Sprinter Tom Holligan (17, Edinburgh) won gold this afternoon in the 200m at the National Sports Centre in the Isle of Man. The European Youth Olympic Festival champion finished in 21.52s; with 100m Commonwealth Youth Games gold medallist Tahir Walsh (Antigua & Berbuda) in second.
Holligan started well in lane three, and came quickly off the bend to finish in first place. It was a superbly run race, and Tom was ecstatic as he crossed the finish line. “It feels even better than the European Youth Olympics”, he said. “I felt confident after the heats yesterday, but I thought that the semi-final could have gone better this morning; I didn’t run as fast as I’d have liked there.”
He continued: “I was scared at the start, and I think that helped me so much. I came on to their shoulders and it just catapulted me through. I think my reaction shows how much it meant to me. I knew I was ahead when I hit the line, and I had a wee glance to the right and I saw I was clear.”
It has been an exciting week for Tom so far, having been named as Youth Team Scotland’s flagbearer for the Games.
“I felt a bit of pressure coming into this after being named the flagbearer. I was happy with my performance in the 100m and I knew coming into the 200m I was going to give it a real go. I’m delighted with my time so late in the season. I am so happy that my family were able to see it this time, because they couldn’t make it to Turkey (for the European Youth Olympic Festival). It was really emotional for everyone after the medal ceremony.”
Fifteen minutes before Tom’s gold medal performance, Chloe Lambert (17, Glasgow) won bronze in the women’s 200m. Chloe had qualified first in her Semi-final going 24.75s, and she went even quicker in the final (24.49s) to finish third.
Five minutes after Chloe crossed the line, the final throw of the men’s hammer landed, with Scotland’s Nick Percy (16, Isle of Wight) winning bronze. Nick, who won silver in the discus yesterday, threw 58.96m to pick up his second medal of the Games.
Edinburgh hammer thrower Kimberley Reed (16) collected the fourth athletics medal winning silver in the women’s competition. The Commonwealth Games Scotland, May Athlete of the Month winner threw 54.22m, to finish second behind England’s Louisa James (58.10m).
In the final race of the day the Scottish 4x100m relay team (Emma Brown, Zoey Clark, Chloe Lambert, Yasmine Milne) finished fourth in 49.21s.