By Hannah Jane Thompson
Loughborough Strikes Gold
Here at Loughborough, we are renowned for our infamous athletes, facilities and of course, our alumni. This year’s Olympics and Paralympics in Rio will see more than 80 graduates, current students and Loughborough based athletes take on the challenge to bring home gold.
With Great Britain currently sitting in second place with 38 medals, consisting of 15 golds, 26 silvers and 7 bronze medals, the Olympic games has been full of excitement.
The first gold medal for team GB came from 21-year-old Adam Peaty (who trains here in Loughborough) in the 100m breast stroke event.
Peaty dominated in the pool winning in just 57.13 seconds, several strokes ahead of his competitors. Peaty also claimed a second medal in the games as a key member of the 4×100 medley relay. The quartet took silver, just behind the new Olympic record holders USA.
Former student Matt Gotrel also took gold in the rowing as part of the men’s coxed eight.
Another gold came for a Loughborough alumnus, Ben Ryan, in the men’s rugby sevens, where he coached Fiji to their first ever Olympic medal. In the same competition, another alumnus Sam Burgess claimed the silver medal in the rugby sevens after conceding 43-7 to Ryan’s side.
At the end of the first week if Loughborough was a placed on the medal table, we would sit in 13th place with 3 golds and 2 silvers! With many more opportunities to gain more medals, Loughborough alumni could go even higher up the table -so make sure you support Loughborough and of course Team GB!
