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GORDON BENSON made triathlon history in Baku yesterday when he was crowned Great Britain’s first European Games gold medallist.
The 21-year-old, who is a training partner of the all-conquering Brownlee brothers, triumphed 11 seconds ahead of Portugal’s silver medallist Joao Silva.
After the sweltering race Benson said: “It’s great being a part of a winning team and taking the gold home. They put me in front and I tried to control the run from the start and I led for almost the entire 10k.
“You could have written 10 names who had a chance of winning that race and I wouldn’t have put myself among them.
“But I knew if everything went right I had a chance to win Team GB that gold medal.”
The victory, completed in a time of one hour 48 minutes and 31 seconds, means that Britain automatically earn a quota slot for the Rio Olympics. But with the Brownlees certain to qualify anyway, Benson now faces a domestic battle with fellow competitors Tom Bishop and Phil Graves for the coveted third slot.
