#PathwaytoParis catch up | The games for Birmingham alumni so far
It’s been another busy few days for our representatives in the French capital, including a GB v South Africa head-to-head in the women’s hockey group games, and Ollie Morgan is back in the pool for the 200m Backstroke competition.
Hockey
It was a clash of the Birmingham representatives on Day 5 of the Games when the women’s GB took on South Africa in their penultimate Pool B game.
An interesting one for us at home to watch having Birmingham representatives on both sides of the pitch – with five alumni playing for the home team – Amy Costello, Hannah French, Lily Owsley, Flora Peel and Anna Toman – and current scholar Hannah Pearce playing for South Africa.
After RSA scored the first goal of the match, at just 19 minutes in alumna Amy Costello came back fighting with GB’s first goal – only to be followed by fellow UoB graduate Hannah French, who took the game into GB’s favour with a goal at 42 minutes. GB women managed to keep the South Africans at bay, finishing with a 2-1 win, sneaking them through the group stages to the semi-finals.
Sadly, this match meant RSA dropped to the bottom of the group and did not make it through to the next stage – but nonetheless an astonishing effort for current student Hannah Pearce.
With another win in the bag, it was then up to GB to take on USA with the hopes of securing their quarter-final spot.
After a tight scoreline of 3-2 at the half-time break, it was important for GB to take control of the game for the final half. With another two goals – one from UoB graduate Hannah French – and no more gained from USA, GB were victorious, ending in a 5-2 score.
They play Argentina on Saturday in a final group game before heading into the knockout quarter-finals on Monday.
Swimming
Heading back to the pool after finishing 8th in the 100m Backstroke final, current student Oliver Morgan competed in the Men’s 200m Backstroke competition just a few days later, meeting some familiar faces on the way.
Coming in at 5th in his heat, Ollie secured a spot in the semi-finals after ranking 12th overall with a respectable 1.57.56 – beating 100m Backstroke gold medallist Ceccon in the process, who finished 14th, and silver medallist Xu, who did not start.
Later on Day 5 saw Ollie back in the lane to compete in the semi-final, where he finished 6th with an impressive 1:57.28 in his group. Despite a great swim against some amazing competition, his placing of 12 overall meant that Ollie unfortunatley missed out on a spot in the final. We’re very proud of Ollie’s performance during this Summer’s Games, and cannot wait to see where this leads him next!
All photos credit: Team GB
Read about all of our confirmed athletes, coaches and support staff in Paris at the link below, and stay tuned for more #PathwaytoParis updates.
