CWG: 2022 Commonwealth Games close in Birmingham

Summing-up Team Isle of Man's Games

The 2022 Commonwealth Games have come to an end in Birmingham.

Team Isle of Man’s 34 athletes competed across eight sports.

Aquatics

At the Sandwell Aquatics Centre, nine Manx Records were broken. That included three smashed by the men's relay team - made up of Alex Bregazzi, Peter Allen, Harry Robinson and Joel Watterson - who competed in two finals together. 

Emma Hodgson broke two records and Laura Kinley progressed to two breaststroke semi-finals. Kiera Prentice set a new Personal Best in her first race of the Games. Every Manx swimmer was involved in setting either a PB or Manx Record.

Triathlon, Gymnastics and Marathons

In the Triathlon, Niall Caley and Will Draper finished 20th and 24th respectively - improving their rankings going into the event which had stood at 34 and 48.

Manx Gymnast Tara Donnelly shone at Arena Birmingham, qualifying for the Women's All Around final with a score of 43.700. In the final, she bettered her performance on every piece of apparatus, taking the score to 47.050.

Marathon runners Ollie Lockley and Sarah Webster both finished their respective races in 14th place on what was universally described as a difficult course.

Para powerlifting, Boxing and Badminton

At the National Exhibition Centre, Kim Dean became the Island's first para athlete to compete at a Commonwealth Games. She placed 8th in the Women's Para Powerlifting Lightweight event. 

Jade Burden became the first woman to box for the Isle of Man at the Games, missing out on a place in the semi-finals to England's Gemma Richardson.

Also at the NEC, Jessica Li made it through to the Badminton Singles Round of 16 and boxer Jamie Devine fought valiantly against an Olympian.

Track and Field

At the Alexander Stadium, David Mullarkey took more than three seconds off his own Manx Record for the Men's 5,000m.

Glen Quayle pole-vaulted 4.95m, Joe Harris threw his javelin 67.91m and Sarah Astin and Rachael Franklin finished 16th and 19th respectively in the Women's 5,000m.

Cycling

In the Women's Time Trial, Lizzie Holden finished 5th, Becky Storrie came 6th and Jessie Carridge was 24th. In the Men's event, Tyler Hannay came 16th and Leon Mazzone finished 20th.

After a horrific crash on the Velodrome in London, cyclist Matty Bostock recovered well and was part of the team which competed the Men's Road Race.

The group which missed out on medals despite Ben Swift cycling with the leaders for much of the race. Ben Swift finished 15th, Tom Mazzone was 38th, Mark Christian was 42nd, Mark Cavendish was 44th and Sam Brand was 63rd. Bostock had to retire during the race.

In the Women's Road Race, Lizzie Holden, Jessie Carridge and Becky Storrie were all in the final group sprint to the finish, placing 19th, 22nd and 26th respectively. Amelia Sharpe and Anna Christian retired during the race.

Chief Minister Alfred Cannan tweeted to share the Island's pride with the athletes: 

Congratulations to all our athletes and a special mention to the team management and support staff @IOMCGA. You have all been an absolute credit to yourselves and the Isle of Man @Birminghamcwg22. You can all be very proud of your performances just as the 🇮🇲 is very proud of you.

— Alfred Cannan (@alfredcannan) August 7, 2022