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2011 sporting round-up - January-April

Kelly Gallagher
Getty Images

Natalie Broadbent 28 December 2011

January

Shelley Rudman started 2011 with success as she won a silver medal at the Igls Skeleton World Cup followed by gold at the European Championships in Germany and the World Cup event in St Moritz.

Visually impaired skiier Kelly Gallagher then made history at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Alpine Skiing World Championships in Sestriere. Alongside guide Charlotte Eveans she won Britain's first ever World Championship medal in the sport. Gallagher then won bronze the following week.

British Bobseligh won gold at the St Moritz leg of the Europa Cup and the British Olympic Association (BOA) confirmed in January that Great Britain’s men’s and women’s Handball teams will be able to utilise Host Nation Qualification Places in order to compete in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The British Judo visually impaired team won five medals at the 2011 German Open in Heidelberg. Ben Quilter and Darren Harris won gold medals. Meanwhile, Euan Burton won bronze at the Judo World Masters in Baku, Azerbaijan and Craig Fallon made his return to Judo to take gold.

Great Britain took gold and silver at the Vina del Mar ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup. Aaron Harris won the race with Matt Sharp taking the second spot in the event which contributes towards Olympic qualification points. Britain's Abbie Thorrington also enjoyed success with a second place finish in the women's race.

Great Britain and Northern Ireland won a total of 38 medals at the IPC Athletics World Championships. There was one World Record, 19 lifetime best performances and five new European Records.

There were 12 gold, 9 silver and 17 bronze medals leaving the team in third place in the overall standings. Peter Eriksson, Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland Team Leader and UKA Head Coach (Paralympic) said: “We came out here knowing that a top ten finish in the medal table would be a step in the right direction and having finished third on the medal table behind two of the world’s leading nations in Paralympic track and field, I’m absolutely delighted.” 

Listen to Peter Eriksson telling us about highlights of 2011 for Disability Athletics 

18-year-old Sam Harrison won gold in the men's omnium at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Beijing and the British team took bronze in the team pursuit.

Britain's Peter Norfolk and Andrew Lapthorne won the quad doubles title at the Wheelchair Tennis Australian Open; the first all-British pairing to win a Grand Slam wheelchair tennis doubles title.
Lapthorne said: "It's a great feeling to win my first Grand Slam title and to be able to do it alongside Peter and share this experience with him is fantastic.”

The Great Britain and Nothern Ireland team finished third at the Aviva International Match in Glasgow while British showjumper Ben Maher took second place at a World Cup event in Zurich with Robin Hood W.

Jason Irving won gold at the IPC Powerlifting event in Cardiff with Anthony Peddle taking bronze. Natalie Blake won gold in the women’s competition while second spot went to GB team-mate Zoe Newson.

Britain’s sailors bought home a total of 14 medals from the Miami World Cup regatta. There were four gold, five silver, and five bronze medals.

February

Fighting Chance graduate, Andrew Deer, won his first senior medal in February picking up Bronze at the Trelleborg Taekwondo Open in Sweden while Girls4Gold graduate Lizzie Yarnold won silver at the Junior Bob Skeleton World Championships.

There were two gold medals for British Taekwondo at the WTF US Open in Austin, Texas as Martin Stamper claimed the featherweight gold and 17-year-old Jade Jones turned the previous day's -57kg bronze into a lightweight gold. World number one Aaron Cook won bronze in the -80kg while Fighting Chance graduate Damon Sansum won bronze. February also saw Manchester confirmed as the host city of the 2012 European Taekwondo Championships.

Double European champion Mo Farah smashed the European and British 5000m indoor record at the Aviva Grand Prix which took place in Birmingham. World Indoor silver medallist Jenny Meadows raced to victory in the 800m.

Phillips Idowu, the World and European champion, took gold in the men’s triple jump, Tom Parsons won the men’s high jump while in the pole vault, Luke Cutts finished second.
Hannah England finished in third place in the women’s 1500m, Nigel Levine won gold in the 400m and Danny Talbot won silver in the men’s 200m in his international Grand Prix debut. Joice Maduaka finished third in the women’s 200m and Andy Turner won bronze in the men’s 60m hurdles.

There was gold for the men’s and women’s team pursuit at the Track World Cup in Manchester while Geraint Thomas won silver in the men’s individual pursuit. Chris Hoy won gold in the men’s keirin and bronze in the men’s sprint. Jason Kenny took silver in the men’s sprint while Victoria Pendleton won bronze in the women’s sprint.

The Great Britain Short Track Speed Skating Team smashed the 5000m Relay World Record by over two tenths of a second at the Short Track World Cup in Dresden, Germany.

The Scottish Wheelchair Curlers won silver at the World Championships in Prague while Judoka Ashley McKenzie won gold at the 2011 Polish World Cup.
Britain's Mhairi Spence won silver in the first event of this year's modern pentathlon World Cup in Palm Springs, USA while shooter Peter Wilson earned Britain an Olympic quota place in the men's double trap shooting event by winning World Cup silver in Chile.

In February the BOA confirmed weightlifters will be allowed to utilise Host Nation Qualification Places in order to take part in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

March

Great Britain won eight medals at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Paris in March. Tiffany Ofili won a silver medal and broke two British records in the 60m hurdles, Jenny Meadows won silver in the 800m and Dwain Chambers took silver in the 60m. The men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams won silver medals and in the men’s 400m final Richard Buck took bronze.

Meanwhile, Double European champion Mo Farah won the New York half marathon on his debut over the distance with a time which was the fastest ever run by a Briton.

In March David Teasdale was appointed Chair of British Fencing. The BOA also confirmed that Team GB will have three male and three female places in Table Tennis and Great Britain will be able to utilise the Host Nation Qualification Places for Water Polo, men’s and women’s Beach Volleyball and Synchronised Swimming.

Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork finished second at the Swiss Badminton Open in Basel while the British team won a total of nine medals at the World Track Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.

Cyclist, Emma Pooley won the opening round of the Women's World Cup series, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda in Italy.

Tom Daley and Pete Waterfield took bronze on their first international appearance in the 10m synchro at the Diving World Series in Beijing. Olympic silver medallist, Waterfield, also won bronze in the 10m Platform.

Richard Faulds won Britain a quota place for Britain at the London Olympics with victory in the men's double trap at the International Shooting Sport (ISSF) World Cup in Sydney while the British Women’s Water Polo Team claimed their second European victory after beating the Ukraine.

April

Judo World Champion Ben Quilter won gold at the 2011 IBSA World Games in Turkey.
He said: "It feels really good, I made hard work of it, but I'm still really pleased with the result. I went into the competition expecting a medal so I did put that pressure on myself but I knew I was capable." Lesley Reid won silver at the competition.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Colin Oates and Sophie Cox both won bronze medals on the opening day of the European Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.

Archer Alison Williamson won two gold medals at the European Grand Prix in Turkey. Simon Terry, Alan Wills and Larry Godfrey won gold in the men's recurve tournament.

Three-times World Champion wheelchair racer David Weir celebrated his record fifth win in the Virgin London Marathon on the day which marked 500 days to go until the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Beijing Paralympic Games medallist Shelly Woods finished second in the women’s wheelchair race in a new British record time.

GB boxers took away seven medals from the Gee Bee tournament in Helsinki, while brothers Khalid and Gamal Yafai won gold and bronze respectively at the Felix Stamm Memorial tournament in Poland.

Scotland won silver at the World Men's Curling Championship in Regina and Britain’s Piggy French finished second at this year’s Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials, with Mary King finishing third.

Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield had a sellout Sheffield crowd on their feet as they stormed to 10m Synchro gold in the FINA/Midea Diving World Series. Tom also won silver in the Men’s 10m Platform at the final leg of the series in Mexico with his highest ever score at an international event.

The British Olympic Association (BOA) announced in April that Great Britain will have the opportunity for eight Fencers to utilise Host Nation Qualification Places and will also be able to utilise the maximum three Host Nation Qualification Places available to compete in Wrestling at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Gymnast Beth Tweddle retained her European uneven bars title at the European Championships in Berlin while Dan Purvis won a bronze medal in the men’s all around. Dan then won gold at the Glasgow World Cup.

Freyja Prentice won the first Modern Pentathlon World Cup medal of her career when she took bronze in Italy.

Great Britain won eight medals at the Sailing World Cup in Mallorca. Ben Ainslie and Paul Goodison won gold in the Finn class and Laser class respectively. Olympic and World Champions Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson won gold in the Star class.

Giles Scott won silver behind Ainslie in the Finn class, with bronze medals going to Nick Thompson in the Laser event, Nick Dempsey in the RS:X windsurfing event and Luke Patience-Stuart Bithell in the 470 men’s fleet. Megan Pascoe won bronze in the 2.4mR Paralympic event.
British shooter Elena Allen was awarded the 2010 British Olympic Association Athlete of the Year award. Allen, who won four International medals in 2010, said: “I’m ecstatic because I didn’t expect it, it was a total surprise. I’m really honoured.”

Triathlete Jonathan Brownlee finished second in the opening race of the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series in Sydney.

Meanwhile, Peter Norfolk won his first NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour singles title of 2011 after a straight sets win over American world No 1 David Wagner in the quad singles final at the Pensacola Open. Norfolk then went on to win his sixth Florida Open quad singles title in Boca Raton to bring his tally of major singles titles to 19 at either Grand Slam or Super Series events on the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour.

British Wrestler Olga Butkevych won bronze in April, her first major international medal for Great Britain, at the European Wrestling Championships in Dortmund, Germany.

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