Скачать или смотреть Orkney 2025 - Women’s 100 metres Final

There was a huge crowd at the Pickaquoy Centre on the Monday evening, and the biggest reason was the appearance of Orkney’s Scotland international sprinter Taylah Paterson who went into the final as the favourite in her first Island Games since 2019. The 2021 Games were postponed to 2023, and she missed that following the birth of her first child.

Taylah had strong competition from previous medallists Katie Dinwoodie of Shetland (bronze in 2019 and 2023) and Abi Galpin of Guernsey (silver in 2023), while Taylah herself had won the bronze back in 2017. The Isle of Man duo Meghan Pilley and Carla Teece had also enjoyed excellent seasons leading up to the Games.

The sense of anticipation was palpable around the arena as the athletes lined up, with the crowd absolutely packed behind the start line and all down the straight. The tension was released with a huge roar as the gun went off as the majority of the crowd cheered Taylah on to what they hoped would be an unforgettable victory.

Taylah must have felt huge pressure on her shoulders to deliver but, befitting of a midwife at the local hospital, deliver she did with a fantastic performance. She was fast out of the blocks alongside Katie Dinwoodie, and in the second half of the race pulled clear to cross the line, arm aloft in a mixture of triumph and relief, in a time of 11.90 seconds. Her time was just four-hundredths of a second outside the Games record.

It was a fantastic occasion for everyone in Orkney, surely the greatest moment in their athletics history, and it was the first time an Orkney sprinter had won the women’s 100 metres since Hilary Donaldson (now Rendall) did so at the very first games in 1985. Taylah raced into the crowd to greet her family including young daughter Lara, who then accompanied her across the track to ring the winner’s bell – a really excellent innovation for these Games.

The silver medal went to the ever-consistent and classy Katie Dinwoodie, and the bronze went to the equally classy Abi Galpin of Guernsey – reversing their respective positions in 2023. Carla Teece and Meghan Pilley came desperately close to the medals, the two Isle of Man competitors producing the fastest times ever run by the fourth and fifth placed athletes in the history of the Games.

This was a truly memorable occasion, one that will never be forgotten by anyone who was there.

Pos Lane Bib Competitor Island Result
1st 5 184 Taylah Paterson ORK 11.90 Gold
2nd 4 216 Katie Dinwoodie SHE 12.13 Silver
3rd 3 66 Abi Galpin GUE 12.18 Bronze
4th 2 112 Carla Teece IOM 12.21
5th 6 104 Meghan Pilley IOM 12.22
6th 1 219 Sophie Grant SHE 12.56
7th 7 189 Sian Smith ORK 12.59
8th 8 25 Oddvør Josephsen FAR 12.72
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