Commonwealth Games 2022: Jack Carlin is Scotland's low profile, high achiever

Jack Carlin claimed sprint bronze and team sprint silver in Tokyo last summer

There are not many people in Paisley with two Olympic medals. But even if Jack Carlin was to saunter through his home town with those lumps of silver and bronze clanking around his neck, there's every chance he would go unrecognised.

The 25-year-old Team Scotland cyclist is a low profile, high achiever.

Even when claiming third place in the sprint in Tokyo last summer, and going one better in the team event, his achievement was a little lost in the glare of colleague Jason Kenny becoming Britain's most successful Olympian in the latter race.

But that is not to say Carlin entirely blends into the background. "Aye, there's not many of the young team go to Ibiza with a multi-tool and lycra in their suitcase, I suppose..."

Furthermore, watching him among his Team Scotland cycling colleagues, it is clear that this is an athlete of status. One of the big dogs of a relatively inexperienced squad. A man of whom medals in Birmingham are not just expected, but demanded.

Carlin, having been sculpted by British Cycling's unforgiving knife, embraces that status.

"Expectation is always there if you represent GB," he says. "I'm going down there to win but there are other guys from other countries wanting to do the same thing. We all know each other and what we can do and there is a pressure on all of us.

"It's a rivalry, but they're also my mates so - and don't tell them this - but if I don't do well I'd like to see them do well. But I'll tell you right now, if it's Scotland versus England there's only one I want to win."

Carlin has also had a little distance from his British team-mates in recent weeks, having temporarily moved his base from Manchester to Glasgow and the velodrome in the east end where, as a wide-eyed teenager, he watched the 2014 Games.

Immersing himself back into Scottish life, with his friends and family around him, has proved invigorating. Even if his pals had to be warned not to try and lure him into any nocturnal capers.

"It's been a different dynamic to the one I'm used to with GB ," he says. "The Scotland team feels quite family-like and the Commies is different to the Olympics. It's a breath of fresh air because very rarely do we represent where we're actually from.

"The opportunity to do that is a huge honour because it's what I wanted to do as a kid, sitting here watching Glasgow 2014."

Having made his Games debut in Gold Coast four years ago - and won silver in the sprint - Carlin has already experienced what the event has to offer, both on and off the boards.

This time the cyclists will complete at the Olympic Park in London, so will not get to enjoy life in the athletes' village - "it's the parties afterwards I'll miss" - but the looming European Championships would have impinged on that regardless.

Instead Carlin will focus on claiming "two medals, hopefully the right colour" to add to the lightly tarnished ones already in his possession.

"There's a few chips and scrapes in the Olympic ones from parties and other people cutting about wearing them, but I wouldn't have it any other way," he says. "There's a lot of memories stored in those two pieces of metal."

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