Borders wheelchair racer Samantha Kinghorn recruited as ambassador for 2026’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games
Borders wheelchair racer Samantha Kinghorn has been signed up as an athlete ambassador for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
That appointment comes 12 years after Kinghorn, Britain’s fastest female wheelchair athlete ever over all distances from 100m to 800m, made her Commonwealth Games debut in the city, finishing fifth in 2014’s T54 1,500m final.
The Gordon 29-year-old went on to compete at both sets of games since, taking a fourth place in Australia in 2018 and winning a bronze medal in England in 2022 and she’s looking forward to seeing her homeland host the four-yearly event in 2026, saying: “I’m over the moon to be joining the Glasgow 2026 team as an official ambassador.
“Sport can truly change lives and I can’t wait to see the positive impact the games will have across the city of Glasgow and beyond.
“It means so much to me to be part of the journey towards next summer.
“With the largest para sport programme in games history and the first medal of the games being awarded in a para event, I know Glasgow 2026 can help inspire a new generation of athletes across all levels.
“We are 100% in store for an amazing 11 days of competition when it comes around.”
Besides three rounds of Commonwealth Games, Kinghorn has represented Great Britain at the Paralympics three times, making her debut in Brazil in 2016 and going on to earn a bronze medal for T53 100m in Japan in 2021 and a gold for the same race and four silvers – for T53 400m, T53 800m, T54 1500m and mixed 4x100m relay – in France last year.
Made a member of the Order of the British Empire in 2022 and an officer of the same at the start of this year for services to sport, the former Earlston High School pupil has also won golds at world championships in London in 2017 and Paris in 2023 for for T53 100m, and also for T53 200m at the former.
Kinghorn joins a team of ambassadors also including swimmer Duncan Scott, gymnast Jake Jarman, runner Eilish McColgan, weightlifter Emily Campbell and wheelchair basketball player Robyn Love.
Next year’s games – the fourth to be hosted by Scotland, following 1970’s and 1986’s in Edinburgh and 2014’s in Glasgow – start on Thursday, July 23, and continue until Sunday, August 2.