The Isle of Man’s Special Olympics squad returned from Sweden earlier this week with medals galore.

The 20-strong squad were taking part in the five-day Special Olympics Sweden’s Invitational Games in Malmo.

The Manx were among 2,000 athletes taking part from 25 other European countries.

The islanders competed in athletics, football, 10-pin bowling and swimming, claiming a plethora of medals in each.

After Friday evening’s opening ceremony, the Manx team were straight into the action.

The islanders’ footballers kicked off the gold rush with Jamie Hardy’s strike giving the Manx a 1-0 win over the impressive FIFH Malmo Red in the tournament’s final.

Following the match, the side’s coaches said: ‘Every single player in the 10-man squad ran themselves into the ground covering every blade of artificial turf. At the final whistle the players fell to the ground in disbelief and emotion.’

The island’s 10-pin bowlers then picked up the medal baton with Tom Read claiming silver and Karl Monaghan gold after earlier fifth and four place finishes for Sean and Tom Dawe.

It was hugely successful competition for the island’s athletes with Natasha Keig, Rebecca Maller, Lawrence Dyer and Duncan Watterson all picking up at least one medal each.

Not to be outdone, the swimmers ensured they also added some extra weight to their carry-on luggage with Edgar Denyer followed up landing gold in the 50m backstroke with silver in the 25m freestyle, while Andrew McGeehan claimed silver in the 50m backstroke.

Team-mate Chloe Rollitt picked up a medal of each while Kanyeba Lubilanji was runner-up in the 50m freestyle and picked up a bronze in the 25m equivalent.

The team also clinched silver in the 4x25 relay event for good measure.