Midway through the Inas European Summer Games, the Great Britain Team has secured its place firmly on the medal table. Strong performances across all four sports have to date produced 4 Golds and 2 Bronze medals with very real prospects of more to come.
Whilst the story continues to unfold in Paris, today, day 4 of competition, we review some of the successes so far.
Athletics
The five strong British competitors faced an equally strong international field but got their campaign underway straight away.
Making his international debut, Sam Fernando held his nerve in a tough endurance race taking a well-deserved bronze medal (33’59” 76) in the 10,000m with his team mate, Chris McMillan securing 5th place (35’45″64) in his first international for GB.
Declan Manning whilst missing out on a podium finish, produced another PB and secured 4th place in the shot.
Monday also saw Charlotte Cox make her Inas debut registering solid performances in the long jump, shot and 100m, Cox securing her the Gold medal in the Triathlon with 918 points.
Keen to earn that coveted podium place, Declan Manning pushed hard and took the bronze medal (34m 63) in the discus securing his first medal of the Championships. Sam Fernando, not content with just one medal, knocked an incredible 6 seconds off his PB claiming the Gold medal in the men’s Steeplechase in a performance of 10’04″64. Nathan Fleetwood progressed to the final of the 200m, and will continue his bid for glory later in the week.
Cycling
Storming to victory, on Monday, Kiera Byland swiftly placed Great Britain on the medal table taking Gold in the cycling time trial (10:30,20). Motivated by success she was keen to repeat performances on day 2 in the ladies road race.
Byland was heavily marked in the race, especially by the Russian riders. With just a lap and half to go she executed her breakaway plan perfectly and split the other riders getting a 10 second gap by the end of that lap. A superbly accomplished ride and combining her confidence in the last lap Byland claimed her second Gold medal of the Championships in a time of 53:32.
Clear from the outset was that the men’s race had the strongest field for many years. Ruairidh Brown, focussed on his plan and stuck to it. Secured in a small bunch of eight riders, Ruairidh held his own with the other medal contenders. In the last 9 kilometres, the race winning attack was made with riders from Belgium and Ecuador escaping the small bunch.
Keeping his nerve, Brown continued with the plan but the super-fast sprint of the leaders proved too much, with him finishing in seventh place, 1m 40secs behind the winner, but improving his performance and placing on the last World Championships.
Swimming
Rachel Tweedie whilst missing out on the podium so far, has progressed to finals in all her races and secured a PB in the 50m freestyle.
Missing out on a podium place, Tweedie placed 4th in the 200IM in 3:09.96.
Tennis
The Great Britain Tennis Team have certainly lived up to their reputation storming through the competition and scuring positions in the later stages.
The world no.1 pairing of Fabrice Higgins and Dominic Iannotti took a comfortable win against the Czech Republic’s Josef Hus and Jakub Jerhot in the men’s doubles, winning 6-0.
Dominic Iannotti and partner Anna McBride stormed through to the semi-finals and will face top seeded Kelly Wren and Archie Graham from Australia for a place in the final. McBride also secured her place in the ladies singles semi-final.
Meanwhile, Turnbull and Mellow missed out on a place in the men’s doubles main draw but will play their next match in the doubles consolation event.
The Inas European Summer Games includes the Inas World Championships in Tennis and Cycling. Competition continues today (Thursday, day 4) Follow the results.
The GB Tennis entry to the Inas Championships is enabled through a collaboration between the GB Inas member, UK Sports Association and the National Governing Body, the Tennis Foundation
More information on the Inas Summer Games in Paris can be found on the event website.
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