Richmond
Olimpiadas Escolares 2021
On Thursday 21 October Richmond Park School took part in its first community sports competition: an Olympic Games-style event, which involved a number of schools from the local area. The day began with individual athletic and team sports.
Students competed in tag-rugby and dodgeball; our students excelled in these sports and quickly progressed through the games to qualify for the finals. The athletic events were more challenging, but our students were up to the task, many showing skills in events of which they had limited experience. In the javelin, students were out- throwing the measuring line and even out-throwing the monitors! In the running events, students started very strongly, reaching semi-final and final stages with plenty of room to spare.
As a result of the success on Thursday , all of the students who participated made their respective finals for at least their team sports, with a large number also reaching the finals for their athletic events. On Sunday, the level of competition increased significantly. From the start, it was clear that students needed to be on top of their game in order to return home with medals. First to claim a medal was Francesca, who ran in the finals of the hurdles and ,after a very tight start, stormed to victory after the last hurdle to claim the gold. It was an outstanding effort and a deserved victory.
Following on from success in the hurdles, the three teams from Richmond Park were involved in the same relay semi-final, which gave the school a great chance to make the finals. The teams did not disappoint, with one team winning the race and the other teams only just missing out. The finals followed shortly after and it was a great team display, as they finished with an overall lead of 30m to claim the gold. It was an excellent performance from Francesca, Sofia, Diego and José Luis.
The javelin followed and the students performed in the same manner by throwing beyond the expected distance so that the monitors had to extend the measuring distance to score the throws. The students had so much success that Richmond Park School finished first, second and third! Antonio took third place, José Luis claimed second place and in first place was Javier. The three students finished extremely close to each other, all throwing over 21m with only centimetres separating the three.
Finally, the team sports, dodgeball and tag rugby, took place. The students had practised these sports at school, which was evident in the finals as Richmond Park School finished first and third in dodgeball and first in rugby. It should be mentioned that, unfortunately, our second rugby team were handicapped by the fact that several members had to take part in the relay which happened at the same time. However, they still achieved fourth place.
A grand total of eight medals were won, four for individual events and four for team events It was a fine display of sporting success in a range of events from both older and younger students. The physical education department would like to express its gratitude to parents and athletes for competing on a Sunday.
It was extremely successful, and we look forward to many more events in the future.
