BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom —
Grenada’s Lindon Victor narrowly retained his
Commonwealth decathlon crown on Friday as New Zealand shot putter Tom Walsh
also held onto his title in Birmingham.
اضافة اعلان
In a drama-filled
session, 18-year-old Kenyan Jackline Chepkoech added Commonwealth gold in the
3,000m steeplechase to last year’s under-20 world title.
She won in a Games
record of 9min 15.68sec — her victory was assured when
Uganda’s Olympic
champion Peruth Chemutai fell badly as she contested the lead.
Although limping
badly, she bravely carried on to take bronze but had to be taken off in a
wheelchair.
There was no upset
in the women’s triple jump.
Jamaica’s Shanieka
Ricketts shed her bridesmaid’s tag — having been silver medalist in the 2018
Games and last month’s world championships — to post a Games record of 14.94m.
The decathlon
provided the edge-of-the-seat drama at Alexander Stadium.
Victor held on by
the skin of his teeth as Australia’s Daniel Golubovic won the 1500m
comfortably, threatening to snatch the title away from him.
The Grenadan fell
to the ground as he awaited the final tally and to his relief he had done just
enough to deny Golubovic, winning by just 36 points with a total of 8,233.
“Ahead of the
1500m I just thought, ‘Don’t relinquish the lead. Run as hard as you need to
win’, and that’s exactly what I did,” said 29-year-old Victor.
Another
Australian, Cedric Dubler, who had led Victor by 39 points coming into the
final two events, took the bronze, as he did four years ago.
‘Different
people’
Walsh, the 2017 world champion, won the shot put with a mark of 22.26m as
New Zealand compatriot Jacko Gill took silver with a personal best of 21.90m.
England’s Scott
Lincoln, who is a bricklayer by profession, took a surprise bronze (20.57m).
“I don’t want to
lose to him (Gill), that’s for sure,” said Walsh. “But having Jacko alongside
me (on the podium) will be a pretty special occasion. Jacko and I have been
going head-to-head for 12 years now.”
“We are different
people, and I wouldn’t say we’re mates, but we get on really well still — just
two different characters.”
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