UK Sport

• You are here:
• Media Centre
• News

2011 sporting round-up - September-December

Mark Cavendish
Getty images

Jessica Whitehorn 30 December 2011

September

On the final day of competition at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu Mo Farah won the 5,000m final and Phillips Idowu won triple jump silver. These results meant the team finished the Championships with seven medals in total.

Standard Life GB men’s Basketball team wrapped up their EuroBasket finals 2011 competition with an 88-81 win against Poland, who were ranked 18 places ahead of GB.

William Fox-Pitt won the Burghley Horse Trials for a record sixth time after maintaining his cross-country lead with former racehorse Parklane Hawk. The British para dressage team won eight gold medals and one silver at the FEI Para Equestrian Dressage European Championship. The British Showjumping Team took team and individual bronze medals at the FEI European Championships in Madrid.

A double gold finale to the GB Rowing Team's Rowing World Championships in Slovenia meant Britain won the overall World Championships, with 14 medals and a tally of 105 points, topping the medal table.

British archers marked the day that tickets for next year's Paralympics go on sale by securing 13 places at next year's London Games. Mel Clarke won a gold medal at the event, while John Cavanagh and Philip Bottomley both took silvers.

Great Britain qualified boats in all four classes for the London 2012 Olympic Games and won a bronze medal in the men's C2 team event at the Canoe Slalom World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Listen to GB Canoeist, Lizzie Neave, talking about her daily life as an elite athlete.

Sarah Storey produced a dramatic sprint finish to ensure she successfully defended both of her Paracycling Road World titles in Denmark. Storey took the gold medals in the C5 Time Trial and the Road Race. Crystal Lane made her debut and finished third in the Road Race. Mark Colbourne won silver in the C1 Time Trial, hand-cyclist Karen Darke, picked up two bronze medals in the H2 Road Race and Time Trial, and Simon Price, won bronze in the C2 Road Race. Rachel Morris won a bronze medal in the H3 Road Race while David Stone took silver in the T2 Time Trial. Shaun McKeown won bronze in the men's C3 Time Trial.

The GB men’s sitting volleyball team heard that the British Paralympic Association had accepted their host nation slot for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Bianca Walkden won gold medals in the +73 kg weight and the -73kg categories at the Polish Taekwondo Open in Warsaw.

Helen Jenkins won the ITU Triathlon world title following a second place finish at the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Grand Final in Beijing. Meanwhile, Alistair Brownlee claimed the men’s world title after winning the Grand Final in Beijing. Younger brother Jonathan finished third in the race meaning a second place finish in the Series.

GB men’s wheelchair basketball team won European Gold after beating Germany in the final 76 -65. Britain’s women won bronze with a 60-47 victory over France, having missed out on the final after losing to the Netherlands.

Peter Norfolk clinched the sixth US Open USTA Wheelchair Tennis Championships quad singles title of his career in St. Louis before pairing up with fellow Briton Andrew Lapthorne to add the quad doubles title at the final Super Series tournament of 2011. Lucy Shuker and Louise Hunt claimed their second women's doubles title in a week at the PTR Wheelchair Tennis Championships in Hilton Head, South Carolina. In the men’s tournament, Gordon Reid and Marc McCarroll retained their respective men's singles and men's doubles titles.

British duo Paula Radcliffe and Scott Overall both secured the required qualifying times for London 2012 at the Berlin Marathon.

Mark Cavendish became Britain’s first world road race champion for 46 years when he claimed the title at the World Championships in Copenhagen. Great Britain's 2010 world time trial champion Emma Pooley raced to bronze while Bradley Wiggins took silver in the men’s time trial.
Britain’s young modern pentathletes struck gold on the opening day of the European Junior Championships in Poland. The trio of Kate French, Freyja Prentice and Lydia Rosling won gold in the women’s team relay in Drzonkow, and Prentice went on to win the individual bronze medal and help Britain to silver in the team competition.

After winning bronze at the Four Nations International Invitational in Manchester, the British Gas GBR Women’s Water Polo teamed secured their place at the 2012 European Championships with a rousing victory over Ukraine at Manchester Aquatics Centre.

October

Great Britain secured its best ever medal haul at the men’s World Amateur Boxing Championships in October 2011, after finishing with three silver medals and one bronze. Later that month, Nicola Adams became the first British women to claim a major title when she won gold at the Women's European Boxing Championships in Rotterdam. Natasha Jonas and Savannah Marshall also won bronze medals.

The British team won a gold and two bronze medals at the GB Judo World Cup in Liverpool and the at the British Taekwondo Open in Manchester Jade Jones, Bianca Walkden, Martin Stamper and Aaron Cook all won gold.

Britain's top disability shooters returned from the IPC Shooting World Cup in the USA with two gold, five silver and four bronze medals and two quota places for the 2012 Paralympic Games.
Great Britain finished in second place at the 12-team Wheelchair European Championships in Nottwill, Switzerland, ahead of France, Belgium and Germany. They lost out in the final, 42-49 to champions Sweden, with Belgium beating France to third spot.

Mary King was crowned the HSBC FEI Classics champion for 2011. She clinched the title with a clear Jumping round on Imperial Cavalier, which elevated her six places to fourth at the Les Etoiles des Pau in France. However, it was fellow Brit, William Fox-Pitt who won the event, finishing first and third on Oslo and Lionheart.

Great Britain’s Louis Smith claimed the 2011 artistic gymnastics World Championships pommel horse Bronze medal in Tokyo while the British Cycling team won seven gold medals at the European Track Championships in Apeldoorn, Holland.

The GB Handball women gave reigning world champions Russia a scare in their Euro 2012 clash at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, matching them for long periods and only losing out 16-24.

Britain’s Jon Eley stormed to speed skating gold and silver at the ISU World Cup in Salt Lake City, beating the Olympic champion and solidifying his position as one of the world’s best short track skaters. Eley then teamed up with Richard Shoebridge, Paul Stanley and Jack Whelbourne in the Men’s 5000m relay final, the event in which the team set the world record last season.
Scotland’s Elise Christie beat the world champion to earn Britain a third World Cup medal of the season when she won silver in the Women’s 1000m, competing in Saguenay, Canada, at the second ISU World Cup of the 2011/12 season.

The British Gas GBR Swimming Team signed off with a total of 13 medals from the FINA World Cup in Berlin including a gold for Fran Halsall while GB Boccia produced a terrific display at the CPISRA Boccia Europa Cup in Hamar, Norway to finish with four medals, including two golds.

The British team won two gold and four silvers, as well as six fourth place finishes, at the Para European Table Tennis Championships in Split.

Andrew Lapthorne beat fellow Briton Jamie Burdekin in the quad singles final at the Sardinia Open, before later pairing up with Burdekin to win the quad doubles at the last ITF 1 Series tournament of the 2011 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour. John Parfitt also won the quad consolation singles as British players made a clean sweep of all the quad events. Alex Jewitt and Louise Hunt retained their men's and women's singles and doubles titles at the Esporta Cardiff Wheelchair Tennis Tournament. Gordon Reid beat world number two Maikel Scheffers for the second time in two months to claim the Nottingham Indoor Wheelchair Tennis singles title. Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley also won the women’s doubles title.

November

Wheelchair racer Shelly Woods finished second in the New York marathon, clocking her quickest time ever on the New York course, in 1:52:50.

Sir Chris Hoy marked his return to competition from illness by winning gold in the men's sprint at the first Track Cycling World Cup meeting in Kazakhstan. Hoy also claimed silver in the keirin. Competing in her first ever World Cup omnium, Britain's Dani King won the silver medal in the six-discipline event.

Drawing 13-13 at half time, the GB Handball’s men suffered injuries to two key players and ended up losing their World Championship qualification match against Israel 29-20 in Tel Aviv.
Britain captured two bronze medals at the Junior World Championships in Cape Town, South Africa. Hayley Willis led the way as she produced the biggest result of her career by taking an impressive bronze medal in the -44kg category while, competing in the -90kg category, Ben Fletcher also won a bronze medal.

Zoe Smith set two personal bests at the World Weightlifting Championships in Paris but opted not to go for the Olympic 'A' qualifying mark. Fellow Brit Jack Oliver also set two personal bests in the 77kg category, achieving the Olympic 'B' standard.

Britain’s Kat Driscoll secured an Olympic individual trampoline place for GB after qualifying for the final at the FIG Trampoline and Tumbling World Championships in Birmingham. 

Britain won two gold medals at the IBSA VI Judo European Championships in Crawley. Double world champion, Ben Quilter, claimed the -60kg crown and Beijing Paralympic bronze medallist Sam Ingram captured Britain’s second title the following day, taking gold in the -90kg category. Meanwhile at the Amsterdam Grand Prix, Britain’s Sophie Cox and Karina Bryant both emerged from a world-class field to take bronze medals.

Jamie Cooke won the Modern Pentathlon World Junior Championships after producing a terrific performance in Argentina. Freyja Prentice won individual bronze and helped Great Britain retain the team gold, along with Lydia Rosling and Kate French.

Britain’s fencers won the team foil gold at the Olympic test event at ExCeL London. Meeting Russia in the final, the British team of Laurence Halsted, Richard Kruse, James Kenber and Ed Jeffries triumphed 45-34 to take the gold medal.

Britain’s Daniel Purvis was crowned the 2011 artistic gymnastics all around World Cup champion having taken the bronze medal at the Tokyo World Cup. The event was the fourth and final all-around FIG World Cup in 2011, following events in Jacksonville, Glasgow and Stuttgart. Purvis took the gold medal at the Glasgow event and bronze in Stuttgart.

The GB Handball women slipped to a 22-17 defeat to Slovakia in their final game at the London Handball Cup, the official Olympic test event. Earlier in the competition, GB beat African champions Angola 22-20 in a thrilling encounter and lost to Austria 31-23.

December

The Skandia Team GBR sailing team won six medals in total at the Sailing World Championships in Perth. Giles Scott won the Finn world title with team mate Ed Wright winning bronze. Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell won silver in the 470 men’s class while Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark also clinched silver the women's event. Nick Thompson won silver in the Laser class, as did Lucy Macgregor, Kate Macgregor and Annie Lush in the Match-racing event.

Scotland’s women took European gold for the first time since 1975 when Eve Muirhead led her team to victory in the final of the European Curling Championships in Moscow and the GB Short Track team took their medal haul for the 2011 World Cup season to six, as Jon Eley won silver in the men’s 500m and the men’s 5,000m relay team secured bronze, at the fourth meet in Shanghai, China, adding to Elise Christie’s silver in the Women’s 1,000m in Nagayo, Japan.

UKA and the British Olympic Association announced the selection of Scott Overall, Paula Radcliffe and Mara Yamauchi to compete for Team GB in the marathon event at the London 2012 Olympic Games and the Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland team topped the medal table for the fourth successive year at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Slovenia.

Meanwhile Holly Bleasdale broke her own British pole vault record at an indoor meeting in France, clearing 4.71m and moving her up to ninth in the world rankings. The British Gas GBR Swimming team won nine medals at the European Short Course Championships in Sczcecin, Poland, the most since 2004.

Great Britain’s men finished sixth at the Hockey Champions Trophy in Auckland while the women completed a clean sweep in their five-match series against the United States. 

David Faulkner, GB Hockey Performance Director, tells us about preparations for London 2012

Laura Trott, Wendy Houvenaghel and Sarah Storey won the women's team pursuit gold medal final against New Zealand at round two of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup.

Britain claimed three medals at the Judo Olympic Test Event at the London ExCel, as Sally Conway took silver while Matthew Purssey and Sophie Cox captured bronze and Aaron Cook took the gold medal in the -80kg division at the Taekwondo test event at the same venue. Meanwhile World Championship medallists Michael Stamper and Jade Jones both ended their seasons in good form, winning medals at the French Open in Paris.

British weightlifters Peter Kirkbride and Natasha Perdue both achieved the Olympic qualifying B standard at the Olympic test event at the ExCeL Centre and also in test event action at ExCeL were Olga Butkevych, claiming silver in the 55kg category and Krasimir Krastanov (55kg) and Bec-khan Aldamov (66kg) both taking bronze.

The British Gas GBR Men’s Water Polo Team showed their fighting spirit in a battling defeat at home to World Champions Italy in the FINA World League Preliminary match in their debut in the competition with a final score of 14-6.

Back to news listing

Most Viewed