European Games 2023: Caden Cunningham and Ross Haslam lead golden day for Great Britain
- Published
Great Britain had their best day yet at the 2023 European Games with three gold medals and two bronze in Poland.
Caden Cunningham won the men's +87kg taekwondo event on his Games debut.
There were diving golds as Desharne Bent-Ashmeil and Amy Rollinson triumphed in the women's synchronised 3m springboard and Ross Haslam won the men's 1m springboard.
Seonaid McIntosh landed shooting bronze, as did the pairing of Amber Rutter and Ben Llewellin.
World record holder McIntosh finished third in the women's 50m three-position rifle, while world champions Rutter and Llewellin came third in the skeet mixed team event.
Bent-Ashmeil and Rollinson provided arguably Team GB's most dramatic medal of the day, winning gold with their last of five routines as they finished on 279.90 points, three points clear of Germany.
"I had surgery at the beginning of this season, then Desharne and I have both had ankle issues to add to that, so the fact we have built back up from not doing anything to a European title is amazing," said Rollinson.
The pair sat eighth after their opening routine and Bent-Ashmeil said: "We had a little bit of a rocky start but we persevered and kept our head down and tried our best."
Haslam, meanwhile, was consistently impressive across the rounds to secure first place in the men's individual event with 422.95 points, well ahead of Frenchman Alexis Jandard in second with 411.50.
"I can't really believe it - after Saturday's 3m I was really disappointed and I won't lie, it was only at lunchtime today I started to feel a bit better," said 25-year-old Haslam.
In the taekwondo events, Cunningham beat North Macedonia's Dejan Georgievski to scoop gold, but double Olympic medallist Bianca Cook lost to Bulgaria's Kalina Boyadzhieva in the women's +73 kg bronze medal contest.
"This is something I've been working towards for a while," said Cunningham after his success. "I've known my level, I'm back from injury now - two competitions in a row, two golds, and I don't intend for that to change."
On the shooting range, McIntosh shot 406.5 to finish third, just 3.5 points behind the top spot, while Rutter and Llewellin took bronze after being narrowly pipped to a spot in the final by the Italians, who won gold.
Team GB are competing across 18 Olympic sports at the multi-disciplinary European Games, which formally began last Wednesday and finish on Sunday, with qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on the line in 10 events.
The sixth day at the Games also marked the first time in history that Team GB have competed in breaking, with B-Boy Kid Karam making it through to Tuesday's quarter-finals.
Monday's performances lifted Great Britain four places to sixth in the Games medal table with six days of the competition remaining.