Rowers are made to settle for silver on disappointing day for the hosts
Great Britain won two silver medals on the first day of rowing finals at the European Championships in Strathclyde.
The men’s four of Thomas Ford, Jacob Dawson, Adam Neill and James Johnston never threatened runaway winners Romania, but edged France to take second place.
And the women’s eight, which included Scotland’s Karen Bennett, edged the Netherlands to silver in a three-team competition which was also won by the Romanians.
But it proved a generally disappointing day for the host nation, who failed to win medals in their four other finals.
Rowan Mckellar and Harriet Taylor led after 500m of the women’s pairs final before finishing fifth, while the women’s four and the men’s and women’s quadruple sculls teams missed out on a medal.
Silver medallist Neill said: “I think we executed our race plan, but we slightly ran out of water today.
“It’s positive because it’s the first time we’ve been on the podium this year. We’ll train harder and come back for the World Championships.”
■ Fifteen-year-old Taeja James rose to the occasion but Great Britain narrowly missed out on a women’s team gymnastics medal at the European Championships in Glasgow.
Missing their four biggest names, including Amy Tinkler and Claudia Fragapane, the young line-up challenged for the podium throughout, but were pipped to bronze by Holland by less than three points.
James, a late replacement for former world medallist Becky Downie, gave them hope with a 13.5 floor score which proved the third highest of the competition so far.
James said: “I got the call on Wednesday to replace Becky Downie, but we’ve all been working as a squad so I felt prepared.
“I felt the pressure with it being my only piece, but I’m really happy with my routine. The experience of competing in this arena with the team was great.”
■ Elinor Barker was unable to back up gold in cycling’s team pursuit as she finished 12th in the women’s points race in Glasgow.
Barker was part of the team that claimed Great Britain’s first gold of the European Championships on Friday night, but was unable to claw back an early deficit after conceding a lap, finishing 19 points adrift of the leader.
It was Maria Confalonieri who eventually claimed gold, with Ireland’s Lydia Gurley finishing fifth.