Emma McKeon has written her name into the history books as the most successful athlete in Commonwealth Games history after winning her 11th gold medal in the women’s 50m freestyle as the Australia’s women’s 4x200m freestyle relay set Birmingham on fire with a world record.
Australia consolidated its position at the top of the medal standings on day three, with nine more golds in rugby sevens, gymnastics, swimming and track cycling to take the country’s total to 22 golds, double what host country England in second place
In a stunning performance at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre, Ariarne Titmus produced the fastest ever women’s 200m freestyle to anchor the Australian relay team of Madi Wilson, Kiah Melverton and Mollie O’Callaghan to gold in a world record of seven minutes and 39.29 seconds. and better the mark of 7:40.33 set by China at the Tokyo Olympics.
And women’s 100m backstroke world record holder Kaylee McKeown won her pet event.
Ariarne Titmus is congratulated by teammates Madi Wilson, Kiah Melverton and Mollie O’Callaghan. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images
But McKeon was the ultimate star of the show.
The Olympic champion started the one-lap final first and finished in identical fashion on Monday morning (AEST) to overtake Australian greats Susie O’Neill, Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones, who are tied on 10 gold medals each .
McKeon had faced stiff competition from faster qualifiers Shayna Jack and Meg Harris, but although her compatriots surged in the second 25m, McKeon found another team to lead the clean sweep while Harris got the silver and bronze for Jack.
The win follows her previous victories in Birmingham in the medley 4×100 freestyle relay and the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay. He also won four gold medals at each of the 2018 Gold Coast Games and the 2014 edition in Glasgow.
“It’s really nice to be mentioned alongside some of those names and I’ll be a part of that history for years to come, hopefully,” McKeon said. “They are the ones who inspired me when I was young. I remember watching them on TV and that lit the fire in me to be where I am now.
“It’s special. It makes me reflect on the last eight years since my first Commonwealth Games. I can see how far I have come as a person and as an athlete.”
McKeon, who is also Australia’s most decorated Olympian with 11 medals (five gold, two silver and four bronze) will have the chance to add to her collection at these Games when she competes four more events. On Monday morning she qualified the fastest for the 50m butterfly final.
Australia’s Maddison Levi (centre right) celebrates with his teammates after winning rugby sevens gold. Photo: Jacob King/PA
Also in swimming, Zac Stubblety-Cook (Men’s 100m Breaststroke), Jenna Strauch (Women’s 200m Breaststroke) and Tim Hodge (Men’s 100m Breaststroke S8) took silver while Blake Cochrane (Men’s 100m Breaststroke S8) and Samson 100m men’s breaststroke (S8) bronzes guaranteed.
And Kyle Chalmers put aside the controversy of the last 24 hours to qualify fastest for the men’s 100m final with the second fastest time this year.
It came as Australia won gold in women’s rugby sevens for the first time with a 22-12 defeat of Fiji in the final. Fiji, who knocked Australia out of the Tokyo Olympics in the quarter-finals and beat them during the group rounds in Birmingham, were no match for the green and gold in the final.
Madison Ashby and Madi Levi scored tries and Faith Nathan crossed twice to set up a 22-0 lead and it held as Fiji scored just before full-time and again after the buzzer. The men’s team settled for fourth place, losing 26-12 to New Zealand in the bronze medal game.
In a shocking and dramatic day of cycling, Australia won four golds thanks to Matt Richardson (men’s sprint), Georgia Baker (women’s 25km points race), Kristina Clonan (women’s 500m time trial final) and para-cyclist Jess Gallagher and pilot Caitlin. Ward (Women’s Tandem Time Trial B 1000m).
Matthew Richardson claimed a spectacular men’s sprint gold. Photograph: Garry Bowden/REX/Shutterstock
But it was another unlucky day for Matt Glaetzer, who thought he had pipped Scotland’s Jack Carlin to bronze in the sprint but was relegated after race marshals deemed he had used unfair contact.
Beau Wootton and his rider Luke Zaccaria also secured bronze in the men’s B tandem sprint.
In gymnastics, Georgia Godwin won her first Commonwealth Games gold medal in the rhythmic all-around. The Queenslander, who took silver in the team event at the weekend, produced a rousing performance in her fourth and final event at Arena Birmingham, where she performed her floor routine with a version of Michael Bublé from Feeling Good.
Godwin finished ahead of England’s Ondine Achampong and Canada’s Emma Spence to become the first Australian to win the event since Lauren Mitchell at Delhi 2010. The 24-year-old did so against the odds, after ‘having considered skipping the 2022 Games due to ankle injuries.
In the triathlon, Sophie Linn anchored Australia to bronze in the mixed team relay to build on Matt Hauser’s bronze in the individual race two days ago.
The women’s cricket team cruised to a nine-wicket victory over Barbados to secure a place in the semi-finals ahead of Wednesday’s final group game against Pakistan.
The Olympic silver medal winning volleyball team of Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar won their opening group match, defeating Sri Lanka in straight sets.