BRONZE FOR GB YOUNGSTERS

THE Great Britain team of Will Cairns, Cooper Rushen and Luke Harrison claimed a bronze medal in Saturday’s FIM European Under 19 Pairs Final in dramatic fashion.

Cairns beat Germanys Patrick Hyjek in a run-off after both countries tied on 22 points, nine behind Poland who claimed another European title, and eight behind Denmark who won silver.

The British team were consistent all meeting picking up valuable points in all their heats, and were confident of getting a heat advantage over the Swedish pair which would have clinched the Bronze medal outright.

But against the formbook they suffered a 5-1 against, and this put the Swedish team in pole position for bronze, knowing a maximum score in their last heat against the Czech Republic would be enough to edge the GB into fourth place.

However, Sweden failed against the Czechs and gave GB Team a reprieve, and a heat advantage against Ukraine for Cairns and Rushen was enough to match Germany’s score meaning Cairns had to go up against the Germans’ top scorer Hyjek to bring home the bronze.

Cairns, although just 17-years-old, kept his cool when the pressure was on, made the start of his life and never looked back to claim GB’s second bronze medal in this competition’s history.