The city has thrown open its doors to over 6,500 athletes from 71 nations from all corners of the globe and supporters and coaches alike are expected to watch on from the edge of their seats as the raft of international superstars take to Hampden, Celtic Park, Ibrox, the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome and a host of other Glasgow venues.

Runners from Rwanada, boxers from Botswana and swimmers from the Seychelles will combine to put on the biggest sports show Scotland has seen since the 1986 Meadowbank Games, where the likes of Steve Cram and Steve Redgrave took home gold on the world stage.

However, as well as the stars travelling to Glasgow from far and wide, the Games also present medal opportunities for a hockey player and a discuss thrower from Helensburgh.

Former Rhu Primary pupil Nicki Skrastin, 21, has over 30 caps for Scotland and over the next fortnight she will be looking to add a medal to those caps when she takes to the pitch at the National Hockey Centre in Glasgow Green.

The former Loch Lomond Hockey club midfielder puts her success on the hockey pitch down to the coaching of her former Lomond School teacher Mrs Taylor and it is safe to say when she takes to the pitch for Scotland’s opening game against Malaysia on July 25 she will have all of Lomond School as well as the rest of Helensburgh supporting her.

And while Skrastin struts her stuff on the hockey pitch, Helensburgh will also be represented in the field at Hampden, by discus thrower Angus McInroy.

McInroy competed for Team Scotland at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010, where he finished ninth and this time around his is looking to push even further up the leaderboard.

Nicki Skrastin From: Helensburgh Age: 21 Sport: Hockey Venue: Glasgow National Hockey Centre Starts: July 25 Aims: To reach at least the semi finals The former Loch Lomond Hockey Club midfielder now plays for Clydesdale Western where her talents have been recognised with a number of international call ups, however, the call up for the Commonwealth Games is still sinking in.

The 21-year-old said: “It’s a bit of a dream come true, but the last two years we as a squad have been training extremely hard and it’s nice to see that that has paid off. It’s still slowly sinking in.

“I’ve never been to a multi-sport tournament before and seeing so much effort and enthusiasm from volunteers and other sporting organisations is so exciting, and it’ll be awesome to play in front of such a big home crowd.” No doubt there will be a large, expectant crowd in attendance when Nicki and the rest of the hockey girls take to the pitch on July 25 against Malaysia.

The full Scotland women’s hockey squad: Ali Bell, Vikki Bunce, Linda Clement, Aileen Davis, Leigh Fawcett, Amy Gibson, Nikki Kidd, Nikki Lloyd, Emily Maguire, Susan McGilveray, Morag McLellan, Catriona Ralph, Sarah Robertson, Nicki Skrastin, Rebecca Ward and Ailsa Wyllie.

Angus McInroy From: Helensburgh Age: 27 Sport: Discus Venue: Hampden Park Starts: July 30 Aims: To better his finish of ninth at Delhi 2010 McInroy is currently ranked 129th in the world, however, with a number of the top discus throwers, including world number one Robert Harting from Germany, not eligible for the Games, McInroy is looking to beat his ninth place finish at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

The former Lomond School pupil set a discus personal best of 58.77m in Donnas, Italy in July 2010, if he can better that throw he will be hoping to get close to the Hampden podium.

However, even without the likes of Harting and fellow German Martin Wierig, McInroy will still face tough competition from a host of other athletes including Indian Vikas Gowda, who finished an impressive eighth in the London Olympic Games.

Further competition is expected to come from Delhi 2010 gold medal winner and current world number 12 Ben Harradine.

Although Harradine’s preparation for the games didn’t get off to the best of starts — he was fined by Athletics Australia for arriving late — he will still be confident of securing a medal to take back down under.

McInroy gets his Commonwealth Games underway with the qualifying heats at Hampden on July 30 where he will be hoping to reach the final on the following day.