BIRMINGHAM - Australian swim sensation Emma McKeon won a record-extending 12th gold medal at the Commonwealth Games on Monday as cycling star Laura Kenny finished her campaign with an emotional gold.
It was another night of domination in the Birmingham pool for Australia, who now have 16 golds at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre out of a possible 33. McKeon, who powered home in the 50m butterfly, has now won four golds in Birmingham and has collected more overall gold medals than any other athlete in Commonwealth Games history. The 28-year-old, who won seven medals at last year’s Tokyo Olympics -- including four golds -- touched in 25.90sec.
“I love a challenge,” said McKeon. “Just having this huge workload is preparing me for Paris (2024 Olympics) and even though it’s hard workload physically, it’s just training my mind to be able to do that many races back to back. “I’m not going to have that many once I get to Paris. It’s just building that self-belief.”
Rising Canadian star Summer McIntosh, who is just 15, won her second gold of the Games, adding the women’s 200m individual medley title to her 400m IM crown. Australia’s Kyle Chalmers won the men’s 100m freestyle final in 47.51sec after a 48-hour period that he described as “hell” as a result of intense speculation in the media over his relationships with team members.
Australian Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown destroyed the field to win the women’s 200m backstroke and Australia rounded off the night in style by winning the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay. England’s Kenny and Australian Matthew Glaetzer won gold medals in an uplifting final session of track cycling, which was being held in London.
New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews, in the women’s keirin, and compatriot Aaron Gate, in the men’s 40km points race, both won their third gold medals of the games. Kenny, who has suffered a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy since competing at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, admitted she had thought it was “going to be my last race”. However, she refocused and won the women’s 10-kilometre scratch on the same track where 10 years ago, aged 20, she won double Olympic gold.
Kenny admitted her confidence had been shaken by a horrific crash on Sunday that had resulted in her team-mate, Matt Walls, being taken to hospital. “I can’t believe it. Honestly, I said to Jase (Jason Kenny, her husband) ‘I think this is going to be my last race’,” the five-time Olympic gold medallist said.
Glaetzer battled back from thyroid cancer to compete at the Olympics. But after some wretched luck in Birmingham -- coming to grief in the keirin and then stripped of his bronze medal in the sprint on Sunday -- he won the men’s 1,000m time trial to add to his gold in the team sprint.
Another medal-less day for Pakistan at CW Games 2022
Pakistan remained medal-less even on the fifth day of the mega event as Pakistani athletes took part in athletics, swimming, and boxing events.
Firstly, Shajjar Abbas competed in men’s 100m event. The 22-years-old clocked 10.38s, which is his personal best, but didn’t qualify for the next round. He finished 20th among 63 sprinters who took part in the event. Female sprinter Aneela Gulzar finished last in the women’s 100m event. She clocked 14.01 to come last in the heat.
In boxing, Mehreen Baloch was defeated one-sidedly by her Sri Lankan opponent Sajeewani Coorey Muthuthanthri in women’s over 54kg-57kg (featherweight). She was knocked out by 5-0 to book her return ticket. It was yet another bad day for Pakistan swimming team as Haseeb Tariq was disqualified from another event.
After failing in men’s 50m butterfly and men’s 50m backstroke, Haseeb fell short to qualify for next round of men’s 50m freestyle. Haseeb clocked 24.65 and failed to advance to next round. In squash event, Faiza Zafar will face India’s Sunayna Sara Kuruvilla in the plate league semifinal.
It was another night of domination in the Birmingham pool for Australia, who now have 16 golds at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre out of a possible 33. McKeon, who powered home in the 50m butterfly, has now won four golds in Birmingham and has collected more overall gold medals than any other athlete in Commonwealth Games history. The 28-year-old, who won seven medals at last year’s Tokyo Olympics -- including four golds -- touched in 25.90sec.
“I love a challenge,” said McKeon. “Just having this huge workload is preparing me for Paris (2024 Olympics) and even though it’s hard workload physically, it’s just training my mind to be able to do that many races back to back. “I’m not going to have that many once I get to Paris. It’s just building that self-belief.”
Rising Canadian star Summer McIntosh, who is just 15, won her second gold of the Games, adding the women’s 200m individual medley title to her 400m IM crown. Australia’s Kyle Chalmers won the men’s 100m freestyle final in 47.51sec after a 48-hour period that he described as “hell” as a result of intense speculation in the media over his relationships with team members.
Australian Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown destroyed the field to win the women’s 200m backstroke and Australia rounded off the night in style by winning the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay. England’s Kenny and Australian Matthew Glaetzer won gold medals in an uplifting final session of track cycling, which was being held in London.
New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews, in the women’s keirin, and compatriot Aaron Gate, in the men’s 40km points race, both won their third gold medals of the games. Kenny, who has suffered a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy since competing at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, admitted she had thought it was “going to be my last race”. However, she refocused and won the women’s 10-kilometre scratch on the same track where 10 years ago, aged 20, she won double Olympic gold.
Kenny admitted her confidence had been shaken by a horrific crash on Sunday that had resulted in her team-mate, Matt Walls, being taken to hospital. “I can’t believe it. Honestly, I said to Jase (Jason Kenny, her husband) ‘I think this is going to be my last race’,” the five-time Olympic gold medallist said.
Glaetzer battled back from thyroid cancer to compete at the Olympics. But after some wretched luck in Birmingham -- coming to grief in the keirin and then stripped of his bronze medal in the sprint on Sunday -- he won the men’s 1,000m time trial to add to his gold in the team sprint.
Another medal-less day for Pakistan at CW Games 2022
Pakistan remained medal-less even on the fifth day of the mega event as Pakistani athletes took part in athletics, swimming, and boxing events.
Firstly, Shajjar Abbas competed in men’s 100m event. The 22-years-old clocked 10.38s, which is his personal best, but didn’t qualify for the next round. He finished 20th among 63 sprinters who took part in the event. Female sprinter Aneela Gulzar finished last in the women’s 100m event. She clocked 14.01 to come last in the heat.
In boxing, Mehreen Baloch was defeated one-sidedly by her Sri Lankan opponent Sajeewani Coorey Muthuthanthri in women’s over 54kg-57kg (featherweight). She was knocked out by 5-0 to book her return ticket. It was yet another bad day for Pakistan swimming team as Haseeb Tariq was disqualified from another event.
After failing in men’s 50m butterfly and men’s 50m backstroke, Haseeb fell short to qualify for next round of men’s 50m freestyle. Haseeb clocked 24.65 and failed to advance to next round. In squash event, Faiza Zafar will face India’s Sunayna Sara Kuruvilla in the plate league semifinal.
