BIRMINGHAM, England — It is said good things come to people who wait. They did for triathlete Jessica Tuomela and guide Emma Skaug, both of Victoria, who won the bronze medal Sunday in the 2022 Commonwealth Games women’s para-triathlon race. These are the first major multi-sport Games in which para sports have equal inclusion. Tuomela’s medal comes more than two decades after the 38-year-old won silver in swimming in the 2000 Sydney Paralympics.
Victoria swimmer Jeremy Bagshaw, meanwhile, has also been patient in his career. He was the third-oldest among the 32 swimmers in the men’s 4x200 relay Monday night in the raucous and packed 6,000-spectator Games pool as sa国际传媒 placed fifth in a spectacular field loaded with Olympic medallists as Australia was first, England second, Scotland third and Wales fourth.
“Many of the guys on the [top-four teams] were gold medallists last summer in the Tokyo Olympics, but we are learning and getting better and moving ahead as we look ahead to Paris in 2024,” said Bagshaw, who is also in medical school.
“It is awesome at this point in my career to still be in a multi-sport Games and still building. Swimming and being in medical school is tough, but it has given me a chance to look at both sides of my career.”
Tuomela also has staying power and it paid off with para triathlon bronze with guide Skaug.
“I’m kind of in shock. I have had a lot of illnesses since January and we weren’t even sure if we were going to be here today,” said Tuomela, who placed behind gold-medallists Katie Crowhurst and guide Jessica Fullagar of England and silver-medallists Chloe MacCombe and guide Catherine Sands of Northern Ireland.
“I’m just so excited that we are here with this lady [guide Skaug]. We have a lot of communication in different ways that we have to work with and that was part of our goal of this race.”
Tuomela, a native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., was blinded at the age of three by retinoblastoma. She swam in the 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Paralympics. Tuomela broke her retirement and returned to sports as a triathlete in 2017 and relocated to the national training centre in Victoria and placed fifth last summer in the Tokyo Paralympics. But the lead up to these Commonwealth Games was particularly tough yet Tuomela, with the help of Skaug, persevered.
“I haven’t been able to train, and the goal was to come out here and learn how to work as a better team and a better unit and I think our goal is achieved, so I can’t be happier,” said Tuomela. “You always want something shiny at the end, so that’s exciting, too.”
Skaug, a former junior national team triathlete, played her role as guide to perfection but deflected the praise to Tuomela.
“I don’t think I can put into words how proud I am of seeing someone that I work with and really care about … like, I love [her], like literally,” said Skaug.
“To see the health issues that go on in day-to-day training and to see how hard that is on her to take. Jessica is so competitive and so dedicated and likes the sport so much. And then to come out here and rally and put up such a incredible effort.”
Tuomela and Skaug joined some heady company in winning sa国际传媒’s fifth Commonwealth Games triathlon medal following 2002 Manchester Games men’s and women’s gold-medallists Simon Whitfield of Victoria and Carol Montgomery of North Vancouver, 2014 Glasgow Games women’s silver-medallist Kirsten Sweetland of Victoria and 2018 Gold Coast Games women’s bronze-medallist Joanna Brown.
Triathlon sa国际传媒, based in Victoria, saw its hopes for another medal fall short with a sixth place in the mixed relay. The medals went to England, Wales and Australia.
AT THE GAMES: The Langford-based Canadian women’s rugby sevens team gave Tokyo Olympics-champion New Zealand all it could handle before 32,609 fans at Coventry Stadium in the bronze-medal game before falling 19-12 to the mighty Kiwis. The 2016 Rio Olympics-champion Aussies defeated Tokyo Olympics bronze-medallist Fiji 22-12 in the gold-medal final.
The Canadian men, also based in Langford, were edged 19-17 by Samoa on the consolation side and placed seventh. South Africa, which beat sa国际传媒 in the quarter-finals, upset two-time Olympic champion Fiji 31-7 in the men’s gold-medal final.
Meanwhile, 15-year-old Canadian swim sensation Summer McIntosh won her second gold medal of the Games by taking the women’s 200-metre IM on Monday as she continues her journey of becoming on the major stars of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“It was a big crowd with lots of energy and I was hyped,” she said.
The teen, who qualified for the Games through the national trials held in the spring at Saanich Commonwealth Place, remains a cool customer despite the expectation that will only continue to mount as Paris approaches.
“I don’t think much about that [outside] pressure. The only pressure I care about is the pressure I put on myself,” she said, following her gold-medal performance Monday.
sa国际传媒 is third in total medals with 33, behind leading Australia’s 71 and host and second-place England’s 54. In the gold standard way of counting, sa国际传媒 is fourth with six gold medals behind Australia’s 31, England’s 21 and New Zealand’s 13.
