THOMAS Atkinson secured Jersey’s first gold medal of the Island Games 2025 Orkney after an excellent performance in the Men’s Triathlon.
Competing in the Men’s Individual Final, Atkinson (21) fulfilled his ambitions of securing an illusive individual medal as he led out of the water and all the way to the finish line on a warm day around the captivating Stromness Harbour.
The young Jerseyman dominated the field, finishing in 1 hour 52 minutes 47 seconds, nearly seven minutes ahead of Gotland’s Albert Askengren in second place, with Orkney’s very own Bermuda 2013 gold medallist Bobby Oag securing the bronze.
Atkinson clocked some fantastic times in each of the Triathlon events clocking the fastest time in all three triathlon disciplines.
An 18 minute and 42 second swim was two seconds quicker than Gozo’s Ryan Muscat who finished in fourth place. Atkinson was the only triathlete to complete his cycle in less than an hour, a 58 minute and five second cycle extended Atkinson’s lead.
To conclude, Atkinson ran an incredible 34 minute and 43 second ten kilometre run which would have seen him finish tenth in the Men’s 10,000m race after over an hour of intense exercise.
Atkinson is the first Jerseyman to win the individual Men’s Triathlon gold since Dan Halksworth went back-to-back in Jersey 2015 and Gotland 2017.
Atkinson stole the crown from Guernsey’s Joshua Lewis, who won the last two Island Games triathlon meetings.
“I’m delighted with the finish,” said an excited Atkinson post-race, “I really wanted to improve on my fourth-place finish in Guernsey 2023, so to land the gold is something really special to me.”
“We had some complications at the start of the race with the music and the sound effects, we usually wait for the ready signals from the officials, so that was a bit confusing, but I think we all managed to start at the same time.”
“From coming out of the water at the front, I just had to hold on from there, I’m really pleased and proud to be representing Jersey and having won our first gold of these games.”
Atkinson’s efforts also went a long way to helping the Jersey Men claim their fifth successive Island Games Team gold, backed up fellow conpatriot’s Peter Holmes, Dale Quenault, Wayne Quenault, Dirk Swatt and Mark Syvret in their own performances.
Swatt and Wayne Quenault were also excellent, finishing in 8th and 9th places respectively, Swatt finishing just 52 seconds ahead of his teammate.
Syvret was just outside the top ten, finishing 11th, with Dale Quenault and Peter Holmes finishing in 15th and 16th places respectively.
The Team standings were decided by the top three fastest individual times combined. Jersey therefore finished with a combined time of 6:12:48 from Atkinson, Swatt and Wayne Quenault, a full 18 minutes faster than silver medallists Gibraltar and 28 minutes ahead of bronze medallists and fellow Channel Islanders, Guernsey.
In the Women’s Individual Final, Jersey flag bearer Claire Forbes, the sole female Triathlete from Jersey, finished in ninth place.
Orkney’s Claire Rendall took the gold in 2:20:08, with Guernsey’s 18 year old star Hannah Kennedy taking silver, Forbes finishing just eight minutes off the medal places in an excellent top ten finish in a strong 23-person field. Forbes clocked a solid 2:33.19 around Stromness Harbour.
The last female Jersey athlete to take home gold in the Women’s Triathlon was Joanna Gorrod in Gotland 2017.
Jersey’s team manager Dave Holmes was ecstatic with the team’s performance: “Everyone was pleased with the results, we knew that both golds were possible and maybe even likely, but obviously you still need to turn up and do the job.
“Tom ran a flawless race, he did what we knew he could. I was surprised that his winning margin was as big as it was, but I wasn’t surprised that he won.”
He was full of praise for the men’s gold winning squad: “The great thing about the team was that every single individual member of the team performed really well.”
“The team race is your best three races combined, and we had six in our team, so somebody can have a bad day and it doesn’t matter. But actually, we had six men, and they all performed really well, we got the maximum out of everyone.”
After winning their fifth team gold on the bounce, Holmes discussed the influx of new athletes contributing to Jersey’s continued success: “The good thing is, we’ve got different athletes each time.
“It’s not like we’ve got these three unbeatable guys that turn up every time and win it. The team is changing, we’ve got strength that goes so deep that we can consistently win it.”
Holmes attributed the success towards Jersey’s tireless efforts in promoting triathlon and the island’s ideal landscape for triathlon events: “It doesn’t really come down to the club or the coaching when creating these athletes. It’s about creating an environment.”
“The triathlon is a major thing across the whole of Jersey, we’ve got things like the Jersey kids triathlon, the Super League triathlon coming over, and really strong club events and strong competitors.”
“It sort of builds itself, it becomes self fulfilling when triathlon is a big thing. We’ve got kids wanting to become triathletes, and adults wanting to join the club, and so you’ll always find those strong athletes.”
Holmes was adamant that the club should not necessarily take credit for producing such impressive athletes.
Holmes mentioned the lack of female competitors at this years games: “We struggled to get enough interest this time around, which was partly to do with the format of the race because it was the Olympic distance, non drafting format, which isn’t so appealing to the younger athlete.”
“We’ve got a few younger female athletes that are very strong. Thankfully, in the Faroe Islands in 2027 it is likely to be a shorter distance track and some of our younger athletes coming through will be able to compete.”
“They’re no less good than the men we’ve got, it’s just getting the right number and getting them along to the games.”
Results
Men’s Team Triathlon GOLD Jersey 06:12:48
Men’s Triathlon GOLD Thomas Atkinson 01:52:47
8th Dirk Swart 02:09:35
9th Wayne Quenault 02:10:27
11th Mark Syvret 02:13:28
15th Dale Quenault 02:15:25
16th Peter Holmes 02:!5:42
Women’s Triathlon 9th Claire Forbes 02:33:19
