Bahrain Mini Olympics – St Christopher’s Overall Champions
This is the 4th year of the Mini Olympics in Bahrain and St Christopher’s School attended many of the events over the two weeks of sporting competitions. Students both from the Junior and Senior School took part in a variety of events. There were numerous medals won in the individual events, such as Swimming, Athletics and Aquathlon. Students also took part in team events such as Hockey and Cricket and were also very successful in these. The closing ceremony took place at the National Stadium and St Christopher’s School were presented with their Trophy as the Overall Champions of the 4th Mini Olympics 2017. Congratulations to all students who participated.
Aquathlon
The Mini Olympics Aquathlon took place on the 25 March 2017. The event started with the Intermediate Boys and Girls. Bella Rushton, Imogen Rushton and Laura Adamson all competed in the Girls event. After a 50m swim off the beach of the Sofitel, followed by a 2 lap run of the car park, St Chris took the top 3 places for the Girls race, with Bella being closely followed in by her younger sister, and Laura not far behind. The next event was the Senior Boys. Competing in this event were Jamie Price, George Axtell and Colby Altman. They began the race with a 100m swim, from which Jamie emerged first, followed by Colby and George, way out in front of the rest of the field. After a quick run up the beach to transition they set of on a 3 lap run around the car park where George quickly took the lead, which he managed to maintain for the whole race. The next two places went to Colby and Jamie respectively. The rest of the field finished minutes behind the St Chris Boys. The final event was the Senior Girls, which consisted of just Kizzy Price and Charlotte Pilgrim who took home 1st and 2nd for St Christopher’s after a very cold swim and a tough run. Overall, the Aquathlon was a huge success for the St Christopher’s team, with every person who competed receiving a medal and finishing way ahead of competitors from other schools. The team was extremely strong and there were some great cases of sportsmanship shown by all members, especially by Jamie Price for the support he gave to the younger competitors.
Athletics
Girls
On Wednesday 29 March, under the guidance of Tommy Booth and Sarah Hobday, a select and determined band of elite athletes took the Isa Town Stadium by storm. Competing against unfamiliar competition, we were unsure what to expect but that did not stop the girls running and jumping their hearts out. Senior Girl, Kizzy Price led the way with straightforward victories in the 400m and 1000m, followed by a somewhat surprising Gold Medal in the High Jump. She was ably supported by newcomer Ingrid Bahnemann who took Silver in the 100m and Bronze in the 200m. The Intermediate Girls were even more dominant. Some of the highlights include: Coco D’Souza who won Gold in the 60m and Long Jump, Sulaf winning the 300m and taking Silver in the High Jump and Millie Chadwick winning the 1200m very comfortably. Kathleen Holland and Charlotte Pilgrim combined with Millie and Coco to take third place in their relay to cap a fine evening of athletics.
Boys
On Tuesday 28tMarch, under the guidance of Rob Subbiani and Helen Stewart, a small group of Intermediate and Senior Boys competed at Isa Town Stadium. The Intermediate Boys were dominant from the start with Kareem Bagaeen and Ahmed Al Arrayed winning their 60m Heats. Ahmed went on to win Gold in the 60m Final and Kareem picked up the Bronze. Louis Mulleague was strong from the onset of his 1200m race and finished with a Bronze Medal, after a fast 80m sprint for the line. Senior Boys did very well with Sean Chapman winning both the 100m and the 200m. Omar Al Gosaibi cleared 1m 65cm in the High Jump which resulted in a Gold Medal and Rory Drummond ran a very strong 400m race which gave him Silver. Other highlights include Kyle Nair winning a Bronze Medal in the 100m and a Silver Medal in the 200m. The evening finished on a high with the Senior Boys Relay team coming first and the Intermediate Boys team consisting of Colby Altman, Louis Mulleague, Kareem Bagaeen and Ahmed Al Arrayed winning a Silver Medal in their Relay event.
Cricket
The St Christopher’s U15 Girls Cricket team created history as they participated in Bahrain’s first-ever Girls Cricket Tournament in Bahrain, also forming part of the Mini Olympics. Due to the adverse weather conditions the games were switched from the Cricket Association’s ground at the National Stadium to St Christopher’s Isa Town site, although the 8-a-side format, played with tennis balls, remained unaltered. With many of the side having picked up a cricket bat for the first time, the team treated the opening game as an opportunity to assess their strengths by retiring from batting to give others a chance. Charlie Axtell top scored while other batters remaining not out were Anna Evans-Woolf, Elligh Sissons and Apoorva as St Christopher’s set a total of 46 from 10 overs. With the ball, Charlie Axtell again impressed taking one wicket for three runs while Apoorva and Sai Rama claimed wickets and Charlotte Pilgrim claimed two catches. However, it was all in vain as the school lost.
With Charlie again losing the toss, St Christopher’s was again made to bat first In the final. Anna top scored in windy conditions that made run-getting harder as St Christopher’s were only able to set 45.
Apoorva took the only wicket to fall, her over only conceding three runs while Charlie’s only went for five runs. However, despite excellent fielding, St Christopher’s lost to the Indian School with several overs to spare. The Indian School is keen to set-up regular matches between the two sides.
Team :
Charlie Axtell (capt)
Anna Evans Woolf
Charlotte Pilgrim
Hannah Erickson
Sai Rama
Aproova
Steffi Hall
Elligh Sissons
Hockey
Hockey made its first appearance at the fourth Mini Olympics organized by the Bahrain Olympic Committee. With matches played in the Volleyball Hall at the National Indoor Stadium, there were two days of action involving three categories. The Junior age group (U11) saw mixed teams while there were additional competitions for Intermediate Boys and Girls (U15) with the sides from St Christopher’s School dominating. The youngest teams were the most closely matched with the two teams, Eagles and Oryx, unable to breach each other’s defence, resulting in a 0-0 draw and a nerve-wracking penalty shoot-out. Ultimately, it was the Eagles who prevailed, thanks to goals from Talia and Freddie with Leo proving resolute in defence. The Intermediate Girls Final was a little more one-sided between the St Christopher’s A and B teams. While Steffi Hall and Danni Wilkinson created but spurned excellent opportunities, Charlie Axtell was much more clinical finding the back of the net on three occasions to complete a 3-0 victory. Anna Evans Woolf and Daisy Dennison provided the link between Axtell and a resolute Charlotte Pilgrim in defence. Co-captains Axtell and Evans-Woolf collected the trophy from Shaikha Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, who is a strong advocate of increasing sporting opportunities for girls in Bahrain. Anticipation was high ahead of the intermediate Boys Final with the St Christopher’s C team having edged ahead of the A team in the group table. However, despite their two victories over the A team in the preliminary rounds, Team C left themselves too much to do, conceding two early goals to Oli Bloodworth, clinically pouncing on defensive lapses thanks to pressure from Llewellyn Forward. Constant pressure from St Christopher’s C followed, although they were unable to find a way past Freddie Salmon in goal until the final moments when George Axtell’s mazy run and reverse-stick flick netted a consolation.
Parents and teachers watching commented on the tremendous sportsmanship on display, despite many of the matches being close-knit affairs. Many of the children participating made tremendous progress having been able to participate in competitive games, spurred on by the glittering medals presented to the podium finishers. One of the aims of the Mini Olympics was to encourage wider participation in sports and, with many players having already signed up for regular hockey coaching as a result of playing, the Bahrain Olympic Committee has certainly achieved their goal.
Swimming
On Sunday 26 March, a team of our St Chris sharks were invited to represent the school in the Mini Olympics Swimming Championships. This event was part of the Mini-Olympics Games held here in Bahrain and organized by the Bahrain Olympic Committee. The swimming took place in Shaikh Khalifa Sports complex at Isa town. Over twenty teams were listed on the register to compete. Our Sharks competed strongly and took to the water like fish! Congratulations to all our swimmers involved, many achieving more than one medal each. We completed the meet with all our relay teams winning their races. Well done, Sharks!
