NEIL FACHIE admits his career farewell exceeded all expectations after the cyclist cemented his status as Scotland’s most prolific Commonwealth Games winner.

The 42-year-old headed into Glasgow 2026 tied with bowler Alex Marshall on five gold medals and a silver.

Fachie moved top of the list on his own with gold in the men’s tandem B 1,000m time trial on Thursday along with guide Aaron Pope.

The visually impaired cyclist was not finished, though, and again beat James Ball of Wales into second place in the sprint on Saturday to claim his seventh gold medal.

The Aberdonian said: “I just wanted to to come here and say goodbye. I hoped to get a medal. If I could sneak a silver medal to get on top of the all-time list, I was going to be delighted.

“Two golds was way beyond my imagination but there was that little niggly part of me, I thought Flower of Scotland one more time in this velodrome would be immense.”

Fachie, who crashed before a re-race, added: “I always said it would be great for para sports to be top of the all-time list, just to give it that visibility.

“And every time the Commonwealth Games come I’ve loved it for giving visibility to tandem racing and how exciting it is.

“People in this crowd are not going to forget that. People still talk to me about 2014 and the races. It’s a great showcase and if I can get more people involved, great.”

Fachie came out of retirement to compete for Team Scotland but he was fairly sure that this would be his final farewell after juggling parenting duties and full-time work with training.

“My plan initially was, after work, once the little one’s gone to bed, then you go and train,” he said.

“But truth be told, you finish a long day of work, little one goes to bed, you sit down watch a bit of TV and then you’re ready for bed yourself.

“So it didn’t really work too well beyond a little early morning spin and then weekends getting a little bit of training in between heading out to parks and going on trampolines and all sorts.

“It’s not been ideal and that’s why this was so hard. I don’t think we should be winning these races but we are and we got something clicking so it’s a great way to end.”

Fachie, who has one Paralympic and 19 World Championships titles to his name, added: “I’m delighted to call it a day here…Scottish Cycling was a privilege to come back and ride for, it’s the only reason I did it. So this is it.”