Susan Egelstaff: My ones to watch over the next 12 months

Neah Evans and Katie Archibald both won world cycling titles on home soil.

And Beth Potter became world triathlon champion less than seven years after taking up the sport.

It’s not a bad list, and it only scratches the surface.

But, despite this year’s remarkable success, 2024 has the potential to overshadow the past twelve months.

With next year being an Olympic year, there’s a lot at stake.

But it also means the potential rewards are enormous.

There’s the obvious ones to watch, like the aforementioned world champions in the shape of Kerr, Potter and Evans and Archibald.

But there’s also a band of Scottish athletes who may not, as yet, have reached the very top of their game or have dipped below their best for one reason or another in recent times but most certainly have shown enough to indicate they’re well worth keeping an eye on over the next twelve months.

And it seems a pretty safe prediction that this time next year, at least a few of these individuals will have produced performances that will grab the spotlight.

Here’s my pick of the ones to watch in 2024.

REESE LYNCH

Scotland may have an impressive list of professional world boxing champions but not since Dick Taggart over half a century ago has a Scottish fighter graced the Olympic boxing podium.

This could well change this summer, however.

Over the past couple of years, Reese Lynch has established himself as one of the very best amateur fighters on the planet.

The Fauldhouse fighter already has World and Commonwealth medals to his name and there’s few doubts the light welterweight has the capability to win Olympic silverware, potentially even gold.

However, Olympic boxing is an unforgiving environment and Lynch will need to be better than he’s ever been if he’s to join McTaggart in the history books in Paris next summer.

JAKE WIGHTMAN

With the world-beating exploits of Josh Kerr this summer, it’s easy to forget that less than 18 months ago, Wightman was also world 1500m champion.

Having had his entire 2023 season wiped out through injury, Wightman goes into 2024 as something of an unknown quantity.

If he’s at all short of full fitness, he’ll be nowhere in global terms; the men’s 1500m at world level is too strong for anyone to expect to compete if they’re even one percent short of full fitness.

But if Wightman is able to get back to his best by the time the Olympics kick-off in July, there’s absolutely no reason why he can’t complete his full set of medals which already includes World, European and Commonwealth silverware. Indeed, the fact most eyes will be upon Kerr may well ultimately help Wightman produce his best.

KATIE SHANAHAN

In global swimming circles, it’s been Duncan Scott who’s flown the Saltire in recent seasons.

However, there’s a new kid on the block and all indications are that 2024 could be the year of her real breakthrough.

Katie Shanahan may still be a teenager but the 19-year-old already has Commonwealth and European medals to her name.

The Glaswegian showed in 2023, however, that she’s ready to start contending for global silverware and she could well become the first female Scot since Helen Gordon in 1952 to win an individual medal in the pool.

Fourth place in the 200m backstroke at the World Championships highlighted just how capable Shanahan is of mixing it with the very best female swimmers in the world with next year’s Olympic Games almost certain to see yet another improvement from Shanahan in terms of time, which could even result in a place on the Olympic podium.

KIRSTY MUIR

It’s been quite a while, if ever, that Scotland has had a snowsport athlete with the potential that Kirsty Muir possesses.

Muir will turn 20 next year but the freestyle skier is already a Winter Olympian and has picked up a medal at the blue riband event of freestyle skiing, the X Games.

Muir will once again be in the hunt for X Games silverware at the 2024 edition, which takes place in Aspen in just a few weeks time, as she continues to gain experience in an event in which no Scot has ever previously excelled. 

With Muir’s best most certainly still to come, it’ll be intriguing to see quite what she can do on the global stage over the next twelve months.

JEMMA REEKIE

Reekie has long been regarded as one of Scotland’s brightest track and field talents, although she’s been somewhat overshadowed by her compatriots in recent seasons due to the glut of major medals that’s come their way.

Reekie has yet to grace a major championship podium, with the closest she’s come being fourth place at the 2020 Olympic Games.

A bout of glandular fever in 2022 resulted in a dramatic dip in form and many observers, myself included, wondered if we’d seen the best of Reekie.

However, the 25-year-old has proven all doubters wrong over the past year, running some of her fastest times ever and finishing in the top five in the World Championships 800m final, proving she is still more than capable of competing with the world’s very best.

As she goes into her second year as part of a new training set-up down south, Reekie has both the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow and the Olympic Games to look forward to and fill the gap on her CV where a major medal should be.