Team GB closed out day six at the European Games with a slew of medals across taekwondo, diving and shooting, including three golds.
Diving duo Desharne Bent-Ashmeil and Amy Rollinson landed gold in the women’s 3m synchro, while Ross Haslam made it a double in the men’s 1m springboard.
In taekwondo, Team GB debutant Caden Cunningham won Team GB’s third gold of the day in the men’s +87kg category, while the shooters claimed two bronze medals: one secured by world record holder Seonaid McIntosh in the women’s 50m Rifle 3P, and another by reigning world champions Amber Rutter (nee Hill) and Ben Llewellin in the mixed skeet team.
B-Boys Kid Karam and Sunni made history by becoming the first-ever breakers to compete for Team GB, with Karam making it through to tomorrow’s quarter
finals.
Desharne Bent-Asmeil and Amy Rollinson scooped gold with a total of 279.90 points, three points clear of Germany in second and six points clear of Italy in third.
Fresh off the back of their victory, Bent-Asmeil said: “I’ve got a lot of adrenaline running through my body. I put everything into this competition and after my near miss on the 3m [individual] I just wanted to give it my all. We had a little bit of a rocky start but we persevered and kept our head down and tried our best.”
Her partner Rollinson added: “We’re really happy after the year we’ve had with injuries and everything, and it’s great to finally show what we can do after last year all the fourths we had. I’d say it’s one of the highs [of my career]. I had surgery at the beginning of this season and then me and Desharne have both had ankle issues to add to that, so the fact we have built back up from not doing anything to a European title is amazing.”
In the men’s 1m springboard, Ross Haslam delivered a consistently high standard across the rounds to secure first place with 422.95 points, ahead of Frenchman Alexis Jandard in second with 411.50 and Italy’s Lorenzo Marsaglia with 410.55.
Haslam said, “I can’t really believe it. I think after Saturday’s 3m I was really disappointed and I won’t lie it was only at lunchtime today I started to feel a bit better as this morning – through the prelim I was just a bit flat but knew that I just needed to get the job done and get through to the final and try push on from there.
“I guess there’s been a long time where I thought I wouldn’t get back onto an international team, so the fact that I was here was like ‘ok here we go, that’s step one.’ I think honestly when I started diving again after my injuries and coming back I learning to try and enjoy it again and not put too much pressure on myself and I don’t think I executed greatly that on Saturday, but today I just thought to myself, ‘It’s a new day, go again, nice and calm, don’t try and do too much, just land on your head and we should be okay!’”
Caden Cunningham’s gold medal victory came after a closely-fought battle with North Macedonian athlete Dejan Georgievski. Double Olympic medallist Bianca Cook narrowly missed out on a medal after suffering defeat to Bulgaria’s Kalina Boyadzhieva in the bronze medal contest.
Cunningham said: “It feels amazing to win this for Team GB. They’ve been amazing, they’ve got us out here. It means everything! They’ve given me a lot of opportunities and it’s only right for me to make use of those and get the gold.
“This is something I’ve been working towards for a while. I’ve known my level, I’m back from injury now – two competitions in a row, two golds, and I don’t intend for that to change.”
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Seonaid McIntosh shot 406.5 to place third just 3.5 points behind the top spot amid temperatures reaching up to 30 degrees Celsius at the shooting base in Wroclaw.
“It feels pretty good, I’m happy with how it went!” McIntosh said immediately after her medal win.
“Qualification yesterday went really well and I was really happy, then today I had a wee bit of a wobble in the kneeling. It was very, very hot.”
McIntosh’s mixed skeet teammates Amber Rutter and Ben Llewellin shot their way to victory in the bronze medal match after being pipped to a spot in the final by the Italians, who went on to claim gold overall.
Of their bronze-winning performance, Rutter commented, “It feels pretty good! it’s been an amazing competition for us, with Ben also getting into the final in the individual event as well and myself getting into that, too. So, to come together and come away with a medal is just an amazing feeling.”
Llewellin added, “I think we both had a disappointing day yesterday [in the individual competition] so to come back and set the record straight in the final today was quite good. Obviously a little bit disappointed to narrowly miss out on the gold medal match but, again, it’s a medal and we’re looking forward to more competitions to come!”
The sixth day at the Games also marked the first time in history that Team GB have competed in breaking, with B-Boy Kid Karam and B-Boy Sunni both taking to the floor in the men’s round robin.
“How do I put it into words?” said Karam ahead of the debut.
“It’s quite over-whelming, but exciting. For me, personally, I’ve always wanted to be one of the best in the world and when I started, I wanted to go all the way to the highest level – and there’s nothing bigger than the Olympics. This journey with Team GB to get there is such an exciting thing to be a part of.”
On taking part in his first multisport Games, he added, “It’s really good to be here because everyone’s been so supportive. It’s nice to see the other sports and try to understand how it works, and just be one with the team. It’s been a really nice atmosphere, it’s really encouraging and we’re looking forward to showcasing what we can do because, obviously, not everyone knows about breaking – we’ve had a lot of questions about it and a lot of conversations while being here. Actually being able to show what it involves and what we’re capable of will be amazing for everyone else to see.”
Teammate Sunni shared the sentiment. “It feels great,” he said. “We’ve both been competing on an international level for a while now, so it’s nice to be included with the other sports and other athletes in their disciplines.
“We both feel prepared, we’re in good shape – I don’t think we could really ask for more. We got here two days ago, so we’re well rested, we’re well acclimatised. It’s a bit hotter than the UK at the moment, which is good for us, and I think there’s not much more we could ask for, really. I’m in good shape, Karam’s in good shape, the competition’s good and the brackets have been laid out so we’re able to plan a bit and get some strategy ahead of tonight. We’re all in good standings.”
With thanks to Team GB
