I was nine years old, and what started out as a curiosity about the...

28.07.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff: The imminent end of Andy Murray's career is truly the end of an era

We’ve known for months that Andy Murray was edging closer to hitting his final tennis ball in anger. We are now just days away from this monumental...

27.07.2024 1

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff: The OIympic movement needs Paris 2024 to be a success The OIympic movement needs Paris 2024 to be a success and while this summer's Games has faced no shortage of challenges in the lead-up, the positives seems to outweigh the negatives. And, as always, once the sport starts, it's almost impossible not to be drawn into the drama of the Olympic Games.

Many factors contribute to an Olympic Games being a success – or, occasionally, being less than successful. There is, of course, much riding on the...

27.07.2024 2

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff

Susan Egelstaff: A decade on, many fond memories remain of Glasgow 2014

We’re just days away from the tenth anniversary of the greatest fortnight in recent Scottish sporting memory. Ten years ago, the country, and...

14.07.2024 1

Herald Scotland

Susan Egelstaff