Faroes’ seventh archery gold of the week was enough to storm past Jersey, who themselves added another three titles to their collection – two in the pool, including an Island Games record, and pistol shooter Dave Ward’s 50th career Games pistol medal (yes, 50th!).
With Jersey still waiting to hear the result of the women’s shot putt appeal, which could result in another gold for Lauren Thérin and put them back on top of the table, the chances are that this race for top spot could be the closest in many Games, with at least five teams – Faroes, Jersey, Guernsey, Rhodes and Gotland – still in the hunt.
Only five golds separated those teams at the close of play last night.
Yesterday’s action included a superb performance from the Jersey mountain bikers, but with cycling as a sport suffering a bad week in general, it was perhaps no surprise that once again there were unacceptable incidents to deflect attention from the sportsmen.
Accusations of cheating against a Menorcan cyclist, who then assaulted an Isle of Man official, meant that once again a cycling event’s medal ceremony had to be postponed.
The appeal means that Jersey aren’t sure whether they have two silvers from the team event and a great individual ride by Robin Ovenden, or team silver and individual bronze.
One bright note for the cycling squad was that the road race fiasco was resolved (or rather, the results were announced), with Jersey’s men gaining the team bronze.
Those two medals, or any number of others, depending on when they were announced or confirmed, took Jersey to the landmark of 1,000 Island Games medals from all the 12 tournaments to date.
Back in the pool, it is becoming difficult not to take our swimmers for granted as they are simply excellent all the time.
The men’s 100m medley relay team of Daniel Halksworth, Ian Black, Simon Le Couilliard and Andrew Blake wrote themselves into the record books here and the RBC Island record books back home with a 3.54.70 min effort – a whole four seconds ahead of Guernsey.
Sarah Jane Smith also struck gold, while Katie Speller picked up a bronze, as did Simon Le Couilliard.
The women’s 400m freestyle team of Iona Richardson, Ebony Jacklin, Emma Glendening and Smith also collected bronze.
And that was Jersey’s poorest return from the pool so far! In the outdoor oven they call Afandou golf course, Jersey’s ladies re-established themselves in pole position for both individual gold, through teenager Olivia Jordan-Higgins, and the team gold.
The final round is today – and the weather is not likely to get any cooler.
Many of the sports come to a conclusion today and Jersey will need a big haul to have any chance of topping the table by tomorrow night, as there will be limited opportunities tomorrow because many of the team sports have fallen short of the medal standard.
But whether it is achieved or not – and it will be an outstanding effort in these conditions – Team Jersey can be proud of their efforts in this sporting hot-house.
