Luke Greenbank admitted he couldn’t believe his luck after helping Team GB’s swimmers sign off from the Youth Olympic Games in style as won bronze as the Nanjing pool saw its last action.
Greenbank took to the water already with a 4x100m freestyle relay gold under his belt, but the 16-year-old was clearly hungry for more.
And he finished with an individual bronze to add to his collection in the 200m backstroke, touching home in 1:59.03 minutes to claim the last step on the podium.
“It was a really good race and I am really pleased with the bronze medal,” said Greenbank, who returned to the water to help Great Britain finish sixth in the mixed 4x100m medley relay alongside Duncan Scott, Charlotte Atkinson and Georgina Evans.
“It was a second off my personal best but I am delighted to be leaving the Youth Olympic Games with an individual medal.
“This is a great way to finish my individual season. It has been a long season and I am exhausted now but this makes it all worth it.”
Meanwhile, Scott finished the 100m freestyle final in sixth while Evans and Atkinson were eighth in their respective 100m butterfly and 200m breaststroke showpieces.
Bryony Pitman and Bradley Denny finally got their Youth Olympic Games assaults underway, with both Team GB archers enjoying positive debuts.
Pitman finished the women’s ranking round in 14th after a season’s best score of 634, while Denny ended the men’s round in 11th with 670 points.
Both then immediately went into mixed team elimination matches with Pitman joining forces with Aliaksei Dubrova of Belarus wit the duo beating Dutchman Jan Van Tongeren and Anisa Zamirova of Tajikstan 5-3.
And Denny also tasted victory as he and partner Miasa Koike of Japan won 5-4 against Spaniard Alicia Marin and Ali El Ghrari of Libya.
“The team event went really well as well,” Pitman said. “We both shot really well and although it was a close match we just came through.
“We had to tie the last set and we did so it was close but it was really good as well and it was a lot of fun.
“It was definitely a good experience because you are so used to shooting with the same person in the team event so it is nice to bond with somebody you haven’t really shot with before so it is good fun.”
Friday also saw the modern pentathlon get underway with Francesca Summers finishing the women’s fencing ranking round in third with a score of 264 points, while Henry Choong was 14th on 202 points.
And Zachary Sheridan finished sixth in the men’s trampolining final with a score of 11.000 after his routine ended early.
“It just didn’t feel right at all out there in the final,” said Sheridan, who qualified for the showpiece in fifth with a score of 95.660.
“It obviously wasn’t what I was hoping for but I did achieve a top-eight finish and primarily that was the target.
“I was feeling really good going into the final but I guess it just wasn’t my day. “But despite this result the whole experience has been incredible and it has inspired me to do so many things and I am really happy to have been a part of the whole thing.”
© Sportsbeat 2014