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| Eilidh Child wins emotional silver medal at the Commonwealth Games | Eilidh Child wins emotional silver medal at the Commonwealth Games |
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| The Proclaimers’ catchiest hit has been sung plenty at this Commonwealth Games but never as lustily as when Eilidh Child took silver in the 400m hurdles last night. A standing ovation clapped and stamped her around for her victory lap after the poster girl for this Games added a second Commonwealth medal to the one she took in Delhi four years ago. At the end, she ran over to her sister and her father, who indicated the tears that were already tracking their way down his own face. | |
| “I’m relieved,” she admitted after the race. “I had every emotion going on and I was just trying not to get carried away with the emotion. It’s been a nervous couple of days. I’m just so delighted. I’ve got a great team around me who have kept me grounded all the way. I’m going to enjoy the rest of tonight.” | “I’m relieved,” she admitted after the race. “I had every emotion going on and I was just trying not to get carried away with the emotion. It’s been a nervous couple of days. I’m just so delighted. I’ve got a great team around me who have kept me grounded all the way. I’m going to enjoy the rest of tonight.” |
| After a rain-soaked evening, the signs were good – the sun had come out just as Child appeared on the track. She held strong for the first 200m, holding off the threat from Jamaica’s Janieve Russell in third. There was nearly a second between her and the Jamaican winner Kaliese Spencer, who won in a time of 54.10. | After a rain-soaked evening, the signs were good – the sun had come out just as Child appeared on the track. She held strong for the first 200m, holding off the threat from Jamaica’s Janieve Russell in third. There was nearly a second between her and the Jamaican winner Kaliese Spencer, who won in a time of 54.10. |
| “I really had to be on my A game to beat Kaliese and she ran faster than my PB tonight but I am just so happy with how I ran.” And while it was not the gold they had longed for – Scotland’s 20 year wait will go on – the Hampden roar attested to a thoroughly satisfactory night for the home nations at the track. | “I really had to be on my A game to beat Kaliese and she ran faster than my PB tonight but I am just so happy with how I ran.” And while it was not the gold they had longed for – Scotland’s 20 year wait will go on – the Hampden roar attested to a thoroughly satisfactory night for the home nations at the track. |
| For England’s sprinters – and a Scottish crowd who have proven themselves more than generously inclined towards their near neighbours – there was a perfect start to the evening. All three of their athletes qualified for the 200m final, with Jodie Williams, the 20-year-old who cruelly missed her place at the London Olympics through injury, second to the strong favourite Blessing Okagbare. | For England’s sprinters – and a Scottish crowd who have proven themselves more than generously inclined towards their near neighbours – there was a perfect start to the evening. All three of their athletes qualified for the 200m final, with Jodie Williams, the 20-year-old who cruelly missed her place at the London Olympics through injury, second to the strong favourite Blessing Okagbare. |
| The Nigerian took the 100m title here on Monday by a street but Williams stuck with her in the first semi-final to run 22.64, only four-hundreths outside her personal best, with Anyika Onuora and Bianca Williams qualifying in fifth and seventh respectively. But while Okagbare’s win was almost a formality, the final had more surprises in store with a two-three-four finish for the England women, all three of them recording personal bests. | The Nigerian took the 100m title here on Monday by a street but Williams stuck with her in the first semi-final to run 22.64, only four-hundreths outside her personal best, with Anyika Onuora and Bianca Williams qualifying in fifth and seventh respectively. But while Okagbare’s win was almost a formality, the final had more surprises in store with a two-three-four finish for the England women, all three of them recording personal bests. |
| More excitement was unfolding in the long jump, where things had started badly for England as Shara Proctor managed only two steps of a run-up before leaving the arena in tears. With Okagbare busy competing in the 200m, and Katarina Johnson-Thompson absent from the event, gold might have been ripe for the taking for Proctor, who took the overall Diamond League title last year and finished sixth in the World Championships. But she pulled up at her first attempt, holding her left thigh in pain, and left the field with her hoodie pulled sorrowfully around her face. | |
| Instead, Jazmin Sawyers, only 20 years old, produced a 6.30m and a 6.40m to see her into bronze medal position, before unleashing a season best 6.54m with her final jump to steal the silver from Canada’s Christabel Nettey. Ese Brume of Nigeria took the gold, and Sawyers’ team-mate Lorraine Ugen finished fifth. | |
| In the T54, England wheelchair racer Jade Jones scored a Commonwealth bronze as her first senior medal, in her favourite event, the 1500m. It was an impressive achievement for the 18 year old – “I am always the youngest on the start line, so it’s always nervous going up against the older girls,” she said – in a race rendered particularly difficult by the Glasgow rain. The treacherous conditions made for a slow, cagy race, but the experience of Australia’s Angela Ballard and Canadian Diane Roy paid in the final lap, Jones staying with them as they pulled away from the pack. | In the T54, England wheelchair racer Jade Jones scored a Commonwealth bronze as her first senior medal, in her favourite event, the 1500m. It was an impressive achievement for the 18 year old – “I am always the youngest on the start line, so it’s always nervous going up against the older girls,” she said – in a race rendered particularly difficult by the Glasgow rain. The treacherous conditions made for a slow, cagy race, but the experience of Australia’s Angela Ballard and Canadian Diane Roy paid in the final lap, Jones staying with them as they pulled away from the pack. |
| “It’s a bit slippy, but I knew I had to keep my cool,” said Jones, who had never imagined finishing with a medal. “It was an unexpected outcome, definitely. My aim coming into this was top five, never a medal.” | “It’s a bit slippy, but I knew I had to keep my cool,” said Jones, who had never imagined finishing with a medal. “It was an unexpected outcome, definitely. My aim coming into this was top five, never a medal.” |
| Meanwhile England’s Jessica Judd won her 800m semi-final, her hair streaming loose behind her as she led from the front. | |
| Jenny Meadows and Scotland’s Lynsey Sharp also qualified for Friday’s final as fastest losers, and will be pleased to have pushed each other, Sharp beating Meadows on the line in a photo-finish to secure their places. | Jenny Meadows and Scotland’s Lynsey Sharp also qualified for Friday’s final as fastest losers, and will be pleased to have pushed each other, Sharp beating Meadows on the line in a photo-finish to secure their places. |