Swimming: Balfour's brilliance delivers Britain's first gold
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The European Championships are all about finding out who is ready to win Olympic medals in Beijing in two years' time and Kirsty Balfour will be Britain's leading contender, after an emphatic victory in the 200 metres breaststroke here last night. Balfour delivered Britain's first gold of the championships after a dominant performance that saw her finish nearly three seconds clear of the field.
The 22-year-old attacked early in the race, after which the result was never in doubt. The only question was how fast she would go, and in stopping the clock in 2min 25.66sec, just shy of the European record, Balfour now has two of the five fastest times in the world so far this year.
"I had the European record on my mind, but I am pleased with the time," she said. "I have taken a big step forward this year."
Balfour added gold to the silver she won in the 100m breaststroke earlier this week, bringing home Britain's seventh medal of these championships with more expected over the weekend.
The men's 4x200m freestyle team will hope to deliver a second gold for Britain tonight, and are joined by the breaststroke sprinters James Gibson and Darren Mew, with Mel Marshall and Jo Jackson eyeing the medals in a highly competitive 200m freestyle final. James Goddard also has an outside chance in the 200m backstroke.
Yuri Prilukov won his third European title in succession in the 1500m freestyle. His 14:51.93 sent a warning to Wales' European record holder, David Davies, who is absent here because of a foot infection, about his intentions for Beijing in 2008.
The men's 100m freestyle was won by Italy's Filippo Magnini, from Stefan Nystrand and Pieter Van den Hoogenband.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments