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Grace Cullen 18 January 2012

Disability Sailing: Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell have won the SKUD World Championship trophy for the fourth consecutive year after a hard-fought victory at the IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championships, which concluded in Charlotte Harbour, Florida.

The British crew, who finished fifth at the Beijing Paralympics, secured their victory by just two points after a nail-biting final race, with silver going to the American pair of Jennifer French and Jean-Paul Creignou and Australia’s Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch completing the podium spots in third.

John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas also got their Paralympic year off to a medal-winning start with a bronze from the three-person Sonar class.

The trio, who’ve won the world title twice before in 2005 and 2006, went into the final day with a chance of a silver medal to add to their silvers from the past two World Championships, but a 10th from their final race meant they had to settle for bronze by one point behind the French trio of Bruno Jourdren, Eric Flaguel and Nicolas Vimont-Vicary, with gold going to Alexander Wang-Hansen’s Norwegian crew.

In the one-person 2.4mR event, where British selection for the Paralympic Games has still to be made, Helena Lucas finished just outside of the podium positions in fourth overall, with the world title going to France’s Damien Seguin.
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Equestrian: Following on from GB’s showjumping successes in 2010 and 2011, the British team are making tracks to Florida to compete at the Winter Equestrian Festival, Wellington, Florida, which runs throughout February and March 2012.

Performance Director Will Connell commented: “This high profile show, which takes place outdoors in the warm Florida climate, is an ideal opportunity to start the fine tuning of horses prior to the start of the FEI Nations Cup series in May. Equine sport is privileged to enjoy support from UK Sport and their generous funding allows us to go to such places and prepare in the best possible way for London.”

UK Sport’s Director of Performance, Peter Keen added: “The best possible preparation is crucial to our Olympic and Paralympic sports ahead of the home Games this summer and the financial backing UK Sport is able to provide would not be possible without investment from The National Lottery, Government and the private sector through Team 2012.

“Facilitating unique opportunities like this for riders could prove key to their success this year. We hope to see recent excellent results continue and wish the selected riders all the best of luck in Florida and for 2012.”
British Equestrian Team

Gymnastics: Britain’s Louis Smith, Daniel Purvis and Kristian Thomas all won individual gold medals at the London Prepares Olympic test event in London. Smith produced an impressive routine on the pommel horse to take first place ahead of countryman Max Whitlock who won silver. Purvis won the floor final, with Thomas taking bronze. On day two of the apparatus finals, Kristian Thomas won gold on the high bar and bronze on the vault.

British Gymnastics

Hockey: The GB women’s squad will this week compete in the Cordoba Four Nations tournament in Argentina (18-22 January), where they will take on Argentina, New Zealand and South Korea. The squad will use the tournament to prepare for the upcoming FIH Champions Trophy in Rosario (28 January-5 February).
Great Britain Hockey

Judo: Euan Burton clinched his first medal of 2012 against the sport’s elite judoka as the world’s top 16 competed at the IJF World Masters in Almaty, Kazkhstan. In the -81kg category Burton, 32, repeated his 2011 IJF World Masters bronze medal in one of the strongest fields he’ll face all year.

In the first round, the two-time world bronze medallist defeated GB World Cup winner Axel Clerget of France by ippon. Burton followed up by edging 2009 world champion Ivan Nifontov of Russia by yuko. In the semi-final the British judoka narrowly lost out by yuko to reigning world and Olympic champion Elnur Mammadli of Azerbaijan who went on to win gold. The defeat saw Burton take bronze. The result earned the Briton 160 world ranking points as he continues to work towards a top-eight position to be seeded at the Olympic Games.
British Judo

Powerlifting: Britain’s top Paralympic powerlifters are heading to Cardiff this weekend to compete in the IPC UK Invitational Tournament. The event – being staged at the Sport Wales National Centre at Sophia Gardens – is a qualifier for the London 2012 Paralympics, and most athletes will be looking to stake their claim to a spot at the Paralympics later this year.

Beijing Paralympics veteran Ali Jawad will be aiming to qualify in the 52kg class, while Zoe Newson, Natalie Blake and Anthony Peddle will all be looking to consolidate their qualification place and move up the IPC rankings. The event will also give newcomers Paul Efayena and Micky Yule their first run out since becoming members of the GB programme.
British Weightlifting

Water Polo: Between 16-29 January, the British Gas GBR Women's Team will become the first British team since 1997 to compete at the European Championships, after a successful qualification campaign in 2011.

Eight countries will contest the women's competition in Eindhoven which will comprise a round-robin stage in two groups before knock-out matches to decide the final positions.
The British women will take on the Netherlands, Hungary and Russia in Group A.

The British are the only confirmed European entry for the women's competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Other European teams can qualify by finishing in the top four at the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Trieste, Italy in April.
British Swimming

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