Wheelchair athlete Samantha Kinghorn one of winners at Borders sports award ceremony

Borderer Samantha Kinghorn with her Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze medal for the women's T53/54 1,500m race in August (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Kinghorn, 26, shared the award for sports personality of the year with up-and-coming badminton ace Callum Smith and wheelchair curler David Melrose, both of Duns.

She was unable to attend the ceremony, held at Duns Rugby Club, so Rory and Ellis Wilkinson were presented with it on her behalf.

This year’s Berwickshire Club Sport awards were the first since 2019 and the last of four regional prize-giving ceremonies overseen by Live Borders, following Roxburgh, Tweeddale and Ettrick and Lauderdale’s.

Rory and Ellis Wilkinson collecting Samantha Kinghorn's shared sports personality of the year award from John McBay at Club Sport Berwickshire's latest prize-giving, held in Duns (Pic: Mark Kinghorn)

Kinghorn won silver and gold medals at 2021’s Tokyo Olympics over 400m and 100m respectively and a bronze in the T54 1,500m race at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games this summer.

Young Duns golfer Callum Kenneally was named as junior sports personality of the year.

The evening’s other winners were Duns Amateur Football Club stalwart Chris Burns and Duns rally driver Claire Mole, both given trophies for services to local sport, and the former’s club, named as team of the year, and their coaches James Brydon and Keith Wilson, named as coaches of the year; Eyemouth Boccia Club’s Martin Aitchison, handed the disability sport award; and Duns Junior Badminton Club’s Gemma Fullerton and Finlay Rhind, named as junior coaches of the year.

Special awards were also presented to Carolyn Allison and Moira Anderson for hockey, Jack Fletcher for motocross, and Chirnside Bowling Club’s over-55 ladies and 2022 Scottish tumbling champion Emma Johnson.