The Commonwealth Games were ending yesterday much the way they started -- tarnished by an unsavory event and a drug controversy that just won't go away.
While 19-year-old Canadian gymnast Alexandra Orlando won her record-equaling sixth gold and Australia, with wins in both road cycling events and men's field hockey, increased its massive lead in the overall medal count, a Bangladeshi athlete was charged with indecent assaulting a woman at the games village.
And two Indian athletes who tested positive for a banned steroid before the games began on March 15 once again had their case postponed -- Indian authorities want time to gather information to counter claims against the pair.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The best news for organizers Sunday came from Orlando, who swept gold in all four apparatus events to go with earlier wins in the all-around and team competitions.
"It was a goal of mine, and I was expecting to do it if I performed well," said Orlando. "I'm always nervous until all the scores are out."
She barely missed qualifying for the Olympics after a poor stretch of results just before the 2004 Games.
PHOTO: AFP
"Missing Athens by that little was hard," she said. "But I love the sport too much to quit after one disappointment."
As athletes finished the 12-day games and prepared for Sunday night's closing ceremony at the 85,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Ground, police announced that a 40-year-old Bangladeshi athlete had been charged with assaulting a 20-year-old woman working in a nonresidential section of the games village.
Police confiscated the passport of the man, who was charged with indecent assault and common assault and released on bail to appear in court on Monday.
PHOTO: AFP
On March 14, a day before the opening ceremony, an Indian team masseur was charged with indecent assault on a teenage games worker. Dewan Ashgar-e-Nabi did not enter a plea when he appeared in Melbourne Magistrate's Court on March 16, and he'll appear again on April 5.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Sunday that Indian weightlifters Edwin Raju and Tajinder Singh would likely have a decision made on their case by Tuesday or Wednesday. Raju and Singh tested positive to the banned steroid Stanozolol on March 11, and their cases were referred to a CAS panel hearing.
"The Indian authorities requested more time to gather more information on the case," said CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb, who said another 48 hours had been granted.
In another sour note, games officials on Sunday withdrew accreditation for 14 Sierra Leone athletes who have gone missing from the village. If they don't report in by midnight, they will become illegal aliens in Australia because their vises are tied to their games credentials, the Immigration Department said.
Australia swept the road races in cycling around the city's Botanical Gardens, with Mathew Hayman winning the men's 166km race and Natalie Bates the women's over 100km.
Bates upstaged her higher-profile teammates to lead No. 1-ranked Oenone Wood in an Australian 1-2 finish. Wood won gold in the time trial last week. Bates, part of a leading pack from the start, made a breakaway with two laps to go.
It was an emotional race for the Australian women's team. The squad was training in Germany last July when members were involved in an accident that killed Amy Gillett and seriously injured five other riders.
Defending champion Nicole Cooke of Wales took the bronze.
Olympic champion Australia won the men's field hockey final 3-0 over Pakistan, scoring two late goals to clinch the gold, while Malaysia beat England 2-0 for bronze. World-champion New Zealand upstaged Australia 60-55 to win the netball gold.
Top-seeded Lee Chong Wei won the badminton singles gold medal by outclassing fellow Malaysian Wong Choong Hann 21-13, 21-12. England's Tracy Hallem won the women's singles title, while in table tennis, Singapore's Zhang Xue Ling beat countrywoman Li Jia for gold.
Australia finished with 84 gold medals -- nearly 50 better than second-place England's 36. The host country won 221 medals overall, nearly a third of the 746 awarded.
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