Gold Coast 2018: Leon Reid “loving it” as he receives his 200m bronze medal at Commonwealth Games

University of Bath-based Leon Reid said his Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games experience had been “surreal” after he collected his 200m bronze medal on Friday.
Reid, coached by James Hillier at the Sports Training Village, finished fourth in Thursday’s thrilling final but was promoted onto the podium after race winner Zharnel Hughes was disqualified for impeding an opponent.
Team England’s appeal against the decision, which was rejected, meant the medal ceremony was delayed until Friday but Reid – representing Northern Ireland – didn’t mind the wait.
“I don’t know how this happened but I’m here and I’m loving it,” he told the BBC.
“It’s a bit surreal, to be honest. I was very nervous in the heat as I was racing against Olympic bronze-medallist Warren Weir so I didn’t know what to expect. It was a bit rocky but I held my nerve.
“I was more ready for the semi-final and in the final I was like a dog with a bone, I just went for it. I put myself in the race, I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
Rugby Sevens
There was a mixed start to the Gold Coast 2018 rugby sevens competition for three University of Bath alumnae on day nine of the Commonwealth Games in Australia.
Deborah Fleming, who studied Sport & Social Sciences, scored England’s first-ever points in a Commonwealth Games competition when she touched down in the first five minutes of the opening match against Fiji.
Coach Education & Sports Development graduate Natasha Hunt also added a conversion and Amy Wilson Hardy, who studied Integrated Mechanical & Electrical Engineering, came off the bench to help England win 17-5.
Fleming and Hunt were on the scoresheet again in the second match against Australia, their try and conversion putting England 12-5 up. However, the hosts and favourites drew level at half-time before going on to win 29-12.
England face Wales in their final Pool B game on Saturday, knowing that victory would be enough to secure a semi-final spot.
After the Australia game, Wilson Hardy said: “This game was very frustrating, we had them and we battered them at the start. It was just hard to hold on to if I’m being honest.
“We played smart, we held onto the ball as much as we could, but they applied pressure and they had a great finish, they’re a great team. Next time we’ll know what to do to beat them.”
Fleming added: “Right now, the target for Team England is to just take every day as it comes. Play our hardest, anything can happen at any time. We’ll go back and look at the match and see what’s coming up. Obviously, we want to get as far as we can but you have to take it one day at a time.”
Shooting
There was frustration for University of Bath graduate Kristian Callaghan as he narrowly missed out on qualification for the 25m rapid-fire pistol final.
Needing to finish in the top six to progress, Callaghan – a bronze-medalllst in the event at Glasgow 2014 – missed out by just five points as he had to settle for eighth place overall with a combined score of 561 after the two qualifying stages.
Athletics
Sports Performance graduate Jack Green saw his chances of competing in the men’s 4x400m final dashed when England team-mate Matt Hudson-Smith was forced to pull up with injury just 50m into this morning’s heats.
Hockey
Advanced Apprentice in Sports Excellence graduate Lewis Prosser captained Wales’ men to a 3-2 victory over South Africa in their ninth-placed play-off. Hywel Jones – who, like Prosser, used to play club hockey for Team Bath Buccaneers – was also in the Wales squad.