Island Games 2019: Manx athletes win 10 medals on day one

Alan Corlett finished nine seconds ahead of his competitors in the 10,000m event

Manx athletes took a big step towards repeating their Island Games success of 2017 with a 10-medal haul on the opening day of action in Gibraltar.

Among the medals on Sunday were three gold, a silver and six bronze.

Runner Alan Corlett secured victory in the men's 10,000m race and cyclist Tara Ferguson won the women's criterium, with the women also taking the team competition.

The Isle of Man moved into second place overnight behind Guernsey.

Corlett said he had "a few doubts" ahead of his event but there was no sign of it as he pushed clear of his competitors at the halfway point.

"I got lucky today," he said after finishing nine seconds clear.

James Margrave and Bethan Pilley added two athletics bronze medals to the tally in the men's high jump and women's long jump respectively.

William Draper had to come back from some bad luck to take second in the triathlon

Cycling provided the biggest reward on the first day of competition with four medals.

Ellen Barker claimed a bronze in the criterium behind Ferguson, giving the women a clear victory in the team classification.

Despite missing an individual medal, the men's cycling team also earned a bronze in the criterium event.

Triathlon delivered further success for the island, despite some misfortune for the Manx athletes.

Men's runner-up William Draper went the wrong direction in the swim, before cutting his hand as he tried to remove a jammed chain on his bike in the cycle leg.

In the end, he came home just over a minute behind Guernsey's Joshua Lewis and his performance helped the Isle of Man to third in the team competition.

Meanwhile, women's bronze medallist Lynsey Elliott had to have her wetsuit repaired shortly before her event.