Panathlon’s first visit to East London this year also saw the first Multi-Sport / Football combined event of the season. Barking and Dagenham (B&D), Havering and Hackney all competed on what has to be the coldest day of the year so far. The footballers competing outside in the U16 and U13 competitions had plenty to smile about though, scoring on average 4 goals a game across the competition. Inside, in the Multi-Sports two of the team sports were contested by the smallest of margins. In New Age Kurling Hackney and B&D both finished with 3 wins, Hackney took the Gold due to aggregate score over the games, 15 points to 12 points. The same happened in the Boccia, this time Havering taking the gold with 12 points to 11points, with B&D twice coming second by the narrowest margin. In the Table Cricket there were more convincing wins for Hackney, and in Polybat and both Athletics disciplines B&D took maximum points. There were some notable individual performances in the field athletics: Tia and Tony (B&D) both jumping 2.20 metres, Ibrahim (Hackney) throwing 20 metres in the javelin and Serne (B&D) 12.50 metres in the shot put, all Gold performances.
On another day B&D may have scored more points overall, but a win in the first round, particularly in the East Pool, is what all teams are aiming for. Havering, who registered their first ever Gold medals, can also be mighty pleased with their days work. Particularly loud cheers greeted the Havering’s Powerchair Slarlom team, when they took gold! Only one question remains in my mind, will Hackney’s score of 54 be enough to see them through to the final as the best runner up? Only time will tell.
“Another Fantastic Day of Panathlon! This year our pupils joined with 3 other Havering schools – the most schools so far… and we won our first ever GOLDS!!” (Tim, Ravensbourne School, Havering Team)
