A Scottish swimmer rejects an approach to appear on a dating reality show, Idi Amin’s grandson reveals his royal plans and an Australian weightlifter adds to his family’s medal history.
Here are the quick hits from day six of the Commonwealth Games.
1. Swimmer gives up Love Island opportunity
Scottish swimmer Katie Shanahan turned down an offer to appear on Love Island. (Getty Images: Â Ian MacNicol)
Last year, Scottish swimmer Katie Shanahan had a choice to make.
Should she keep training with an eye on earning Commonwealth Games selection?
Or appear on reality dating program Love Island?
Shanahan spurned the chance to enter the villa and chose to focus on her swimming career and the decision is paying off.
The 22-year-old won silver in the women’s 200m backstroke at the Glasgow Games.
“I’m the biggest Love Island fan ever. I’ve watched every season”, Shanahan told BBC Scotland News.
“Last year the producers asked me and [English swimmer] Abbie Wood if we would be interested in doing it.
“I couldn’t go on, though, because [I was] focusing on the swimming, but who knows in the future?
“I was a bit tempted but the swimming had to come first.”
2. Idi Amin’s grandson’s vow
Aziz Abdul is disqualified during his bout on day six. (Reuters: Matthew Childs)
Carrying a family legacy into a sporting occasion can be a good thing.
In this instance, we’re not sure it is.
Ugandan 90+kg boxer Aziz Abdul is the grandson of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.
Amin took charge in a coup in 1971 and ruled the country for eight years, during which an estimated half a million people were killed and the country’s entire Asian population was expelled.
The Butcher of Uganda, as he was also known, had a bizarre fascination with Scotland, which was the subject of a film starring Forest Whitaker as Amin, The Last King Of Scotland.
It appears his grandson shares a similar love for the nation.
“In everything we do, God knows tomorrow,” he told BBC Sport Scotland.Â
“It’s God’s plan. I might be the new king of Scotland. It’s possible.
“When I arrived, I put up the flag, ’cause I like Scotland so much.”
He fought England’s Damar Thomas on day six in Glasgow but was disqualified for a headbutt during their quarterfinal.
3. Ollie’s fall
Oliver Hoare falls during the mile heats. (Getty Images: Michael Steele)
Ollie Hoare suffered a major scare in the mile heats, falling half way through the race after appearing to be tripped.
“There was no-one in front of me and I fell down,” Hoare later said in the mix zone.
“Tough to have that happen because obviously I wanted to compete on my own merit, and having something like that happen sucks.
“I got up and kept competing because that’s what we do.”
The Australian team immediately appealed to get Hoare into Saturday’s final and were successful, meaning the worst of things for Hoare was a bit of track rash.
“I’m a bit scabbed up and feeling crap about it but we move on,” he said.
He joins fellow Australians Adam Spencer and Cam Myer in the final.
4. Like father, like son
Oliver Saxton secured Commonwealth Games bronze in Scotland 40 years after his dad did the same. (Getty Images: Francois Nel)
At the 1986 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games, English weightlifter Andrew Saxton claimed his first Commonwealth Games medal, a bronze in the 100kg sub-heavyweight division.
Forty years later, his son, Australian Ollie Saxton, achieved the same result in the 94kg division in Glasgow.
Saxton senior went on to win three golds in Auckland — back then you got a medal for the snatch, clean and jerk, and overall — something that would only earn him one medal today.
He represented England in those two Games, but four years after that, in Victoria, British Colombia, he won a silver for Australia.
Something for Ollie to aspire to in four years in Ahmedabad.
5. Bobsleigh ‘bootcamp’ for Welsh shot putter
Keeping busy during the athletics off-season is not a problem for Adele Nicoll.
The Welsh shot putter has one of the more unusual sporting crossover stories, mixing shot putt with bobsleigh.
And she’s pretty good at both. In February she was flying down on the Pista Olimpica Eugenio Monti in Cortina d’Ampezzo at the 2026 Winter Olympics, where she finished 18th in the monobob and 15th in the two-woman.
She thinks the rigours and unglamorous life of a bobsled athlete places her in good stead for athletics.
“In athletics, we just get our kit bag and we turn up to the track, but with the bobsleigh we’re driving the vans around the world,” Nicoll told the BBC.
“You race, you pack up all the equipment and you drive to the next location, which could be a 24-hour journey.
Adele Nicoll competed in Milano-Cortina in the monobob and two-woman bobsleigh events. (Getty Images: Al Bello)
“It’s just you and your teammates. You’re doing all the servicing of the sleds, you’re doing everything.
“Bobsleigh is basically a boot camp that makes you the most resilient, hard-working, grafting athlete.
“I’ve come back into athletics now with that discipline and that’s what I think has made me a much better track and field athlete.”
Nicoll finished fifth in the women’s shot put today, AEST, with a best effort of 16.33m.
Nicoll is not the only crossover athlete to combine bobsledding with the Commonwealth Games.
Four-time medallist in track cycling from Birmingham 2022 and 2021 Tokyo Olympic sprint champion, Canadian Kelsey Mitchell, is also partial to bobsledding and finished 13th in the two-woman event in Cortina — and even acted as some inspiration for Aussie track cyclist Kristina Clonan.
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