Here we are, the final day of an amazing Deaflympics! The action really has been non-stop for the team over the past couple of weeks and the final day was certainly no different.
On Day 11 we had final races in the swimming and cycling, the marathon in athletics and the Women’s Football Team taking on their final match.
Football
The DeaflympicGB Women’s Football Team have something of a history of bringing home Bronze at the Deaflympics and today was no different!
‘In our first match we were under pressure but today was fiercer because both teams really wanted bronze. Both teams were fighting for it and angry!
It wasn’t an easy game and I can’t believe we won!’ Victoria O’Hara, GB Women’s Football Team
The women fought a fierce match against opponents Australia to win 2-0 and bring home the only medal this Deaflympics which wasn’t in the pool!
‘I want to say thank you to the fans and the people at home who were getting up early in the morning to watch us.’ George McGowan, GB Team Coach
Cycling
It was the second mountain bike race for Waldo Moolman today, this time in an Olympic distance race. Waldo was strong again, finishing in 17th place overall.
Marathon
Today’s marathon was a fantastic example of why it isn’t just medals which matter when it comes to the Deaflympics.
Poppy Bowie was racing for DeaflympicsGB and had set herself a target to finish in the top ten. Poppy doesn’t have a coach and is entirely self-trained, which makes it even more remarkalbe that she finished in 5th place overall!
Not only that, she also broke the GB record in the marathon with an amazing time of 3hrs 6mins.
‘At about halfway I started to suffer a little bit, then I was fine, then I was up and down. And then, as the end I got cramp. I’m so happy with my time.’ Poppy Bowie, GB Marathon Runner
Swimming
The medal tally in the pool on the final day showed no signs of slowing down! Our star medallist Charlotte Gower was back in action in the individual races, as well as taking part in the team 4x100m Medley Relay.
Charlotte warmed up with a Bronze in the 200m Freestyle before going on to grab Gold in the 200m Backstroke. She was joined by fellow medallist Katy Wun, along with Lucy Jordan-Caws, Nicola Hutchison, Mia Wiseman and Ellie Graham for the 4x100m Medley Relay.
The team smashed it in the heats before going on the grab Silver in the final! Although only four swimmers took part in the final, all six swimmers who took part in the heats aswell come home with a medal!
This takes Charlotte’s final medal haul to 7 and Katy’s to 5!
It’s a wrap…almost!
The DeaflympicsGB Team close out their Tokyo 2025 campaign with a fantastic 12 medals! This puts them 12th on the overall Medal Leaderboard out of over 80 countries.
The athletes have all given their all and competed from the heart for their country and we’re incredibly proud of everything they’ve achieved. They couldn’t have done it without an amazing support team, most of whom are volunteers. And they’ve done it all without any government funding!
Well done DeaflympicsGB!!!
Tomorrow the team have been invited to visit the British Embassy in Tokyo for tea and they have the closing ceremony to look forward to.
Don’t forget to catch the final action on our Instagram channel and get the in-depth news, pictures, videos and medal tally on the DeaflympicsGB website.