Alex Mackay will cut short her Commonwealth Games experience to start her new job as a junior doctor at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Newcastle. The 23-year-old graduated with a medical degree from the University of Dundee just a few weeks ago and finished seventh on her Commonwealth Games debut in the women's weightlifting 48kg category. She gets just two days after the Games before starting her rounds.
Balancing training and medical career
"It's definitely been a challenge just getting here and I've just loved every second," she said. "It felt like complete chaos at times. Alongside the injuries, I was finishing university, moving house, starting a new job and dealing with all the emotional stresses that come with big life changes.
"It's easy to underestimate how much those things affect your training, but it's all external stress and it does have an impact. It's taught me that sometimes you have to pull back. You can't keep pushing because your body's already dealing with so much."
New beginnings in Newcastle
"I've just moved to Newcastle and we start our induction on Wednesday. I'll be there for at least two years. I've joined the weightlifting club there and they've really welcomed me. Moving somewhere new can be challenging, but they've already made me feel like part of the family. Having that community around you makes such a difference."
Mackay, who looks younger than her age, often surprises patients. "The patients are always really surprised when I say I'm a weightlifter. They expect me to be a gymnast," she added. "They also question my age quite a lot and ask if I'm even old enough to be standing beside their bed. But I love talking about my sport and why I do it."
Road to the Commonwealth Games
Her first sporting passion was swimming, but Mackay took up weightlifting during the Covid pandemic five years ago. She was the first of nine Scots to compete at the SEC Armadillo in Glasgow. She feared her Games ambitions would be derailed when she was forced to step up from the under-45kg to under-48kg division, but she won the British title to secure her spot.
"Just qualifying was always going to be a challenge and I'd achieved my ambition before I'd even started competing," she said. "I previously competed as a 45kg lifter, so moving into the 48kg category meant I had to build up and progress quite quickly to reach the required standard. From the start of the year, I also had a couple of injuries and niggles.
"I actually had to pull out of the second-to-last Commonwealth qualifier in April, which was a big setback. Then I had to give everything at the British Championships and, thankfully, my performance there was enough."
"It was really special performing in front of a home crowd, and they definitely didn't disappoint. The atmosphere and the noise in the arena were insane."
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