Alex Salmond: London 2012 will be final lap for Team GB Lord Coe, the London 2012 chief, has also poured scorn on the idea by highlighting the pride he and his Scottish room mate, Allan Wells, felt at winning gold for Britain in Moscow in 1980. But earlier this year Mr Salmond published a timetable for an independence referendum and the subsequent negotiations with the UK if Scots back his plans. This would see voters go to the polls to vote for the first independent Scottish Parliament in May 2016, four months before the Rio Olympics begin. Mr Salmond confirmed this meant London 2012 would be the final time Scottish athletes compete as part of the UK, signalling the end of Team GB. "An independent country would compete as an independent nation at the Olympics," the First Minister told a press conference in Edinburgh. Of course, before then as part of the UK or not, Scotland will be competing as an independent competitor nation in the Commonwealth Games. But Patricia Ferguson, a Labour MSP, said: "If he thinks attacking Team GB this is going to make separation less unpopular, he is deluded. Playing political games with Scotland's elite athletes just days before the Olympic Games is a big mistake and one he will regret. Jackson Carlaw, Scottish Tory deputy leader, added: "Scottish athletes will make a huge contribution to Team GB in London just as I am sure they will again in Rio in 2016. Poor Alex should worry more about the race to succeed him which will surely follow his failed referendum bid.