In the Olympic Games held in Sydney in September 2000, Scotland's athletes won nine gold and silver medals (and no bronze), a number not equalled since 1912 and the first gold medals since 1988. And the Olympics 2000 certainly proved to be a big improvement over 1996 in Atlanta - when Scottish competitors, participating as always as part of the UK team, won only one bronze.
In the 2004 Olympics in Athens Scots won just two golds and two silvers but improved on that in 2008 in Beijing with 3 golds and three silver medals. All the gold medals in Beijing were won by cyclist Chris Hoy who was knighted in the 2009 New Year Honours "for services to Sport".
With the Olympics being held in London in 2012, special efforts were made to ensure that British athletes did well in the games (including a significant sum allocated from the National Lottery to support many of the athletes). And those efforts certainly paid off. "Team GB" won 65 medals (29 gold 17 silver and 19 bronze thus ranking 3rd in the medals table). But of that total number of medals, Scots, (who account for 8.4% of the UK population) won or contributed to 12 of these.
Here is the complete list of Scottish Olympic medal winners since 1896, in reverse chronological order. In this context, "Scottish" mainly means born in Scotland (though Eric Liddell of "Chariot's of Fire" fame is included, even though he was born in China, of Scottish parents).
The Royal Mail published sets of stamps with the portraits of all UK gold medal winners - Scots gold medal winners in 2012 are shown below - Andy Murray, Sir Chris Hoy and Katherine Grainger .
2012 London
| Sir Chris Hoy | Gold | Cycling, Team Sprint |
| Sir Chris Hoy | Gold | Cycling, Keirin |
| Timothy Baillie | Gold | Canoeing Slalom, C-2 team |
| Katherine Grainger | Gold | Rowing, Double Sculls |
| Andy Murray | Gold | Tennis Mens' Singles |
| Scott Brash | Gold | Equestrian, Team Jumping |
| Andy Murray | Silver | Tennis Mixed doubles |
| Luke Patience | Silver | Sailing, Mens 470 |
| David Florence | Silver | Canoeing Slalom, C-2 team |
| Michael Jamieson | Silver | Swimming 200m Breaststroke |
| Laura Bartlett | Bronze | Field Hockey |
| Emily Maguire | Bronze | Field Hockey |
2008 Beijing
| Chris Hoy | Gold | Cycling, Keirin |
| Chris Hoy | Gold Cycling | Sprint |
| Chris Hoy | Gold Cycling | Team Sprint |
| Ross Edgar | Silver | Cycling, Keirin |
| Katherine Grainger | Silver | Rowing, Quadruple sculls |
| David Florence | Silver | Canoeing Slalom, C-1 |
2004 Athens
| Chris Hoy | Gold | Cycling 1 km time-trial |
| Shirley Robertson | Gold Sailing | Yngling class |
| Katherine Grainger | Silver | Rowing Women's pairs |
| Campbell Walsh | Silver | Canoeing Slalom, K1 Kayak |
2000 Sydney
| Andrew Lindsay | Gold | Rowing men's eight |
| Shirley Robertson | Gold | Sailing Europe class |
| Stephanie Cook | Gold | Modern pentathlon |
| Chris Hoy | Silver | Cycling Olympic sprint team |
| Craig MacLean | Silver | Cycling Olympic sprint team |
| Ian Stark | Silver | Equestrian 3-day event team |
| Gillian Lindsay | Silver | Rowing quadruple sculls |
| Katherine Grainger | Silver | Rowing quadruple sculls |
| Mark Covell | Silver | Sailing star class |
1996 Atlanta
| Graeme Smith | Bronze | 1,500m freestyle swimming |
1992 Barcelona
| Simon Terry | Bronze | Archery individual |
| Simon Terry | Bronze | Archery team |
| Susan Fraser | Bronze | Hockey team |
| Wendy Fraser | Bronze | Hockey team |
| Alison Ramsay | Bronze | Hockey team |
1988 Seoul
| Veryan Pappin | Gold | Hockey team |
| Michael McIntyre | Gold | Yachting star class |
| Liz McColgan | Silver | 10,000m |
| Elliot Bunney | Silver | 4x100m relay |
| Ian Stark | Silver | Equestrian 3-day event team |
| Alister Allan | Silver | Smallbore free rifle |
| Yvonne Murray | Bronze | 3,000m |
1984 Los Angeles
| Richard Budgett | Gold | Rowing coxed fours |
| Ian Stark | Silver | Equestrian 3-day event team |
| Veryan Pappin | Bronze | Hockey team |
| Alister Allan | Bronze | Smallbore free rifle |
| Neil Cochran | Bronze | 200m medley swimming |
| Neil Cochran | Bronze | 200m frestyle relay |
| Paul Easter | Bronze | 200m freestyle relay |
1980 Moscow
| Allan Wells | Gold | 200m silver |
| Linsey Macdonald | Bronze | 400m relay team |
1976 Montreal
| David Wilkie | Gold | 200m breastroke swimming |
| David Wilkie | Silver | 100m breastsroke swimming |
| Rodney Pattison | Silver | Yachting Flying Dutchman |
| Alan McClatchey | Bronze | 200m freestyle swimming relay |
| Gordon Downie | Bronze | 200m freestyle swimming relay |
1972 Munich
| Rodney Pattison | Gold | Yachting Flying Dutchman |
| David Jenkins | Silver | 400m relay team |
| David Wilkie | Silver | 200m breaststroke swimming |
| Ian Stewart | Bronze | 5,000m |
1968 Mexico
| Rodney Pattison | Gold | Yachting Flying Dutchman |
1964 Tokyo
| Bobby McGregor | Silver | 100m freestyle swimming |
1960 Rome
| Dick McTaggart | Bronze | Lightweight boxing |
1956 Melbourne
| Dick McTaggart | Gold | Lightweight boxing |
| John McCormack | Bronze | Light middleweight boxing |
1952 Helsinki
| Douglas Stewart | Gold | Equestrian showjumping team |
| Stephen Theobald | Bronze | Hockey team |
| Helen Gordon | Bronze | 200m breaststroke swimming |
1948 London
| Alistair McCorquodale | Silver | 4x100m relay |
| David Brodie | Silver | Hockey team |
| Robin Lindsay | Silver | Hockey team |
| William Lindsay | Silver | Hockey team |
| Geirge Sime | Silver | Hockey team |
| Neil White | Silver | Hockey team |
| Catherine Gibson | Bronze | 400m freestyle swimming |
1936 Munich
No medal winners from Scotland.
1932 Los Angeles
No medal winners from Scotland.
1928 Amsterdam
| Ellen King | Silver | 100m backstroke swimming |
| Ellen King | Silver | 100m freestyle relay swimming |
| Sarah Stewart | Silver | 100m freestyle relay swimming |
1924 Paris
| Eric Liddell | Gold | 400m |
| Eric Liddell | Bronze | 200m |
| James McNabb | Gold | Coxless fours |
| James McKenzie | Silver | Lightweight boxing |
| Archie Macdonald | Bronze | 100kg freestyle wrestling |
1920 Antwerp
| Robert Lindsay | Gold | 400m relay |
| John Sewell | Gold | Tug of war team |
| William Peacock | Gold | Water polo |
| James Wilson | Silver | Cross country team |
| Alexander Ireland | Silver | Welterweight boxing |
| James Wilson | Bronze | 10,000m |
| George McKenzie | Bronze | Bantamweight bronze |
1912 Stockholm
| Henry Macintosh | Gold | 100m |
| Philup Fleming | Gold | Rowing eights |
| Angus Gillan | Gold | Rowing eights |
| William Kinnear | Gold | Single sculls |
| Robert Murray | Gold | Small bore shooting |
| George Cornet | Gold | Water polo |
| Isabella Moore | Gold | 100m freestyle swimming |
| James Soutter | Bronze | 400m relay |
| John Sewell | Silver | Tug of war team |
1908 London
| Name | Medal | Sport |
| Arthur Robertson | Gold | Team steeplechase |
| Wyndam Halswelle | Gold | 400m |
| Angus Gillan | Gold | Coxless fours |
| George Cornet | Gold | Water polo |
| Royal Clyde YC | Gold | 12 metres class |
| Arthur Robertson | Silver | Steeplechase |
| Alex McCulloch | Silver | Single sculls |
| Hugh Roddin | Bronze | Featherweight boxing |
| Scottish team | Bronze | Hockey |
1904 Athens
| Name | Medal | Sport |
| John McGough | Silver | 1,500m |
| Wyndam Halswelle | Silver | 400m |
| Wyndam Halswelle | Bronze | 800m |
1900 Paris
| Name | Medal | Sport |
| Walter Rutherford | Silver | Golf |
| David Robertson | Bronze | Golf |
1896 Athens
| Name | Medal | Sport |
| Launceston Elliot | Gold | Weightlifting, One-Handed |
| Launceston Elliot | Silver | Weightlifting, Two-Handed |
