A party of seven athletes from the Isle of Man travelled to Derby for the British Masters Track & Field Championships, held over three days, and have returned home with a magnificent haul of 11 medals, including four golds.
Fiona Whitehead was the standout performer, winning medals in all five throwing events she contested in the women’s 55 age group. She collected three gold medals, recording distances of 27.50 metres in the discus, 38.97m in the hammer and 11.42m in the weight throw.
She added a silver medal in the javelin with a throw of 22.97m and a bronze in the shot put with 9.42m, completing an outstanding weekend.
Tom Riley contested just one event, the men’s 100 metres in the 40 age group, and produced an excellent performance to take the gold medal in a time of 11.32 seconds.
Ewelina Hand was also busy in the women’s 40 age group, contesting five events and winning two medals. She took silver in the 400m hurdles in 76.87 seconds and added another silver in the triple jump with a leap of 9.57 metres. She also finished fourth in the 400m in 69.20 seconds, fifth in the 200m in 30.20 and sixth in the 100 metres in 14.57.
Daniel Stewart-Clague competed in the men’s 35 age group 100m and 200m, winning silver in both events. His times were 11.36 and 22.79 seconds respectively.
Competing in the women’s 45 age group, Sarah Halligan won silver in the 400 metres in an excellent time of 66.01 seconds. She also finished sixth in the 200m in 29.13.
There were also strong performances from Kevin Deakes, who finished fourth in the men’s 65 age group 5,000 metres in 20:25.77, and Robert Young, who finished ninth in the discus in the same age group with a throw of 31.58 metres.
The 11-medal haul represents an outstanding set of results for the Isle of Man athletes and is a huge credit to all seven competitors, whose performances provided plenty of success to celebrate at the British Masters Championships.