Has there ever been a more golden day for Australian athletics than the final one at Scotstoun Stadium?
With 7 golds and 10 minor medals won, the answer is ‘no.’ The previous most successful day was over 75 years ago, in 1950, when Australia won 6 gold in a day.
Rhiannon Clarke, fourth in the T38 100m, ran down the 100m gold medallist Sophie Hahn from England for a 26.92s victory.
“I feel like I had a choice after that 100 because it was very disappointing,” Clarke said.
“I could have just sat on the couch and cried and been upset with it, or I could have used it to fuel me, and I definitely did that. I used it, and it paid off.”
Matt Denny easily defended his discus title, with each of his five legal throws good enough for victory. His best, 67.73m, saw him over 2 1/2 metres clear of silver.
“I’m super excited to defend my title and go back-to-back. I’m the first person to do so in a long time, which I’m pretty proud of,” Denny said.
“It was a fun competition. The conditions were tricky with the wind, but all in all, I was happiest to walk away with the win. That was the main thing.”
Jemima Montag led home the first of two podium sweeps of the day, with Elizabeth McMillen and Rebecca Henderson joining her in the medals in the 10,000m walk.
“I knew that if I wanted my third Commonwealth gold that I really needed to be on my A-game today,” she said, with a 42:13.40 personal best securing victory.
Kurtis Marschall secured his third consecutive Commonwealth Games pole vault gold, also adding the Games Record to his name with a 5.85m clearance.
Dr Mackenzie Little claimed her first international title since 2013, when she won the World Youth Championships, with a season’s best 61.88m. Lianna Davidson fell just 24cm short of a medal in fourth in 57.61m.
“I think tonight it was challenging conditions. There was really low sun, you know, and the headwind was very strong. It was quite cold,” Little said.
“My technique tends to be low and hard, and so this did benefit me a little bit tonight, I think.”
Australia’s 4x100m men took a close victory in 38.07s, with Rohan Browning holding off the anchor runners for Canada (38.11), Nigeria (38.12) and Ghana (38.13). The team of Lachlan Kennedy, to Josh Azzopardi to Calab Law to Browning ran the fifth fastest time ever by an Australian team. Kennedy came into the team for the final, replacing Christopher Ius who ran in the heats.
The Australian women’s 4x100m had a similar substitution, with Torrie Lewis coming into the team for the final in place of national champion Georgia Harris as anchor with Ebony Lane, Chloe Mannix-Power and Monique Hanlon running the other legs. The team fell just two-hundredths-of-a-second short of bronze, clocking 43.09s.
In the final event of the meet it was Abbey Caldwell who led home an Australian 1-2-3 in the women’s mile, with Jess Hull in silver and Claudia Hollingsworth in bronze.
“To be the first female mile gold medallist is extraordinary. It’s something I’ve dreamed of for years now, and to execute it was an absolute dream come true. It was a privilege to be out there.”
Abbey Caldwell
Josh Kerr was too classy in the men’s mile, with Cameron Myers settling for silver behind the Scottish world record holder’s comfortable victory.
Other medallists on the final day were:
- Silver for Luke Boyes in the 800m
- Silver for Ky Robinson in the 5000m
- Bronze for Briseis Brittain in the T38 200m
- Bronze for Samuel Rizzo in the T54 1500m
- Bronze for Brooke Buschkuehl in the long jump, her third consecutive Commonwealth Games medal, in 6.80m (+2.5)
Australia topped the medal table in athletics with 12 gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze, with Jamaica 10/3/5 and England 6/9/6 the next closest nations. The hosts, Scotland won 4 gold and 3 bronze.
