Gemma Dawkins wins gold in the 200m

GEMMA Dawkins put in a stunning performance with a staggering personal best to win last night’s 200m and claim her second gold medal of the Games.

Running 25.08 she raced to the win ahead of second placed Harriet Pryke from the Isle of Man who finished in 25.20.

Dawkins was shocked to finish first and said: ‘I can’t believe it, I only did the 200m as an extra event so never expected to win and it was such a big personal best, almost a one second improvement.’

It was another medal for Kathryn Rothwell too as she topped the discus entries with a throw of 39.53m while Jersey’s Jenny Browne was seventh with 31.92m.

Rothwell said: ‘It’s fantastic to get another gold medal, I didn’t think I had a chance of doing that as I thought the girl from Saaremaa could throw a lot further. I wanted to come here and get a PB, which I did with my first throw, and hopefully medal so I’ve done everything I could have hoped for.’

Making it a trio of gold medal winners was 19-year-old Sophie Twinam who beat the gold medallist of Rhodes two years ago to take the top spot in the 400m hurdles with a last gasp stretch for the line to win in 1.03.29 as Angela Lopez from Menorca was second in 1.03.43. Jersey’s Hazel Le Cornu won the bronze medal with 1.05.02.

Twinam said: ‘It was such a close race between the top three right up to the 300m point and then I just pulled away after the last hurdle and got her on the line. I was so determined to beat her this year and I did it with a big season’s best so I’m ecstatic to win.’

Amy Dingle finished eighth in the triple jump with a superb leap of 10.05 in the other final of the night as earlier Stephen Prosser ran 11.68 to finish fifth in his 100m semi-final Calum Forrest was sixth in the 400m semi-final in 52.64.

In action today will be Katie Silva who qualified for the 800m final in 2.20.71 for fourth place in her heat; Toby Edwards and Tom Brown, who both qualified for the 1,500m having crossed the line in 4.16.29 and 4.18.50 respectively; and the men’s 4×400 relay team.

Coach Sandra Winnie said: ‘It was a fantastic day today we came here not expecting Gemma to medal in the 200m but after the heats we realised there was a possibility and she did it.

Coach Andrew Winnie added: ‘It’s a beautiful stadium, a beautiful setting and the competition is excellent and that’s why we’re producing our best.

‘Sophie has had a miserable season but she’s come back from university and worked like a little Trojan and in two weeks has improved by five seconds while Hazel getting the bronze medal was a big bonus.

‘Kathryn for such a young girl to win two gold medals is amazing and she’s shown great maturity while Amy Dingle made the final of the triple jump so once again a great night.’