Half-marathon IOM magic on Island Games' final day
Christa Cain dominated the 13.1m (21.1km) road race to take her third victory in three races while Corrin Leeming won the men's race.
Gymnast Amara Brogan also secured gold in Orkney to take the Isle of Man's medal haul to 80 and fourth place in the overall standings.
There was heartbreak for the Manx women's football team, however, with them losing to Bermuda on penalties after their opponents equalised late in extra-time.
Cain, who won the 10,000m and 5,000m events earlier in the week, said the "half-marathon is my bag so I was looking forward to this one, I'm much more comfortable on the road".
Finishing more than six minutes clear of Jersey's Jess Troy, Cain said she had "a great time out there and the crowd were really supportive, so that helped get me round".
She said the support from back home had also been a "big help - my family have been messaging me flat out because it's not been so easy for supporters to travel".
Cain added: "I really can't wait to get back and give everyone a big hug."
Cain also added a bronze medal in the women's team half-marathon category, alongside Dawn Atherton and Emily Mylchreest.
Securing his second gold of the games by posting a time of one hour and seven minutes, Leeming said the course had been "really hard" because "it's literally all up or down, so it wasn't the fastest of days".
He said he had been nervous before the race but gold had always been his goal.
"I wanted it quite badly today," Leeming said, "so it's really nice to get there."
As for his immediate plans, he said they would include "quite a bit of sleeping, because I'm quite tired and quite sore!"
In gymnastics, Brogan topped the podium in the beam event, with Lacey Jackson coming a close second.
Fraser McKenna takes home a silver from the parallel bars contest, while Harry Eyres claimed second spot in the high bar category and a bronze in the floor event.
In vaulting, Elise Pease was awarded bronze, as was Aine Matthews on the asymmetric bars, which means the gymnastics squad flies home with 22 medals.
Manager of the women's football team Wayne Lisy said he "really thought the team had done it" when Milly Dawson put the team 1-0 up in the second half of extra-time.
He said losing on penalties had been "hard to take".
But he said the squad, who very nearly missed out on the contest after being picked as third reserve in the initial draw, deserved their silver medal.
While the result was not what the team had set out for, captain Becky Corkish said "the girls dug deep and left everything out on that pitch".
"I couldn't be prouder of them," she added.
The men's football team picked up a bronze medal, beating Jersey 3-2 after a last-minute penalty in their third place play-off.
Elsewhere, cyclist Tyler Hannay added a silver medal to his collection in the town centre criterium, which means he takes home six medals - two of each colour from his first Island Games.
The men's team were also awarded silver at the event held in Kirkwall.
In badminton, Kim Clague missed out on claiming gold in the women's doubles for the sixth consecutive time when she and her partner Jess Li lost in the final to their opponents from the Faroe Islands.
On the athletics track, Samuel Perry claimed silver in the 800m to add to the 1,500m bronze he secured on Tuesday.
He was also part of the 4x400m relay team that came third on the last day of the contest, alongside team-mates Ben Sinclair and brothers Regan and Ryan Corrin.
Manx runners also claimed bronze in the men's 4x100m event to take the number of medals won by the athletics squad to 15 across the week.
While the Isle of Man matched the final team position achieved in Guernsey in 2023, Manx athletes picked up an 17 extra medals in Orkney, which only hosted 12 sports compared to 14 two years ago.
The Games will end with a closing ceremony at The Pickaquoy Centre, which played host to five of the 12 sports, later on Friday.
The next Island Games will be held in the Faroe Islands in 2027.
Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
Double gold in golf adds to Manx games medal tally
Isle of Man's Island Games medal tally rises to 45
Record-breaking swimmers add to Manx medal tally
Manx athletes break records at Orkney Island Games
Cain smashes record to win gold at Island Games
'Running for my adopted home at games feels right'
Island Games fever takes hold in transformed Orkney
Manx gymnast to be games' youngest competitor at 13
Dad and daughter 'rooting for each other' at games
Footballers 'determined' to go for gold at games
Team 'ready to make Isle of Man proud' at games
Related internet links
Orkney Island Games 2025
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Boccia European gold win 'huge' for Kidson
New European boccia champion Sally Kidson says she will take "huge" momentum from winning her first major championship into the rest of this season. The 20-year-old beat defending champion, Sonia Heckel of France, 3-2 in the individual BC3 final in Zagreb, Croatia, earlier this month to win the gold medal. "I'm very happy," Kidson told BBC Radio Wiltshire. "It never hurts to win a big tournament like this and especially a major, but it's not all about that, it's about the momentum going into the rest of the year and ahead of the World Championships next year this sort of thing is huge." Sally Kidson: GB's youngest Boccia athlete Kidson, from Salisbury, made her Paralympic debut last summer for Great Britain in Paris where she was the youngest person on the team. She was introduced to the sport in primary school and made her international competition in 2022, aged 17. "The last Europeans [championships] I did in 2023, I literally came dead last and so to go from dead last to first place is absolutely mental," Kidson said. Honouring former Paralympians Kidson said the gold medal win was even more poignant following the deaths of her pairs partner Will Arnott and Great Britain team-mate Matt Berry at the end of 2024. Kidson and Arnott's gold medal in the Paralympic Games qualifying event secured Great Britain a place in the BC3 category at last summer's event. "It's nothing short of a tragedy to lose both Will and Matt at the tail end of last year," Kidson said. Kidson worked with Arnott's long-time assistant Connor Welfare in Zagreb which she said made the event more special. "This one especially, we know it was a big one because me and Connor Welfare, who was [Arnott's] assistant for 11 years, we thought it would be good to do this together and do it for the big guy," Kidson said. "To be able to get a gold medal and also Zagreb is where Will had his first international competition and his first gold medal [in 2019]. "It was really special to be able to do it."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
How to watch USA vs. Australia in FIBA women's basketball U19 World Cup
It's the matchup we've all been waiting for since before the FIBA U19 women's basketball World Cup even started. Not just the gold medal game. But the finals matchup between USA and Australia that had been widely expected – despite both teams getting played down to the wire by France, and in Australia's case, by Hungary as well. Neither team has lost a game. With the tournament's top defense, USA has been dominant in every facet of basketball except for two offensive categories – three-point shooting and turnovers. Australia, on the other hand, has been electrifying from three with nearly 10 makes per game at above 40%. Both teams have a balanced attack in regard to individual production. America's top stars have been Montverde Academy (FL) wing Saniyah Hall (19 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.2 steals, 53.2% FG), incoming UCLA post and Grandview (CO) alum Sienna Betts (15.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, 58.2% FG), Clackamas (OR) grad and incoming USC wing Jazzy Davidson (13.5 points, 4.0 assists, 2.7 steals, 1.2 blocks, 61.1% FG), and two players with a year of college ball already under their belt. They are point guard Kayleigh Heckel, a UConn transfer from USC who played high school ball at Long Island Lutheran (NY) and Texas University wing Jordan Lee, a former St. Mary's (Stockton, CA) star. Among Australia's top players to watch are forward Sitaya Fagan (12.8 points, 6.6 rebounds), guard Bonnie Deas (12.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 blocks), guard Monique Bobongie (11.6 points, 2.4 assists, 1.4 steals), wing Madison Ryan (10.8 points, 62.9% FG, 60% 3FG), and forward Manuela Puoch (9.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists). Both squads are also packed with impact players off the bench capable of taking over for stretches. Here's everything you need to know about live streaming USA vs. Australia. How to watch USA vs. Australia Live Stream:Watch on YouTube USA vs. Australia will air live on YouTube. FIBA's online game hub also has an embedded YouTube player. USA vs. Australia start time Date: Sunday, July 20 Time: 8:00 p.m. CEST (UTC+2) / 6:00 p.m. UTC / 2:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. PT Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m. CEST on Sunday, July 20. The game will be played at Starez Arena Vodova in Brno, Czech Republic.
New York Times
2 days ago
- New York Times
Great Britain's 4×400 relay team savours ‘really special' gold medal after 28-year wait
A member of Great Britain's men's 4x400m relay squad from the 1997 World Athletics Championships says receiving their gold medals 28 years after the race was a 'really special' moment. Roger Black finally received his gold medal alongside team-mates Iwan Thomas, Jamie Baulch, Mark Richardson and Mark Hylton on Saturday at London's Diamond League meeting, in front of a sold-out 60,000-capacity. Advertisement The 1997 Athens race had been won by the American team, who were later stripped of their golds due to an anti-doping violation by team member Antonio Pettigrew. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Black said not winning the race 'definitely affected' the team but being able to celebrate almost three decades later was 'more special' as they were able to share the moment with their families and children, many of whom had not been born in 1997. 'Also, more importantly, we shared it with 60,000 British fans in there and a lot of them supported us back in the day,' added Black, who also won gold with the British team in Tokyo in the 4x400m at the World Championships in 1991. 'I think pulling that together, it was actually a surprisingly emotional moment and we loved it. It was really special.' The moment was poignant for Black, who underwent successful live-saving surgery earlier this year to replace his aortic valve and repair his aortic root, the main vessel that transports blood from the heart. The results of the 1997 race were changed in 2008, when U.S. runner Pettigrew admitted to doping between 1997 and 2003. In 2010, the former sprinter was found dead at the age of 42 in his locked car with an autopsy saying he died by suicide after an overdose. 'If there was an option of giving this gold medal to him (Pettigrew), I'd rather him have the gold medal than him taking his life — his life is far more important to me than me having this gold medal,' said Great Britain's Baulch, per the Telegraph. Saturday also saw the UK government confirm it will 'provide significant funding' and be 'backing a bid' to host the 2029 World Athletics and Para Athletics Championships. (Top image: Mark Richardson, Jamie Baulch, Roger Black, Iwan Thomas and Mark Hylton (l-r) receive their gold medals:)
