Latest news with #EuropeanYouthChampionships
Powys County Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- Powys County Times
Powys archer Megan Costall aims to inspire women and girls
Hafren Foresters Archery Club near Newtown, is on a mission to encourage more women and girls and people with disabilities to pick up a bow and arrow. The National Lottery and Sport Wales have helped the club hit the bullseye enabling them to launch women-only training sessions and workshops with a female coach. With a grant of £4,688, Hafren bought new bows, arrows and safety gear. A leading member of the club is Newtown-based Megan Costall who has set her sights on competing at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028. When she was younger, Megan loved karate and only gave it up because she was told she was too young to do her black belt. She's also a former gymnast but she went along to the archery club at 14 years old. Her Dad has long been involved in the running of the club and her older sister was already regularly shooting. Channelling her competitive spirit, she was determined to beat them both. Since then, Megan has gone on to win a silver medal at the Berlin Open and helped the team win gold at the European Youth Championships in 2022. And Megan credits her progress to the archery club at Hafren. Megan said: 'The funding from Sport Wales is helping to develop and grow a thriving family. 'We couldn't run the club without the support and it means that people of all ages can have a go at a really inclusive sport and that's really important in a rural location. As Megan targets a place among the world's elite, the community club where it all started continues to show people of all ages and all abilities that they can reach their goals, be a part of a community and continue hitting the bullseye.
Irish Independent
22-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Bertram Allen part of determined effort to secure medal as Ireland show jumpers finish fourth
Clear rounds from senior championship debutant Seamus Hughes-Kennedy and Darragh Kenny helped Michael Blake's outfit finish on a total of 12.39 faults, an agonising 4.2 faults off Germany and bronze. Gold in the team class went to Belgium, who began the day in third. Gilles Thomas sealed the deal with a raised fist before his horse, Ermitage Kalone, had touched the ground after clearing the last. They finished on 5.61 faults, with overnight leaders Great Britain taking silver, on 7.96. In the end, the Green Jackets needed more mistakes from the leading three nations, having jumped from seventh to fourth after the first of the two Nations Cup rounds on Thursday. The margins are tiny at this rarefied level but there were positives everywhere, with Denis Lynch and Kenny fulfilling their end of the bargain as the wise heads of the team with four clear rounds between them, while 22-year-old whizz kid Hughes-Kennedy flourished in his first major championships, as did his ten-year-old horse. Meanwhile, Bertram Allen, a member of the last Irish team to win gold at the Europeans along with Lynch in Gothenburg in 2017 when he was only 22, clearly has a talented performer on his hands in the shape of Ballywalter Stables' Qonquest de Rigo. Just nine, the gelding only had one fence down in each of three rounds and is sure to benefit from the experience. Lynch and Vistogrand, the twelve-year-old he owns under the Tipperary's Finest stallion banner, justified their eleventh hour elevation to the team with two clears in the opening rounds. The Tipperary pilot, a selector of the under-age squads that took the European Youth Championships by storm one week earlier, was so close to adding a third, but a slight rub at the middle part of the gold-colour triple combination toppled the top plank and left him with four faults and a personal tally of 6.32, which dropped him to 24th individually. That heaped the pressure on Hughes-Kennedy, who like Lynch had been flawless to this juncture despite being at the very opposite end of the scale in terms of experience. ADVERTISEMENT The scion of an esteemed Irish equestrian family has been pinpointed as a star of the future for some time but has been making waves in Nations Cups and Grands Prix in recent months, jumping a double clear as Ireland won in La Baule. The Kilkenny native stamped himself firmly as an athlete capable of campaigning at the very highest level, making light of the enormity of the round with the horse he has produced since Rocky was three. It was a stunning effort by horse and rider. Qonquest illustrated all his scope under Allen but unfortunately had the same obstacle as Vistogrand down. He recovered well under the expert guidance of his Wexford navigator to limit the damage. A clear was needed from Kenny and Eddy Blue to have any chance of making the podium and the Offaly Olympian duly obliged with his 13-year-old partner never even looking like touching a rail. That cemented fourth and Blake hailed the efforts of his riders and their support staff. 'You would love to win a medal and that's what we came here for but I am so proud of the riders for the efforts they put in and the rounds they jumped,' he said. 'They all did a really good job. Obviously, what Seamus has done and the whole story of how his uncles bred the horse, his mother owns it and he has produced it while he is only a young man himself is incredible. 'You always knew he had talent but I just wanted to introduce him gradually but there comes a time when you have to give them their head. When they're ready they're ready! Huge credit must go to Ger O'Neill, who took him under his wing and he has really benefited from that. 'But all four riders did a good job and I do think Bertram's horse will come on a lot for the experience. Major championships are very hard for nine-year-olds. He will have learned a lot from that. 'Apart from the riders, I want to thank the owners, the grooms, the vets and all the support staff. It wouldn't happen without them and while they might not get the profile and the headlines, their efforts are truly appreciated. 'And I want to thank Horse Sport Ireland too, who give us everything we need and continue to be a great support as we compete at the highest level around the world.'
Irish Examiner
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Boxer Georgia O'Connor dies aged 25 following cancer battle
Tributes have been paid to boxer Georgia O'Connor who has died after a short battle with cancer. The 25-year-old won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2017 before turning professional with promoters Boxxer. O'Connor, from Durham, won all three of her professional fights, before being diagnosed with cancer in January. In a statement, Boxxer said: "We are heartbroken by the passing of Georgia O'Connor. "A true warrior inside and outside the ring, the boxing community has lost a talented, courageous and determined young woman far too soon. "Georgia was loved, respected and admired by her friends here at Boxxer. Our thoughts are with her loved ones at this difficult time." England Boxing highlighted O'Connor's glittering junior career, in which she also won medals at World and European Youth Championships, saying the organisation was "deeply saddened" by her death.
Telegraph
07-03-2025
- Telegraph
I know what Emma Raducanu is going through – a stalker ruined my athletics career
I was 17 and a promising middle-distance runner for Great Britain when my world was turned upside down by a stalker. So Emma Raducanu's distressing stalking episode at last month's Dubai Open immediately resonated with me. I was still at school and had started my own blog as a way to grow my brand because my junior career was going from strength to strength. I had won silver at the 2016 European Youth Championships and was a six-times Youth London Games winner. Writing about my experiences from racing was something I genuinely enjoyed, although I only ended up posting a few times because I was diagnosed with endometriosis, which really affected my training during my last year of sixth form. Little did I realise my innocent blog would be the trigger for my cyber-stalking nightmare. After finishing my International Baccalaureate, a group of my friends and I booked a celebratory trip to a Greek island. I was passing through security at the airport when an email flashed up on my phone. I didn't recognise the address but was horrified at what I read. A man said he wanted to pleasure himself with my body, rape and kill me. Most of the vile messages are too obscene to be printed here. Some of them were about my friends, which made it even more personal and terrifying. I shared the email with my parents straight away and they contacted the police. Things escalated really quickly. A connection with America was immediately identified and the FBI got involved, instructing my mum to catch the next flight out and join me to ensure my safety. I had been looking forward to the holiday after an energy-draining year dealing with my endometriosis but my memory of the trip is now a blur. I could not relax and was on edge the whole time. My friends could not post live locations of where we were. I refused to fall asleep on the beach when sun-bathing and my heart was in my throat the whole time. Plans to go on a few training runs over the holiday were shelved. When the FBI tells you there is a risk to your life, you take it very seriously. That summer was hell for me and my family. When I returned home, the Metropolitan Police were involved in the case and were advising me on security measures to put in place. My parents installed security cameras on our house and I was not allowed to go running on my own. I stopped tracking my runs on Strava and carried a rape alarm with me. My mum would hop on her bike and accompany me on my runs and I began training with a sprinting group. There were fears for my older sister, who had just started university and looks very similar to me. I remember going to a concert for my birthday with my best friend but being in a large crowd was so anxiety-inducing. It was not long after the Manchester Arena bombings so that was playing on my mind too, but when my friend accompanied me to the toilet, I looked at a sea of faces and thought, 'Is one of those people my stalker?' I could not wait to leave. I never received any more messages from the man, who was based in the US and arrested in October 2017, four months after I opened his threatening email. I was told the FBI were able to track him down from the emails he had sent me where he had made a mistake trying to cover his trail. It turned out he had served previous convictions for sexual assault in 1993 and indecent exposure in 2004, but under US federal law at the time was not required to sign the country's sex offender register. In January 2019, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for cyber-stalking women across the US over a 12-month period. He was obsessed with young female athletes and he'd Photoshop photos of them onto inappropriate imagery and send them to their friends and family. To this day, I live with the uncertainty that there might be material or information about me on the dark web, although I will probably never know for sure. I eventually got my endometriosis under control and returned to competitive running. In 2022, I finished on the podium at the UK Athletics Championships, finishing third behind Melissa Courtney-Bryant and Laura Muir, but I was already falling out of love with the sport. My stalking ordeal and battle with endometriosis took such an emotional toll that I was running on empty and I had nothing more to give. Unlike Emma, I never had to confront my stalker. I know his name, but that is it. Even when he was brought to court in the US, I was not required to give evidence in person so I never had to see him. I feel fortunate in that sense, but being cyber-stalked has profoundly influenced my life. Whenever I move house I put a security ring around where I live. When I go out, I make sure I know the fastest route home. I do not post much on social media now and I am careful with how much information I share on Strava. With one in four women in the UK reporting experiences of being stalked at some point since the age of 16, it is important people understand the devastating consequences it can have. Raducanu has already had to deal with having a previous stalker, who was given a five-year restraining order in 2022. She has moved past that recent scary situation and competed at Indian Wells this week, which I think is really inspirational. Sportswomen are often accused of overreacting or being emotional, but having been through a similar terrifying ordeal, I have nothing but admiration for her.
