Team Gold for GB & NI with Lavender and Davies winning individual medals
Great Britain and Northern Ireland struck double team gold at the IAU 50km European Championships in Avila, Spain, as they also claimed two individual medals.
Alison Lavender (handicap 0.5) and Andrew Davies (handicap -5.6) earned podium places in the women’s and men’s races respectively as their teammates packed well behind them to secure team gold.
In the women’s race, Lavender delivered an exceptional performance as she came back to claim the silver medal behind Ireland’s Cairtiona Jennings. Lavender crossed the line in a time of 3:21:26 to comfortably finish ahead of Poland’s Dominika Stelmach to book her spot on the rostrum.
Sally O'Gorman (handicap 1.0) and Rebecca Bunting (handicap 0.6) finished just outside the podium positions in fourth and fifth. Their times recorded at 3:22:23 and 3:26:04 which contributed to the team securing a cumulative time (for the top three counters) of 10:09:52 which was a significant margin ahead of their nearest challengers, Spain.
Chloe Richardson (handicap 0.1) and Elizabeth Renondeau (handicap 2.1) ended their races in 19th and 24st respectively in times of 3:49:56 and 3:55:30.
Things were tighter in the men’s contest as just over a minute separated GB & NI from Spain in the team standings as they claimed gold.
Andrew Davies’ fine display saw him capture the individual bronze medal in a time of 2:53:09. He was just ahead of his compatriot, Will Mycroft (handicap -4.0) who was fourth just 14 seconds behind the Welshman.
The four other GB & NI team members filled the top 10 positions with Alex Milne (handicap -4.7), Dan Nash (handicap -4.8), Nigel Martin (handicap -5.6) and Aaron Richmond (handicap -2.2) securing positions sixth through to ninth.
Milne dipped under 2 hours 55 minutes with his time of 2:54:33, while Nash hit 2:55:00 exactly. Martin was next in 2:55:42 with Richardson next home in 2:56:29.