“The opening ceremony was a big highlight for me. Seeing the amount of people who came out from the local community to cheer on everyone, not just those competing for Orkney, was brilliant. I feel like that was the start of something special happening – I sensed everyone was pretty hyped for the Games and it was an awesome atmosphere. It made me feel proud to be Orcadian.
“After that, personally competing in the Games and then going on to win individual gold and medals for the team was something I never expected. The goal was always to win a medal but to win it in front of a home crowd, in front of my family and friends as well, was unbelievable.
“Getting to medal in the team event was something we’d (as a team) never dreamt of either, particularly as we’d never got a medal in Squash before these Games - and now we have five - so we we’re all pretty over the moon to put ourselves in the history books.
“It kind of helped us all for me to get the gold at the start of the week. I feel that really encouraged and spurred us all on as we had the belief we could all do it as a team. It’s just mental thinking about it still!
“Seeing the crowds that came out across the Games, and when I was playing too, just gave me goosebumps. There was a lot of emotion and certainly a few tears along the way. It was one of the best weeks of my life.”
Quotes from Finlay Scott sharing his memories following Orkney 2025 International Island Games
Memory added on October 8, 2025
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