MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Falklands win bronze at Islands Games.
The Falklands long standing tradition of producing first class rifle shooters has been maintained. At the 10th Island Games, being held on the Channel Island of Guernsey, the Falklands took the bronze medal in the Queens Pairs competition.
24 year old Gareth Goodwin, who broke all the Falklands shooting records at last years Commonwealth Games in Manchester, top-scored with 287, while veteran Chris McCallum returned a score of 279 to give the Falklands team an aggregate score of 566.
Jersey took the gold medal with a combined score of 589 while the host Island, Guernsey, had to settle for the bronze with 585.
23 International Islands, comprising 3000 competitors, are participating in 16 sports over 6 days. The Games, which began in 1985, are held every 2 years.
While the destination of the gold and silver medals were expected, it was anticipated that the Isle of Wight, boasting a population of nearly 100,000 would out-shoot the smaller Falklands.
However, after the First Stage of shooting Gareth Goodwin & Chris McCallum had opened up a gap of 14 points. On the 2nd stage they lengthened the lead to 36 points, and never looked like losing their lead. Gareth Goodwin scored an excellent 49, from a possible of 50, at the tricky 600 yards range, following-up on previous scores of 47 and 48. Chris McCallum excelled also at the 600 yards range hitting 73 from a possible of 75 in the 2nd stage.
After returning home without a medal from the 2001 Island Games, the bronze medal provided an early boost for the small Falklands team of just 22 competitors. Gibraltar has the most competitors with 190.
In other events Glenn Ross broke the Falklands individual golf record by 5 points after carding a 77 at the La Grand Mare course. Leon Marsh held the previous record with 82.
Glenn is in 26th position with 3 rounds still to be played.
17 year old Kyle Biggs returned a personal best of 59 seconds on the grueling 400m event on the track, and only just failed to make the semi-finals. 16 year old Roxanne Morrison running in her first major International meeting recorded a personal best of 6.03.26 in the 1,500m
The Badminton team was edged out by Bermuda 3-2 in an exciting group game, and also went down 4-1 to the Orkney Islands.
The Falklands team which had to travel further than any other Island to get to Guernsey received an annual subvention from the Falklands Government to assist with air fares, while many leading companies within the Islands provide sponsorship. Other events, such as an icy mid-winter swim in the South Atlantic, also helps raise money for the team.
Patrick Watts- Channel Island of Guernsey
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