Dee McGillivray finished first in four of the seven women’s heavy athletic events during the 2026 Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, thereby claiming the top spot overall for the competition. This is McGillivray’s first time competing at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games.
The 40-year-old high school physical education teacher and Olympic weightlifter, who resides in Albuquerque, N.M., has competed in multiple athletic events at the national and international levels. With a background in rugby, Olympic handball and weightlifting, Highland Games heavy athletics was a natural next step for her.
She won the 12-pound sheaf toss, the 28-pound weight throw for distance, the 14-pound weight throw for distance and the hammer throw — impressing the crowd in both rain and shine. The competition day included a very rainy morning and a more pleasant afternoon.
“New Mexico is bone dry… I actually thought it was really fun throwing in the rain and trying to adapt to that,” McGillivray said. “I do like being in the clouds. It’s a really nice background.”
McGillivray began training after Nik Aston, her coach and a professional Highland Games athlete, encouraged her to try it. At her first competition, she placed third in the amateur division after only three practices, and she has been raising the bar ever since. This is her third year competing.
Joining the strong community of female athletes is a big contributing factor of what makes this competition so special to McGillivray.
“My favorite part in general is getting to collaborate and build camaraderie with all the other girls and getting to see them all over the country several times a year,” she said. “It’s like you get to see your best friends all over the place.”
McGillivray is excited to return to compete alongside her fellow athletes, friends and wife at Grandfather Mountain in the future.
This year’s Grandfather Mountain Highland Games saw 11 women competing in front of a large crowd this past Saturday.
Alisha Donner was this year’s runner-up, winning the 28-pound weight toss for height and stone throw and coming in second for the 14-pound weight throw for distance and the hammer throw.
The women’s elite competition is by invitation only and featured 11 competitors vying to best each other in seven different categories: the sheaf toss (during which competitors use a pitchfork to hurl a burlap bag stuffed with straw over a horizontal bar), 28-pound weight toss for height, stone throw, 28-pound weight throw for distance, 14-pound weight throw for distance, hammer (spherical weight fastened to a wooden handle) throw and caber toss.
The 2026 Grandfather Mountain Highland Games took place July 9-12 at Grandfather Mountain’s MacRae Meadows in Linville, N.C. To learn more about the Highland Games, visit www.gmhg.org.