Kenyan Olympic champion Nancy Langat breezed to the women’s 1,500m gold medal at the Commonwealth Games yesterday in a new Games record time of 4:05.26.
With English defending champion Lisa Dobriskey opting out of Delhi with an injury, Langat was always going to be the favorite and she did not disappoint, beating the previous record set by fellow Kenyan Jackline Maranga in 1998.
New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin won the silver in 4:05.97 and Scotland’s Stephanie Twell took the bronze in 4:06.15.
PHOTO: REUTERS
England swept the medals in the 110m hurdles, with Andy Turner leading the way for gold.
Turner was near the front of the pack from the start and pulled away over the final hurdles to win in 13.38 seconds.
William Sharman was second in 13.50 and Lawrence Clarke took bronze in 13.70.
Sharman was sick and raced despite spending the afternoon in the hospital.
In the women’s 400m, Amantle Montsho of Botswana won gold in a Commonwealth Games record time of 50.10 seconds.
Meanwhile, comeback king Geoff Huegill and Leisel Jones led Australia to more success in the pool.
Huegill, completing his return from a four-year retirement, won the 100m butterfly.
Jones won the 100m breaststroke to become the first swimmer in Commonwealth Games history to win two events at three Games in a row. She won both the 100m and 200m breaststroke at Manchester in 2002, Melbourne in 2006 and the 200m breaststroke earlier in New Delhi.
Liam Tancock, Rebecca Adlington and James Goddard gave England three golds on the night to partially break the Aussie dominance.
Tancock won the 100m backstroke in 53.59, Adlington led from start to finish in the 400m free and Goddard finished first in the men’s 200m medley.
Cameron van der Burgh of South Africa completed the men’s 50m-100m breaststroke double with a win in the 50.
Australian Meagen Nay overtook England’s Elizabeth Simmons, who had led nearly all of the race, in the final meter to win gold in the 200m backstroke and Yolane Kukla of Australia won the women’s 50m freestyle.
See Adlington on page 19
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