University of Bath-based athlete Polly Maton finished a fine seventh on her Paralympic Games debut as she contested the T47 long jump final on the opening day of Rio 2016. The 16-year-old, coached by Colin Baross at the Sports Training Village, produced her best clearance of 5.10m with her opening jump of the competition in the Olympic Stadium. That ensured she was one of the top eight jumpers in the 12-strong field to progress to...
University of Bath graduate Nicole Walters will enjoy a moment of sporting history this week when para-triathlon makes its debut appearance at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Walters will be guide to visually-impaired triathlete Melissa Reid in the PT5 competition on Sunday, September 11. After a 750m swim in the Praia de Copacabana off the iconic Copacabana Beach, they will then cycle 20k before running 5k. The ParalympicsGB duo, who won gold on their debut...
The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games start today and there are high hopes of medal success among the University of Bath-based athletes past and present competing for ParalympicsGB over the next 11 days. Polly Maton, a 16-year-old athlete coached at the Sports Training Village by Colin Baross, is in action when competition gets fully under way on Thursday and will contest the T47 long jump final at 10.11pm BST. She returns to the Olympic Stadium on...
Britain’s wheelchair fencers will fly out to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games today in peak condition after attending a final preparation camp at the University of Bath. Piers Gilliver and Dimitri Coutya, ranked number one and two in the world in their respective disciplines, were joined by last-minute call-up Gemma Collis for a five-day get-together at the Sports Training Village. As well as train in the fencing salle, the Paralympics GB trio also received advice...
University of Bath-based athletes Emily Diamond and Eilidh Doyle helped Team GB make history at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as they won bronze in the women’s 4x400m relay. It was Britain’s 66th medal of the Olympics, meaning they surpassed their total from London 2012 and became the first nation to win more medals four years after hosting the Games. It also means that six medals have been won by athletes based at the Sports...
There was to be no medal for University of Bath-based modern penathletes on this occasion but there were still plenty of positives to take from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games for Pentathlon GB. Kate French and Samantha Murray both overcame difficult starts to record top-ten finishes in the women’s event. Mathematics student Joe Choong then produced the performance of his career so far to start the combined event of the men’s competition in silver-medal position....
University of Bath-based athlete Eilidh Doyle missed out on a medal in the 400m hurdles final but will have a second shot at a Rio 2016 Olympic Games podium place in the 4x400m relay over the weekend. Doyle, coached by Malcolm Arnold at the Sports Training Village, was unable to get into contention from the inside lane of the hurdles final overnight and had to settle for eighth place in 54.61. “It’s a really strange...
University of Bath student Joe Choong enjoyed a strong start to his Olympic debut as the fencing ranking rounds got the Rio 2016 modern pentathlon competitions under way on Thursday. Choong, who studies Mathematics and is supported by an Ivor Powell Sports Scholarship, secured 22 victories from his 35 bouts in the Deodoro Youth Arena. That was the fourth-highest number of hits but an unfortunate late red card cost him a ten-point penalty and dropped...
University of Bath-based athlete Jazmin Sawyers was the highest-placed Brit in the Rio 2016 women’s long jump final in the early hours of Thursday morning. The 22-year-old cleared 6.69m to finish eighth overall on her Olympic debut – a result that Sawyers, who has jumped 6.86m this season, described as “good but not great”. “When you say it like that – ‘eighth in my first Olympic final’ – it’s good but I jumped 6.69 and...
She was the first-ever athlete to win an Olympic gold medal while training at the University of Bath and remains an inspiration to all at the Sports Training Village. Now Dr Stephanie Cook is confident of seeing more medallists follow in her celebrated footsteps when the modern pentathlon competitions take place over the next 48 hours. Cook and training partner Kate Allenby won gold and bronze respectively in the first-ever Olympic women’s modern pentathlon event...
