Emmanuel Eseme, Zoe Hobbs shine in Glasgow rain to win 100m Commonwealth gold

GLASGOW – Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme defied the torrential rain in Glasgow to win the men’s 100m in a Commonwealth Games record time on July 28, as New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs surged to a surprise victory in the women’s century sprint.

Persistent downpours throughout the evening session at the Scotstoun track made for hazardous conditions, with the conclusion to the women’s high jump even delayed until after the action on the track was done for the night.

Eseme made light of the weather to storm through the field and win in 9.83 seconds, surpassing the Games record set by Trinidadian great Ato Boldon in Kuala Lumpur 28 years ago.

“That was a crazy race! I’m surprised at the time,” said the 32-year-old, who took up track and field only eight years ago.

“The weather I didn’t want to be a setback, you know, because we’re all competing in the same environment, so I can’t have a complaint.”

Australia’s Lachlan Kennedy (9.85sec) and Nigeria’s Kayinsola Ajayi (9.90sec) were second and third, respectively.

Hobbs took the pre-race favourites by surprise in the women’s 100m as she surged clear out of the blocks to win in 10.93sec, beating England’s Amy Hunt (10.98sec) and Australia’s Torrie Lewis (10.99sec) as all three women ran under 11 seconds.

“I mean it’s a dream scenario to walk away with a PB (personal best) and a gold medal. It was just surreal,” said Hobbs.

“You can see it in my eyes. I’ve probably got mascara all over my face but I just need time to process what’s happened.”

Hunt had won the third semi-final in 11.02sec, ahead of Hobbs (11.04sec) and six others, including Singapore’s Shanti Pereira, who was fifth at 11.40sec and 14th overall.

In a post-race interview, Pereira said she is used to the rain, but not the cold. The 29-year-old added: “I’ve never experienced something like this before. Honestly, I was just focused on putting on as good of a race as I can execute, given the conditions. (The rain) was so heavy. I really had to stay focused on what I wanted to do.”

On July 29, Pereira qualified for the 200m semi-finals after clocking a season’s best 23.00sec to finish second in her heat and third overall, behind Jamaica’s Lavanya Williams (22.91sec) and Alana Reid (22.95sec).

She said: “Considering how little the turnaround time was from yesterday to today, I’m really pleased.”

Singapore’s representatives in the men’s 200m – Marc Louis, Reuben Lee and Harry Curran – did not progress to the semi-finals.

Louis placed 24th overall in the heats with a season’s best of 20.97sec, while Lee (21.43sec) and Curran (22.19sec) were 34th and 52nd, respectively.

In the pool on July 28, Australia’s Lani Pallister added the 800m freestyle gold to her 400m and 1,500m titles by blowing away the field in a Games record of 8min 11.12sec.

“It’s been incredible. I think we’ve really shown our depth and dominance this week in Australian swimming,” said Pallister, who finished ahead of New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather (8:24.97) and fellow Australian Molly Walker (8:25.93). Singapore’s Gan Ching Hwee (8:33.65) was sixth.

Her compatriots Teong Tzen Wei (23.64sec) and Mikkel Lee (23.77sec) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the first semi-final of the men’s 50m butterfly and did not qualify for the final.

They were 10th and 12th in the 16-swimmer field topped by Australia’s Kyle Chalmers and Ben Armbruster (both 22.82sec).

There were another three Australian golds on the night to take their tally for the meet to 28, matching their number of gold medals from Birmingham four years ago with one day to spare.

Jenna Forrester won her third gold of the Games in the 200m individual medley, while Flynn Southam was victorious in the men’s 100m freestyle.

Australia also set a Games record in the 4x100m men’s medley relay.

But the performance of the night arguably came from Filip Nowacki, who secured Jersey’s first ever swimming Commonwealth gold medal in the 200m breaststroke.

“Coming from an island like Jersey and competing against athletes from Australia, Canada, England and the other home nations is very special,” said Nowacki, who also finished ahead of Adam Ramsay-Peaty to secure silver in the 100m breaststroke.

Canada’s Felix Dolci secured two more gold medals and a bronze in the final day of the gymnastics to take his tally for the Games to six, including four golds.

The 24-year-old added to his golds in the team and rings finals with more joy in the vault and horizontal bar.

“Definitely a couple of beers, some great food and maybe a little dessert, why not?” Dolci said of his plans for a celebration in Glasgow. AFP