O’Connor wins Commonwealth heptathlon as Australia set new record for swimming golds

GLASGOW – Kate O’Connor cruised to heptathlon gold for Northern Ireland as Australia rounded off their best ever Commonwealth Games in the pool with nine more swimming gold medals on July 29 for a total of 37.

O’Connor said she was “gutted” by her shot put effort on July 28 in miserable wet conditions that put her quest for gold in danger.

But the 25-year-old was a class apart from the field to go one better than the silver she won in Birmingham four years ago and secure Northern Ireland’s first athletics Commonwealth gold since 1986.

England’s Jade O’Dowda claimed silver, while Australia’s Tori West won bronze.

Fresh from setting a world record in the mile earlier in July, Josh Kerr’s bid for gold in his homeland promises to be one of the events of the Games on the night of Aug 1.

The two-time Olympic medallist at 1,500m cruised into the final, winning his heat on the morning of July 29 despite easing off in the final stages to whip up the crowd.

“I want as much pressure on me as possible. I’m here to show up and get a gold medal for Scotland and, hopefully, we can put more people on the podium than just me,” said Kerr.

“I grew up dreaming of these championships and there’s a nostalgia of my parents driving me down here at 12 years old and me getting well beaten and then driving home eating a sandwich.”

Canada’s Sarah Mitton retained her shot put title, while Tajay Gayle of Jamaica won the men’s long jump gold.

Faith Cherotich completed a Kenyan double in the 3,000m steeplechase.

Australia’s gold rush

On the final night of swimming action, Australia rounded off an unprecedented level of domination over the course of the meet, winning 37 of the 57 events.

“It’s been awesome. Every year, it feels like the Australian team reaches another level,” said 50m freestyle champion Cameron McEvoy after he added a bronze in the 50m butterfly.

“I don’t see us slowing down anytime soon, so it’s really special to be part of it, and I’m just happy to keep riding the wave.”

Sam Short completed a treble of the long-distance events in the pool by storming to victory in the 1,500m to add to his 400m and 800m golds.

Both Kyle Chalmers and Ben Armbruster walked away with gold in the men’s 50m butterfly with a tied time of 22.73 seconds, ahead of McEvoy (22.92) as Australia swept the podium.

Kai Taylor won the 200m freestyle, Brittany Castelluzzo the women’s 200m butterfly and Meg Harris led home another Australian one-two-three in the women’s 50m freestyle.

An incredibly dominant meet for the green and gold was capped off by a clean sweep of the relays in the men’s and women’s 4x100m medley.

South Africa’s Pieter Coetze was one of the few non-Australian swimming stars of the Games and completed his dominance of the backstroke with 100m gold in Commonwealth and African records, that was just 0.17sec behind the world mark of 51.60. He had already eased to victory in the 50m and 200m backstroke finals in Games record times.

“It was something that I was focused on and believed I could do, so to pull it off is a great feeling,” said the 22-year-old.

“I know what my body is capable of, so I just relax and let it happen. So far, it hasn’t let me down,” he added.

Coetze was also part of the South Africa team who won bronze in the medley relay, with Chad le Clos making Commonwealth history in the process. The 34-year-old’s 21st medal made him the most decorated athlete in the Games’ history.

Angharad Evans got the biggest cheer of the night after delivering a second gold for Scotland in the 200m breaststroke.

In 3x3 basketball, England edged out Australia 19-17 to claim the men’s gold, with Scotland beating New Zealand to take bronze. Singapore ended sixth of 12 teams.

Australia claimed the women’s gold medal comfortably, thrashing Uganda 21-11. Singapore were ninth among 12 teams.

In the overall medal table, Australia are storming clear with more than 100 medals, 47 of them gold as at press time. AFP