Gravesend’s Sophie Coldwell helped England to team gold in the triathlon mixed relay final at the Commonwealth Games.

With men's champion Alex Yee and Manchester’s women's silver medallist Georgia Taylor-Brown in the line-up, this was the host team's race to lose and, along with Kent-born athlete Coldwell and Sam Dickinson, they were faultless from gun to tape for a 46-second victory.

Yee handed over to team-mate Coldwell with a massive 20-second gap and the 27-year-old extended that by seven seconds as Wales, Scotland and New Zealand gave chase to Dickinson on the third leg.

Dickinson saw that lead trimmed to 16 seconds but Taylor-Brown, the silver medallist in the women's event, was simply too strong for her rivals.

"This feels pretty amazing, I don't think I've ever raced in an atmosphere like that," said Coldwell, who finished fourth in the women's individual race on Friday.

"I felt pretty deflated after my last race, that's the worst position you can be in, being so close to a medal that you could almost touch it. This was about redemption for me and I couldn’t wait to get out there, I was really fired up. Now I'm going home with that gold medal I dreamed about.

"I'm really proud of that and proud of that performance, it's a really special team to be part of.

"In 2018, the Commonwealth Games was a real stepping stone for me in my career, I used it to springboard to the next level.

"Hopefully this will [do] the same again for the Paris Olympics."

Coldwell finished sixth during the 2018 elite women’s individual race and was a travelling reserve for the Tokyo Olympics.

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