A TEAM of 120 athletes from Great Britain of which 44 came from Leweston Pentathlon Academy showed the rest of Europe what a force the Brits are in biathle and triathle.

The Parque Urbano de Albarquel hosted the European Championships over three days of competition in Setubal, Portugal.

The GBR team grabbed more medals than any other country, also the club had their biggest number of athletes winning medals at a major championships.

Leweston athletes won a total of 18 individual medals, in the triathle, five gold, two silver and four bronze, plus five gold in the mixed relay.

Meanwhile, in the biathle, the academy bagged three gold medal winners, one silver and three bronze.

Day 1 of competition was the triathle with GB 58 athletes competing, of which 29 were from Leweston.

The triathle is an event that is run under the modern pentathlon, and is a continuous shoot/swim/run event.

In the under-11 boys, the club had two athletes taking part and Jamie Guy took the first European crown of the day with a convincing win while Max Taylor Read was fifth.

In the under-13 girls, the club had good strength in depth with Millie Wicks (4th), Alexandra Richmond (5th), Fenella Taylor (6th) and Nikita Miah (7th)

Darcy Dryden claimed gold in the under-13s' girls' race, with Alice Anderson claiming bronze. Ginny Bruce was fourth with Holly White (7th) and Carina Hand (8th).

In the boys, the club took all the medals with Jack Amor (gold), Jamie Robinson (silver) and Ryan Openshaw (bronze), with Finn Sanderson (4th) and Angus Evans (8th).

In the under-15s, Annabel Denton earned bronze with Mimi Lecompte (8th), Vivien Taylor (9th).

Liam Openshaw took another club gold in the boys with Sam Cobb (silver) and Shem Martin (6th).

In the under-17 age groups, Sarah Wilson had to work hard to overtake the Russian in the last run to take gold, with Estella Depierre claiming bronze and Amy Northam fifth.

In the boys, George Case took gold and Charlie Madden (11th), while in the under-19s, Libby Tolley had a tough race but managed to pull ahead in the last rotation of the event to take gold.

In the mixed relays, the team enjoyed great success, with four gold medals won.

Day two of the competition was the biathle heats and the club athletes qualified for the finals.

Day three was the biathle finals and Leweston had more success in the European Biathle Championships for Great Britain, with the club claiming three European titles, one silver, and three bronze, with all 15 athletes finishing in the top 10.

The event consisted of a run/swim/run competition.

The first race that saw Leweston athletes compete was the boys' under-11 where Jamie Guy was fifth.

In the girls' under-13, Darcy Dryden was eighth and Alice Anderson ninth, while in the boys' under-13s, Jack Amor took gold and Jamie Robinson was seventh.

In the under-15s, Abbie White had a tough race to take bronze and in the boys, Liam Openshaw took another gold and Sam Cobb another silver to go with their triathle success.

The next races were the Masters' events the competitors run 1200m, swim 100m and run 1200m.

There was a strong field in the races, in the women’s 40 plus with Kay Evans taking bronze.

In the women’s 60 plus, Margaret Smith claimed Gold.

The next events were the under-17 who run 1200m swim 200m run 1200m.

In the girls' race, Sarah Wilson took bronze with Estella Depierre (8th) and Chloe Olford (9th).

The last races of the day were the distance events where competitors ran 1600m, swim 200m and run 1600m

In the junior men, Elliot Lavelle was sixth and Ryan Flaherty ninth, while in the under-19 girls, Emma Livingstone was fifth.

Great Britain & Leweston Pentathlon Academy team coach Michael Flaherty said this is an excellent achievement and was a great opportunity for all those involved to take part in a European Championships.

The Weymouth Biathle will be the next big event for the club which takes place at Greenhill Gardens on Saturday, September 9 with the first race at 9am.

For further details about the club, contact Mick Flaherty email flaherty121@aol.com