Commonwealth Games | Birmingham Update | Day 2

Media courtesy of the AUS Commonwealth games.

Another sensational day of action in Birmingham, with Australia winning five gold medals with victories in the pool and the marathons. Our Aussie athletes captured a further 11 medals on Day 2 to solidify top spot on the medal tally.

Australian wheelchair racing star Madison de Rozario added the Birmingham Commonwealth T53/54 marathon title to her glittering collection. De Rozario had a commanding victory in the opening event of the 2022 Games athletics competition conquering the gruelling 42.2km course in Commonwealth record time of 1:56. Newcastle’s Christie Dawes finished in fourth place with a season best performance of 2:07.02.

Jess Stenson dominated the women’s marathon, crossing the line in a blistering time of 2:27:31 to claim gold with son, Billy cheering her on from the sidelines. Fellow ‘marathon mums’ Eloise Wellings and Sinead Diver dug deep, coming home in fourth and fifth place respectively.

After setting the pace early and leading the pack for 25 kilometres, Melbourne’s Liam Adams finished just shy of a podium position with a season best time of 2:13:23. Hot on his heels was Bendigo’s Andy Buchanan who entered Victoria Square in seventh place in a time of 2:15:40.

It was another gold rush for the Aussies at the Sandwell Aquatic Centre, with a haul of three gold medals. Katja Dedekind set the first world record in the pool when she powered home to win the women’s 50m freestyle S13 final, while teammate Kirralee Hayes claimed bronze.

Emma McKeon won her tenth Commonwealth Games gold medal and equalled the all-time record Commonwealth Games record shared with swimming superstars Ian Thorpe, Susie O’Neill and Leisel Jones, when she anchored the women’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay.

The men’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay also saw the Aussies finish on top of the winner’s podium, while McKeon (100m butterfly) and Brendon Smith (400m individual medley) captured silver medal and Bradley Woodward (100m backstroke), Elijah Winnington (200m freestyle), Jacob Templeton (100m freestyleS13), Brianna Throssell (100m butterfly), Kiralee Hayes (50m freestyle S13) and Chelsea Hodges (50m breaststroke) all with bronze.

The women’s rugby 7s team is through to a gold medal showdown with Fiji tonight following a thrilling win over New Zealand (17-12) in the semi-final. The women went down earlier in the day to Fiji (10-19). The men’s rugby 7s team has advanced to the semi-finals, after defeating Samoa (7-0). They take on South Africa tonight.

It was a night of high drama in track cycling. Matthew Glaetzer went down in a nasty crash in the men’s 4000m individual pursuit quarter-final. Australia’s Maeve Plouffe won silver in the women’s 3000m individual pursuit with Conor Leahy winning his second bronze medal in as many days, this time in the 4000m individual pursuit.

Six-time Games representative Jian Fang Lay led the charge in the women’s table tennis team to power Australia to another convincing win and storm into the quarter-finals. She combined with Minhyung Jee to win both matches, finishing the day with a come-from-behind victory over Canada.

Our Hockeyroos took to the field for their first match and scored a stunning victory over Kenya (8-0).

On the squash court, Jess Turnbull made her Commonwealth Games debut with a win, while the Diamonds posted their second commanding victory in as many days, with a thumping 53 goal win over Scotland (83-30).

The women’s artistic gymnastics team of Romi Brown, Georgia Godwin, Kate McDonald, Breanna Scott, Emily Whitehead claimed the silver medal in the team final.

In badminton, Australia’s mixed team gave top seed India an almighty scare serving it up to the defending champion, but in the end, India was too strong.

Daniel Johnson’s perfect shooting led the men’s 3×3 basketball team to a win over Trinidad & Tobago (21-7), while the men’s beach volleyball team of Chris McHugh and Paul Burnett claimed victory in their first match.

Aussie featherweight boxer Charlie Senior won his first bout on points, defeating Nauru’s Christon Amram in the round of 32.

Lawn bowler Ellen Ryan revived her Commonwealth Games singles campaign with a sensational comeback 21-17 to win over Canada’s Jordan Kos, while Australia’s para-women’s pairs remain unbeaten in their pool games with wins over South Africa (18-7) and New Zealand (19-8). Australia’s para-men’s pairs team rallied for a 21-15 win over Scotland while the men’s triples team of beat Jersey 15-14 to complete a 3-0 sweep of their group.

The action continues tonight for Day 3 live on 7Plus from 5.30pm AEST.