Scotland's sporting year in 30 pictures

7 April - Edinburgh beat four-time European Cup champions Toulouse 19-14 at Murrayfield

7 April - Edinburgh beat four-time European Cup champions Toulouse 19-14 in front of 37,881 fans at Murrayfield to become the first Scottish side to reach the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup. Their dream of reaching the final crumbled when they lost 22-19 to Ulster

8 April - Scotland skip Tom Brewster led his rink to the final of the World Men's Curling Championship in Basel. However, the Scots lost to Canada for the second year running, on this occasion going down 8-7

8 May - Scotland and Edinburgh full-back Chris Paterson calls time on his playing career. This image captures Scotland's record caps holder and points scorer's defensive talents, as he brings down Italy's Luke McLean at Murrayfield in the 2011 Six Nations

28 May - Bathgate's Dario Franchitti wins the 96th Indianapolis 500 to join an elite band of drivers to take the race three times. Franchitti, representing Ganassi Racing Honda, poses with the incredible Borg Warner trophy

5 June - Greig Laidlaw rejoices after kicking a penalty in added time to defeat Australia on their own turf. Laidlaw's kick secured a famous 9-6 win at the Hunter Stadium, Newcastle, and Scotland went on to defeat Fiji and Samoa too on their summer tour

17 June - Aged only 19, Comrie's Carly Booth followed her maiden Ladies European Tour win at the Scottish Open with victory at the Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open in a three-way play-off

8 July - Having lost to Novak Djokovic in a five-set semi-final at the Australian Open in January, Andy Murray reached the Wimbledon men's singles final. An imperious Roger Federer made it four Grand Slam final defeats in a row for the Scot but happier times were just around the corner for him...

13 July - David Millar celebrates winning his first Tour de France stage in nine years as the Garmin rider crosses the finishing line at the end of the 226km 12th stage from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Annonay Davezieux

15 July - Glasgow's Marc Warren drives off at the 15th three shots ahead of the pack on the final day of the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart. He had to hack out of the rough, carded a double bogey and lost by one shot to India's Jeev Milkha Singh, who won a play-off against Francesco Molinari

30 July - Gymnast Daniel Purvis, along with Louis Smith, Sam Oldham, Kristian Thomas and Max Whitlock, win a bronze medal at the London Olympics for Team GB - having originally taken silver before a Japanese appeal. Purvis, from Liverpool, has a Scottish mother and has represented Scotland in international events

2 August - There was success for Scots in Team GB at the Lee Valley White Water Centre on day six of the London Olympics. Tim Baillie (2nd from left) from Westhill, Aberdeenshire and Etienne Stott (4th from left) won gold in the Canoe Double Men's Slalom final, with Aberdeen's David Florence (2nd from right) and Richard Hounslow clinching silver

3 August - At last, Katherine Grainger (left) can celebrate winning an Olympic gold medal. A six-time world rowing champion and silver medal winner at the last three Olympics, the Glaswegian, with team-mate Anna Watkins, won the women's double sculls final at Eton Dorney

5 August - With his Wimbledon final defeat by Roger Federer fresh in his mind, Andy Murray exacts revenge 28 days later on Centre Court at SW19 to beat the Great Swiss 6-2 6-1 6-4 in under two hours to win Olympic gold

6 August - Peebles rider Scott Brash guides Hello Sanctos in the jump-off for gold against the Netherlands for the team showjumping event at the equestrian venue in Greenwich Park. It was Britain's first Olympic showjumping medal since 1984 and their first gold since the Helsinki 1952 Games

7 August - Having already helped Team GB to gold in the team sprint five days earlier, Sir Chris Hoy celebrates winning a gold medal in the men's keirin track cycling final at London's velodrome. In doing so, he became the most successful British Olympian of all time

10 August - Glasgow's Laura Bartlett (2nd from left) celebrates in the bronze medal play-off during the women's field hockey bronze medal match between New Zealand and Britain at the Riverbank Arena in London. Emily Maguire was the other Scot in the team

10 August - Luke Patience (right), from Aberdeen, and sailing partner of three years Stuart Bithell celebrate winning the silver medal in the men's 470 sailing on day 14 of the Games at Weymouth

1 September - After the Olympics, the Paralympics came to London and Scots contributed to 11 medals. A sprinter at the Beijing Paralympics, Aberdeen's Neil Fachie (right) switched to tandem track cycling and won gold in the blind and visually impaired 1km time trial with pilot Barney Storey. The following day Grantown's Craig MacLean piloted Anthony Kappes to gold in the tandem sprint

10 September - The London 2012 Victory Parade for Team GB and Paralympics GB athletes was another chance to celebrate the sporting stars' achievements. Waving to the crowds are Helen Glover and Lossiemouth's Heather Stanning, who won gold in the women's coxless pairs

15 September - Kyles Athletic captain Andrew King lifts the Camanachd Cup after helping the Tighnabruaich team beat Argyll rivals Inveraray 6-5 in the final at Mossfield Park, Oban

16 September - Thousands of well-wishers line the streets of Dunblane as Andy Murray returns to a hero's welcome in his home town. Five days earlier Murray had followed his Olympic triumph with a sensational victory over Novak Djokovic in the US Open final to win his first tennis major and become Britain's first male Grand Slam singles champion since Fred Perry in 1936

22 September - Coatbridge boxer Ricky Burns launches another blistering assault on Kevin Mitchell in his defence of his WBO world lightweight title at the SECC in Glasgow. Burns' year ended in frustration as his proposed bout at the ExCel Arena in London was postponed when opponent Jose Ocampo, himself a stand-in for the injured Liam Walsh, pulled out with six days to go

1 October - Paul Lawrie helped Europe defeat the United States in a thrilling Ryder Cup at Medinah, near Chicago. The 43-year-old from Aberdeen rediscovered his best form, winning the Qatar Masters and the Johnnie Walker Championship before forming part of Jose Maria Olazabal's team. In December, Glasgow's Scott Jamieson won his first European Tour event at the Nelson Mandela Championship

17 November - Those members of the Scottish public who were quick to snap up the tickets got a taste for the 2014 Commonwealth Games when the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow held its first international event, the UCI Track Cycling World Cup. Pictured here is the women's omnium points race

24 November - Scotland's rugby head coach Andy Robinson cuts an exasperated figure after the 21-15 defeat by Tonga at Pittodrie. It was Scotland's 10th loss in their last 13 Tests, enough to cause Robinson to resign a few days later

3 December - Fife's Gordon Shedden poses with the British Racing Drivers Club Silver Star, awarded for the strongest performance of the year in domestic motorsport. Shedden won his first British Touring Cars title at Brands Hatch with a race to spare on the final day of the championship

8 December - Scotland's triumphant bowlers return from the World Championships in Adelaide. David Peacock, Darren Burnett and Graeme Archer triumphed in the men's triples with a 13-12 win over Australia. Paul Foster and Alex Marshall won the pairs, and the women's fours team comprising Margaret Letham, Caroline Brown, Lynn Stein and Michelle Cooper beat Malaysia 18-15

12 December - Garioch swimmer Hannah Miley shows off her 400m individual medley gold medal at the World Short Course Championships in Istanbul. She followed this with a fourth-place finish in the 800m freestyle and a bronze in the 200m IM

14 December - At the same tournament in Istanbul, Michael Jamieson wins a silver medal in the 200m breaststroke, completing an incredible year for the Glaswegian, following his Olympic silver in the 200m breaststroke

15 December - Eve Muirhead (right) and her Scotland rink finish runners-up in the European Curling Championship in Karlstad, Sweden, having just failed to defend their title, losing 6-5 to Russia. Pictured with Muirhead are Sarah Reid, coach David Hay, Claire Hamilton, Vicki Adams and Anna Sloan

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