Scotland sports minister Shona Robison says her country will send a separate Olympic team to Rio de Janeiro in 2016 if its people vote for independence next year.
Scotland will vote on whether to become an independent country from Britain on September 18, 2014.
If the 'yes' vote prevails, Scottish National Party politician Robison would like to see a team flying the Scottish flag travelling to Brazil two years later.
She says Scotland has already fulfilled Olympic criteria relating to sporting infrastructure and the number of affiliated national sport federations in the country.
Until now, Scottish athletes have competed at the Olympics under the British flag alongside their counterparts from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Of the 542 members of the British team at last year's London Olympics, 55 were eligible to represent Scotland.
