Surrey Sports Park Athletes Find Success at Commonwealth Games

Published on: 7 Aug, 2014
Updated on: 7 Aug, 2014

Gabby and Chris Adcock taking gold in the mixed doubles. Photo Graeme Main

A total of nine medals across three sports were won by Surrey Sports Park athletes at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, with Surrey Smashers players Gabby Adcock and Chris Langridge winning five in the badminton events.

Silver in the mixed team competition for both Adcock and Langridge started off the Games with early success, followed by women’s doubles silver and men’s doubles bronze.

The final day of competition saw Adcock and Langridge come up against each other in the mixed doubles gold medal match, with Gabby (paired with husband Chris Adcock) taking gold and Langridge (paired with Heather Olver) settling for silver in the all-England battle.

Gabby and Chris in action. Photo Graeme Main

Talking after the Games, Adcock said: “This is what we have dreamt of doing before we came here. It is obviously what every athlete dreams of doing and to come actually do it, it is a surreal moment and I think it will take a while to sink in.

“It is definitely on a par with our Super Series win. There is so much pride for England, bringing back this medal for our country.

“It is a different feeling, an overwhelming feeling, and I feel proud when I see the medal table, knowing that I have contributed to it.”

There was also medal success in table tennis for Team Surrey Sports Park and England, as husband and wife pair Paul and Jo Drinkhall took gold in the mixed doubles event, following Paul’s silver medal won in the men’s team event in the early stages of the Games.

Singapore’s Joseph Schooling made history in the pool after winning his nation’s first ever Commonwealth Games swimming medal. Silver in the men’s 100m butterfly came after narrowly losing out to South Africa’s world champion Chad le Clos.

A total of 16 Surrey Sports Park athletes took part in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games including Surrey Storm shooter Rachel Dunn (Netball, England), University of Surrey graduate Margaret Adeoye (Athletics, England), Guildford City swimmer Marco Loughran (Swimming, Wales) and para-long jump athlete Olivia Breen (Athletics, Wales).