Wordless Wednesday

Sportsday

So we didn't win the football or the tennis - there's a lot more to British sport and we know it, even if Mr and Mrs Average Joe Public don't! And did I say we didn't win the tennis - it's GB versus GB in the Boys Doubles today! Lewis Burton and George Morgan play Liam Broadby and Tom Farquharson in the first ever all British boys doubles final.

Here's a headline you won't see often - since it's about squash and not football: "England Dominate World Rankings."

Oh, and look here - more World Number One status for Britain - oh, hang on, still not football. No, this time it's Taekwondo, sorry ...

Have I mentioned that we beat the Aussies in cricket? Again.

Archery: Silver and Bronze for Nicky Hunt and Simon Terry at the World Cup in Croatia.

Athletics: Team GB second in the European Team Championships - beating Germany into third place. Well, fancy that! There were victories over their closest rivals in the European Championships for Dwain Chambers, David Greene, Martyn Rooney, Andy Turner and Mo Farah.

Rowing: Six Golds in Bled; another five Golds in Munich, plus sundry others - only missing a medal in two events!

Sailing: Sarah Ayton and Saskia Clark win World Cup Gold.

Cycling: Emma Pooley is the first British cyclist to win the prestigious Tour de l’Aude in France.

Paralympic sport: New world record for Shelly Woods! Hannah Cockroft sets four! Danny Greaves gets in on the act too, in the discus.

Triathlon: Chrissie Wellington wins, Tim Don also wins, the juniors picked up European Team Silver and the Paratriathletes won too!

Golf: Graeme McDowell wins the US Open! The US Open ... I know, who? He's from Northern Ireland.

Equestrian: Sharon Hunt wins the Classics event in Germany.

And it might not be a world victory but it means as much to handball as world glory to us in football (Ok, more than that!) Well done! Onwards and upwards!

Canoeing: Rachel Cawthorn won two gold and a bronze at the Canoe Sprint World Cup in Germany; Liam Heath and Jonathan Schofield took World Cup Gold in the Kayak double in Hungary, with Ed McKeever taking Gold in the Kayak singles at the same event; Liam and Jonathan followed with a repeat result in Germany, although a bronze this time for Ed. Fiona Pennie has taken silver and bronze in recent Slalom World Cup events.

We're just so terrible at sport, aren't we ;-)

Sportsnight

Last weekend was certainly a great one for our motorsport boys - as well as the McLaren result, we had a one-two in the Indycar 500, with Dario Francitti and Dan Wheldon. Sending best wishes for a speedy recovery to Mike Conway too, following his spectacular crash in the same race. (And to Valentino Rossi - I know, he's not British but we love him!)

Danny Greaves and Heather Cockroft both set new world records in their respective paralympic sports, Greaves in the Paralympic World Cup. In the same championships, Jason Smyth won 100m and 200m Gold, visually impaired sprinter Libby Clegg won 100m, Tracey Hinton the 200m and Stephen Miller won the club event. The GB football team secured a bronze - our basketball team won Gold! Poolside, Ellie Simmonds broke the World Record.

In the rowing World Cup, another one-two for GB, as paralympian Tom Aggar clinched Gold ahead of Andy Houghton in the men's single scull, with victory for the mixed adaptive coxed four of Kelsie Gibson, James Roe, Naomi Riches, Ryan Chamberlain and cox Rhiannon Jones. The rest of the squad aren't doing too badly either - nine golds, six silvers and a bronze!


World champion Alistair Brownlee picked up where he left off, storming to Triathlon victory in Madrid upon his return from injury. Helen Jenkins took third place in the World Championship in Madrid, while Chrissie Wellington hit the winning trail again.

Sailing - World Cup Gold for Ed Wright, European Silvers for him and Lucy MacGregor's crew. And World Cup Gold for Nic Asher and Elliot Willis, plus silvers for Nick Dempsey and another for Lucy MacGregor's crew, with bronzes for Bryony Shaw and Helena Lucas.

In fencing, Richard Kruse took World Cup Silver, as GB also took Bronze with Laurence Halstead in the Tokyo Grand Prix and Chrystall Nicol in the World Cup in Germany.

Modern Pentathlon European Junior Championships saw an individual silver for Katy Burke, contributing to overall team Gold for GB.

And at the Taekwondo European Championship, Aaron Cooke and Sarah Stevenson both won Gold.

Sportsnight

In Boxing, John Murray added the European Flyweight title to his British belt.

Continuing the excellent gymnastic European Championships, Daniel Keating and Louis Smith took Gold and Silver in the Pommel Horse, with Beth Tweddle becoming double Gold medallist on the floor and uneven bars.

Three Golds and a Silver at the sailing World Cup, for windsurfer Bryony Shaw, 49ers Brotherton and Asquith and Paul Goodison in the Laser class; Charlotte Dobson with the silver in the Laser Radial.

Fencer Richard Kruse retains Copenhagen World Cup title; World Cup bronze for Chrystall Nicoll.

Karina Bryant and Euan Burton win bronze in the European Judo Championships.

Sportsnight

Mhairi Spence took a Bronze in the Modern Pentathlon, held here in little ol' Medway! Check out the Rochester People site for some pics too :)

Lee Westwood was runner up in the U.S. Masters at Augusta.

Mara Yamauchi won the New York Half Marathon.

The cyclists continue to bring home the medals, finishing top of the table for Olympic disciplines in the recent World Championships in Copenhagen, with more to come.

In the IBSA 6th World Judo Championships, Ben Quilter won Gold, with Silvers for brothers Sam and Joe Ingram and a Bronze for Lesley Reid.

Paralympian Danny Greaves set a new world best for the discus, swimmers Jonathan Fox and James Crisp also set new world records.

In sailing, Ed Wright won World Cup Gold in the Finn class.

Squash world number 2, Nick Matthew won his first ISS Canary Wharf tour title.

The triathletes are off and running (and swimming and cycling) as Stuart Hayes and Liz Blatchford take silver and bronze in the first world cup event of the year.

And at the Curling World Championships in Italy, Scotland's curlers win Bronze.

Sportsnight

At the World Indoor Athletics Championships, Jessica Ennis won pentathlon Gold, Dwain Chambers the Men's 60m Gold, while Jenny Meadows grabbed 800m silver in another new British record, after beating Kelly Holmes' time in February, and the Men's 4x400m scooped the bronze.

British boxers won seven medals at the Commonwealth Boxing Championships in Delhi, with Iain Weaver, Scott Cardle and Simon Valilly taking Gold, Frank Buglioni a Silver, with Daniel Phillips, Callum Smith and Frazer Clarke all winning Bronze.

In Sailing, British match racers, Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Ally Martin have toppled French skipper Claire Leroy from the World number one sport (she'd held it for four years!) following a silver in the Miami World Cup meet.

Squash World number two, Nick Matthew beat Egypt's world number one, Ramy Ashour, to win the North American Open.

Britain has another new swimming star in Jazmin Carlin beats Rebecca Adlington and Jo Jackson as Britain beat Germany 207 to 109 points. And our synchronised swimmers won silver at the German Open.

Sports Day

Shelley Rudman claimed a Bronze in the Skeleton European Championships, which secured her the runner up spot in the overall World Cup, keeping up her impressive form in the run up to the Olympics.

Speed Skaters Elise Christie and Jon Eley won silvers in the 1500m and 500m respectively, at the European Championships in Germany, with a bronze for the men’s relay team in the 5000m.

Sailors Ian Percy and Andrew Simpson have added the World Title to their Olympic one!

Paralympian Sean Rose takes downhill World Cup Gold in Sestriere, becoming the first Briton ever to do so.

Greg Harlow won the World Indoor Bowls title.

Disabled sailor, Geoff Holt, has become the first quadriplegic to sail solo across the Atlantic.

Sportsday

Boxing: Sheffield’s Ryan Rhodes new European Light Middleweight Champion.

Sailing: World Gold and Bronze for disabled sailors.

Daniel Keatings Bronze in World Gymnastics.

Bradley Smith is runner up in the World 125cc championship - why not follow him on Twitter - if you can keep up ...
And our paralympic swimmers have been sweeping all before them in the European Championships! Four Golds on the first day, more on the second day and the next and I could go on - after four days we were top of the table with 36 medals, 16 of them gold! Penultimate day and another 14 medals - I'm not sure they're going to get back through customs with this lot to declare! Here's the final day round up - 39 Golds puts us firmly on top!

Sportsday

Brits in medal haul at Para-Cycling World Road Championships.

Ten medals for the GB Deaflympics team in Taipei.

Victory for Brits in the overall ISAF series.

GB top the medal table in the Judo World Cup

Team Silver for Brits in European Dressage Championships, and individual Bronze.

Nick Dempsey, World Windsurfing Champion.

Sportsday

Cycling - Steve Peat wins World Downhill Mountain Bike title; Rebecca James wins two world titles and takes a silver in the World Junior Champs.

Bradley Smith picked up a podium place in the 125cc race, coming home third, after the two leading riders fell off on the final lap - then proceeded to play handbags at seven paces with each other ... well, we won't dwell on that - they're not ours!

Boxing - John Simpson retains his Commonwealth Featherweight title; Lucy Shuker wins the womens doubles at the Swiss Wheechair Tennis Open; Para- Dressage titles for Brit paralympians as they top the medal board; Medals for Paralympic Archers Dani Brown, Mel Clarke and Fred Stevens; European Bronze for the Women's Wheelchair Basketball;

Hockey - Britain's men claim victory over World and Olympic champions Germany to take the title in the inaugural EuroHockey Nations championship - and the womens team took bronze!

Rowing World Championships: A gold and four silvers, followed by silver and bronze on the final day to add to the two golds from Tom Aggar and the Mixed Coxed Four;

Sailing - Goodison defend Euro title; World Silver in the 470 class for Patience and Bithell; Euro Silver for Brotherton and Asquith in the 49ers.

3BT: Awesome Water Sports Shorts

Hilary Lister became the first female quadriplegic to sail solo around Britain; 17 year old Mike Parham is the youngest person to sail around the world single handed with assistance - I know, I couldn't undertand that either; it just means that he had to port occasionally for repairs and such like, but it was just him on the actual boat! And some of the bravest or maddest, depending on your viewpoint took part in the Bog Snorkelling World Championships!

Another sportsday, tinged with sadness

We lost one of the nicest England managers today, as Sir Bobby Robson passed away at the age of 76. Having suffered from many forms of cancer of the past few years, Sir Bobby appeared at a charity match just last week, hoping he could help others suffering the same as he. In 1986, there are many who believe the World cup was ours for the taking - but for some dubious divine intervention! Close again in 1990, a World Cup would have cemented his reputation, after taking Ipswich Town to European glory. A gentleman manager; he will be sadly missed.

Swimming: Gemma Spofforth takes Gold in 100m backstroke in world record, Jo Jackson and Rebecca Adlington take Silver and Bronze in 400m Freestyle. The womens 200m Freestyle Relay team took Bronze.

Darts: Phil Taylor wins 10th World Matchplay title.

Sailing: GB pair pick up Silver in World Champs.

Shooting: GB women take Gold in European Championship.

Triathlon: Brownlee claims Silver in European championship, and tops rankings following another series win.

Sportsday: Watersport triumphs, motorsport tragedy

Leading with Tom Daley of course, who won the Individual 10m Diving World Championship this week! Swimmer Kerry Payne wins 10km open water Gold, in the same World Champs.

A ‘first’ for rowing Brits and anything the men can do, so can the women in a second ‘first’! GB win the coxless fours in Lucerne and the lightweight women’s double sculls as GB win the World Cup for the third successive season! Woohoo!

Paul Goodison takes his third consecutive World Cup Win in the Laser class, following the brilliant team performance in Holland – *slaps wrist for leaving it too long again*.

Regrettably, I’m ending today’s sport on a sad note. I used to work at Buckmore Park Kart Circuit, as you might know from earlier posts and it was there about ten years ago I met the legendary John Surtees, the only man to win world championships on two and four wheels (the F1 championship in 1964) and his son Henry, who came along and began his karting career with us. During an accident in an F2 race this week Henry, only eighteen years old, tragically lost his life.

As anyone in motorsport knows, it can never be made truly risk-free, even with the advances that have been made – John was and probably still will be a huge supporter of motorsport at grass roots level and I and my family extend our sympathies to him and his family at this terribly sad time.

SportsDay

Archery: Gold for Terry ; Canoeing Bronze for Florence, Hounslow and Cawthorn
Bronze for womens kayakers.

Gymnastics – but not as we know it! Louis Smith, Olympic Bronze medallist, is taking part in this year’s X-Factor. He mentions Montel Jordan in this clip and I’m reliably informed by The Hobbit that he is 'legend', so I’m expecting great things from Louis! He’s setting himself up post 2012, good luck to him.

European success for Modern Pentathletes, along with one I missed on an earlier round-up *slaps wrist* Alistair Brownlee wins second ITU Triathlon on the bounce.

Athletics: Third for GB in European Team Championships. Weir, Woods and Bushell all record wins in Jona International, with Bushell adding to his recent world record.

Three Golds and a silver for adaptive rowers with Gold for Lightweight Womens Double Scull, three silvers and three bronzes also.

Goodison takes third sailing world cup victory; Windsurfer Bryony Shaw clinches a Bronze medal in European Champs (but the link isn’t there so not sure when it was!)

Sportsnight

Badminton Agathangelou and Middleton win Spanish Open.

Rowing - Team GB dominate World Cup in Spain with NINE Golds!

Sailors also on top in their own World cup. Rule Britannia? Oh, yes!

Triathlon: Brownlee wins his first ITU World Championship.

Sports Night

All quiet on the sporting front, apart from Jenson winning again, of course. Did I say it was quiet? I’m lying - I just haven’t had the chance to catch up lately …

Here’s the extended Inside Sport interview with cycling’s current main man, Mark Cavendish ... our adaptive rowers bring home a boat full of medals and our sailors are still adding to their tallies. Judo silver for Clark and get this: World Championship Ice Hockey bronze for GB! Ice Hockey??? Not to be outdone - may I present to you our gymnasts, whilst the Scottish Curlers win the World Champs. Here's an introduction to London Marathon medallist Mara Yamauchi. Brit Speed Skier Marc Poncin, World Champ last year, has to settle for third this year.

And I’m off to the football club presentation, where I’m hoping hubby will get the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ Award. It feels like a lifetime he’s been involved! We've another cup final on Sunday, fingers crossed pleased. The Gills drew 0-0 last night against Rochdale, the home leg is also on Sunday. Come on you Gills! It better be worth the rush back! And I know he's not a Brit - but the adorable and cuddly Valentino Rossi won his first Moto GP race this season, last weekend!

Medway Dinghy Regatta

We gave Matt the choice: Music or boats? So (as we suspected) we ended up at the Regatta, where Brad was helping out, the last of his volunteering duties on the Sportsleader course. Not many in the way of spectators, this is very much a participant sport and surprisingly not as costly as you may think: Wilsonian have a free tryout day during the summer and it’s also possible to join a crew to sample different classes before you buy your own. A family orientated club, with children as young a six catered for, costs are kept low by the members themselves running the club voluntarily.

Hubby was impressed with the bitter on offer; Rochester Ale, brewed in Chatham Dockyard, very light and golden in colour, met his strict taste bud code, honed down the years on IPA and Smooth. Saw Brad washing the floor in the clubhouse - you see, it’s times like this I really need that camera, I must make it a habit to take it everywhere.