FLO Thomas was rewarded for a fine performance in the women’s road race with a bronze medal, while also picking up silver in the team event with Katie Silva and Chloe Watson-Hill.
Jersey were always going to be up against it. As well as home advantage, Guernsey had a clear numerical one too, with five riders to Jersey’s three. However, Thomas and Silva kept up with their rivals to the very last until Jamie-Lee Wright and Hannah Brehaut broke clear for the hosts in the final sprint up to the finish line by St Peter’s Church with Wright taking the gold ahead of her team-mate.
It was a tough race around the Lilliputian country lanes on the island’s picturesque south-west. The home crowd were out in numbers too – willing all the riders on, as much as their own.
‘We didn’t quite have the numbers Guernsey had so our plan was to break up the group a little bit,’ said Thomas. ‘It became every man for himself on the last hill. I tried to go early just to make Guernsey work hard but I didn’t quite have it and it became a bit of a sprinter’s finish but you can’t take anything away from Guernsey – they were strong. But having Katie there with me really made the difference today.’
For 41-year-old Silva, it was a particularly proud moment to get on the podium again.
This was her seventh Games over three different sports, having previously taken part in athletics and the triathlon. She made her debut in 2007 in Rhodes competing in the 800m, finishing sixth before winning gold in the 4x400m relay two years later. More relay medals followed in 2013 and 2015 before winning a team triathlon gold in Gotland in 2017 and silver in Gibraltar in 2019. Now having won a medal in three sports, would this be her last?
‘I think I’m done,’ she said, ‘I’m just so proud of myself, just to even make the start line.’
Meanwhile, the men’s team finished just outside the medal places in fourth, with Zack Hamon the best-placed individual in ninth. Local favourite Sam Culverwell put in the race of his life to see off the challenge of Saaremaa’s Karl Lauk to win gold, though the Estonian island won gold in the team event ahead of the hosts.
