Mercier laps up that gold feeling

IT WAS brief but there could be no denying that Sarah Mercier afforded herself a smile of satisfaction last night as she crossed the line to win her first NatWest Island Games gold medal.

Following her impressive showing to claim silver in Tuesday night's 1,500m, the Guernsey athlete entered the 5,000m final in confident mood last night and she delivered a totally dominant display to succeed the absent Louise Perrio as Island Games champion.

Although the Ynys Mon runner Sarah Livett took it out hard in the early stages, Mercier was soon reeling her in with comparative ease and there was to be no looking back once she hit the front.

In fact, it is a measure of just how much Mercier has developed over the last year or so, largely under the guidance of Olympian Lee Merrien, that many of her delighted club-mates in the stand at the National Stadium were later emphasising just how much more she had in the tank if needed.