Gold rush success for British athletes at 2019 Inas Global Games
British athletes took the Global Games by storm returning last week with 20 medals and placing 6th on the Inas medal table.
Representation in the four sports of athletics, cycling, tennis and cricket proved successful with each of the four sports adding to the British success.
In athletics, Sam Fernando took silver in the 3,000m Steeplechase T20 II-1 in 9:57.82. Declan Manning reached the podium with silver in the discus F20 II-1 throwing 37.37m.
In her international debut for Great Britain Lauren Booth stormed to success astonishing on-lookers as she took gold in all of her events, one of which was the ladies road team event, with experienced international Kiera Byland.
Byland added to Britain’s medal tally and made sure there were two Britons on the podium in each event taking an additional 4 silvers and single bronze medal. Both ladies go down in Inas history as the first medal winners in the newly introduced track cycling events on the Inas programme.
In Tennis, the British team led the way with an all British singles final between Dominic Iannotti and Fabrice Higgins winning gold and silver respectively. The same pair took a silver in the men’s doubles. Sixteen year old Anna McBride defended her singles title taking the ladies gold, with McBride in action again with Iannotti successfully defending another world title and claiming the top spot in Mixed Doubles.
Tom Mellor and in his international debut Oliver Beadle achieved silver in the men’s team event final.
An outstanding performance from England cricketers kept their impeccable record against Australia intact. Winning the ODI and overall series with an impressive 8-0 match wins on this the first time that cricket has been part of the Inas Global Games.
Tracey McCillen, Chief Executive, UK Sports Association said “The Global Games was a great success for British athletes across all four sports. We really couldn’t have asked for more of the athletes or staff who supported them. I am very proud of the results and congratulate each and every person on the Team and all of the families who supported on the ground and behind the scenes. All four sports represented us well on the international stage and long may it continue.”
McCillen continued “Our congratulations and thanks go to hosts Sports Inclusion Australia and the Inas Global Games Company. The bar was raised at this Games, the coverage was incredible and it showcased almost 1000 of the best elite athletes from around the world from 47 countries.”
Ian Martin, ECB’s Head of Disability Cricket, said “I couldn’t be prouder of all the players and staff who’ve achieved this fantastic result. Australia is a tough place to play cricket as a touring England side and these boys have excelled in challenging conditions to win all eight matches on the tour. They’re an inspiration to us all and our hope is that the quality of cricket on show at the INAS Global Games will inspire more nations to back Learning Disability cricket and make this a truly international tournament next time round.”
Tom A Hara, GB Cycling Team Manager said “Their cycling performances were outstanding. I couldn’t expect more from the girls, to come away with 6 golds, 4 silvers and a bronze medal is maximum output.”
Karen Ross, GB Tennis Team Manager said “I think we exceeded all our expectations in terms of the performances from all the players. Everyone rose up to the occasion and increased their level of play resulting in a load of medals. It was an incredible team atmosphere and effort that all the players and coaches put in and it gave us even better results than expected.”
Kevin Manning, interim GB Athletics Team Manager said “It was my pleasure to be able to step in and assist the athletics team. For both Sam and Declan, this was a world class field and they both stepped up and brought their ‘A’ game. Two athletes, two silver medals and a series of outstanding performances with a lifetime of fond memories of Brisbane.”
The Inas Global Games hosted almost 1000 elite athletes with intellectual impairment from across 47 countries worldwide competing in fierce competition from 12th to 19th October in Brisbane Australia. The 2019 Games showcased Championship events in athletics, basketball, cricket, cycling, futsal, rowing, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and tennis.
Athletes competed in class II1, II2 (selected events). Class II3 was included in a limited number of events on a trial basis only. The Inas Global Games is scheduled every 4 years in the year preceding the Paralympic Games. The Global Games are the world’s largest elite event for athletes with intellectual impairment.
The UK Sports Association is the official Great Britain member of Inas. The UK Sports Association, through a strong collaboration with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) facilitated and supported entries in cricket and tennis respectively at the Inas Global Games and Inas Cricket Tournament.
For athlete interviews, GB Team photographs and further comment contact the UK Sports Association.
Global Games Organisers’ photographs are available here
For more information about classification for athletes from Great Britain please visit athlete classification or contact the UK Sports Association
For full results from the Global Games visit the Global Games website
View additional coverage of the Games, including a daily round up of successes for the full GB Team and England Cricket line up in the news section on the UKSA website.
2019 Global Games British Medal Winners
GOLD
Lauren Booth & Kiera Byland, Cycling, Women’s Pairs Time Trial 19:07.19
Lauren Booth, Cycling, Individual Road Race (30.25km) 50.51
Lauren Booth, Cycling Individual Time Trial (5km) 7:18.17
Lauren Booth, Cycling, Individual Sprint (Track)
Lauren Booth, Cycling. Individual Time Trial (Track)
Lauren Booth, Cycling, Individual Pursuit (Track)
Anna McBride, Tennis, Women’s singles
Dominic Iannotti, Tennis, Mens singles
Anna McBride & Dominic Iannotti, Tennis, Mixed Doubles
Dominic Iannotti & Fabrice Higgins, Tennis, Men’s Team event
England Team, Cricket, Winners ODI & T20 Tournament*
SILVER
Declan Manning, Athletics, Discus (37.37m)
Sam Fernando, Athletics, 3000m Steeplechase (9:57.82)
Kiera Byland, Cycling, Individual Road Race (30.25km)
Kiera Byland, Cycling, Individual Time Trial (5km)
Kiera Byland, Cycling, Individual Time Trial (Track)
Kiera Byland, Cycling, Individual Pursuit (Track)
Dominic Iannotti & Fabrice Higgins, Tennis, Men’s Doubles
Fabrice Higgins, Tennis, Men’s singles
Oliver Beadle & Tom Mellor, Tennis, Men’s Team event
BRONZE
Kiera Byland, Cycling, Individual Sprint (Track)
* Gold Team medal not part of overall GB medal position on Inas Global Games medal table as tournament results ran in parallel to Global Games.
The GB Team and England Cricket line up at the 2019 Inas Global Games
Athletics: Sam Fernando (Cupar, Fife) Declan Manning (Bungay, Suffolk),
Staff: Tommy Patterson, (Carluke, South Lanarkshire) Team Manager/Head Coach and Kevin Manning, (Bungay, Suffolk) Interim Team Manager
Cycling: Lauren Booth (Chippenham, Wiltshire), Kiera Byland (Bolton, Lancashire),
Staff: Tom A Hara, (Skelmorlie, North Ayrshire ) Team Manager/Head Coach and Janis Malone (Glasgow, Scotland) Team Support Staff
Tennis: Dominic Iannotti (Ayrshire, Scotland), Fabrice Higgins (Chorley, Lancashire), Thomas Mellor (Cheltenham, Gloucestershire), Oliver Beadle (Upminster, Essex), Anna McBride (Gedling, Nottinghamshire),
Staff: Karen Ross (Team Manager/Head Coach); Nick Lawrence (Coach); Clare McDonald (Team Support Staff)
Cricket: Chris Edwards (Cheshire) captain, Dan Bowser (Devon), Jordyn Dore (Hampshire), Jonathan Gale (Surrey), Ronnie Jackson (Essex), Alex Jervis (Yorkshire), Martin Henderson (Middlesex), Rob Hewitt (Yorkshire), Dan Levey (Surrey), Kieran McKinney (Staffordshire), Andrew Mowatt (Kent), Jack Perry (Cheshire), Kester Sainsbury (Middlesex), Tom Wilson (Lancashire), Tayler Young (Surrey),
Staff: Ian Martin (Head of Disability Cricket), Derek Morgan (Head Coach), Stuart Murphy (Manager), Tom Flowers (Assistant Coach)
