Ellis puts Olympics woe behind him to land gold
HEANOR paratriathlete Dave Ellis won an emotional triathlon golf medal, putting a year of heartbreak behind him.
A year ago the 35-year-old partially-sighted athlete and his long-time guide Luke Pollard were favourites for gold at the Tokyo Olympics but a broken chain on their bike cost them their chance.
They won world and European titles after that, before Ellis broke both his arms after tripping over a dog lead.
He was back fit in time for Birmingham and the pair took control from the opening swim.
They cruised clear on the bike and then hammered down their advantage in the concluding run, finishing more than four minutes ahead of their nearest rivals, from Australia, in a time of 57 minutes 39 seconds.
“This is unbelievable after everything that happened last year, it’s the missing medal from my collection,” said Ellis, who was watched by his proud parents.
“I’m so happy that we were able to do what we needed to do.
“I didn’t want to go through the feeling we had in Tokyo ever again and this is the complete polar opposite.
“I always had the belief and confidence in us.
“I broke my arms at the right time and I had plenty of time to recover, it just left me a little bit weaker in my swimming for a while.
“Mum and Dad didn’t get to come to Tokyo and having them here is so special.
“They go to all my races but I’ve never seen them so excited.
“We didn’t know what the gap was, we just wanted to keep the pressure on. There is always stress and anxiety over the bike, not just because of what happened in Tokyo but I was very happy to get into the run.”
DERBYSHIRE swimmer Imogen Clark landed a brilliant silver medal in the 50m breaststroke on her Commonwealth Games debut – after breaking her own British record in the semi-final.
But there was disappointment for fellow Derbyshire breaststroker Sarah Vasey, who just missed out on the final.
Vasey, the defending champion, has been suffering from a knee injury and was not even sure she would be able to compete.
She now hopes a little rest could help her get closer in the 100m event still to come.
In the final, Clark could not catch South African ace Lara van Niekerk, who set a games record 29.80 seconds to win, but she edged out Chelsea Hodges of Australia for silver in 30.24, having swum 30.02 in the semis.
“I’m so buzzing, so happy,” said Clark.
“I never thought I would come into this meeting and come out with a silver medal.
“I’ve been on a high all week, just doing something I love.
“I’ve never walked out into a crowd like that, with everyone screaming, it gives you the tingles. It’s crazy and I just can’t believe it.”
Two more Derbyshire swimmers took silvers in the relays: Abby Wood as part of the 4x100m freestyle team and Jacob Whittle in the men’s 4x100m, in which Whittle’s brilliant second leg briefly put England in front before Australia claimed gold.
Former City of Derby swimmer Adam Peaty was due to swim in the 50m breaststroke final last night.
DERBYSHIRE table tennis ace Liam Pitchford goes into the semifinal for England in the men’s team event against Singapore today saying the team need to start well.
They reached the last four with a comfortable 3-0 win over Cyprus, Pitchford easing through his singles match 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 against Marios Yiangou in between impressive performances from team-mates Tom Jarvis and Paul Drinkhall to take him close to a ninth Commonwealth medal.
But Pitchford knows they will face a tough test against Singapore.
“It is probably another step up, so we need to be ready again,” said the 29-year-old.
“They are all good players and have a strong doubles pair. We need to get the first point on the board and put them under pressure.”