Triathlete Atkinson wins Jersey's first 2025 Island Games gold
Jersey's gold medallist Tom Atkinson trains at the British Triathlon Training Centre in Nottingham
- Published
Jersey's Tom Atkinson has won the first gold medal at the 2025 Island Games.
Atkinson won the men's individual triathlon around Stromness Harbour in Orkney, finishing more than six minutes ahead of Gotland's silver-medallist Albert Askengren and Bobby Oag from Orkney, who took bronze.
It came as Guernsey's Hannah Kennedy won silver in the women's individual event and led her island to women's team gold.
Atkinson's performance also helped Jersey's men's team of Peter Holmes, Dale Quenault, Wayne Quenault, Dirk Swart and Mark Syvret retain the team gold medal they won two years ago.
Guernsey's men's team of Dan Armsden, David Fairbrother, David Mosley, Christopher Norman, Ove Svejstrup and Ethan Woodhead took team bronze.
The triathlon was the first medal event at the 2025 Games, which will see more than 2,000 sports people from 24 islands competing.
It was a first individual medal for 21-year-old Atkinson, who was fourth at the last Island Games in Guernsey.
"I knew I wanted to finish higher up than fourth in Guernsey, that was my hope coming into it, so to win it is incredible," Atkinson told BBC Radio Jersey.
"I tried to push the swim hard and noticed there were some guys sat on my feet for the whole swim, so I pushed for the first couple of laps on the bike and took it from there," he added.
"On the run I tried to set out a bit easy as it's quite a hilly course, but I think I paced it well."
Kennedy wins silver medal for golden Guernsey women
Hannah Kennedy had led the race after the swim section
Kennedy's silver medal in the women's event came in her first Island Games triathlon.
The 18-year-old only took up the sport three years ago, having previously been a swimmer who had competed at the 100m and 200m backstroke at the last Island Games in Guernsey.
Unsurprisingly, she led the race after the opening swim section before being caught during the cycling by Orkney's eventual gold medallist Claire Rendell.
Rendell went on to win the race by more than two-and-a-half minutes while Kennedy was almost two minutes ahead of Isle of Man's Clara Isaac as she secured Guernsey's first individual medal of the 2025 Island Games.
And Kennedy's performance helped her Guernsey teammates Amy Critchlow, Lindsay Sword and Chloe Truffitt women win team gold ahead of second-placed Shetland.
Critchlow finished the race in fifth place while Truffitt was seventh and Sword was eighth.