Linguistics and Phonetics alumna wins gold at Commonwealth Games

Congratulations to BA Linguistics and Phonetics alumna Natalie Haythornwaite on taking home a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games last week as part of the England women's netball team.

The Commonwealth Games are an international multi-sport event that has been held since 1930, and involves countries from the Commonwealth of Nations, including the countries of the UK. Team England won a gold medal after beating the Australian women's team in the last second to give England victory in their first appearance in a major final.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games took place in the cities of Gold Coast, Brisbane, Cairns and Townsville in Queensland, Australia. They brought together more than 6,600 athletes and 71 Commonwealth nations and territories in the largest integrated sports programme in the history of the Games. Athletes competed in 18 sports and seven para-sports, with Beach Volleyball, Para Triathlon and Women's Rugby Seven making their debut - this also resulted in an equal number of men's and women's events being contested for the first time.

Natalie played netball throughout her time studying at Leeds, competing for both England and the Yorkshire Jets. Congratulations once again to her and the rest of the women's netball team on their achievement.