With a medal tally of 17, and an overall 2
nd in the points table, the Wales team surpassed all expectations in fine style at the UK School Games held in Bath from 28
th August – 1
st September.
Starting as they meant to go on, Wales picked up 3 medals in the first 3 events of the competition: Christina Hughes picked up a well earned gold medal in the Pole Vault after narrowly missing 3.60m, which would have equaled her lifetime best; David Guest followed this up with an excellent Silver medal in the Long Jump, jumping 6.88m, just 5cm short of his season’s best. After a long season of injury, this was a sterling performance, which encapsulated the attitude and determination of all the team. Rhys Hodnett came in with the next medal – a silver in the Hammer, throwing a lifetime best of 59.51m - the die was cast and Wales were on their way.
The ‘Beijing effect’ was obvious for all to see as, spurred on by the brilliant start, the first day was littered with PBs, as athletes qualified for the next day’s finals with steely determination.
Day 2 began in the same manner, although the contrast in weather couldn’t have been more acute. Megan Rogers ran a lifetime best performance of 43.09 in the 300m Hurdles but most of the spectators only managed to see the last 100m of this superb race as low cloud covered the stadium, we thanked the heavens for photofinish equipment as timekeepers couldn’t even see the starter, let alone a flash from his gun. As the weather looked set for the day, discussions as to the viability and safety of the meeting were held, but at the eleventh hour the cloud lifted and we never looked back.
Hannah Thomas ran a very strong race to win gold in the 100m, and Tomas Coleman, flanked by some of the country’s top sprinters, showed no fear of their reputations by coming through to win a well earned bronze medal.
Perhaps the most exciting race of the day was the women’s 800m, when Benytta Doman showed everyone, what determination and the absolute desire to win can achieve. Against all expectations, she ran in such a mature and perfectly executed manner to come through in the last 10 metres and take the gold medal. When talking to the media afterwards, she summed up exactly what this meeting means to all the athletes – this is the event she’d worked for all season, she wanted it so badly and she went out and got it!
The remaining gold medals came through Brea Leung, throwing a magnificent 39.05 metres in the women’s Discus, Ieuan Coombes in the seated discus and the very talented Daniel Lucker in the wheelchair 100m. This young man arrived at the Games fresh from the IWAS World Championships in America where he proved his versatility by winning the 1500m, and coming 2nd in the 100m, 200, 400m and 800m, Daniel is currently in Beijing as a young advocate for the Paralympic Games - definitely one to watch for the future.
Other individual medals were won by Louise Bashford who took silver in the women’s ambulant 200m race, Jonathan Hopkins, bronze in the men’s 1500m with a PB of 3:59.09, Josh Clark in the ambulant Discus, throwing 22.41m to pick up bronze, while James Ledger collected a bronze medals in the men’s ambulant 200m race.
Finishing the day in fine style, our relay teams also came up trumps: the women’s 4 x 100m team (Sarah Evans, Mica Moore, Claire Williams and Hannah Thomas), the men’s 4 x 100m team (the 4 Toms -Knight, Prydie, Cusworth and Coleman – I wonder if that’s ever happened before?), and the women’s 4 x 300m team (Megan Rogers, Lauren Regan, Ffion Rees and Brigid Eades) all won silver medals. What a way to end the day.
Of course, this weekend is not just about the performances. It’s about living in an athlete’s village, meeting other athletes from 9 different sports; it’s learning to manage the ‘down time’ when you’re not competing, and taking responsibility to prepare yourself for your event without your coaches and parents guiding you; it’s being aware of and respecting other athletes’ needs (eg swimmers start their days much earlier than everyone else, and consequently go to sleep earlier). It’s about dealing with your disappointments, while sharing other people’s successes. This team had its share of frustrations, not everyone was happy with their performance, BUT they worked through it and showed real maturity when it mattered. It’s 4 days of hard work, but what an opportunity; they were a young team who rose to the occasion magnificently - and they showed us team managers why we do it too.
Marian Williams
