The 2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow

First topic message reminder :

The sport started about half an hour ago.

I don't have a clue about Lawn Bowls, but England are 10-0 up....surely a good thing?

Twenty Gold medals are to be won today.

2014 Commonwealth Games Medal Tally

alfie wrote:Yes well done the English triathlon team...can't do much better than that   

Better be careful though : when England dominate a sport it often seems to disappear from future CWG .  England and Scotland clean swept Judo in 1990 and it has taken 24 years to come back !
I wonder if the Gold Coast mob are thinking of replacing triathlon with sheep shearing for 2018   

I think you're confusing the GC with the Darling Downs, alfie.

Wouldn't be surprised if they tried to include Iron Man/Woman events in 2018.

Iron Man might be a bit of a stretch for a CWG though ? TV stations might find that a little too lengthy...not sure what they're doing in Sydney but down here it has been more talking heads than action in peak times.
By the way the inspiration for your new moniker was indeed an excellent short story ! Long time since I read that...

alfie wrote:Iron Man might be a bit of a stretch for a CWG though ?  TV stations might find that a little too lengthy...not sure what they're doing in Sydney but down here it has been more talking heads than action in peak times.
By the way the inspiration for your new moniker was indeed an excellent short story !  Long time since I read that...

It's so annoying when you switch on only to see some 15 minute segment on a particular athlete (e.g. "The Missile") when you know there are probably dozens of live events being ignored. Then to make things worse, they'll cut away from an event; switch to another... then return to the original one when the action has already taken place (the studio hosts pretending it to be live when we know it's not).

Also, I can't handle it when they say a big event is "coming up" at 8pm and you know they are talking about the Final of the event which is on at about 3am here!

Here we go... "we'll just leave the Hockey there...." (although the Kookas are hammering Wales)

Oh, no. They've decided to stay. They must have read my post!  

Chad le Clos wins our first gold in the pool. Yeah!

I like Chad, genuinely nice bloke. Remember watching him destroy the field in the 200 IM at the Youth Olympics 4 years ago, he looked a real talent then too.

Great to see Hansall back on form too, great swim to pip Cate Campbell in the 50 free.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:I like Chad, genuinely nice bloke. Remember watching him destroy the field in the 200 IM at the Youth Olympics 4 years ago, he looked a real talent then too.

Great to see Hansall back on form too, great swim to pip Cate Campbell in the 50 free.

Something of a relief to see Halsall take that : the Australian commentators get a little one eyed at times - despite Halsall being fastest in heats and semi , they were talking up an Aussie clean sweep before the race   
Fran followed up with a games record in the 50 fly semi too...

Excellent swim from Chad le Clos , indeed. Gets Kingraf's team on the board   

great swim by Peaty . Sub-59 is a seriously quick time, and Van Der Burgh a great scalp. Should only get better and better from here.

So Australia is now leading 18-17 lads.

Went to sleep with ABC radio on and heard some screaming at regular intervals. Thought I was dreaming but then realised that we must be winning something.

You're right alfie - those commentators do get a little carried away.

I heard one bloke mistakenly screaming "Gold medal" in a cycling event before correcting himself saying it was "only for the Bronze medal of course..."

Not the first time that has happened.  

Looking at the Commonwealth Games and sports like squash and bowls getting an opportunity in a multi-sport games, I was wondering what other sports could be at the Commonwealth Games (and maybe at a future Olympics)?

Two that instantly sprung to mind for me were Twenty20 cricket which I think was in the Commonwealth Games four years ago in India and futsal. I also wondered if they could have had some winter sports such as figure skating, speed skating and possibly even curling especially in Scotland.

Yeah by all accounts, Chad is a fantastic guy. But that's true of most of our athletes. The fact that we don't really have sport-specific schools, or proper national academies does mean we don't seem to have douchebag athlete conveyor belt working quite right. Anyway, always nice to see our pool athletes doing well. We have a very small talent pool (pardon the pun), and even less financing for it, but we keep churning out medals in it, which is a testament to the guys and girls in administration

sportform wrote:Looking at the Commonwealth Games and sports like squash and bowls getting an opportunity in a multi-sport games, I was wondering what other sports could be at the Commonwealth Games (and maybe at a future Olympics)?

Two that instantly sprung to mind for me were Twenty20 cricket which I think was in the Commonwealth Games four years ago in India and futsal. I also wondered if they could have had some winter sports such as figure skating, speed skating and possibly even curling especially in Scotland.

I think the idea of the host nation offering optional sports is a good one. Other nations then have a least 4 years to prepare. Would have been good to have seen curling or that log throwing sport for instance. I think the host nation is allowed to nominate 4 optional/recognised sports.

Since most of the Commonwealth Nations are located in tropical/subtropical zones (save for Canada, Falkland Is, etc) I guess most countries would struggle to field competitive athletes for figure skating, speed skating, curling, etc... but it would be a hoot to see them try like Jamaica did in the Olympic bobsled competition.

I'd say T20 cricket and futsal would go down well.

As alfie and I said above, maybe we could introduce the 4 of following at the Gold Coast 2018 Games:

- Sheep Shearing
- Boomerang/Woomera/Waddy (Nulla Nulla) Throwing
- Iron Man/Woman
(particularly the "stick" grabbing event. Athletes compete for one less stick in the sand each time until there are only 2 people left and only 1 stick)
- Mustering, Wood Gathering & Fire Lighting, Billy Boiling and Overcooking Meat (bit of a handful I know but it could be run over 5 days)
- Getting Dumped in a Isolated Location and Finding One's Way back to the Village.
- Fly/Insect Swatting (although I've hardly seen any near the coast for a while apart from some angry European wasps)
- Venomous Wildlife Milking
- Getting "the Ball out of your Own End" or "Out of your Back Pocket"
- Door Slamming, Muttering Nonsense... then stepping into a hotted up Car... and Speeding Off.
- Verbal (and Subliminal) Sledging
- Gloating & Over-Exuberant Sensationalism - which could be done on the dais during the playing of the winning anthem.

 

Go Michael Shelley!

Gold in the Men's Marathon beating all the Kenyans, Ethiopians and Ugandans.

A simply marvellous moment for Australian sport.   

The Loaded Dog wrote:Go Michael Shelley!

Gold in the Men's Marathon beating all the Kenyans, Ethiopians and Ugandans.

A simply marvellous moment for Australian sport.   

Actually not many Ethiopians in the Commonwealth Games , ld   

But well done M Shelley anyway.  One better than last time .   Time nothing amazing but a win is a win ...bet he'd rather have a Gold Medal than a 2.09...

Oh dear, Wales have had a rather spectacular choke against Australia in the Sevens.

0-14 up, to a 21-19 defeat at the death.

Duty281 wrote:Oh dear, Wales have had a rather spectacular choke against Australia in the Sevens.

0-14 up, to a 21-19 defeat at the death.

Unbelievable comeback. Don't think they'll go any further than the next match v NZ though. Legs must be spent.

OK. Tanzanians then, alfie.  

A win is a win. Not the easiest of conditions in Glasgow. Rob de Castella sounded over the moon, didn't he?

Rob enjoyed that ....think he enjoyed the women doing so well too , three in the top ten.
Lots of PBs. Australian marathon running hasn't been too flash lately , so today will please a lot of people.
Has to be said CWG marathon fields aren't the strongest these days; too much money in the big city races , so the top Africans tend to only show up for the Olympics and Worlds. But Michael Shelley won't care - you can only beat the ones who turn up.

England back on top of the medals table, for now at least, after some good performances in the shooting.

Duty281 wrote:England back on top of the medals table, for now at least, after some good performances in the shooting.

Doubt that will last , Duty. Still a few hundred swimming events to come so I imagine the Aussies will finish with the most anyway.
Just have to claim all those Scots and Welsh medals as well    to keep the Loaded Dog quiet...

There always seems to be a ridiculous plethora of swimming medals available at both the Olympic and Commonwealth games.

Fear not, we'll have some Squash medals tomorrow!

I really do sometimes wonder about how Australia seems to compete above their population in every thing, film, economics, Random internet muscleheads, sports... is every kid in Australia freaking prodigy?

Australia and England tied on twenty golds, but the latter are edging it currently on the basis of having more silver.

Kingraf, the Green and White Army are coming after you for Lawn Bowls Gold tomorrow.

So we are.

should be a good night in the pool tonight, three genuine gold medal chances for England in Fran (50 fly), Chris (50 back) and Siobhan (200 IM), plus a few more medal hopes. Australia should get at least two golds you'd think (men's 200 free relay, and they may well cleanswep the men's 100 free). They also have a good chance in the women's 200 back.

and Hocking does deliver Australia's first gold of the evening, superb second hundred from the Australian. Lizzie Simmonds just faded down the last 25 meters or so when it looked like she was pushing through for a medal, and she finishes fourth.

and Australia also deliver the 1-2-3 in the freestyle. No real surprises there, they had the fastest 3 on paper, and they duly take the three podium spots. Magnussen it is who takes it from McEvoy, not actually a particularly quick time, but the win's all that counts. Good swim

great swim from McKeon in the first semi there, she's having a great meet. Superb second 50. Halsall actually slower than in this morning's heats, but I suspect she wasn't flat out there, keeping a bit back for the butterfly final later tonight.

Not sure she's got enough to go quicker than McKeon though, she may be scrapping it out for bronze with Campbell.

Gauntlet thrown down by Van Der Burgh in the first semi of the 50 breaststroke, coming pretty close to his own WR. Can Peaty respond in the second semi? He looked great this morning. Hmm he makes a bit of a mess of his start, but comes back strongly to take it, just edging out Sprenger. It's slower than Van Der Burgh though, and he can't afford such a poor first 20 meters tomorrow.

just looking at that again, Peaty didn't get his finish quite right either, drifting in a bit. Better than Sprenger though, who had a shocking finish, almost headbutting the wall! So there's definitely a potential improvement there for Peaty, and while Van Der Burgh looked supreme in his semi, he did tighten a bit in the 100 when Peaty got alongside him, should be a cracking final in any case.

Come on Siobhan! YES!! Delivers in style with a fantastic swim, leading the 200 IM from start to finish, smashes the British record (and the CG record), just a superb swim .

wow! Adam Barrett! where did that come from? A strong first 50 but then a brilliant turn and he simply blows away the field in the first semi of the 100 fly, finishing in a 52:00. Impressive . Also, have the English (and Brits in general) finally realised the importance of underwater work?

Chris Walker-Heborn never really got going there, and fades to finish fourth. Tamcock snatches another bronze though.

And Fran delivers with gold in the 50 fly .

well given the names on paper Australia should have cruised that relay, but Scotland's quartet all swam superbly and for a moment looked like claiming a shock win. In the end though, Australia's last swimmer Fraser-Holmes pulled out a great leg and Australia just took it. Great effort by Scotland though .

A lot of the English swimmers based in Bath and there's been a strong technical aspect to their work there, so not surprised to see their underwater much improved.

I think Clare Balding (I think?) made a very good point about the "Addlington effect" - a lot of these 18-20 year olds would have been right in their peak learning years when Addlington got double gold in Beijing. That and a strong investment in coaches and facilities and there is no reason why GBR can't be a very good swimming nation.

Adam Peaty's swim to beat Van Der Burgh has been the highlight from the home nations point of view for me. From the rest you've just got to love Chad Le Clos haven't you?

I get a bit frustrated from time to time at the BBC team focusing almost exclusively on the Brits. It's fine up to an extent, but when all you talk about after a race is how close the 2nd pushed the first, or how it's a tremendous swim by x for bronze, or how y was so unlucky to just miss out on the medals ("tremendous swim from ... for 4th" has been heard more than once) and barely a passing mention given to the (usually Australian) winner, or the other medalists, even when they too bettered expectations, it gets a bit wearisome. I realise it is still a lot worse in most other countries (well, certainly France - although not relevant for these games - and Australia in my experience) but one thing I like about the BBC is there is some neutrality there, and acknowledgement of other nations performances. Let's not lose that.

Looking onwards, one thing which fascinates me is whether England could overturn the Aussies in the 4x100 medley relay men? Australia have the edge in the freestyle but England may well have the edge in the other 3, and especially in the breaststroke which usually gives the biggest margins (albeit that Sprenger is improving as the meets go on, but it looks like his shoulder injury is affecting him and I don't think he has the stamiina to go with Peaty over 100). Could be very very interesting.

BBC coverage has been a bit annoying, agreed. Though I've been less annoyed by the British bias than by not showing races because they're showing a pre-recorded interview or a medal ceremony. No sign whatsoever of the semis of either the men's 50 free (where Proud apparently qualified fastest with a British record) or the women's 50 back.

Anyway, England continue to have a very good meet in the pool with Taylor snatching 100 breaststroke gold. Shocking meltdown from Atkinson though, who was a body-lenngth up with 25 meters to go, and ended up just clinging onto bronze. She also messed up the 50, swimming significantly slower than in the heats or semis, so maybe it's a mental issue.

Australia swept the men's 200 back, while Canadian Lacroix snatched 200 fly gold from Aimee Wilmott (who did swim a very good race).

Here's the men's 50 breast. Peaty needs a better start than in the semis.

Ooooh seriously close. Peaty doesn't get the best start though it's slightly better than in the semis, and from then on is desperately trying to catch Van Der Burgh, he's closing all the way, and with an extra five would maybe have overhauled the South African, but as it's 50m and not 55m Van der Burgh clings on, by two hundreths of a second. Great race! Well done VDB .

Peaty giving a good honest interview: he knows his dive needs work, that was the difference between gold and silver today, and while over 100 meters you can work with it it's not so easy over 50.

By the way, Sprenger nicked bronze for Australia, which suggests he may just be coming back into some form. Mike made a good point about how tight the men's medley relay could be. England will concede something like 1.5 secs over the freestyle (which is a huge gap really over the shortest stroke), but could gainit back on the breaststroke, maybe more (Sprenger doesn't look like he's got the endurance). Throw in Barrett who looked great in the fly yesterday, and Walker-Heborn who won the 100 back, and on paper they have a great chance. SA could be in the mix too, but the backstroke will be their Achilles heel.

now the women's 100 free. I honestly can't see past an Australian cleansweep in this one, they're all capable of 53.5 or better (much better in Cate Campbell's case), and I don't think Fran has that in her...

called it

Cate went after the world record, and took a risk as she only just held on from Bronte, but hold on she did and deserved the win . Emma McKeon does nab the bronze, and I'm delighted for her, she's a lovely girl, and having a great meet. Halsall in fourth, just dipping under 54 seconds. A good swim from her, but as I predicted she just didn't have the 53.5 in her which she would have needed for the podium.

Chad le Clos makes a right horlicks of his finish, almost headbutting the wall, but does enough to win the 100 fly. A bit of a surprise as Schooling of Singapore nabs a silver medal, and Barrett takes bronze for England in a slightly quicker time than yesterday's semi.

Some great races this evening. I can't help liking Chad Le Clos. Has a look, couple of strokes, another look, oh hang on they're catching up better put in a few big ones.

50m free semis were good as well, final is going to be fascinating. Proud beating McEvoy with a wonderful swim, and a real chance for a gold there I think. Don't think the other two Aussies are as fast as Cam over the 50, so if Proud can beat him once...

50m back promises to be some race tomorrow as well. Davies vs Quigley vs Seebohm.

Some serious quality in these games. I guess the British have been peaking for these rather than the Euros (which start pretty much immediately after).

I've switched to watching the swimming stream so as to avoid missing races to watch interviews or re-runs.

If they're any young swimmers watching do not do what Chad does, it's not generally a good idea. Lovely bloke though, happy he's having success.

Mike re the Europeans: I seem to recall someone mentioning that Murdoch was heading back to training rather than hanging around for the closing ceremony etc. to try and compete in the Europeans. Would be good if true (though difficult to have two meets so close to each other), Murdoch vs Gyurta in the 200 could be a cracker.

You're right in that the Brits are peaking for these. I guess these being home games makes that choice easier. They've all performed though, plenty of British records and PBs galore, so it's good to see them being able to perform at the big champs. Last year the British champs were stupidly close to the worlds, which probably contributed to the general debacle, but this year has been better managed.

As you say there's been some great quality, the Aussies generally send a pretty strong squad to the Commonwealths as they don't have any other major champs those years, and it's a great occasion for some of the younger ones to get a first taste of international competition. Certainly all the big names are there. SA and Canada have also sent really strong squads, so in general the level has been pretty high.

For England I'd single out Peaty as the biggest plus: really world class times by him, and if he can sort out that dive the WR in the 50 is there for the taking (only one tenth off, he'd gain that with a good dive easily), and in the 100 he beat the world's top two guys. Halsall in the 50 free also (no Kronowidjojo - apologies for terrible spelling - but Cate Campbell obviously a great scalp, and the time the best ever without a supersuit). O'Connor's had a great meet, but not against the strongest competitors (no Hoszu or Franklin); definitely one for the future though.

Canadians doing rather well in the multi events : decathlon all but over after that 110 hurdles effort from Warner !
Women's event at an early stage but a Canada 1-2 is quite likely.

Incidentally : What is it with "Jessica"s in the heptathlon ? Three in a field of twelve here (and Jess Ennis watching   )

Such a shame KJT isn't competing. She looked like she was getting into a position to post a massive score.

Her current PBs have her ahead of Denise Lewis and not far behind Ennis in the British all time rankings, but of course putting them all together in a heptathlon isn't an easy task.

Wouldn't be surprised to see her as the sole holder of the British record in both the Long Jump and High Jump before the season's out, health permitting of course.

England only a Gold behind now, and with all the swimming over, I think they'll top the table come the final reckoning.

There's a good chance. Gymnastics sees England with top qualifier in 8 of the 10 apparatus finals as well as two of the top three qualifiers for both the men's and women's all around competition.

Boxing is also good for England, could win 5 or 6 more golds there (and Australia may not win any).

Possible few golds for each in the diving.

Think the neighbours might take a few boxing Golds away...seem to be more Scots and N Irish boxers starring so far.

Gymnastics probably will decide who tops the table. Might be close.

Don't think England will win too many Golds in athletics this time. Five silvers last night ; I can see a lot of medals coming , but not sure too many will be the most desirable colour.
Not being critical of the team there , by the way. Just that in a lot of events where England has a strong entry , there are outstanding opponents who will be hard to get past. And some "bankers " - Mo , Jess (even KJT , perhaps) are missing for one reason or another.
Doesn't matter. Commonwealths in athletics are best as stepping stones for new talent , I think.

England shall probably get a Gold or two in the diving courtesy of Tom Daley. The best divers in the world, I believe, are Chinese or American, so, in these games, the field looks quite clear for the former world champion.

alfie wrote:Think the neighbours might take a few boxing Golds away...seem to be more Scots and N Irish boxers starring so far.

Gymnastics probably will decide who tops the table.  Might be close.

I think Joyce and Baister will win, and then two of the women (including Adams) should win too. So I'm hoping for another couple to come through.

I don't think Australia will win many gymnastics golds, Scotland might nick a couple but most will be England.

Duty281 wrote:England shall probably get a Gold or two in the diving courtesy of Tom Daley. The best divers in the world, I believe, are Chinese or American, so, in these games, the field looks quite clear for the former world champion.

Well one already , a dominant display from young Laugher ...leading all the way in the 1m

I always preferred Laugher in the looks department, now I'll warm to him in the diving department.