Commonwealth Games 2022: Scotland's athletes to watch

The Commonwealth Games in Birmingham begin on Thursday with 261 athletes set to represent Scotland.

The Scottish contingent took home 40 medals from the Gold Coast four years ago after a record-breaking 53 in Glasgow in 2014.

It will be a very tall order to replicate those hauls, but there is still plenty of medal potential. New heroes will emerge throughout the fortnight, but here are some of the key athletes to keep an eye on.

The star of Scotland's last Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018, where he won a record six medals, including a sensational gold in the 100m freestyle.

There are questions about his form and fitness after the 25-year-old pulled out of the World Championships in June following a bout of Covid-19.

However, if the four-time Olympic medallist is firing he will be a medal contender, although it might be difficult to emulate the scale his success of four years ago - particularly in the relays.

The 200m individual medley is his major target.

Fachie is going for the triple double, having won gold in the B1000m tandem time trial and B-sprint tandem at the last two Games.

At 38, he is as determined as ever to build on the Paralympic gold he won last year. He has swapped pilots with his opponent from that final, Welshman James Ball, meaning he will ride with Lewis Stewart, and potentially come up against his old pilot Matt Rotherham.

It promises to be an intriguing battle between the Scotland and Wales pairs, and more gold for Fachie could see him finish the Games as Team Scotland's most successful athlete.

After Katie Archibald was forced to withdraw through injury, the spotlight will be on Paisley's Carlin as one of the most experienced riders in Scotland's track cycling squad.

The 25-year-old took Olympic bronze in the individual sprint last summer in Tokyo as well as silver in the team sprint, so his pedigree is clear.

Still without a major individual gold medal in his impressive collection, Carlin will aim to upgrade his silver from the sprint four years ago.

The Edinburgh athlete stunned the athletics world by winning 1500m gold at the World Championships in Oregon just over a week ago.

His defeat of Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen defied even his own expectations, and with the Norwegian and most of the other world finalists not involved in the Commonwealth Games, Wightman has a great chance to improve on his bronze of 2018.

His biggest challenge may come from fellow Scot Josh Kerr, the Olympic bronze medallist, who finished fifth in Oregon, as well as Kenyan pair Timothy Cheruiyot and Abel Kipsang.

The 29-year-old broke her World Championship duck in Eugene with bronze in the 1500m after battling back from a broken femur at the start of the year.

Already an Olympic silver medallist and European champion in her career, Muir missed the Commonwealth Games four years ago to focus on her veterinary exams, and now has the chance to complete a clean sweep of medals on the world stage.

It's been a difficult year for Muir's training partner after a bout of glandular fever derailed her training and race programme.

She failed to make the 800m final at the World Championships, and will be up against it in taking on Great Britain team-mate Keely Hodgkinson, the world and Olympic silver medallist, in Birmingham.

However, with more racing now under her belt Reekie will still be a podium contender.

McColgan has been in the form of her life in the last year as national records have tumbled on the road and track. The World Championships did not go according to plan as a hamstring strain held the 31-year-old back.

Now even more determined to make her mark at the Commonwealth Games, McColgan will be a threat in the 5,000m and 10,000m.

Currently Scotland's most successful Commonwealth Games athlete with five gold medals, Alex 'Tattie' Marshall will look to add to his tally in his seventh Games.

The lawn bowler became an icon of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014 with his exuberant celebrations against England on the way to gold in the men's pairs.

The 55-year-old is once again playing alongside his friend and four-time gold medallist Paul Foster in both the pairs and fours, and they are in with a good chance of more glory.

The bowls squad as a whole are often a good source of metal.

The boxing squad has plenty of young talent, with Fauldhouse fighter Lynch one of the biggest prospects.

The 21-year-old will compete in the 63.5kg category and is looking to build on the bronze medal he won at the World Championships last year - the first Scot ever to do so.