Team England cyclist Sophie Thornhill and pilot Helen Scott have claimed gold and set a new world record at the Commonwealth Games.
Newly-crowned world champion and Loughborough College alumna Thornhill won two of the three races in the blind and visually impaired (B&VI) sprint, beating Australia’s Jessica Gallagher and Madison Janssen, helping England top the medal table on the first day of competition on the Gold Coast.
The 22 year old Paralympic gold medallist and double Commonwealth gold medallist finished ina time of 10.609 seconds in the sprint qualifying, beating Gallagher’s previous record of 11.045 seconds.
Former Loughborough College sport student Thornhill and Scott triumphed in both the sprint and 1km time trial events at Glasgow 2014 and are set to defend their kilo title at the weekend.
Meanwhile, in the pool Siobhan Marie O’Connor helped England to bronze in the 4 x 100m freestyle.
After the Australian team took gold in a world record time of 3:30.05 and Canada took silver, the Loughborough College alumna said: “We always knew that the Aussies had such a strong team and it was amazing to be in there with them, they had a really great swim, but we’re really proud of our performance and getting a medal on our first day, it’s been a great start to the week, we’ve had such a good first night overall. England have swum really well. It’s an amazing atmosphere out there, walking out was incredible, so many people and Australia is such a huge swimming nation so it’s pretty cool to be out here and race and these girls did such a good job, I’m really proud to be part of the team.”
With Loughborough College alumna and Rio gold medallist Nicola White absent from the side but Danny Kerry’s side featuring fellow alumna Suzy Petty, England Women’s Hockey started the competition with a 2-0 win over South Africa.
No fewer than five Loughborough College alumni were selected for the Commonwealth Games England netball squad and their opening group netball match on the Gold Coast saw them beat Scotland 74-28.
England will play Malawi on Friday, Uganda on Sunday, Wales on Monday and New Zealand next Wednesday.
Pictured: Loughborough College alumna Sophie Thornhill wins B&VI sprint gold at the velodrome on day one of the 2018 Commonwealth Games