Hawks continue their pre season training with a final week at Balgray the home of Kelvinside Academy and few realise that it was on their playing fields that a quest for Olympic gold was born in the form of a Kelvinside Academical Arthur Robertson

Arthur Robertson was a pupil at Kelvinside Academy before moving to England

He became the first of only six Scots to have won Olympic Gold at athletics when he gained that distinction at London's first Olympics in 1908

An all-round sportsman who originally preferred cycling, Robertson only took up athletics seriously in 1906; a fact that makes his achievements on the track all the more impressive. In 1908 alone Robertson won Olympic gold in the three mile team race - making him the first of only six Scots to do so - and Olympic silver in the steeplechase. He was also crowned the World Cross Country Champion, set a new world record in the 5,000m, and set a new Scottish native record in the four miles which remained unbeaten for some 45 years.

Olympic gold medal, three mile team race, 1908
Olympic silver medal, 3,000m steeplechase, 1908
World Cross Country Champion, 1908
World record holder, 5,000m, 1908

Balgray seems a suitable venue for sporting ambition because a fellow Kelvinside Academical Henry Rottenburg of the same era as Robertson who played rugby for Scotland is credited with inventing the modern starting blocks first used at the London Olympics of 1948 and with electronic help will play a key role this week as the 100 m gets underway

This article was posted on 28-Jul-2012, 09:35 by Hugh Barrow.