Matt Barton celebrates his triple jump gold.
ISLAND GAMESA MEDAL rush for the IW came at the climax of the Island Games on Friday, with seven medals won in athletics and sailing.
There was double silver in the harbour of Mariehamn as Richard Talbot came second, one point away from first, in the laser radial individual competition, and the sailing team came second overall, behind Bermuda.
At the Wiklof Holding Arena, the athletics team were jumping for joy as they collected another five medals to take their own tally to 13, matching the number of medals the entire IW team won in Rhodes two years ago.
There were bronze medals for the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay teams and for Paul Cameron in the half-marathon, with a brilliant performance.
Silver was earned by Joe Wade in the 1,500m, where he also broke his own personal best, recording 3.53.42.
And in the triple jump, Matt Barton was the clear winner of gold, with a leap of 14.99m.
In the golf, both the men’s and women’s teams finished an agonising fourth, with Sophie Beardsall the top woman in sixth, and Mark Bell the top man in seventh.
In table tennis, the men’s doubles pairings of Lee Orton and Roger Hookey, and Scott Lawson and Alex Rorke, both made the quarter finals of their competition but were knocked out by teams from Gotland and Aland respectively.
On Saturday, the IW ladies' football team lost their bronze medal match against the Isle of Man, 3-1. Susan Cullen scored the IW's goal but two late strikes from the Isle of Man was enough to see them through.
The team had lost their semi-final match against the gold medal favourites Aland, the night before, losing 7-1. Aland, who have seven Finnish internationals in their side, were shocked when the IW went 1-0 up, through Danielle Merryfield, and after they equalised with half an hour gone, could not take the lead until early in the second half.
Aland's power, skill and stamina shone through towards the end of the match, with four goals in the last 30 minutes.
Manager Trevor Thorne said: "We should have been 3-1 up against the Isle of Man by the half time break but we just didn’t finish our chances. The girls are disappointed but I am very proud of them. They've worked ever so hard to get here and are a credit to themselves and to the IW."