European gold, silver and bronze medals

Wilmington gymnast Douglas Fordyce (19) and gymnastics partner Edward Upcott (17) triumphed at the European Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships in Portugal, winning three medals for Great Britain.

The boys got through the qualification rounds with ease lying in second place behind the Russian pair going into the finals.

Their routine in the balance finals was exciting and cleanly executed, and their choreography was superb. The scoring was tight and the British pair were delighted to be awarded the bronze medal just behind the Portuguese and Russian pairs.

The dynamic finals were next and the pair had plenty of British support in the audience to cheer them on.

The Portuguese pair performed a clean routine much to the joy of the home crowd and took the lead with a score of 28.10 with only the Russians and Brits left to go. The Russian pair had two major errors and scored 28.05 so, with the audience behind them, the boys took the floor and produced the performance of their lives. They executed everything cleanly with high somersaults and twists and near perfect tumbles.

The lads and the British supporters, including both sets of parents, waited with bated breath for the score and, when 28.35 came up, the arena erupted with delight.

The British pair and their coach Neil Griffiths were clearly delighted and it was tears all round from the two mums!!

The win gave them added confidence going into Sunday's overall finals and their combined routine was again performed cleanly and with finesse. A score of 28.25 gave the pair a silver medal overall.

An ecstatic Douglas said: "This is a fabulous result for us and we are so pleased to have won medals in all three finals. Becoming European Dynamic Champions is just amazing - the British supporters were great and helped make it a memorable occasion."

Douglas' parents, Richard and Margaret were there to share the experience with him.

Margaret said: "It was amazing! We are so proud. Douglas and Edward have worked so hard over the past eight months and really deserve their medals and European title. Seeing them on the medal podium with their gold medals is something we will treasure always.