One, two, three - triple victory for England

03 August 2002

England took the gold silver and bronze in the dramatic final of the men's 50m breaststroke in front of a jubilant home crowd.

James Gibson on his way to victory

James Gibson, the Games record holder took the gold to add to the bronze he won in the 100m breaststroke, with an impressive time of 27.72, speeding ahead of his team mates in the closely fought competition.

A jubilant Gibson proudly said: “It was so slow, I am just relieved to have won it. I feel a bit lucky. A 1-2-3 shows great strength of character on the part of everyone. Roll on the Olympics.”

The silver went to Adam Whitehead, who won the gold medal in the 100m breaststroke, who swam a time of 27.79. Darren Mew who took the 100m bronze in the 1998 games when he was 18, completed England’s cleansweep of medals to take the bronze again with a time of 27.80.

An ecstatic Whitehead said: “I never expected that. I could see myself coming third, but I just managed to pip Darren.”

Mew summed up the English team spirit saying: “We came here determined to go for a 1-2-3 and now we’ve done it. It’s tremendous and a real boost to the team for the rest of the night and the rest of the Games.”

Result

1: James Gibson of England 27.72
2: Adam Whitehead of England 27.79
3: Darren Mew of England 27.80

Info News Service/sd