Sport 31
epigram 28.02.2023
Who is UoB's greatest sportsperson? roes on that legendary list of 2012 Olympic gold medal winners for A look at three sporting Team GB. Competing under her heroes who went to maiden name Laura BechtolsheimUniversity at Bristol er, she, along with Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin, won the first Louis Edward team dressage gold for Great BritDigital Editor ain and picked up an individual bronze medal for good measure. very Wednesday, hunWhen applying for Wills Hall back dreds of students put in 2004, Tomlinson laid her achievetheir studies on hold to ments out on her form: ‘my main take part in the variety of sports hobby is riding – I have won two that the University has to offer. silver medals at European champiWhile most of us are simply onships and my efforts continue!’ there to try our best and take adShe was certainly achieving at an vantage of the social side of sport, early age, winning her first Eurothere are some with aspirations of pean Championship medal at only using their time at University as a 14, then becoming the youngest launchpad for a sporting career. British dressage champion aged 20. For these individuals, they need It was with look no furthe Danish-bred ther than UoB's Percy competed at 4 Olym- Mistral Højris, own alumni pics and won 2 golds as a nicknamed ‘Alf’, for inspiration. that Tomlinson With Olymsailor found her bigpic gold medgest successes. als and World Cups to their names, we look at Just a year after graduating with a three candidates for the great- BSc in Philosophy and Politics, she est sportsperson to have made it was competing at the 2008 Olympic to the Wills Memorial Great Hall. Games. Then followed three silver medals at the 2010 World ChampiLaura Tomlinson MBE First on our list is one of the he- onships, a gold at the 2011 European
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Championships, and a crowning gold Championships in 1999, earning his as a fresher on the same day as Iain place in Sydney. Percy. Rugby had only turned profesand bronze at After his ear- sional in 1995, the year that Lewsey the 2012 OlymJosh Lewsey is a Rugby ly success, Per- joined Bristol on a British Army pics in front of World Cup winner and cy decided to bursary. He played for Bristol RFC a home crowd British and Irish Lion change boat for through his time studying Physiology – all with Alf. Athens 2004. It and was able to graduate in 1998 afproved a difficult change as he and ter he got special permission to take Iain Percy OBE his partner came sixth, with more his exams in Australia whilst on the Competing at four Olympics is a testament to sporting excellence but disappointment coming a year later England summer tour of South Afriwinning two gold medals at differ- with Percy’s hopes as an America’s ca and Australasia. He also graduated from Sandent games is undoubtedly a great Cup steersman through feat. Iain Percy won gold sailing in fell Laura Tomlinson is on the hurst in 2001 a solo dinghy at Sydney 2000, and due to lack of legendary list of London and continued to combine then again eight years later in Bei- funding. But he 2012 gold medal winners his career in jing with partner Andrew Simpson. chose perseverthe Army and With Simpson, he won European ance in spite of for two years. Championship and World Cham- this, going back to Star Class, this time rugby Lewsey’s big break came in the pionship golds in 2009 and 2010, with his childhood friend Andrew but the pair got their home send- Simpson… and the rest was history. 2003 Six Nations Championship, filling in for the injured Jason Roboff, winning silver at London 2012. Josh Lewsey MBE Arriving in Bristol with Sport EngA Rugby World Cup winner and inson, and scoring three tries. He land funding as part of the World British and Irish Lions tourist, Josh could retain his place in the team Class Performance programme, it Lewsey’s career was characterised all the way through the year, evenwas said that, at his honorary de- by trophies. He dominated the full- tually going on to start the 2003 gree ceremony, ‘most of his grant back position in England between Rugby World Cup final and play his was probably spent on weekends 2003 and 2007, as a starter for the part in the famous victory. His interin the White Bear’. Percy graduated Grand Slam-winning and World national career ended prematurely with honours in Economics in 1998 Cup-winning side of 2003, and with injury in the 2007 Rugby World while still committing to his Olym- was a key member of the Wasps Cup semi-final, but it took nothpic sailing dreams. Straight out of side that won three premierships ing away from his illustrious career. Who do you think is UoB’s greatest graduation, he was able to go fully in a row between 2003 and 2005. professional and won the European Lewsey arrived at Churchill Hall sports alumni?
Bristol Run Series 2023 BUCS Roundgets underway Up The Series concludes on the 14th May with the Great Bristol Half marathon, with run groups and training plans for all those involved, regardless of their experience. This will mean that participants Joe Green who complete all four events will Sports Editor have covered a total distance of he return of the Univer- roughly 42.2km, or the length of a sity’s Run Series is giv- marathon, throughout the series. Alternatively, students can choose ing students extra motivation to get their running shoes to accumulate the same distance ran on this term in the form of several through several virtual events taking virtual and in-person challenges. place throughout the coming months. For more seasoned runners, the The 2023 edition of the series got underway this February Bristol Run Series Ultra edition prowith the Winter Warmer 5k and vides the opportunity to complete an 10k taking place at Ashton Court. ultra-marathon distance by covering Similar events will be taking place an additional 42-58km from the 5th throughout the term with the next to the 21st May, potentially taken the total distance run being the University of Across four events, ran up to an imBristol 10k runners will cover roughly pressive 100km. As well as held at Coombe the length encouraging Dingle on Sunstudents to imday 12th March. April will see participants take on prove your physical health, the the 6.5k Maverick Original Mendips Series is also looking to promote trail running race through the hilly how running or exercise in generMendips in the Somerset countryside. al can help to look after your men-
The four-month long running event that benefits physical and mental health
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tal wellbeing by partnering with the Healthy Minds programme. The Healthy Minds programme supports students experiencing mental health difficulties by partnering them with activity mentors from the Fitness Team to develop a bespoke programme to improve their mental health. According to the Bristol Run Series team, analysis of feedback of the 2022 series found that “93% of participants felt that the Bristol Run Series had a definite or very probable positive impact on their mental wellbeing, with 80% suggesting that there was a definite or very probable positive impact on their physical wellbeing”. These distances can seem daunting to novice runners, but even if itsn't a part of the event, the Run Series encourages people not to be put off by their preconceptions of running. Brandon, a 2021 Run Series participant, said 'if you think you hate running, find yourself a running partner, put some great music on, plan a route, and take it really slow! Like me, you might just be surprised at how enjoyable running can actually be!'
Updates for football, trampolining, American football, fencing and more
Eddie McAteer
Investigations Editor
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ith exams a thing of the past, or future depending on how you look at it, university sport has been in full swing. The week of Valentine’s Day saw plenty of success for Bristol’s sides, so we have a quick round up of some of the highlights. First and foremost, the University men’s football team emphatically reached the semi-finals of the National Cup. The team dominated their quarter-final opponents Essex with a 4-0 win and are now just one game away from securing a place in the final. Bristol trampoline had two podium finishes at their Cambridge competition, with two members placing third in their respective disciplines. In American football, Bristol Barracuda ended their South West Division 1 regular season in style with an emphatic 31-14 win over Swan-
sea, which meant the team finished with a 4-4 record. Quarterback Callum Charlton was awarded Offensive MVP while cornerback Ben Mellor won Defensive MVP. The Barracuda's attention will now turn to their upcoming playoff match against the no.1 seed Bournemouth Bobcats. The Quidditch team continued the podium theme with a third-place finish at the Southern 2 competition in Oxford. In futsal, the 2s put in a strong performance against Exeter 2s and cemented their 100% league record by putting 14 past their opposition, winning 14-5 in the end. Badminton’s M1 team also won 6-2 in the National Trophy, beating Surrey 1s. Sticking with racquet sports, the Tennis club impressed with wins for the Men’s 1s, 2s and 4s. Finally, Water Polo’s second team were victorious in their match against Gloucestershire and the Women’s Fencing team also took home a win. If you're part of a team or have watched a uni team in action and want to be featured in Epigram, please let us know at @EpigramSport.