Colin McRae, the former world rally champion, who died in a helicopter accident last year, was one of four new inductees to the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame yesterday in a ceremony at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The others were David Sole, the former Scotland rugby captain, the late Isabel Newstead, who won 14 Paralympic medals in three sports, and Cathy Gibson, who won bronze in the 400 metres freestyle at the 1948 Olympics in London. Gibson, now Mrs Brown, is revealed today not only as a sporting heroine, but as a life-saver in a dramatic rescue off the west coast of Scotland after she had retired from the sport.

McRae's award was accepted yesterday by his wife, Alison, and father Jimmy, who was five-times British rally champion. "Colin would have been honoured and privileged to become a member of the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame and take his place alongside the greats of Scottish sporting history," said his wife.

Colin followed in his father's footsteps at an early age, riding schoolboy motocross and trial bikes. At 16 he traded in his bike for a Mini Cooper and entered Autotests. The following year, in his first rally, he won his class and was 14th overall.

He won the Scottish Rally Championship in 1988, the British title in 1991 and 92, and in 1995 became the first Briton to win the World rally title.

He was instrumental in helping Subaru win the World Rally Constructors' title three times in a row from 1995 before moving to Ford, where he won nine events in four years. In 2003 he joined the Citroen World Rally Team and helped them to the first of three consecutive manufacturers' titles.

In all he amassed 25 WorldRally Championship victories before his life was tragically cut short in a helicopter crash a year past September.

Sole was an outstandingly mobile prop forward with great hands, and an inspirational captain perhaps best remembered for having led Scotland onto the Murrayfield pitch at a slow walk before they won the 1990 Grand Slam decider against England.

He won the first of his 44 caps in 1986, in an 18-17 victory over France, and was the first choice loose-head on the victorious 1989 Lions tour of Australia, and deputy captain in two Tests.

Sole also captained the Barbarians and in 1992 led a World Invitation XV to victory over New Zealand.

Newstead, who was severely physically disabled as the result of spinal injury, excelled in swimming, athletics and shooting. She won nine medals across all three sports at the 1984 Paralympics Games but was forced to stop swimming before the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul, where she took four medals in athletics and shooting for the British team. In 2004, she returned for her finest hour to take air pistol gold at Athens Paralympics. Sadly, she died last year.

CathyGibson was one of Scotland's most successful female swimmers, setting 29 British records in her 16-year career. NowCathy Brown, and living near Dunfermline, she said yesterday she was astonished to be honoured 60 years after winning her Olympic medal, the only swimming medal Britain won in London.

Nicola Sturgeon, the deputy first minister, made the latest inductions, bringing the total since the Hall of Fame was inaugurated in 2002 to 82.

Launched in a partnership between Sportscotland and National Museums Scotland, it comprises 13 women and 69 men in 27 sports. Nominees must be either: born in Scotland, or under the rules of the relevant governing body be eligible to compete for Scotland, or reside in Scotland during the major part of their sporting career.

They should normally have retired from top-level participation in their sport for a minimum of five years. However, interpretation of the criteria is at the discretion of an independent selection panel.

That panel comprises leading sports historians, journalists and administrators: Louise Martin CBE (chair), RichardBrickley MBE, JohnBurnett, JonDoig, DougGillon, ProfGrant Jarvie, NormanMair, AndyMitchell, Robin Morris, Colin Pearson, Alison Walker, David Webster OBE, and Mike Wilson.