Sportscotland announced yesterday that £192,000 will be shared between 32 of Scotland’s high performance athletes to help them make the podium at either the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang or the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018.

The sportscotland Athlete Personal Awards (SAPAs) represent an initial tranche of funding allocated in the first year of a two-year investment in Scotland’s medal hopefuls, and are designed to provide additional support for training, competition and living expenses for the next two years to athletes over eight sports.

To the background noise of two of the latest recipients of the awards, boxers Reece McFadden and Stephanie Kernachan, sparring at Scotland’s Performance Boxing Centre at Bridgeton Cross in Glasgow, the body’s Director of High Performance, Mike Whittingham, outlined how the financial assistance will hopefully see a repeat of the medal successes that Scotland enjoyed in Glasgow.

He said: “This was a very successful initiative for us in the last cycle, and at the Glasgow Commonwealth all sorts of records were broken with us being fourth in the medal table with 63 medals from 53 medallists, and a very high percentage of those medallists benefitted from a SAPA.

“Times are tough and government funding is obviously a privilege, not a right, and the Scottish Government have been behind us with these sorts of initiatives.

“This allows athletes, their coaches and their families to really plan the next 24 months. I was that kind of athlete myself, I understand the hardships of that world.

“The award can help them with transport costs or purchasing a car for example – real things that athletes at that level are struggling with.

“Sportscotland are about providing opportunities and trying to provide a world-class system, and little things like this are what would be termed in our world as marginal gains, and if you put them together it does make a difference.

“We don’t want to forget the feel-good factor from Glasgow 2014, we want to build on that legacy. “Athletes win medals, but they can’t do it without our support, and that’s why I’m delighted to be helping these athletes.”

Motherwell boxer McFadden, who will receive £6000 to aid his bid for gold in 2018, said: "The funding will help me a tremendous amount, £6000 is a lot of money.

“It will help me with boxing equipment, my food, everything. I’m looking forward to getting the cash and spending it wisely.

“I can’t appreciate the help we’re getting enough, it’s absolutely amazing.”