GB continued their gold medal run on day four of the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF), in Trabzon, Turkey, winning a further five gold medals and one silver.
GB swimmers won four gold medals in the pool with Matthew Johnson (Dewsbury) winning his fifth medal of the festival with victory in the 200m butterfly. Joel Knight (Potters Bar), who competed for the first time today, won gold in 1500m freestyle, and notched up a new personal best. “I am a bit surprised with the result really, not with the gold but with a new personal best. I was going for the win but the time was a surprise even to me, as was the gap to second. “But I am please with the gold and it is what I came here for.” Golds also came from Ellena Jones (Swansea) in the 400m medley and Harriet Cooper(Leicester) in the 100m backstroke . Siwan Thomas-Howell (Swansea) finished fourth narrowly missing out on a medal in the 200m freestyle. Oliver Leonard (Bracknell) placed eighth in the 50m freestyle ‘B’ final and Harry Webster (Derby) finished 16th overall in the 100m breaststroke. There was also further success at the Yomra Cimnastik Salonu for GB gymnast Courtney Tulloch (Maidstone) who secured gold in the all-round final. The 16-year-old led throughout the event, and while Russian and Romanian gymnasts were hot on his heels he kept his composure to take the win and boost GB’s medals tally. “It went really well, I’m so pleased and proud,” he said as he stepped off the podium with a large trophy in his hand and proudly wearing a gold medal round his neck. “I was quite nervous about this event, but competing in the team event beforehand settled me down a bit. “Because I qualified in first place it made me a bit more nervous, but I was hoping to win and I’m really happy I did. “I knew this competition was one of the biggest competitions of the year and I hoped to be selected and I’ve been training for a long time for this.” Teammate Frank Baines (Liverpool) could only managed eighth place. Baines made errors on the horizontal bars and pommel horse, and although he battled back well he couldn’t challenge for a medal. Tulloch and Baines will be chasing further gold medals tomorrow when they compete in the individual finals floor, rings, vault and parallel bar. Also competing in the all-around final today were the GB girls, Abigail Caig (Liverpool) and Gabrielle Jupp (Borehamwood). They faced stiff completion from the Romanians and Italians and placed 13th and seventh respectively. Jupp competes in the beam final and Caig the vault on the final day of the gymnastic competition. Jacob Paul won the only medal at the Söǧütlü Track and Field Stadium winning silver in the 400m hurdles.
Team GB in Action on Friday 29th July
It's all to play for on the final day of competition of the European Youth Olympic Festival. GB's swimmers will be aiming to pool their talents together to catch table topping Russia. Athletics - Söǧütlü Track and Field Stadium Girls Javelin - Carys Mansfield Boys Pole Vault Final - Jack Phipps Girls 200m Final - Dina Asher Smith Boys 200m Final - Thomas Holligan Boys Javelin - Huw Bevan Girls 800m – Abbie Hetherington Boys 4x100m - Leon Reid, Clovis Mbaken, James Taylor, Elliot Safo, Jacob Paul Judo - Of Sports Centre Girls + 70Kg - Jodie Myers Swimming - Mehmet Akif Ersoy Swimming Complex Girls 800m Freestyle - Ellena Jones Boys 400m Medley - Matthew Johnson Girls 200m Butterfly - Shauntelle Austin Boys 100m Backstroke - Nathan Theodoris Girls 100m Breastroke - Jessie Foster Boys 200m Freestyle - Alex Dunk Girls 4x100m Medley Relay - Shauntelle Austin, Jessie Foster, Siwan Thomas-Howells, Harriet Cooper Boys 4x100m Medley Relay - Matthew Johnson, Harry Webster, Mark Szaranek, Matthew Watkinson Michael Painter recorded a new personal best finishing sixth in the hammer, throwing 70.85m. Dina Asher-Smith also recorded a new personal best to qualify for Friday’s 200m final. Boys 4x100m relay team of Tom Holligan (Edinburgh), James Taylor (Stoke), Leon Reid (Bristol) and Clovis Asong (Manchester) qualified for the final in the third fastest time. Also qualifying for their final tomorrow was Huw Bevan in the boy’s javelin. And Danielle Opara placed ninth in the girl’s shot put final. It was a disappointing day at the Of Sports Centre where GB Judokas were unable to add to the silver and bronze medals won earlier this week. Max Murphy (Glasgow) and Liam Donkin (Edinburgh) both lost their first fights, Murphy was given a second shot being brought back by the repechage and lost against the Croatian by a shido (penalty) with 10 seconds to go in golden score. Jemima Yeats-Brown (Tonbridge) and Priscab Awiti-Alcaraz (Enfield) both lost in the second round before being brought back into the competition in the repechage. Awiti- Alcaraz finished seventh, losing to home favourite Oner in a controversial fight. Yeats- Brown made it through to the bronze medal match but was unable to repeat the success of fellow team judoka Hayley Willis. In the boy’s cycling road race Jacob Scott (Huddersfield) was the highest placed Brit in 21st followed by teammates Chris Lawless (Wigan) finishing in 25th and Tao Geoghegan Hart(London) 26th.