I COULDN'T be prouder of Glasgow after a truly fantastic 11 days of sport, culture and celebrations during the Commonwealth Games.

Born, bred and raised in this city, our greatest asset has always been our people.

Team Scotland athletes have had an incredibly successful Games, smashing the previous record for a home Games by winning 53 medals.

New sporting heroes have been made, from 13-year-old Erraid Davies in the pool to Libby Clegg on the track, and I hope that people across Scotland and the Commonwealth have been inspired to get active and take part in sport.

Every event at the Games has had such a fantastic atmosphere, truly living up to their title of the "Friendly Games," and this is in no small part down to the spectators.

I have been lucky enough to watch some of the athletics at Hampden and the famous Hampden roar has never been louder.

One of the best things about the Games has been how the spectators have got behind not just Team Scotland but every team, from the other home nations to the underdog in an event.

For example, it was great to hear the huge support for the Ugandan team in the rugby 7s - anyone watching would have thought they were the home team.

I have spent time with a number of delegations from other Commonwealth nations and they have all spoken so highly of the people of Glasgow and what good hosts we have been.

I had the pleasure of watching Scotland play Malawi in a great netball match, and although it was unlucky for Scotland, if there's one team I don't mind us losing to then it's Malawi.

The Malawian High Commissioner to the UK said that witnessing Team Scotland racking up so many medals has been a matter of great pride for people of Malawi, so it seems that the feeling is mutual.

However, the Games simply couldn't have gone ahead at all without the hard work and amazing efforts of the thousands of Clydesiders and other volunteers.

THEIR shifts may be long but they always had a smile on their faces and were keen to help everyone.

The friendly welcome of the Clydesiders has made the experience so memorable. I'd like to thank all of the Clydesiders and the people behind the scenes for making these Games such a resounding success.

In all my life I have not been prouder of my city and country - we have very firmly marked our place on the world stage.