Things 'heat' up for Guernsey

Sunday 09 July 2023

Abi Galpin (pictured), Josh Duke, and Joe Chadwick all impressed the home crowd in their 100m heats at Footes Lane on Sunday afternoon.

Galpin is through to the women's finals which will be tomorrow night, while Duke and Chadwick will go again in the semi finals tomorrow evening before the men's finals later on.

Galpin said she was really happy with her run which saw her come in first in 12.44.

"I was just trying to get through that heat as easy as possible just to make sure that tomorrow night I've really got everything, that I can use. I'm really, really hoping to run a rapid time, so if the conditions allow it, it should be really good fun.

"It's a great crowd down here today, hopefully there'll be more of the same tomorrow night. It's really amazing to have that crowd, especially with so many other sports on right now. I watched the live stream this morning, and it's really great that people have come down to support us and it's really exciting and hopefully tomorrow after work, it will be another treat for people that come down."

Chadwick comfortably crossed the line in 11.41 to book his place in the men's 100m semi finals.

He said he's enjoying being back on home ground for the Games.

"It's been a while since I raced so I'm just feeling out myself and getting used to it. I thought that was ok, I got a little bit distracted by the guy next to me, he seemed to trip or something happened. But it was good to get back into it. I felt pretty comfortable."

Chadwick said not only was the support of the home crowd welcomed, but the children selected to help out with the races also offered their support.

"They're so sweet," he said. "They kept getting told to be quiet, and I was like, 'hey, let him talk to me, I'm happy for it'. The one girl who was shushed as soon as she was sushed she said 'Go, Guernsey!' and I was like 'yea exactly that!'"

Duke's heat had to be re-run as the photo finish for the qualifier places wasn't clear. That meant Duke went from finishing first in his first heat to second - one second behind Jersey's Jamie Oldham - in his second run.

The men's 100m semi final is from 19:00 on Monday evening at Footes Lane, followed by the women's 100m final at 20:20 and the men's 100m final at 20:35.