BIRMINGHAM: Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah completed a sprint double at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday as Australia pipped England to the top of the medals table.
The Jamaican sprint star, 30, headlined the penultimate night of track and field events in Birmingham and did not disappoint the capacity crowd, destroying the field to win the women’s 200m in a Games record of 22.02 seconds.
“I was going for a Games record in the 100 and it didn’t work, so I said, ‘I’ve got to get it in the 200,'” Thompson-Herah said.
“I’m grateful to look for that gold today, the day we celebrate Independence Day in Jamaica.” Thompson-Herah topped the podium at last year’s Tokyo Olympics in the 100m and 200m, retaining the titles she won in Rio four years ago.
But she only took bronze in the 100m behind compatriots Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson at last month’s world championships and finished seventh in the 200m final.
“I knew I had more races to come. I’m not a quitter,” Thompson-Herah said of her disappointing results at the world championships.
“It’s a motivation for me to keep learning and just keep moving forward.” Thompson-Herah, who won the 100m earlier in the Games, faced a tough task on paper in the 200m final despite the absence of her Jamaican rivals.
But she finished nearly half a second ahead of Nigeria’s Favor Ofili, with Namibia’s Olympic silver medalist Christine Mboma taking bronze.
Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago won the men’s 200 meters in a Games record time of 19.80 seconds.
World bronze medalist Mary Moraa produced a stunning late burst to top a top-class women’s 800m field in 1min 57.07sec.
The Kenyan faded after a fast start but found a second wind to pip England’s Olympic silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson for gold. Scotland’s Laura Muir won bronze – her first Commonwealth medal.
“I tried to run 57 or 58 seconds for the first 400, but I think I was 56-something (56.8),” Moraa said. “When I got to 500 meters, I think everyone passed me.
“But with 200 to go, I closed the gap and then I knew I had to push myself to the end.”
Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo beat Kenyan duo Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli and Jacob Krop in the home straight to win the 5,000m in a season’s best time of 13min 8.08sec, completing a distance double in Birmingham after his win previous 10,000 meters.
“It was a great performance for me (at the Games),” he said. “I have two (gold medals) and I’m very happy about that.” Alastair Chalmers won Guernsey’s first ever track and field medal when he took bronze in the men’s 400m hurdles.
In the morning session, Australia’s Oliver Hoare upset world champion Jake Wightman and Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot to win gold in the 1500m.
The 25-year-old produced a strong late finish to cross the line in 3:30.12, breaking a 48-year-old Games record.
Australia’s Jemima Montag won gold in the women’s 10,000m, but the country’s recently crowned world high jump champion Eleanor Patterson was pushed into second place by Jamaica’s Lamara Distin.
Australia won two gold medals on the final night of action in the diving pool, in the women’s 3m synchronized springboard and 10m synchronized platform.
England took the podium in the men’s 3m springboard, but Jack Laugher missed out on a third gold medal in Birmingham after a disappointing penultimate dive, having to settle for bronze.
Hot favorites Australia beat New Zealand by five wickets in their women’s Twenty20 cricket semi-final at Edgbaston to set up a gold medal match against India, who beat England by four runs in a thriller.
England was also defeated in the semi-finals of netball by Australia, which will meet Jamaica in the final.
India beat South Africa 3-2 in the men’s hockey semi-finals and will play Australia in Monday’s gold medal match after the six-time defending champions beat England by the same scoreline.
The bowls competition concluded on Saturday, with Australia taking two of the final three gold medals on offer, in the women’s and men’s doubles.
With just two days of competition to go, Australia lead the overall medal table in Birmingham with 59 gold medals, nine ahead of hosts England.
Published in Agim, August 8, 2022
