In photos: Gordon wheelchair-racer Samantha Kinghorn named as ClubSport Berwickshire’s sports personality of year

​That latest accolade, handed over by Scottish Borders Council sports development manager John McBay, comes just three weeks after the 28-year-old was given the prize for Scottish Athletics’ para athlete of the year jointly with Fife runner Ben Sandilands.

“I don’t do my sport to win awards – I just do it because I love it – but it’s always a really nice feeling when people support you, especially in the Borders,” Kinghorn, a gold medallist at this year’s Paralympics in France, told Friday’s prize-giving.

That gold medal, for the T53 100m wheelchair race, was accompanied by four silvers in Paris – for T53 races over 800m, 1,500m and 400m and the universal 4x100m relay – as Kinghorn enjoyed her most successful competitive season to date.

Teenage Duns weightlifter Maddie Rosher was named as junior sports personality of the year.

Duns Amateur Swimming Club’s Susanne Simpson was given the award for coach of the year, with the junior version going to Duns Badminton Club’s Erin Doyle.

That was one of two accolades for Doyle as she was also given a special achievement award, along with Millie McManus, marking them becoming the first girls’ doubles pairing from a Borders club or school to win an open or Scottish Schools Badminton Union national event, namely March’s schools national senior girls’ doubles title.

Theirs were among four special achievement awards handed out, with the others going to Duns driver Euan Thorburn, Scottish rally champion this year for the fourth time following previous wins in 2014, 2017 and 2019, and Duns Junior Football Club coach and chairman Grant Keenan.

A further honour went the way of Duns Badminton Club, founder member Peter Hardie being given this year’s award for service to local sport, presented by Rick Kenney, honorary president of Scottish ClubSport.

This year’s disability award was won by the Riding for the Disabled Association’s Reston-based Berwickshire group.

Chirnside Bowling Club were named as team of the year after winning their sport’s Berwickshire league for the first time in six years, as well as seeing members picking up prizes at home and abroad.

Those successes included​ Leanne Carruthers, Judith Routledge, Veronica Cockburn and Jane Carruthers winning the ladies’ fours at 2024’s Berwickshire ladies’ finals at Greenlaw and Leslie Mitchell and Jamie Mitchell doing likewise in the men’s pairs at the male version at Eyemouth, as well as Andrew Ross, Calllum Entwhistle, Davie Lugget and Gavin Douglas winning the senior fours.

Gordon’s community sports field group won the first-ever prize for community sport project of the year in recognition of their efforts since their formation in 2022 to secure the future of a piece of land in the village for use for football and other sporting activities.