Kiwis add to medal tally

Kiwis add to medal tally

Two medals in track and field at the World University Games tonight have brought the New Zealand team’s medal tally to five.

Julia Ratcliffe, who was the New Zealand flag bearer at the opening ceremony, claimed a bronze medal in the women’s hammer with a throw of 67.54m. Gold medal winner Hanna Skydan of Azerbaijan threw 70.67m to win gold and Joanna Fiodorow of Poland was second with a distance of 69.69m.

While Ratcliffe, the New Zealand record holder, was finishing her competition Waikato University student Camille Buscomb, who turned 25 today, was powering her way around the track in the 5000m final.

While she couldn’t catch Kristina Maki of Czech Republic (16:03.29), Buscomb chased down Daria Maslova to Kyrgyzstan (16:04.09) to claim silver in a time of 16:03.72.

``It’s amazing to come here and medal. I’m so happy,’’ Buscomb said.

Maki widened the gap to take the lead with around 300m to go and Buscomb couldn’t catch her. But she hunted down the next in line, to take the silver and relegate Maslova to third.

Ratcliffe competed in heavy rain and was very happy to come away with a bronze medal.

``I didn’t throw as well as I wanted to, nowhere close, but the conditions were awful. I did what I needed to do to get into the medals, so you can’t complain about that.’’

The New Zealand team has now won five medals at the World University Games in the South Korean city of Gwangju. Angie Petty won gold in the 800m, Eliza McCartney won silver in the women’s pole vault and rower Toby Cunliffe-Steel won silver in the men’s lightweight single scull.

The World University Games is a major international sporting event that is held every two years for student athletes from around the world. This year more than 13,000 athletes from 141 countries are estimated to be competing in Gwangju at the Games, also known as the Universiade. New Zealand sent a team of 66 athletes to the Games, including a 30-strong group in athletics.

ENDS

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