THREE top Glasgow athletes welcomed the announcement of more than £390,000 funding for Scottish 2014 medal hopefuls.

Three-time Paralympic track cycling gold medallist Aileen McGlynn and badminton French International mixed doubles champions Imogen Bankier and Robert Blair were among 62 athletes given grants of up to £10,000 to help cover training, travel and living costs.

Speaking at the Emirates Arena and the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Aileen, 39, of Crookston, said the funding would pay for travel between training with the British team in Manchester and her Scottish pilot Louise Haston, in Glasgow.

She said: "I want to win a gold for Scotland and be working as hard as possible to get that medal."

Aileen, Imogen and Robert all hope for a place on Team Scotland which aims to beat the total of 33 medals won at the Edinburgh Games in 1986.

Imogen, 25, from the West End, said: "It is an exciting time to be a Scottish athlete. We have a reasonable chance of getting onto the podium."

Imogen and Robert played at London 2012, with different partners.

Robert, 31, from the East End, said the cash boost "is enough for us to commit full time to our sport and try to be the best that we can".

A total of £396,917 of sportscotland Athlete Personal Awards has been allocated to 15 sports in which athletes will compete at Glasgow 2014 and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia.

matty.sutton@ eveningtimes.co.uk