Erin Boothman sealed her place among track cycling's leading lights with a pair of breakthrough bronzes at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The 19-year-old stunned defending champion Bryony Botha to take bronze in the individual pursuit, then climbed back on the bike to add a second bronze in the scratch race. Boothman initially finished fourth in that event before individual pursuit champion Anna Morris was disqualified.
'The biggest result of my career'
Boothman's first podium earned the biggest cheer of the night, and the teenager believes it is only the start of a glittering career as she targets the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
"For me, this is definitely my biggest and proudest result," she said. "To achieve it in front of a home crowd and wearing the Scotland kit makes it even more special. It's the biggest result of my career."
"I put quite a lot of pressure on myself for this event. Throughout the year I've felt like I've been stepping up and improving, but I haven't really been nervous. Then this morning I woke up with a completely different feeling."
"I knew I could come here and perform, and I really wanted to do that in front of my home crowd, my friends and my family. I'm super happy that I managed to deliver."
Home nations podium and a look to LA 2028
"Hopefully this is a big step forward. My goal is to make it to LA 2028 and I'd love to be part of the team pursuit squad alongside those other girls, so hopefully this performance helps me move closer to that."
The individual pursuit podium was a full home nations affair, with Wales' Morris taking gold and England's Josie Knight silver. The trio have yet to combine on the international stage, but that could change ahead of the Track World Championships in Shanghai in October.
"I'm really looking forward to the end of the year and the opportunities ahead," she added. "When you put three individual pursuit medallists together in one team, it could be something really special. I'm excited to see what we can do."
Crowd carries Boothman to a second bronze
Boothman had a busy afternoon at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, with little time to celebrate her individual pursuit success before taking on the scratch race. It looked set to be a narrow miss at a second podium until Morris was disqualified for illegally entering the sprinter's lane.
"The crowd has been amazing," she said. "There were a lot of Scottish supporters in the stands and everyone wanted to get behind the home riders."
"The crowd genuinely carried me through those final four laps of the individual pursuit. They've been incredible and I can't wait for the rest of the weekend. To leave my first day at a Commonwealth Games with two bronze medals is unbelievable. I couldn't be happier."
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