rory is european champion

European U23 champion Rory Leonard. Picture: British Athletics

Recording the biggest win of his athletics career so far, Rory Leonard won Gold for Team GB in the 10,000 metres at the European Under 23 Championships at Espoo in Finland on Sunday.
In a smartly-run race where he always looked to be well in contention, the Morpeth Harrier and ex-KEVI pupil pulled away from his nearest rivals with five laps to go, finishing the 28 laps in a time of 29 minutes 8.33 seconds, some three seconds ahead of his nearest rival Guerra of Italy with Spaniard Baidal a distant third.
Celebrating as he came down the home straight and clearly overjoyed at his victory, Rory admitted to being understandably still ‘buzzing’ hours later, his win putting the icing on the cake for Team GB who registered their most successful U23 Championships ever, with no less than seven Golds to top the medal table.
He said: "It feels really good today. I’ve pictured this moment a million times before, whether it’s at European Cross or on the track.
​"I’ve lost a lot of people in the last three years, and with that comes a lot of grief. I have so many good people in my corner, who have saved me so many times through my grief. So going out today, I knew I was running for more than myself and even with putting in the training and the miles, I knew I could dig deep to find that extra little bit.”