There was double gold success for two Isle of Man athletes at the NatWest Island Games in Guernsey on Tuesday evening.

Joe Harris and Rachael Franklin were in brilliant form as they recorded victories in both the men’s javelin and women’s 1,500m race respectively at Footes Lane.

Both had arrived in the island late having competed at the British Athletics Championships over the weekend, but they showed no after-effects of their exploits in Manchester.

Harris was simply untouchable in the javelin final and his opening throw of 62.45m would have been enough to clinch gold on its own.

As it was, the 26-year-old went even further and settled for an effort of 68.95m to seal the top spot on the podium with ease ahead of Saaremaa’s Rauno Liitmae and James Bourgourd of the hosts.

A short time after that, Harris was back trackside to watch team-mate Franklin attempt to defend her 1,500m title from Gibraltar four years ago.

And she did so in style, looking comfortable on the front for the majority of the race watched by many a Manx spectator inside the stadium.

The only doubt came when Ynys Mon star Cari Hughes - an England international - surged clear on the final lap. But the Isle of Man athlete refused to back down and sprinted clear in the final few metres to clinch a dramatic and well-deserved gold medal.

To put the icing on the cake, her time of 4:20.42 was a new Island Games record, shaving nearly 4s off the previous standard.

There was further success for Manx athletes as Aimee Christian stunned her rivals to claim an excellent bronze medal in the women’s 400m hurdles final.

Only narrowly missing the podium in that race was her team-mate Catherine Perry who crossed the line in a fine fourth place.

And the latter’s brother Sam was also only just off the podium when finishing fourth in the men’s 1,500m race alongside Gethin Owen who was eighth.

Also finishing eighth was Tazmin Fayle in the women’s shotput final with a best effort of 8.53 metres, while team-mate Megan Lockwood was 10th with 7.87m.