A woman has made Western Isles history by becoming the only ever female from the Outer Hebrides to represent Scotland in the Commonwealth Games.
Kerry Macphee of South Uist has been confirmed as a mountain bike competitor in the games taking place in Glasgow this summer.
The determined 28-
Kerry was tipped by coaches for the 2018 Commonwealth games but her excellence in mountain biking impressed the selection panel so much they want her immediately.
Not bad for someone who only started to focus on cycling in October. Since then its been a furious whirlwind of hard training and tough racing against international rivals with the Scottish national team in a bid to represent her country.
For years, Kerry was a successful triathlon competitor but her swimming was holding her back from reaching the top.
She switched to cycling after finishing amongst the leaders in a mountain bike race a year ago.
A coach put her with Scottish Cycling to get her elite racing licence and she was soon racing at top mountain bike events including the Swiss Cup and Belgian Cup.
Then Kerry did exceedingly well in the World Island Games in Bermuda last summer which saw her seize a clutch of medals for the Western Isles.
Since achieving her best result last autumn against international rivals in the high profile Belgian Cup in Houffalize, Belgium, her personal focus switched completely to cycling.
She got a specialist coach through the Scottish cycling development programme with an eye to have a chance at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Dramatic improvements in her cycling means the determined islander -
