Clara Isaac claimed Team Isle of Man’s first medal at this week’s Island Games when she finished third in the women’s triathlon on Sunday lunchtime.

Isaac came home five minutes behind Claire Randall, who claimed a hugely popular home win for hosts Orkney.

Nearly three minutes ahead of Isaac in the silver medal spot was Guernsey’s Hannah Kennedy.

The sweltering conditions, a gruelling 40km cycle and 10km run made for a tough event where it was an achievement to finish let alone claim a podium place.

After the medal ceremony, a delighted Clara, who only took up the sport last May, said: ‘I’m absolutely over the moon. I had no expectations, so it's come as a massive surprise.

‘I just wanted to get round in one piece. That was definitely my goal.

‘I've had a great team here, so I just want to come have good fun and get round.

‘I had no idea where I was on the course against other people, so just did my best and was delighted to come third.’

Held in Orkney’s second biggest town of Stromness, the event began with a two-lap swim of the marina.

Following that the competitors took to a hilly cycle circuit, completing eight laps of 5km before four laps of another hilly 2.5km run.

Clara worked her way up the field throughout the event exiting the swim in 10th after clocking a time of 26m 12s.

The fourth quickest cycle of 1h 13m 10s brought her back into medal contention, while her run of 44:42 was only outdone by the Shetland’s former 800m gold medallist Emma Leask’s 42:46 to ensure she picked up a medal on her Games debut.

Wiktoria Maliszak was next of the Isle of Man competitors home in 11th, crossing the finish line at Stromness Harbour in a time of 2:36.01.

Carly Craig, whose last Games outing was in 2001 when she won silver medal on the track in the 5,000m, was next Manxie home in 13th only a couple of minutes down on her team-mate.

The other member of Team Isle of Man, Caitlin Gelder, was 17th of the 22 finishers in a time of 2:46.37.

The quartet’s results meant they finished fourth in the team competition.

The men’s race was also a war of attrition, with only two of the Isle of Man team finishing.

James Wright didn’t even make it to the start line, a back injury making him a non-starter.

Clara’s husband Andrew Isaac had looked to be in contention for a medal after exiting the swim in an impressive third spot. However, disaster struck on the cycle when his handlebars came lose and he was forced to retire.

Isaac’s team-mate Charlie Swales also had a good swim, but fell ill on the cycle and was another withdrawal.

Completing an unfortunate trio of retirements was Dominic Dumwell. He had been placed inside the top 20 after the run and the cycle, but passed out on the run.

After receiving a ‘hosing down’ from a local and some medical attention at the start-finish he was reported to be okay.

This mean that only two Manxies finished. Nick Ardern battled to 22nd in 2:18.25, while after a dramatic tri in Guernsey two years ago where he suffered a chipped bone in his neck, Matt Looker finished 37th, 10 minutes down on Ardern.