Best of April: History made around the world

Monthly review and preview 02 May 25

As the winter season ends and the summer sports begin, April saw Team GB make history around the world.

As the winter season ends and the summer sports begin, April saw Team GB make history around the world.

From the London Marathon to quota places, medals and beyond, here's the best action from the last month.

Team Mouat win world curling crown

On the ice, Scotland's Team Mouat made history in the World Men's Curling Championship after a dramatic 5-4 defeat of Switzerland in Canada.

The quartet of Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan Jr finished fifth in the league standings and missed out on automatic qualification for the semi-finals.

Instead, they had to do it the hard way and win an extra play-off match against Sweden, before also beating hosts Canada in Moose Jaw to set up a repeat of the 2021 European Championship final.

Just as they did four years ago, Team Mouat took home gold against Yannick Schwaller's rink, capturing a second World Championship crown and confirming Team GB's quota place for men's curling at Milano-Cortina 2026.

Hudson-Smith gets it done

Matt Hudson-Smith was among the first winners of the inaugural Grand Slam Track after taking first place in the 200m in Kingston.

Hudson-Smith, who won 400m silver at Paris 2024, clocked in at 20.77 seconds to finish ahead of Trinidad and Tobago's Jereem Richards and home runner Deandre Watkin in the Jamaican capital.

Combined with his second place in the 400m, the result meant that Hudson-Smith was top of the men’s long sprints table to claim the grand prize of $100,000 (£77,500).

In Grand Slam Track, athletes are split into eight categories, based on the distances they run, and compete across two disciplines.

Zharnel Hughes took second in the overall men's short sprint standings after finishing his 200m in 20.37s, 0.30 shy of USA’s winner Kenny Bednarek.

Smooth sailing for Team GB

Great Britain’s sailors raised the curtain on the 2028 LA Olympic Games qualifying cycle with five gold medals at the Trofeo Princesa Sofia.

ILCA 7 star Micky Beckett led the way with a record fourth consecutive triumph in his class while double Olympic bronze medallist Emma Wilson took top spot in the Women's iQFOiL windsurfer category.

Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris claimed victory in the 470 Mixed on the final day of sailing in the Bay of Palma while there were maiden title wins for Tokyo silver medallists Jon Gimson and Anna Burnet in the Nacra 17 class and Freya Black and Saskia Tidey in the women's skiff.

Diving for gold

Jordan Houlden picked up the first global title of his career after winning gold in the Diving World Cup in Canada.

Houlden finished on 470.65 points to emerge victorious in the men's 3m springboard event and claim one of three medals won by Great Britain in the second leg of the World Cup in Windsor.

Olympic medallist Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix took home women's 10m platform bronze to back-up her third-place in Mexico during the season opener, recording 348.20 to narrowly pip compatriot Maisie Bond.

Bond later partnered with Lois Toulson to grab bronze in the 10m synchro event by registering 275.16 on the scoreboard.

Campbell makes it five in a row

Emily Campbell became the first female weightlifter to win five consecutive European titles after totalling 281kg in the 87+kg category.

Competing in Moldova, Campbell, a two-time Olympic medallist, made it a full house of lifts on the day to signal her return from rehab after missing out on the World Championships through injury.

She said: "I'm definitely, very happy. You can't really grumble when you have a six from six performance and it's pretty comfortable.

"After Paris [2024] I actually got myself in really good shape for the World Championships in December, but unfortunately, sustained an injury in Bahrain on the platform.

"But the rehab was strong this time and had a really good training block in the lead-up to Europeans.

"There's always a pressure when you go into a class and everybody's expecting you to win. I always think that sometimes is harder than actually competing but I felt really good.”

Marathon magic

An all-star cast of Olympians led the way for Team GB at the London Marathon, including Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee.

Yee was the second British man to cross the finish line when he recorded 02:11:08 to place 14th overall on his marathon debut.

He said: "It was probably one of the best experiences of my life if I'm being honest. I expected the crowd to be good but they were another level.

"I am so proud to have completed the marathon.

"An amazing experience but it was hard at the end. Emotions about [the] time will come afterwards, but the main thing for me today was to enjoy it, do something unknown and embrace it. I did that to my best of my ability.

"This is bigger than running. It's an amazing day and I wanted to be a part of it. This was the perfect opportunity."

Mahamed Mahamed was the top Brit after clocking in at 2:08:52 to finish ninth and clinch a second consecutive top 10 finish in the capital.

In the women’s event, Eilish McColgan finished eighth on debut after recording 2:24:25, surpassing mum Liz's best time over the distance and just ahead of ninth-placed Rose Harvey, who clocked in at 02:25:01.

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