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Stimpson wins first gold medal of Glasgow 2014 Games

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England’s Jodie Stimpson won the first gold medal of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth with a fantastic display at the triathlon in Strathclyde Park. Vicky Holland won a brilliant bronze medal to ensure the Home Nations got off to a strong start on the first day of competition in Glasgow.

Lucy Hall exited the water first following the 1500m swim. She was closely followed by Holland and Stimpson. A small group of athletes, including Australia’s Emma Jackson, Canada’s Kirsten Sweetland and New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt managed to get away and stay away on the hilly 40km bike course.

Hall made a break on the fourth of five laps but her efforts came to nothing when the group reeled her in before the final transition. Stimpson always looked strong on the 10km run, as did Holland.

The final stages saw a battle between Stimpson, Sweetland and Holland, with those three clearly on course to win the three medals on offer. Holland was the first to drop back and Stimpson tried more than once to kick away from Sweetland.

The Canadian provided strong opposition but Stimpson was too determined in the end, even accelerating into the finish to cross the line with her arms held high.

An overwhelmed Simpson said: “I’ve got to thank so many people for this, they really got me through, it’s awesome. And to share the podium with Vicky, that’s really special. This is not just my medal, this is so many people’s medal."

Commentating on the crowd, she added: “It didn’t matter what country anyone was from, the crowd was just fantastic. It was jam packed with people, it was fantastic.”

Vicky Holland was delighted with bronze, she said: "I'm a bit overwhelmed. I said before the race that I was looking to make the top five and edging onto the podium was the very best I could hope for. 
 
"I felt in control throughout the run and when my legs started to fail me with about a kilometre to go, I must have turned around 15 times to check no-one was coming up behind me. It just felt the longest stretch of road in the world."
 
She added: "This is the best thing I've achieved. Qualifying for the Olympics was a huge deal for me and I'll always be able to call myself an Olympian and treasure that. But this is my biggest ever result, especially with Jodie getting the gold as well."

Injured ITU World Champion, Non Stanford, watched from the BBC commentary position, commenting afterwards: “Two England girls on the podium, is absolutely fantastic. Jodie really deserved that win, she fought all the way, and for Vicky to get on the podium is an absolute break-through and she’s delighted, she’s buzzing.”

Lucy Hall finished in 11th place overall.

Results

1. Jodie Stimpson, ENG, 1:58:56
2. Kirsten Sweetland, CAN, 1:59:01
3. Vicky Holland, ENG, 1:59:11
11. Lucy Hall, ENG, 2:05:13

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