Half-marathon IOM magic on Island Games' final day

Manx athletes are celebrating at the Island Games after claiming 19 medals on the final day of action, including gold in both the men's and women's half-marathons.

Christa Cain dominated the 13.1m (21.1km) road race to take her third victory in three races while Corrin Leeming won the men's race.

Gymnast Amara Brogan also secured gold in Orkney to take the Isle of Man's medal haul to 80 and fourth place in the overall standings.

There was heartbreak for the Manx women's football team, however, with them losing to Bermuda on penalties after their opponents equalised late in extra-time.

Cain, who won the 10,000m and 5,000m events earlier in the week, said the "half-marathon is my bag so I was looking forward to this one, I'm much more comfortable on the road".

Finishing more than six minutes clear of Jersey's Jess Troy, Cain said she had "a great time out there and the crowd were really supportive, so that helped get me round".

She said the support from back home had also been a "big help - my family have been messaging me flat out because it's not been so easy for supporters to travel".

Cain added: "I really can't wait to get back and give everyone a big hug."

Cain also added a bronze medal in the women's team half-marathon category, alongside Dawn Atherton and Emily Mylchreest.

Securing his second gold of the games by posting a time of one hour and seven minutes, Leeming said the course had been "really hard" because "it's literally all up or down, so it wasn't the fastest of days".

He said he had been nervous before the race but gold had always been his goal.

"I wanted it quite badly today," Leeming said, "so it's really nice to get there."

As for his immediate plans, he said they would include "quite a bit of sleeping, because I'm quite tired and quite sore!"

In gymnastics, Brogan topped the podium in the beam event, with Lacey Jackson coming a close second.

Fraser McKenna takes home a silver from the parallel bars contest, while Harry Eyres claimed second spot in the high bar category and a bronze in the floor event.

In vaulting, Elise Pease was awarded bronze, as was Aine Matthews on the asymmetric bars, which means the gymnastics squad flies home with 22 medals.

Manager of the women's football team Wayne Lisy said he "really thought the team had done it" when Milly Dawson put the team 1-0 up in the second half of extra-time.

He said losing on penalties had been "hard to take".

But he said the squad, who very nearly missed out on the contest after being picked as third reserve in the initial draw, deserved their silver medal.

While the result was not what the team had set out for, captain Becky Corkish said "the girls dug deep and left everything out on that pitch".

"I couldn't be prouder of them," she added.

The men's football team picked up a bronze medal, beating Jersey 3-2 after a last-minute penalty in their third place play-off.

Elsewhere, cyclist Tyler Hannay added a silver medal to his collection in the town centre criterium, which means he takes home six medals - two of each colour from his first Island Games.

The men's team were also awarded silver at the event held in Kirkwall.

In badminton, Kim Clague missed out on claiming gold in the women's doubles for the sixth consecutive time when she and her partner Jess Li lost in the final to their opponents from the Faroe Islands.

On the athletics track, Samuel Perry claimed silver in the 800m to add to the 1,500m bronze he secured on Tuesday.

He was also part of the 4x400m relay team that came third on the last day of the contest, alongside team-mates Ben Sinclair and brothers Regan and Ryan Corrin.

Manx runners also claimed bronze in the men's 4x100m event to take the number of medals won by the athletics squad to 15 across the week.

While the Isle of Man matched the final team position achieved in Guernsey in 2023, Manx athletes picked up an 17 extra medals in Orkney, which only hosted 12 sports compared to 14 two years ago.

The Games will end with a closing ceremony at The Pickaquoy Centre, which played host to five of the 12 sports, later on Friday.

The next Island Games will be held in the Faroe Islands in 2027.

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