GLASGOW: Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme defied the torrential rain in Glasgow to win the men’s 100m in a Commonwealth Games record time on Tuesday as New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs surged to a surprise victory in the women’s 100m.
Persistent downpours throughout the evening session at the Scoutstoun track made for hazardous conditions, with the conclusion to the women’s high jump even delayed until after the action on the track was done for the night.
Eseme made light of the weather to storm through the field and win in 9.83s, surpassing the Games record set by Trinidadian great Ato Boldon in Kuala Lumpur 28 years ago.
“That was a crazy race! I’m surprised at the time,” said the 32-year-old, who only took up track and field eight years ago.
“The weather I didn’t want to be a setback, you know, because we’re all competing in the same environment, so I can’t have a complaint.”
Hobbs took the pre-race favourites by surprise in the women’s 100m as she surged clear out of the blocks and just had the staying power to hold off England’s Amy Hunt and Australia’s Torrie Lewis as all three women ran under 11 seconds.
“I mean it’s a dream scenario to walk away with a PB (personal best) and a gold medal. It was just surreal,” said Hobbs.
“You can see it in my eyes. I’ve probably got mascara all over my face but I just need time to process what’s happened.”
The rainy conditions appeared to have a bigger influence on the men’s 10,000m as Australia’s Ky Robinson took gold from India’s Gulveer Singh and the Isle of Man’s David Mullarkey as Kenya and Ethiopia’s hopes failed to make the podium.
Canada’s Olympic champion Camryn Rogers was dominant in the women’s hammer as he eased to gold with over five metres to spare.
Eleanor Patterson edged out Australia teammate Nicola Olyslagers in the high jump, which lasted over three hours due to the weather delay.
In swimming, Australia’s Lani Pallister added an 800m gold to her 400m and 1,500m titles by blowing away the field in a Games record.
There were another three Australian golds on the night to take their tally already for the meet to 28, matching their number of gold medals from Birmingham four years ago with one day to spare.
“It’s been incredible. I think we’ve really shown our depth and dominance this week in Australian swimming,” said Pallister.
Jenna Forrester won her third gold of the Games in the 200m individual medley, while Flynn Southam was victorious in the men’s 100m freestyle.
Australia also set a Games record in the 4x100m men’s medley relay.
But the performance of the night arguably came from Filip Nowacki, who secured Jersey’s first ever swimming Commonwealth gold medal in the 200m breaststroke.
“Coming from an island like Jersey and competing against athletes from Australia, Canada, England and the other home nations is very special,” said Nowacki, who also finished ahead of Adam Ramsay-Peaty to secure silver in the 100m breaststroke. — AFP
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