Alex Marshall MBE is looking forward to his record-breaking eighth Commonwealth Games after making his debut in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.
The 59-year-old is the most successful Team Scotland Commonwealth Games athlete with five golds and a total of seven medals and the legendary bowler was inducted into World Bowls Hall of Fame in 2025.
Marshall has done it all so what continues to motivate this special athlete who has been selected for the men’s pairs along with Paul Foster (Troon Portland) in Glasgow?
The East Lothian-based athlete said: “To be fair, I just love the sport. Back, many years ago, when I was eight years old, it was the family who got me started, father and grand-father. It was either football or bowls.”
He picked bowls and Scotland have benefited. Marshall has still got the hunger and the dedication and he loves to be part of multi-team events like the Commonwealth Games.
Marshall continues to be very focused on what he does and he added: “I am always determined to do well.”
Marshall, who represents the Gifford Club, has just returned from a four-month-plus spell Down Under, playing against some of the best on the planet in top competitions, so he knows the quality of the opposition which will jet into Glasgow for the Games which start on July 23.
The Edinburgh-born athlete, who first represented Scotland in 1988, is, not surprisingly, aiming to end up on the podium.
But he warned: “There are so many fantastic countries out there.”
Foster and Marshall have a great partnership but the Lothians-based bowler said: “I know it will be difficult, and there are a lot of Aussies, Kiwis and other countries who are hard to beat.
“You have to give 110 per cent and that is what we will be giving, but we are quietly confident of a medal. Hopefully, it will be the gold medal.”
Bowls, on this occasion, is indoors on a portable rink probably around four metres wide with crowd, possibly, on both sides. That can be intimidating but he added: “Because Paul and I are used to it, that is a huge advantage for us.
“You do not really worry about the crowd. You are concentrated purely on your own game and you tend to forget what is around you.
“It can, however, be daunting for a lot of people. It is like a football match. You really feel the atmosphere.”
He admitted that everybody is nervous before the start of a key game but Marshall said: “You go on there and you play the first couple of ends then you just concentrate on your own individual game.”
The media focus will be on Marshall and he admitted to having broad shoulders. Social media does not bother him and he added: “There are people trying to wind you up. I’ve been heckled before, people can say what they want. I will just go out there and play as I would normally.
“If you start looking at social media that can totally put you off, so my advice to anybody involved in the Commonwealth Games is not to look at social media.”
Foster and Marshall are almost certain to be favourites for the title, but the Scot said: “When you are the best, everybody wants to knock the best off the top.”
TOP PAIR: Paul Foster (left) and Alex Marshall who represent Scotland in the men’s pairs. Picture courtesy of Team Scotland
