Commonwealth Games poster boy Josh Kerr delivers mile gold in Glasgow

GLASGOW – Fresh from setting a world record in the mile, Josh Kerr delivered Commonwealth Games gold for Scotland on home soil in the highlight of action on Aug 1, which saw 44 gold medals won.

Kerr was 12 seconds slower than the mark of 3min 42.66sec he set in London in June to break Hicham El Guerrouj’s record that had stood for 27 years.

But the Olympic silver medallist could afford to whip up the crowd in celebration as he crossed the finish line in Glasgow after pulling well clear of the field.

“This was the championships of my season,” said the 28-year-old, who finished a disappointing 12th in Birmingham four years ago in the 1,500m. “I didn’t put my performance together like I wanted to in 2022 and I think a British crowd deserves more from me, so I owed them that for sure.”

Australia’s Cameron Myers took silver and Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya the bronze as another Scot and former world champion Jake Wightman missed out on the podium.

Australia swept the podium in the women’s mile, with Abbey Caldwell winning ahead of Jessica Hull and Claudia Hollingsworth.

Kenya’s Mathew Kipsang produced a decisive kick away from the pack on the final lap to win the men’s 5,000m and denied Australia’s Ky Robinson double gold after his success in the 10,000m.

Robinson was second, with India’s Gulveer Singh taking bronze to add to his 10,000m silver.

Australia edged a thrilling men’s 4x100m to win gold from the outside lane. Lachlan Kennedy, Joshua Azzopardi, Calab Law and Rohan Browning crossed in 38.07sec to seemingly edge out Canada.

The Canadians were initially disqualified but had their silver reinstated on appeal. Nigeria took bronze.

In the heats on Aug 1, Singapore’s Tate Tan, Xander Ho, Marc Louis and Ian Gan had finished fifth out of seven in their heat in 40.07sec. They were 10th out of 14 overall and did not advance to the final.

In the afternoon session, Samuel Ogazi lived up to expectations to win gold for Nigeria in the men’s 400m.

Ogazi, who set the fourth-fastest time ever in the 400m earlier in 2026, was a class apart as he led home Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards and South Africa’s Zakithi Nene.

“I didn’t want to come out here and disappoint. I just had to go out there and do my thing,” said Ogazi, who was not holding back on his ambitions going forward.

“Maybe an Olympic gold, a world championship gold, become the greatest athlete ever. That’s what I’m working towards.”

Dejanea Oakley was just as dominant in the women’s 400m for one of five Jamaican golds on the track on Aug 1.

They stormed to victory in the women’s 4x100m in 42.65sec. Canada (42.76sec) were second, with Trinidad and Tobago (43.07sec) third.

Singapore, comprising Amanda Loo, Elizabeth Ann-Tan, Kerstin Ong and Shanti Pereira, had finished fifth out of six quartets in the second heat on July 31 in a season-best 45.52sec. They were ninth out of 12 overall and did not advance to the final.

There were two more Australia golds on Aug 1 as Matthew Denny won the discus and Kurtis Marschall the pole vault.

Marschall set a Games record of 5.85m, with South Africa’s Kyle Rademeyer (5.70m) winning the silver medal on countback ahead of England’s Owen Heard, who also ended his competition at 5.70m.

Singapore’s Low Jun Yu (4.90m) was joint-10th out of 13.

Jamaicans exact revenge

But there will be no Australian gold in netball after Jamaica produced a huge upset to defeat the holders 46-45 in front of the watching Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Catherine, and their children in the semi-finals.

Despite exacting revenge for defeat in the final four years ago, Jamaica again settled for silver after losing to New Zealand 56-48 in the final on Aug 2.

On Aug 2, Emma Finucane won the women’s keirin gold to become the first Welsh woman to bag four cycling gold medals at a single Commonwealth Games, having clinched the sprint, team sprint and 1,000m time-trial titles earlier.

In the keirin final, she finished ahead of New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews and Australia’s Kristina Clonan. AFP