Olympic and World Champion Joe Choong narrowly missed out on adding the continental men’s title to his collection, crossing the finish line just three seconds behind Italy’s Giorgio Malan but a strong sprint finish ensured he pipped Hungary’s Csaba Bohm to the silver medal.

With team-mate Myles Pillage just off the podium in fourth and University of Bath student Charlie Brown placing an impressive 11th, it meant the British men won team gold.

Choong also collected one of the eight Olympic quota places up for grabs, as had Olivia Green earlier in the day after she won a brilliant bronze in the women’s final – the first individual international medal of her career.

Alice Sotero was a runaway winner, completing the first half of an Italian title double, but University of Bath alumna Green was just a second behind runner-up Laura Heredia of Spain after an impressive run-shoot.

Kerenza Bryson placed sixth and University of Bath sporting scholar Emma Whitaker was 17th, meaning the British trio finished just outside the medals in the team competition.

Thursday’s mixed relay final had seen Sam Curry and Jess Varley perform consistently throughout the day to win bronze for Team GB.

Those results meant that University of Bath-associated athletes finished the European Games with nine medals between them, with Bill Whiteley Sporting Scholar Kate Shortman winning Women’s Duet bronze with Izzy Thorpe in artistic swimming and graduate Amy Wilson Hardy helping Team GB win women’s rugby 7s gold and secure a place at next summer’s Olympic Games.

The pentathletes will have another chance to win international medals and earn Paris 2024 qualification places when the University of Bath hosts the UIPM Pentathlon and Laser Run World Championships from 19-28 August 2023. Tickets are on sale now, visit https://pentathlongb.org/2023wch to find out more.

With thanks to Team Bath

The final day of action at the European Games saw Team GB claim two golds and one bronze, with heavyweight boxer Delicious Orie selected to carry the flag at the Closing Ceremony after claiming the +92kg title.

Team GB won a total of 49 medals throughout the Games, topping their previous record of 47 medals won at Baku 2015.

“I can’t tell you how much this means to me,” said Orie. “I’m so proud to represent Team GB – it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do since I started boxing, and here we are. I’m a flagbearer… all my dreams are just coming true in one day! It’s all come together. I’m very grateful.

“It means everything to be able to carry this flag and represent Great Britain. I’ve been through so much growing up, and this country has given me so many opportunities. Great Britain is the reason I’m here standing, it’s the reason I’ve got a gold medal. The people are amazing, it’s a land of opportunity, and here I am, proving it.

“Man, I just can’t put it into words. For me, this is my thank you – winning gold medals for my country. To be able to hold this flag above my head and show the Great British public that I adore them… I just want to say thank you everyone so much for your support – you’re the reason I’m here doing my thing.”

Ahead of Orie’s gold medal bout against Mahammad Abdullayev of Azerbaijan, the 6 foot 6 heavyweight had already confirmed Team GB a quota place Paris 2024. He adds the European title to his collection alongside the Commonwealth Games title he brought home in 2022.

On the final day of competition in canoe slalom, Ryan Westley stormed to victory in the men’s C1 final to secure Team GB another quota spot for Paris 2024. This marks an emotional return to form for Westley, who has had a difficult season to date.

“I can’t really believe it,” Westley said afterwards. “I came into the season with loads of confidence, felt like I’d had a really good winter’s training. I was in the best shape I’ve been for a long time, then my races just weren’t stacking up like I thought they should be, so I really came into this one with no expectations and I’ve had three pretty good runs across the competition.

“We got a bronze in the team competition the other day and I saw the Germans’ gold medals and thought ‘those look nice and shiny’. Never thought I’d get one for myself, so I’m buzzing. I’m really looking forward to standing up there in my Team GB tracksuit and hearing the national anthem.”

And in the women’s competition, Mallory Franklin added to the medal haul with a bronze, with her turn of speed enough to book her a place on the podium.

Franklin had mixed emotions after her run: “It definitely feels a bit odd. There was a lot I left out there in – my run wasn’t amazing and three touches feels like a bit much. I knew I had the pace and gained a bit with a couple of the spins […] I’m pleased to come away with a medal. To have that kind of pace to get away with the three touches is pretty cool, too!”

Hear a round up of all the action from Team GB at the European Games here, with featured interviews from gold medallists Abbie Brown and Meg Jones – co-captains of the women’s rugby sevens side – taekwondo fighters Jade Jones and Caden Cunningham, BMX rider Kieran Reilly and many more.

Joe Choong, the current Olympic and World champion, secured one of Team GB’s modern pentathlon spots at next year’s Games following his silver in the men’s individual competition.

Choong, who needed to achieve a top eight finish to claim the quota place, went into the laser run in third position, with teammate Miles Pillage right behind him in fourth, after strong performances across the showjumping, fencing and swimming disciplines.

However, it was Italian Giorgio Malan that stormed to the European title with his 09:58:00 laser run helping him power home to victory by a significant distance. Choong crossed the line in second following a resilient run (10:05:70), with Csaba Bohm of Hungary completing the podium spots.

Fellow Brits Pillage and Charlie Brown finished fourth and 11th respectively, meaning Team GB clinched the men’s team gold medal, with their combined score of 4,548 bettering that of their French and Italian challengers.

Speaking after collecting his two medals, Choong said, “This competition has been fantastic. I really think it shows how good pentathlon can look for an audience when it’s organised well. In terms of facilities and organisation, this has definitely been one of the nicest competitions and we’ve been so lucky to be able to be to compete here.

“For my last two [Olympic] Games, I managed to get that qualification spot the year before, which means you don’t have to travel the world the year of the Games, doing every competition trying to chase the qualification points. It means you can really focus on which competitions you want and really get in a good block of training without the distraction and pressure of trying to get those points at the last minute.”

In the women’s competition, Team GB debutant Olivia Green brought home a bronze after a thrilling comeback in the laser run, also clinching an all-important quota place for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

After dropping two poles in the showjumping round and facing a tough field in the fencing, Green had a long way to climb going into the swim. Despite clocking a personal best in the pool (02:14:35), she lined up for the start of the laser run in 11th behind teammates Kerenza Bryson and Emma Whitaker in eighth and ninth, with Italy’s Alice Sotero kicking off the race twenty seconds ahead of her closest rival.

Aided by precision in the shooting, Green inched her way up the field and a gutsy final 600m saw her overtake a number of competitors, including Laura Asadauskaite (Lithuania) and Marie Oteiza (France) to take bronze just behind silver medallist Laura Heredia of Spain.

Green said, “Honestly, I just feel out of this world, I feel amazing. I’ve never had my own international medal on the World Cup series, Euros, any big competitions, so, to come and do it where there’s Olympics spots available as well, it just feels unreal.

“Coming into the competition, I obviously wanted to medal, wanted to win, wanted to get the Olympic spot, but it’s really difficult with pentathlon because there’s five sports and trying to pull them all together on the day there’s so much that could go wrong. So, for it to actually come together when I needed it to is just the best feeling.”

Ben Lane and Sean Vendy scooped a silver medal in the final of the badminton men’s doubles, where they took on the Danish pairing of Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.

While the first game went to the Danes, the British duo fought to turn the tide and take the second on a score of 21-19. The third started well for the Danes but, with everything on the line, the Brits came back from behind even the score and to take it to the wire. The match stayed point for point as the game reached its nail-biting conclusion, before the Danes finally pulled again to win 21-19.

Respective semi-finals for Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith in the mixed doubles, and Kirsty Gilmour in the women’s singles resulted in two further bronze medals from the badminton court.

Ellis and Smith faced French opponents, Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue, who were yet to drop a set at the European Games – a streak that was initially continued as they overturned a six-point deficit against Ellis and Smith in a captivating first set. The Minsk 2019 European Games champions fought back to take the match into a third set with a 21-14 win in the second, but were denied the opportunity to retain their title with the French duo sealing match point with a three-point lead.

Gilmour’s run deep into the competition was halted by Spain’s Carolina Martin, with a 2-0 loss not dampening the spirits of two-time Olympian who had come through a number of electric knockout matches to reach the last four.

Team GB’s mixed relay triathlon team of Barclay Izzard, Connor Bentley, Sophie Aldon, and Sian Rainsley navigated treacherous, rainy conditions to win silver at the Nova Huta Lake, in Krakow.

Following some strong work from Izzard, Aldon and Bentley, the British quartet were well-placed in fifth going into the final leg, just 00:13 behind leaders Norway.
Rainsley battled hard and managed to claw the team back into medal contention, gaining three places after the swim. However, she couldn’t quite close the gap on European Games individual champion Solveig Lovseth, eventually bringing the team home in second (01:07:33), just four seconds behind their Norwegian counterparts.

Shooting finished their trip to Poland on a high by taking silver in the trap mixed team event. Lucy Hall and Matt Coward-Holley proved untouchable in qualification, with a score of 144 out of a possible 150. A shoot-out decided that Italy would go up against them in the gold medal match. The final was tightly fought, with the lead switching back and forth between teams, but the Italians eventually come out on top with a final score of 6–4 against the British pair.

After a rain-soaked medal ceremony, Team GB debutant Hall commented: “It feels absolutely amazing – my first Team GB medal! We shot great throughout and we just got pipped at the post, but I’m really, really happy. There isn’t a better feeling than wearing the Team GB kit with the Olympic rings on it. Hopefully, this is the first of many – I feel so proud.”

Elsewhere, Joe Clarke continued his blistering form in the 2023 season, winning his fourth medal of the calendar year with bronze in the K1 canoe slalom competition.
Clarke, who has won four international medals on the Krakow course previously, showed great character to recover from hitting the opening gate to set the overall standard, with his time of 89.80 placing him top of the standings with nine paddlers left to go.

However Swiss paddler Martin Dougoud and reigning Olympic Champion (Czech Republic) snuck in ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Champion, pushing him down to third position.

Hear a round up of all the action from Team GB at the European Games so far here, with featured interviews from gold medallists Abbie Brown and Meg Jones – co-captains of the women’s rugby sevens side – taekwondo fighters Jade Jones and Caden Cunningham, BMX rider Kieran Reilly and many more.

With thanks to Team GB

Heavyweight boxer Delicious Orie secured Team GB’s latest quota place for Paris 2024 with a semi final win over Bulgaria’s Yordan Hernandez Morejon. He will face Mahammad Abdullayev of Azerbaijan in a bid to add European Games gold to his Commonwealth title in this Sunday’s final.

Orie said: “This is a dream. I’ve always had this dream (to secure a place at Paris 2024) and now I’ve got it. Every single day I wake up in the morning before I go out on my runs and stuff and I think to myself, ‘I’m going to be an Olympian!’.

“Every single day when I’m in camp and I’m working hard, every day I wake up in the morning, that’s what I’m thinking of. When I’m at family functions, when I’m speaking to my Mum and Dad and just talking about normal things, at the back of my mind is, ‘I’ve got to qualify for the Olympics’ – we’re here today and we’ve done it. It means everything to me. This is a day I will never ever forget.

“I respect all my opponents. They’re great and they’ve put me to the test and that’s why it means so much to me because these guys are the top. They’ve been around for a very long time. To be able to mix with them, and not just mix with them, but win, I can’t put it into words.”

Meanwhile, Team GB’s canoe slalom athletes won their first medals of the Games with the women’s C1 team claiming silver and the men’s C1 team taking bronze during the afternoon’s finals.

The women’s trio of Mallory Franklin, Kimberley Woods and Sophie Ogilvie laid down a strong run to clock a time of 120.34 – good enough to take the top spot with three teams to go.

The Czech team were up next and rocketed straight into the gold medal position, but neither France nor Slovakia could match the Brits.

“Right now I’m still shaking and I don’t know why!” said Woods after exiting the course.

“I think we are a really strong team and it’s probably one of the best runs we’ve done together. The Czechs are a strong team so we’re happy to win a silver medal.”

Ogilvie added, “I’m buzzed after that. It’s been a tough day so to come out and deliver that run, especially with these girls… it’s a great team to be in so I’m super happy.”

And Adam Burgess, Ryan Westley and James Kettle all landed their first medal for Team GB when they took bronze in the men’s event. Burgess led the charge down the course with Westley and Kettle in tow, posting a time of 107.84 to secure their place on the podium behind Germany with gold and Slovakia with silver.

In badminton, Ben Lane and Sean Vendy booked their spot in the men’s doubles gold medal match with a straight sets triumph over France’s Popov brothers.

The British pair took authority of proceedings from the off and carried that rhythm throughout the match to close out on 21-15, 21-14 and progress to the showpiece final.

Speaking after their match, Vendy said: “They had a lot of energy today and they brought it on us, we felt it you know. The last time we played them it didn’t have as much on it as the semi-final of the European Games but credit to us we played well, they played well – it was a good battle but we came out on top.”

Lane added: “Obviously it’s our first time playing the European Games but we’re getting a bit older now and we’ve played a lot of big matches in our career – I think we’re ready for the big matches now and I think it’s about time we went and stood on top of a podium.”

Alexander Dunn and Adam Hall’s respective campaign ended with bronze after a 2-1 loss against the Danish duo, Anders Rasmussen and Kim Astrup.

Momentum was briefly in the hands of Dunn and Hall after prevailing in a long rally to make it 9-9 and igniting a run to take the second set, however the Danes rallied in the third and will be Lane and Vendy’s opponents in Saturday’s final.

“Unfortunately we’re disappointed. We didn’t come here for bronze, we came here for gold,” said Dunn. He added: “Obviously, it was a very tough match today, they are the favourites to win so it’s not as if we let ourselves down but we wanted more.”

Earlier in the day Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith cruised into the semi final stage of the mixed doubles with a commanding two-set victory over the host nation pair, Pawel Smilowski and Magdalena Swierczynska, while Kirsty Gilmour produced a five-point deficit comeback in the final set of her women’s singles contest to confirm her place among the last four and guarantee at least a bronze medal.

Boxers Charley Davison and Rosie Eccles claimed bronze in the women’s 54kg and 66kg categories respectively after already securing quota spots for Paris 2024 through their quarter final victories earlier in the Games. Davison took on Bulgaria’s Stanmira Petrova in her semi final, while Eccles faced Turkey’s Busenaz Surmeneli, but neither managed to book a spot in Sunday’s final.

Davison said: “It’s all experience isn’t it? Win or lose, you gain experience. I just soaked in all the atmosphere to be honest, the atmosphere out there was amazing. It’s my first European Games so I just tried to enjoy it and I did, I thoroughly enjoyed myself!
“I’m still new to the weight, this is my second tournament, and I’ve got a lot of learning to do so we keep building.”

And Kiaran Macdonald claimed Team GB’s third boxing bronze of the day in the men’s 51kg category. His quarter final victory against Serbia’s Omer Ametovic took him through to today’s semis, where reigning European champion Billal Bennama of France came away with the win.

Hear a round-up of all the action from Team GB at the European Games so far here, with featured interviews from gold medallists Abbie Brown and Meg Jones – co-captains of the women’s rugby sevens side – taekwondo fighters Jade Jones and Caden Cunningham, BMX rider Kieran Reilly and many more.

Fans can sign up to follow Team GB here, and watch all the European Games action live here.

The Krakow 2023 European Games marked Team GB debuts for both Curry and Varley, who took their place on the podium behind Czechia with gold and Hungary with silver.

The fencing ranking round placed Curry and Varley in tenth before outstanding show jumping performances from the pair saw them climb into third. After stiff competition in the fencing bonus round and the swim, the pair lined up for the laser run in sixth place. A composed Varley worked her way back up the field to lead the pack heading into her final lap before handing over to Curry.

Powerful running from the Czech and Hungarian athletes had them pulling ahead, leaving Curry to hold off Turkey’s Bugra Unal to secure the bronze in a nail-biting charge down the finishing straight.

“The exciting thing about pentathlon is that you can look at the names on the start list and out of 14 there’s up to ten that can challenge for a medal and then as the day unfolds you start to see it. We tried to keep consistent throughout and we’re both thrilled with it,” said Curry.

“It’s all about just trying to free the mind basically, and try and just focus on the things you can control, then when I started the final lap it was just like ‘Lets hit the burners and see what happens’. It was really hot and I started to lose a bit of vision. I wanted to do something cool when I crossed the line but I just collapsed into Jess!”

Varley joked, “Watching Sam come down the home straight I was like, ‘please just make it!’ It was really exciting to watch – I trust Sam and I knew he was going to give it everything and that’s all I could ask. We knew it was possible to get a medal on our day, we were confident that we could produce that sort of performance but to go and do it… I’m just really happy. To come home with a medal was exactly what we wanted.”

Over in the badminton competition, the day started with Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith comfortably booking their place in the next round with a third straight win in the group stages of the Mixed Doubles.

Meanwhile, Kirsty Gilmour – who had already reached the Women’s Singles last 16 without dropping a set ahead of Thursday’s play – required a bit of fightback magic after finding herself a set down, and five points adrift midway through the second against stubborn Hungarian opposition in the form of Vivien Sandorhazi. On sealing match point, Gilmour’s racquet was launched into the air in celebration with the comeback complete and a place in the quarter finals secured.

“Yeah, crazy things always happen at European Games because the tensions are very high!” said Gilmour.

“I feel like I was good nervous this morning and last night – I would be more worried if I wasn’t nervous as I like that feeling. Fair play to Vivien [Sandorhazi], she stuck in and just really sent it back, more than I was expecting actually, so I think this is a really good lesson for me to learn in the last sixteen and it’s good to get that kind of lung buster before we get to the fun zone – and we’re in the fun zone now.”

Both British Men’s Double’s pairings; Alexander Dunn and Adam Hall, and Ben Lane and Sean Vendy, progressed into semi-final bouts with assured 2-0 victories, while Julie MacPherson and Ciara Torrance produced some stunning rallies in a 2-1 defeat against their French Women’s Doubles quarter-final counterparts.

And over to the west of Krakow, the canoe slalom programme got underway in style for Team GB with all six kayak athletes – Jonny Dickson, Joe Clarke, Chris Bowers, Kimberley Woods, Mallory Franklin and Phoebe Spicer – progressing through to Saturday’s semi finals.

“I’m pleased with my position,” said Franklin. “I’ve got a lot more confidence after that. There were a few additional nerves at the start-line compared to a normal start-line with it being the European Games. Being at a multisport event is huge, but having the support of Team GB, being in the accommodation and in the Village, is a really good feeling. I feel way more comfortable this time round and I feel like I’ve got a lot of strength and confidence.”

Hear a round up of all the action from Team GB at the European Games so far here, with featured interviews from gold medallists Abbie Brown and Meg Jones – co-captains of the women’s rugby sevens side – taekwondo fighters Jade Jones and Caden Cunningham, BMX rider Kieran Reilly and many more.

With thanks to Team GB

A silver medal for archer Ella Gibson and a bronze for diver Grace Reid added to Team GB’s medal haul for the day.

World number one Penny Healey sailed through to the gold medal match with a convincing 6-0 victory over her Italian opponent in the semis. She faced off against Spain’s Elia Canales in the final, with a tightly contested first set ending in a tie at 26 points apiece. Healy pulled into the lead with a perfect second round giving her the upper hand, before going on to claim the win 6-2 in four sets. Her first gold medal of the competition came in the women’s recurve team alongside Bryony Pitman and Jess Sagoo.

Reflecting on her victory, Healey said, “It was not easy – I think there was a lot of nerves there and also it’s never easy to play up against an awesome opponent and a friend as well.

“My nan unfortunately passed away before I came out here, so I said to my mum that I’d get the quota spot for her and that I’d win for her and I’ve done that.
“This gold medal means a lot. I’d said I wanted to do my nan proud and I have so I’m really happy.”

In boxing, Rosie Eccles beat Ireland’s Amy Broadhurst in the women’s 66kg quarter finals to secure a quota place for Paris 2024, while Davison triumphed over Sweden’s Zehra Milli in the 54kg.

Overcome with emotion following her victory, Eccles said, “I’ve got no words. I just thought, after everything that’s happened, this was too good to happen to me. I just kept doing everything, coming back, grinding away and when you want things so bad it feels like it’s just impossible.

“Amy [Broadhurst] is one of the people I admire more than anyone in the boxing world, and she’s been through some rough patches like me. I honestly wish that was the final, it seems cruel that it had to be taken away from one of us.”

On qualifying a quota spot for Paris 2024 alongside Charley Davison, Eccles added, “We room together, we live together, we cry together and now we win together!”

Davison added, “Honestly, I can’t believe it. It’s going to take time to sink in. It means so much more to me. I feel more experienced and believe that I can go to the top.
“It’s my dream to become Olympic champion. I went to Tokyo with little experience, but I’ve banked a lot more since so it’s different now.”

Women’s compound archer Ella Gibson, who set a new World Record of 715 during the qualifying rounds, won silver after a fierce five-set battle in the final went in Italian opponent Elisa Roner’s favour.

Gibson said, “Coming out here and winning a medal is always what you want and it’s great to be able to come to my first European Games and do that. Obviously, I’m a bit frustrated with how the final went and, of course, not winning gold, but there will be many more opportunities and I know I’ll be on the finals field again.”

And Grace Reid took a last-gasp bronze in the Women’s 1m Springboard, taking Team GB’s total from the diving pool up to seven on the final day of the aquatic sports programme. While the prospect of a second medal of the Games was in reach for Reid throughout the final, it was on her closing dive that Friday’s Mixed 3m Synchro silver medallist moved into the top three – with 58.50 points awarded for a Forward 2 1/2 Somersaults Pike (105B) to propel Reid towards bronze.

“It’s 100 percent a nice way to finish with a medal, I think all three of us on the podium are happy that’s the lasting memory of these Games for us,” said Reid.

“I think a few days of recovery is probably needed for everyone, but I think I have plans to back in training on Monday. We can’t stop and sit still so we’ll be back training in no time.”

Meanwhile in the Men’s 3m Synchro, Ross Haslam and James Heatly narrowly missed out on the podium, finishing in fourth.

In the Men’s triathlon Barclay Izzard brought himself into contention with a strong bike leg placing him among the lead pack to head onto the run. The 24-year-old ultimately crossed the line in 9th, half a minute back from Norway’s Vetle Thorn who lifted the finishing tape for gold.

With thanks to Team GB

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.”
–
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

In total, two gold, one silver and two bronze medals made up Team GB’s medal tally for day four, with the women’s recurve team taking the top spot in archery, Tokyo 2020 medallist Bradly Sinden claiming -68kg silver in taekwondo, and the artistic swimmers winning bronze in both the duet free and the mixed duet free.

Jones claimed her title after facing off against Hungary’s Marton in the final.

“It’s obviously been a long journey,” she said immediately after her win. “Everyone knows – losing in Tokyo – it’s hard to stay on top, you know, and I’m getting older. People don’t understand how hard sport is, the rollercoaster of it. But I got gold in Rome, I got gold here, so it’s just amazing. A couple of my family are here, too, which is the icing on the cake.”

Bradly Sinden won silver after a convincing victory over Croatia’s Glasnovic in the semis. He withdrew ahead of the gold medal contest with an injury, leaving Spain’s Perez to claim the top spot.

In archery, the women’s recurve team of Penny Healey, Jess Sagoo and Bryony Pitman secured their place at the top of the podium with a victory over France in three sets. After a tie in the first set, the trio shot 55 in the second and 57 in the third to claim gold, making Pitman the first Team GB athlete in history to defend a European Games title. The Tokyo 2020 Olympian won gold in the same event alongside Sarah Bettles and Naomi Folkard at Minsk 2019.

“I’m really happy, I think we put on a good performance,” said Pitman following their victory.

“There were times when we didn’t shoot so well but we always came back from it. We worked really well as a team and it’s paid off. I think we’ve got a strong team dynamic. We started shooting together at the start of last year and had a lot of success on the world cup circuit.

“To come out here and win it again with a new team is amazing – I think it shows the new talent that we have in the UK and it’s an incredible feeling.”

Artistic swimmers Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe landed bronze in the Duet Free final, setting the standard with three nations left to swim by posting an improvement of over fifteen points on their preliminaries score.

“We’re just literally over the moon,” said Thorpe.

“For us this is everything we’ve been working towards achieving since we were younger and every time until now we’ve missed out on that medal by margins so this [bronze medal] is amazing.”

Already looking ahead to further ambitions in the sport, Shortman added, “Next we want that Olympic medal and we’re going to fight for it and absolutely train our socks off to try and get there. We’ve got a taste of it today and I can tell that we’re both so motivated. We have a new coach, we have the new rule changes and they suit us perfectly so we’re really excited for the future.”

Further success followed in the Kryta Plywalnia pool in Oswiecim as Beatrice Crass and Ranjuo Tomblin added a second bronze to their collection in the Mixed Duet Free. Performing last on the starting order the pair produced a clean routine to impress the judging panel to a total of 163.9688 and land themselves a spot on the podium.

Reacting to their second medal winning routine of the Games, Crass said: “We’re really pleased, so grateful all the training paid off and to get two routines through this competition with no base marks is just a dream that we really wanted to achieve.

Tomblin echoed his partner’s sentiment and praised teammates Shortman and Thorpe for acting as an inspiration.

“Watching them do such an amazing swim was really motivating as we always look up to them in training and think to ourselves ‘wow that’s so cool, we want to be able to perform like them,’” he said.

“It’s been honestly unbelievable this week – I don’t think we came to this competition thinking we would medal.”

And in sport climbing Team GB’s Dayan Akhtar topped out on two of four routes in the Men’s Boulder to take hold of first place in the semi-final rankings. He is one of just six athletes that will contest the final at the Tarnow Climbing centre on Sunday.

Fans can sign up to follow Team GB here, and catch all the European Games action live here.

With thanks to Team GB

Day three also saw James Heatly and Grace Reid land Team GB’s first silver medal of the Games in the mixed 3m synchro, while Maddison Moore took bronze in taekwondo’s -49kg category. World, European and British records were broken in archery by Ella Gibson and Penny Healey, and Team GB’s first ever male sport climbers reached the quarter finals in the men’s speed.

Eden Cheng delivered on her top qualifier billing to win Team GB’s second gold medal of the Games. She came to the fore in the final round with a sublime Back 2 1/2 Somersaults 1 1/2 Twists Pike taking her to a winning total of 331.60 points.

“Very happy, slightly relieved, a bit emotional – I’m feeling a lot of emotions right now!” said Cheng

“I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to be selected for this team and to be in the competition amongst friends and fierce competitors. It’s boosting my confidence and showing me that my resilience is still at a very high level through the rollercoaster of competition.”

“I felt a bit of extra pressure [after the prelims] and it didn’t help that everyone was then diving so well this evening. So yeah there was pressure, but for me there’s an advantage diving after someone as it gives me motivation that I want to do it better and that spurred me on.”

Grace Reid and James Heatly’s silver adds to the pair’s collection of World, European and Commonwealth medals from last year. Going into their final dive, they had been nudged just outside of the medal standings, but landed a stunning Inward 2 1/2 Somersaults Pike under pressure for 65.70 points to propel themselves back onto the second rung of the podium.

“The Mixed 3m is a really good event because every pairing there has a possibility of winning,” said Reid.

“I think everyone sat here at this table on the podium knew that they were in with a chance so that makes it a really exciting event – today Italy dived so well and really deserved the gold. James and I really enjoyed the event, pleased with silver, obviously would have loved to have won but we’ve both got a couple more events to come and still super excited.”

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On the first day of the taekwondo programme, three athletes made it through to bronze medal matches but it was Team GB debutant Maddison Moore who landed a spot on the podium in the -49kg category. With her parents cheering from the stands, Moore battled Israel’s Abishag Semberg to take the win across three tightly-fought rounds.

A delighted Moore commented immediately after her victory: “I’ve been to so many events in the past five years of my career and I haven’t actually come out where I wanted to. Although it wasn’t the win that I wanted today… I’m taking bronze, baby!”

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In the archery ranking rounds, Ella Gibson broke a World Record with a score of 715 in the Women’s Individual Compound, while teammate Penny Healey shot 681 in the Women’s Recurve to smash her own British and U21 European records as well as the European Games record.

“It feels amazing, I’m actually shaking with excitement and nerves right now,” said 18-year-old Healey, who is currently senior world number one.

“My goal for this year was to beat my PB and I’ve now done it halfway through the year. Hopefully I can perform this well all week – it’s a great way to start.”

Overall, the women’s recurve team of Healey, Bryony Pitman and Jess Sagoo progress to the elimination rounds ranked in third place, the mixed recurve team of Healey and Monty Orton progress in second, and the men’s recurve team of Orton, Alex Wise and James Woodgate progress in fifth. Quota places for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are on the line in all three events.

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And in sport climbing Rafe Stokes and Matthew Fall became the first male sport climbers to represent Team GB.

Fall said: “That was incredible. Honestly. To be part of this multisport Games is just incredible. It’s the first time any male Team GB athlete has been part of sport climbing so that was really special. You’re only the first once!

“I got off to a bit of a shaky start to say the least but total emotional rollercoaster to make it through that round of 16. In the round of 16 I thought I’d lost because Mateo [Zurloni], he’s an absolute legend in the sport and one of the fastest on the scene right now, and I didn’t realise I’d taken the win until I was about halfway down.”

Stokes added: “Today was incredible. I’m a little disappointed in my quarter final performance but that’s how it goes when you’re on the circuit like this. Falls, slips happen – that’s the beauty of sport climbing. I trust my training, I’ve done this a million times, I’ve worked so so hard in the past, I can just do what I do normally, run my run, and whatever happens, happens.”

“I’m ecstatic about where the sport is going, I’m absolutely ecstatic. To see that we’re our own thing, it’s growing in popularity and in competition, it’s beautiful to see.”

Fans can sign up to follow Team GB here, and catch all the European Games action live here.

Team GB will compete across 18 Olympic disciplines, with Krakow serving as the 2023 European Championships for eight of these.

Qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be on the line for most of the disciplines with direct quota spots available in archery, artistic swimming, boxing, breaking, canoe slalom, diving, modern pentathlon, rugby sevens, shooting and table tennis.

Meanwhile, athletes across badminton, BMX freestyle, fencing, mountain bike, taekwondo and triathlon will be competing for all-important ranking points for Paris 2024 qualification.

The event will mark the first time in history that Team GB have competed in breaking at a senior Games, with B-Boy Karam and B-Boy Sunni both set to take to the floor.

Meanwhile, Ranjuo Tomblin will become the first male athlete to represent Team GB in artistic swimming.

The full squad can be found here.

In total, the third edition of the European Games will see around 7,000 athletes from 48 European nations compete across a 12-day sporting programme. The Opening Ceremony will take place on Wednesday 21 June at the Henryk Reyman Municipal Stadium, with the Closing Ceremony to return at the same venue on Sunday 2 July.

Nicola Adams, Duncan Scott and Jade Jones were among Team GB’s medallists at the inaugural European Games in Baku in 2015, while Sir Jason Kenny, Chelsie Giles and Lauren Price were successful at Minsk 2019.

Nineteen athletes return for their second European Games with Team GB this year, while shooters Amber Rutter (nee Hill) and Seonaid McIntosh, alongside table tennis players Liam Pitchford and Paul Drinkhall, will each be competing at their third.

The 178-strong squad for Krakow 2023 features several Olympic gold medallists, including Charlotte Worthington, Joe Choong, Jade Jones and Joe Clarke, with a total of 32 Tokyo 2020 Olympians among those named.

The delegation will be led by Dr Paul Ford, who reprises his role as Chef de Mission after previously leading the charge at Minsk 2019.

Ford said: “It’s a huge privilege once again to take such a talented group of athletes to compete against Europe’s finest at these Games. Crucially, the 2023 European Games offers several qualification opportunities for Paris, providing a great benchmarking exercise looking ahead to next year. We will focus our support on creating the best performance environment for our athletes as well as fine-tuning our preparations for 2024.”

Pentathlete Joe Choong said: “I’m really excited to be competing at my first ever European Games. It will be really exciting to get into a multi-sport environment and see athletes from other sports. It’s going to be similar to an Olympic experience which has brought me some of my best memories – so I’m really looking forward to it. Becoming Olympic Champion in Tokyo was a dream come true and then last year I got the World Championship title, so the European title would be the icing on the cake!”

Boxer Charley Davison, who will be looking to secure qualification for her second Olympic Games while in Krakow, said: “This will be my first European Games, so I want to enjoy every moment and make sure I box to the best of my ability and make sure all the hard work in training pays off. Having been to an Olympics, I have had a taste of what it is like. This makes me strive to get that chance again and this time go one step further and get a medal.   I believe I am more than capable of getting myself on that Paris podium, now I have that experience from Tokyo and other international tournaments I’ve been to in the last few years.  The European Games is the first step towards Paris so it will be about getting in the ring, being myself and boxing naturally and then hopefully the qualification will come.”