Bailiff tells athletes 'you made us very proud'

The bailiff has congratulated the athletes who represented Jersey in the Commonwealth Games.

Robert MacRae spent the first two days of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and told the team "you made us very proud".

He said: "All we could say is that we were hopeful we might come home as a nation with one medal, we came home with two, and lots of other fantastic performances, and personal bests.

"It's people of all ages who can be inspired by the sort of success Jersey has had," he added.

MacRae said he had not expected the success because of the "nature of sport at the highest level".

He used Filip Nowacki who won the 200m breaststroke gold in Glasgow on Tuesday night, just three evenings after winning silver in the 100m breaststroke, as an example.

"When he won his gold he won, I think, by nearly a second over the next person, but when he got his silver he was only less than a fifth of a second behind the chap who won the gold medal, that's a tiny, tiny amount," MacRae added.

He added the difference between doing well and very well were "so tiny that one can't predict it".

The bailiff said there would be discussions with government about plans to mark Jersey's success at the Commonwealth Games.

He said: "I think even if we hadn't won any medals at all, it will be something worth marking because there have been lots of achievements, lots of personal bests, lots of people getting into finals who weren't expecting to get into finals.

"There's a lot to celebrate in relation to every single one of our over 20 competitors."

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