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Saturday, 05 August 2006 |
Swimmer Kirsty Balfour wins Great Britain's first gold at European Championships
Scottish swimmer Kirsty Balfour has claimed Great Britain's first gold medal of the 2006 European Championships in Budapest when she won the women's 200m breaststroke final.
Kirsty Balfour, 22, who narrowly missed out on gold in the 100m breaststroke earlier in the week, finished in two minutes 25.66 seconds after leading from the start and finishing almost three seconds ahead of Ukraine's Yuliya Pidslina in second place.
Kirsty Balfour, who swims for the City of Edinburgh club, had won a bronze and a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games earlier on this year.
"That's the first gold of the meet and my first gold at a major international," Kirsty Balfour said.
"I was pretty nervous earlier today but I just thought I have to enjoy it and use my talent to swim fast and it worked.
"Although I was number one going into the race I never felt too much pressure. I knew the other girls' best times and I knew Kovacs was off top form so I knew I had a good chance of winning.
"The last 50m was so hard, I'm still feeling the pain from it. I just went out and did what I've practised doing and it worked tonight," Kirsty Balfour added.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 August 2006 )
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