Commonwealth Games Recap – Day 8: England close the gap

Day 8 of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games saw a selection of diving, wrestling and athletics events. India maintained its wrestling dominance, the oldest-ever Commonwealth gold was awarded, and the gap at the top of the medal table got much tighter – here’s a recap of the day’s medals.

After three rounds in the individual all-around rhythmic gymnastics, England’s Marfa Ekimova had the slimmest of leads over Australia’s Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva. It looked tight heading to the ribbon, the final round of the event, and it was close to the end, but Ekimova took the gold with an overall score of 27.800. She is the first gymnast from England to win gold in this event.

It was a second diving gold in less than 24 hours for Jack Laugher, winning in the 3m synchro event with his partner Anthony Harding. The duo dominated, with even their lower-difficulty dives being some margin above everyone else’s, and 3.9 difficulty on their final dive ensured they would leave with gold. In the women’s 1m springboard, Canada’s Mia Vallee had opened up a decent lead after three dives (of five), and it proved unassailable – she won the gold, and England’s Amy Rollinson climbed onto the podium in bronze position after two incredible final dives. England went out with another medal – a gold, courtesy of Matty Lee and Noah Williams in a very close synchronised 10m platform final.

England secured itself at least a silver medal in the women’s triples lawn bowls, reaching the final with a 23-11 victory over the Cook Islands. Whoever won the mixed para pairs B2/B3 event, a record would be broken for the oldest Commonwealth gold medallist, with both teams boasting a 75-year-old player. It was initially a close-fought match, but Scotland started to pull away from Wales and eventually clinched a 16-9 victory. In the bronze-medal match, England claimed a 14-11 win over Australia. The women’s triples gold-medal match came down to England against Malaysia – it started off close, but England streaked forward and won the gold 17-9.

England’s Naomi Metzger beat her personal best twice to win the bronze medal, and the crowd was behind her all the way

There were six golds up for grabs in the wrestling today, and the first came with Nigeria’s Odunayo Adekuoroye winning her third Commonwealth gold in the 57kg event. India claimed the gold in the women’s 62kg event after Sakshi Malik’s victory, overcoming Canada’s Ana Godinez Gonzalez in the process, and the men’s 65kg, with Bajrang Punia triumphing over Canada’s Lachlan McNeil. Then Nigeria won again – Blessing Oborududu took gold in the 68kg category. The men’s 86kg went to India’s Deepak Punia, the nation’s third wrestling goal of the night, and Canada took wrestling gold number six after Amar Dhesi defeated Pakistan’s Zaman Anwar in the 125kg event.

In the men’s T53/54 1,500m, Nathan Maguire of England pipped compatriot Danny Sidbury to the gold with a late sprint. Tom Walsh of New Zealand went into the shot-put final the favourite, and he proved he was, although he was pushed all the way to the gold by fellow Kiwi Jacko Gill. England’s Scott Lincoln also made the podium, claiming bronze with a throw of 20.57m. The men’s decathlon was a close affair, with no sense of who would win gold even as we entered the final few events, but ultimately, defending champion Lindon Victor of Uganda claimed another gold after a heroic effort on the 1,500m. Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai and Kenya’s Jackline Chepkoech established an early lead in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase – the pack closed in on the final lap, Chepkoech took the gold, and England’s Elizabeth Bird overtook to win silver. Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts was the favourite for the women’s triple jump, and she immediately set a new Games record of 14.94m that would secure the gold. England’s Naomi Metzger beat her personal best twice to win the bronze medal, and the crowd was behind her all the way.

Medal table

1. Australia – Gold (50), Silver (44), Bronze (46), Total (140)
2. England – Gold (47), Silver (46), Bronze (37), Total (130)
3. Canada – Gold (19), Silver (24), Bronze (24), Total (67)
4. New Zealand – Gold (17), Silver (11), Bronze (13), Total (41)
5. India – Gold (9), Silver (8), Bronze (9), Total (26)