Following a tough day of racing last week at the European Games in Krakow, a young British squad, including rising star Sian Rainsley, came away with a silver medal in the Mixed Team Relay.
Rainsley, who has gone from strength to strength over the past few seasons, battled hard along with team-mates Barclay Izzard, Sophie Alden and Connor Bentley in a stellar field to just miss out on the gold medal by a matter of seconds.
Recounting her anchor leg, Rainsley shared just how fast and furious the racing was in Poland and how great it was to compete with the team and come away with a medal.
“It wasn’t our smoothest of races”
Having overcome a crash on one of the earlier legs and some chasing to get back to the front, Team GB passed over to Rainsley on the last leg with it all still to play for, as the 26 year old entered the water in fifth, +0:15 down on the leaders behind Norway, Spain, Denmark and Hungary.
“Going into the swim, I was fully aware of Team Norway, their final leg [Solveig Lovseth] had won the women’s individual race a few days prior and she had also been given the 15 second advantage into the leg.
“The swim was pretty chaotic and I was caught behind a few slower swimmers at the buoys, where the race bunched up. I managed to push round on the final straight and exit in second, with a smooth T1 as myself and the Spanish athlete created a small gap.
“On the bike, we kept the pressure on the chasing teams by taking turns but soon the pack became six. Heading into the dead turns, I was ready for attacks to happen, with athletes wanting to use the wet corners to drop those wanting to take them a little slower!
“I positioned in second, on the Norwegians wheel and there came the attack! Sprinting out of the corners we were a two up. I tried to play this smart and make her work more, hoping I could then have the run legs.
“We came into the final 400m of the bike to dismount and as I pulled my foot out of my shoe, it came off the pedal! Not a time to panic, I was unsure if it then fell if I would then get a penalty, so I proceeded to ride with my shoe in my hand & my barefoot on the pedal.”
“We were all happy to be on the podium”
Despite having to deal with dismounting on a bare pedal, Rainsley wasn’t penalised, but found that starting the run, their breakaway group of two had grown to four, leaving it all to play for on the run.
“I also had to dismount on the bare pedal in the pouring rain! Risky but I did it! We hadn’t realised but during this final stretch, the Hungarian and Swiss athletes had managed to get within striking distance. Leaving transition we were pretty much a group of four and no one wants to come fourth!
“Initially on the run, the Norwegians were slightly ahead but I saw her tighten up. This was my time, I pushed the pace from behind and went by to add pressure. She managed to latch on. As we were 500m from the finish, she came round, I sat on, ready for the kick.
“It was beginning to pinch but from a track background, I like a sprint! Unfortunately, I didn’t have it and we ended up with silver for the team.
“We were all happy to be on the podium and heading home with some silverware. I love racing with the team, we can always count on eachother to give it everything. It wasn’t our best but no penalties and full commitment paid off!”
With less than 30 seconds separating the first five teams across the line, the racing was as close as it gets in Krakow and with winners Team Norway having both individual champions, it was a great race for the Team GB squad in second.
