Commonwealth Games: Team Canada captures 14 more medals on Day 9
Heading into the final weekend of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, Team Canada athletes added 14 more medals to the count on Day 9.
Here are all the details, including how two more champions were crowned and another Games record crumbled.
Athletics
Alysha Newman led a four-medal day for the track and field squad with her gold medal in the women’s pole vault. Newman cleared 4.75m to break both the Canadian and Commonwealth Games records.
Newman made a gutsy call to go for 4.75m after missing her first two attempts at 4.70m, leaving her with just one shot at the higher height. Eliza McCartney of New Zealand grabbed with the silver with a best effort of 4.70m while Australian Nina Kennedy was third, clearing a top height of 4.60m.
Mohammed Ahmed earned his second silver of the Games, this time in the men’s 10,000m, as he finished in 27 minutes 20.56 seconds. Ahmed had been leading at the 8000m and 9000m marks before Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei of Uganda, who had also defeated Ahmed in the 5000m, came through for the gold in a Games record time of 27:19.62. Eight seconds back of Ahmed was Kenya’s Rodger Kwemoi who took the bronze.
Silver was also won by 19-year-old Nina Schultz in the women’s heptathlon. She earned a personal best 6133 points to finish 122 points behind England’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who earlier this year won gold in the pentathlon at the IAAF World Indoor Championships. Schultz showed consistency throughout the meet, finishing no lower than fifth in any of the seven events. Another Englishwoman, Niamh Emerson, earned 6043 points for the bronze medal.
Brittany Crew added a bronze in women’s shot put, delivering a clutch throw of 18.32m on her sixth and final attempt to get on the podium. It was her first throw to break the 18-metre mark during the meet. Danniel Thomas-Dodd threw a national record 19.36m to win gold for Jamaica while a first toss of 18.70m stood up for New Zealand’s Valerie Adams to take the silver.
Diving
Philippe Gagne won his second silver medal in as many days, this time teaming with Francois Imbeau-Dulac in the synchronized 3m springboard event. They scored 415.23 points to place just behind reigning Olympic champions Jack Laugher and Chris Mears of England, who totalled 436.17 points. Australian duo Domonic Bedggood and Matthew Carter claimed the bronze with 408.12 points.
Boxing
Thomas Blumenfeld won his men’s 64kg semifinal in a unanimous decision over Ghana’s Jessie Lartey, assuring him a shot at the gold medal on Saturday.
But four of his teammates had their Games come to an end in the semifinals, meaning they will all go home with bronze medals. That group includes Eric Basran in the men’s 56kg event and Harley-David O’Reilly in the men’s 81kg category, as well as Sabrina Aubin-Boucher in the women’s 57kg event and Tammara Thibeault in the women’s 75kg weight class.
Wrestling
Medals were won in three of the four wrestling events held on Day 9. Danielle Lappage advanced to the final where she was narrowly defeated by Blessing Oborududu of Nigeria for the gold medal. Her teammates Emily Schaefer and Jordan Steen won bronze medal bouts in the women’s 57kg and men’s 97kg events to ensure they’ll go home with some hardware.
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Sophie Crane won the gold medal in the individual apparatus final for the clubs. Just 15 years old, she earned 13.950 points to defeat Sie Yan Koi of Malaysia by a tenth of a point. Crane had by far the most technically difficult routine in the final, which allowed her to overcome some flaws in her execution. Diamanto Evripidou of Cyprus won the bronze with 13.550 points.
“I didn’t expect to get this,” said Crane. “This is my first competition as a senior so this is just incredible. It was a shock to be able to get here, let alone qualify for the individual finals and the apparatus finals, and then to get a medal is just amazing.”
Lawn Bowls
Ryan Bester just missed the top of the podium in the men’s singles event. He settled for silver after dropping the gold medal game to Australian Aaron Wilson by a score of 21-14.
Rugby Sevens
The Canadian women got off to the start they wanted, winning their first two pool matches. They got the day going with a 29-0 defeat of South Africa, followed by a 24-12 victory over Kenya. Pool play continues on Saturday with the medal matches on Sunday.
Medal Table after Day 9
Australia: 65 gold, 49 silver, 54 bronze = 168 total
England: 31 gold, 34 silver, 34 bronze = 99 total
Canada: 14 gold, 34 silver, 26 bronze = 74 total
