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• On this day in 2018: Scotland’s Katie Archibald wins Commonwealth Games gold

  Scotland’s Katie Archibald added Commonwealth champion to her long list of accolades on this day in 2018.

  Archibald, an Olympic, world and European champion in various disciplines, took gold in the women’s individual pursuit in Brisbane, having broken the Games record in a blistering qualifying session.

  Her only previous Commonwealth medal was the bronze she won on home soil in the points race in Glasgow four years earlier.

  Archibald, then aged 24, said before racing began gold was the only colour she wanted and swiftly delivered, covering the 3,000m distance in three minutes 26.088 seconds to beat Australian Rebecca Wiasak.

  She had set the record at 3:24.119 in a qualifying session which saw three riders go under the previous record set by England’s Joanna Rowsell Shand in Glasgow.

  “It means a lot, especially in the individual pursuit because it’s not an Olympic event,” said Archibald. “2014 always stands out as a big year for Joanna Rowsell to kind of echo, because she had the title and the Games record.

  “You look at the success she carried from that point in her career. I’d be very proud.”

  Fired up by his sister’s performance, Archibald’s brother John then added another medal to Scotland’s tally with silver in the men’s 4,000m individual pursuit as England’s Charlie Tanfield clinched gold.

  “I watched her heat run and the pressure was on her,” said John Archibald.

  “The Commonwealth Games record went and they all went better than her personal best so she had her back against the wall but she pulled out and delivered on the day and that got me going.”

• Emily Campbell: Giving back is more important than winning another Olympic medal

  Emily Campbell believes giving back to the community that supported her Olympic dreams is more important than winning another medal in Paris.

  The 29-year-old became Britain’s first female Olympic medallist in weightlifting when she claimed silver in the +87 kilograms category in Tokyo in 2021.

  She will bid for more success in Paris this summer, but Campbell is just as excited about the new ChangeMaker initiative, which will see Olympic and Paralympic stars get involved in local community causes in the two weeks after their respective Games.

   

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  The programme is a partnership between The National Lottery’s operator, Allwyn, Team GB, ParalympicsGB and UK Sport, and Campbell told the PA news agency: “We’re going to use the amazing momentum and excitement and buzz from the Games to motivate athletes to go back into their community and to do anything that they’re really passionate about.

   

  “It could be to do with sport, it could be to do with environment, whatever they feel they can make a difference in. It’s all really, really exciting.”

  Campbell’s success is very much rooted in the Nottinghamshire town of Bulwell where she grew up, and she admits she is “torn” about which project she will support.

  “There’s a lot of good things going on and it’s probably going to be hard for me to pick but I’ll probably just be out there trying to help as many as I can,” she said.

  “Everyone says it takes a village to raise a child, right, and it takes a community to make an Olympic medallist. That’s what my community did for me, from giving me free fruit and veg to supporting me when I was trying to raise money, the cobbler fixing my boots, the list goes on and on and on.

  “Everybody goes to the Olympics and everybody wants a medal but for me now it’s more about giving back and being a part of something that actually means something.

  “Instead of sitting there and saying ‘I’m an inspiration and I want to be a role model’, it’s about putting your money where your mouth is and getting it done. And you never know, we might find another little Olympic champion somewhere.”

  Campbell’s dream of opening a gym in Nottingham focused on youth and development will have to wait until after her career is over, and there will be many more medals still to come if she can maintain the consistency she has shown since Tokyo.

   

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  Silver and bronze medals have followed at world level while she has won the European title for four years in a row and Commonwealth gold on home soil in Birmingham in 2022.

   

  Having a platform has enabled Campbell not just to recognise the support given to her but to “shout” about a linked passion, showing women and girls that sport and exercise is for everyone and changing perceptions of what healthy looks like.

  Three years on from her Olympic breakthrough, Campbell is encouraged but not satisfied, saying: “We’re getting there. I wouldn’t say that it’s completely changed, I wouldn’t say we’re where we need to be but people hopefully are listening – I’ve definitely shouted enough about it.

  “You are seeing now a lot more of an inclusive space within the fitness industry. Brands are starting to do the right thing. This all filters back down to what our young people see. They want to see people that represent them, that look like them, and that encourages them to get involved.

  “It’s always going to be an ongoing battle and, as long as I’ve got a voice and people can hear me, I’m going to shout about it.”

  Campbell is made aware of the impact her words and actions have every day through messages and interactions, and she said: “It’s actually overwhelming sometimes. I want to say I do see everything that comes into my inbox but as you can imagine it is (busy) in there.

  “The amount of people that have said they’ve started lifting, or they’ve lost X amount of weight or they’ve started doing a certain dance class, or they’ve just done something that they feel has made a positive impact on their life.

  “People do stop me in the street as well, it’s absolutely amazing and I can’t thank everybody enough for the support.”

• On this day in 2006: Kelly Sotherton wins heptathlon gold at Commonwealth Games

  Kelly Sotherton celebrated heptathlon gold at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, on this day in 2006.

  Sotherton, then aged 29, won what proved the sole major title of her career to give England a fourth of six athletics golds at the Games.

  Having seen her commanding lead after five events almost cut in half following a poor javelin display, fourth place in the final event, the 800 metres, was enough to seal overall victory.

  She finished with 6,396 points, 98 ahead of Australian silver-medallist Kylie Wheeler, while 20-year-old team-mate Jessica Ennis, who had been a point ahead of Wheeler heading into the 800m, took bronze with 6,269.

  Despite becoming champion, Sotherton expressed unhappiness over her performance, particularly her showing in the javelin – her best of 32.04m was more than a metre down on the 33.09m which ultimately cost her a world championship bronze medal in Helsinki the previous year.

  “At the moment I’m disappointed, not for gold but for my points total,” she said.

  “I had a rubbish day today, my javelin is just getting worse. I have no words to describe how gutted I am at letting myself down.

  “But when I stand on the top step of the podium and listen to the national anthem for the first time ever I think I’ll realise I have achieved something quite good today.

  “I just wanted to win and get across the line to become Commonwealth champion.”

  Sotherton had claimed heptathlon bronze at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and further bronzes were earned from the heptathlon at the Osaka 2007 World Championships and Beijing 2008 Olympics, as well as the 4x400m relay at the latter.

  Sotherton, who announced her retirement in 2012, did not receive the Beijing medals until 2018, having been upgraded following disqualifications.