The rugby sevens programme at the European Games concluded in style with two fiercely contested finals landing a gold for the women’s squad and silver for the men’s.
The gold medal for the women secures them a quota place at Paris 2024, guaranteeing 13 athletes their ticket to the Games – and making them the first team sport to qualify for Team GB.
The women’s squad, co-captained by Olympians Abbie Brown and Meg Jones, came up against a determined Polish side in the gold medal match. Backed by the noise of the home crowd, the hosts came hard out of the blocks but ultimately fell short against the precision and pace of a determined British side, who claimed their place on the top of the podium with a scoreline of 33 – 0.
Jones, reflecting on the win, said: “I’m so happy that our journey worked out, it’s a huge sense of relief that everything went to plan. We’ve been pushing the boundaries all year and we definitely pushed them there. I’m so buzzing for the girls – to have this experience and go out there and achieve what we just did is just a stepping-stone in the right direction.
“Paris qualification is exactly what we came for and we’re leaving with it.”
Brown added, “I’m just so proud of the girls. We’ve spoken about this event for months on end, all season, about how we are going to come here and win, and we did it. To put in a performance like we did was just outstanding.
“We do this sport because we enjoy it, we don’t do this to have the pressure – the pressure is just a luxury because we put ourselves in that position. We kept taking it moment by moment, sticking to our processes and with about 30 seconds left, I allowed myself to enjoy the moment.”
On what’s next, Brown said, “I’m going to have a little holiday first, and I’m looking forward to that. And then we get back to it, we keep pushing ourselves and I’m really fortunate that I’m in a group where we keep wanting to be better and challenging ourselves, so when you’re around people that push you, but also hype you up, it’s an amazing feeling and we’re only growing. I’m so excited to see where we can get to by the time Paris comes.”
Robbie Fergusson, who made his Team GB debut at Tokyo 2020, led his side out to meet favourites Ireland in the final. A tightly contested first half saw Ireland take the first score, before a swift equaliser from Team GB’s Tom Williams. The Irish pulled into the lead in the second half, with the final scoreboard reading 26-12 in Ireland’s favour.
In diving, Robbie Lee added another silver medal to Team GB’s haul for the day in a men’s platform final full of twists and turns across six rounds of diving. Having qualified in second from the morning prelims, Lee faced an uphill challenge at the start of the final after his first dive strayed from the competition standard. But the 18-year-old came flying up the rankings with the dive of the competition in the fourth round – earning 96.20 with his Forward 4 ½ Somersaults Tuck (109C), which placed him second overall behind teammate Ben Cutmore at that stage.
Sunday’s synchro bronze medallist Cutmore had appeared to be the man to beat up until the last round, but a misplaced effort opened the door for his competitors to steal ahead in the race for the podium, with Lee holding in for silver at his first major senior international competition.
“It’s very special and I’m so happy.” said Lee.
“A first major senior event and to come away with a silver medal is great, and knowing I could do a lot more and a lot better is so good as well. I’m very exited for the future.”
Over at the breaking venue B-Boy Kid Karam contested the quarterfinals on day two of competition. A tough draw saw him up against B-Boy Menno of the Netherlands, who went on to win the battle and take silver overall.
Fresh from his final battle, Karam commented, “This whole experience has been incredible. I’ve enjoyed it so much and I’ve been blessed to be part of the team. I’ve felt so in place, which is a first for me. Obviously, being on the stage at such an amazing event, the crowd was great, the actual event itself was amazing and it was a great representation of breaking, for what’s to come at the Olympics.
“I’m learning a lot about my breaking by battling the best. I’m learning more about myself and I had a lot of fun on the stage. I just really enjoyed the battle today, actually – I didn’t get the result that I wanted, but I had a lot of fun and that’s the important thing for me, so I’m going to keep working and just aim for the top because the bottom’s overcrowded. That’s what it is.”
And in the women’s modern pentathlon semi finals, Kerenza Bryson and Olivia Green finished in sixth and seventh place respectively to progress through to the finals on Saturday 1 July, while in the women’s triathlon both Sian Rainsley and Sophie Alden both placed inside the top twenty. Rainsley crossed the line in 11th, a little over a minute behind Norway’s Solveig Lovseth who claimed the gold.
With thanks to Team GB
