They won team golds, an individual gold and an individual bronze to help Jersey to second place in the medals table behind the Isle of Man after Day 1.Melissa Messervy romped to gold in a time of 2 hr 10 min 49 sec to win the women’s triathlon event, repeating her success of two years ago.
She led the women’s team – with members Samantha Kemp, Norma Illing and Beccy Roberts – to team gold in the event, which comprises a 1,500m swim, a 40-kilometre bike ride and a 10-kilometre run.The Jersey men’s team also took gold.
First home was individual bronze medallist Paul Clements in a time of 2 hr 1 min 37 sec.
Next home in fourth place was Tim Rogers, who was followed in 12th spot by Phil Ahier.
Three more top 20 finishes from Andy Kemp, Terry Noel and Kevin Mahoney helped seal team gold.The NatWest Island Games 2003 got under way on Saturday evening with an impressive opening ceremony on the St Peter Port seafront.
Crowds numbering between 7,000 and 8,000 packed the area to watch the traditional team parade followed by the water ceremony.The 23 teams paraded from North Beach to the Albert Pier and the finale was a giant inflatable version of Games mascot Daniel the Donkey descending from the skies to drop down to hover above the water feature that will be maintained throughout the Games.However, there was one blip when Guernsey cyclist Terry Wright crashed into an Island FM radio car while competing in the men’s cycling road race yesterday.
Despite ploughing head-first through the rear windscreen of the car at 35 mph, he bravely got back on his bike to finish and help Guernsey to win a bronze medal.He was taken to hospital by ambulance and sustained multiple injuries but was recovering at home last night.
