Mark Stewart describes his debut Commonwealth Games appearance in Glasgow 12 years ago as “probably the most pivotal point in my career” as the Scottish cyclist prepares to return to the city this summer.
Back in 2014, Stewart was a student in Dundee, sleeping on a pal’s couch when in Glasgow to prepare for the Games.
He was “dead last” in the points race with aching legs and doubts over racing again the next day, but bounced back for a sixth-place finish in the scratch race.
Four years on, he won the points race gold in Australia’s Gold Coast.
The 30-year-old can also boast three World Championship medals [two silver, one bronze] and was part of the Team GB track team at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Recalling his first experience of the Commonwealth Games, Stewart told BBC Scotland: “It was massive, probably the most pivotal point in my career, if you could pinpoint a moment or a race that changed a trajectory.
“It allowed me to show the GB team, to show the international track cycling community that I could compete.
“I took a kicking in the points race and I remember thinking ‘I don’t know how it’s going to be possible to race again tomorrow the way I feel right now’.
“But coming sixth in the scratch race was a turning point for me mentally, to go ‘okay, I can do this and I do belong’.”