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Day 3 of the Commonwealth Games is here, and it’s about to be packed with action – and Australian medal hopefuls.
After dominating in the pool on the first two days in Birmingham, the Australian Dolphins superstar is back on deck, with nine different heats from 7.30pm AEST, headlining the men’s 100m freestyle heats with four Australian guns in action. Then there’s a host of medals on the line in Monday morning’s final.
Australia’s legendary Kookaburras, who have won every field hockey gold medal since the event joined the Commonwealth Games in 1998, begin their campaign against Scotland at 8pm AEST.
It’s a huge night of Rugby 7s action, with the Australian men taking on South Africa in the semi-finals at 10pm for a place in the gold medal game tomorrow morning.
The Australian women play the gold medal match at 5.30am AEST on Monday against Fiji – having lost to that team in the pool stages.
Medals are also up for grabs before midnight AEST in artistic gymnastics (from 6 p.m. AEST), weightlifting, triathlon, artistic gymnastics and cycling. In total, there are 24 gold medals at stake.
Follow the action in our live blog below!
LIVE MEDAL COUNT: Aussies lead the way as New Zealand and England chase
AUSSIE REBOUNDS FROM EFFECTIVE Crash
The velodrome witnessed a horrific crash yesterday – but the Australian involved bounced back.
Matthew Glaetzer was caught up in a terrifying shunt in the keirin with England’s Joe Truman which left Hope home stunned and then sent to hospital. The incident ended Glaetzer’s keirin campaign.
But by qualifying for the men’s sprint, Matthew Richardson was second fastest with a time of 9.598, just behind Nicholas Paul of Trinidad and Tobago with a blistering time of 9.445.
Matthew Glaetzer fought through a lot of pain from yesterday’s sickening crash to qualify fourth in a time of 9.652, with Thomas of Cornwall fifth in 9.747.
And Glaetzer won their round of 16 clash, continuing his remarkable comeback story.
IN THE SWIMMING POOL
Beginner Bowen Gough qualified for the men’s 200m butterfly final as the fourth fastest qualifier after winning his heat with a sensational time of 1:57.53.
Teammate Brendon Smith snuck in eighth overall with a PB of 1:58.86s, with Kieren Pollard (1:58.99s) just missed ninth place.
Three Australians qualified for the women’s 200m breaststroke final.
Jenna Strauch finished second overall in 2:24.97s, with Harkin Abbey fifth in 2:26.11 and Taylor McKeown seventh in 2:28.15. South African Tatjana Schoenmaker finished first by more than three seconds.
HEARTBREAK FOR INJURED AUSSIE
The first Australians in action on Sunday night were artistic gymnastics duo Clay Mason Stevens and Jesse Moore, competing in the men’s individual all-around final.
Moore, 19, was considered a medal chance after advancing to the final in the top six athlete group.
To win gold, athletes compete on six apparatus: floor, pommel, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bars.
Moore was 12th after two rotations – after struggling on the floor – but appeared to injure his right shoulder early in his rings routine before falling off the apparatus.
He showed exceptional courage to get up and complete his routine, but was seen freezing his shoulder afterwards, with commentators wondering if he would retire from the rest of the event.
He did so soon after, and it’s unclear if he’ll be competing in individual events this week.
Mason Stevens, 25, stole the show wearing a classic Australian outback hat with a kangaroo emblem, caps and all.
He wore it from the moment it was introduced and continued to wear it between devices.
When presented, he created a stark contrast to his rivals wearing their competition uniforms. Commentators have joked that the usually very conservative international gymnastics body may seek to ban Mason Stevens’ unique look in the future.
Mason Stephens was 16th after two rotations.
MCKEON GOES RECORD FOR 11TH GOLD
Already Australia’s most decorated Olympian of all time, Emma McKeon won a record 10th Commonwealth Games gold medal on Day 2.
This brings her closer to Susie O’Neill, Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones for the most gold medals in Commonwealth Games history.
She also has a silver medal and four bronze medals – but still has plenty of chances to break the gold medal record.
This includes the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 50m butterfly, as well as the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay and the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay. There is also a very remote possibility that she will compete in the women’s 4×100 medley relay.
Tonight, she will compete in the 50 freestyle final (5:05 a.m.) and the 50 butterfly semi-final (4:17 a.m.).
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SELECTED TIME, JUL 31
SWIMMING
7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. (AEST)
Men’s 200m butterfly (Bowen Gough wins, 1:57.53s, Brendon Smith third in the same run with a PB of 1:58.86s and Kieren Pollard fourth 1:58.99s)
Women’s 200m breaststroke heats (Abbey Harkin, Taylor McKeown, Jenna Strauch)
Men’s 100m breaststroke, SB8 heat (Blake Cochrane, Timothy Disken, Timothy Hodge)
Women’s 100m backstroke, heat S8 (Ella Jones, Isabella Vincent)
Men’s 50m backstroke heats (Ben Armbruster)
Women’s 50m butterfly heats (Holly Barratt, Alexandria Perkins)
Men’s 100m freestyle (Kyle Chalmers, Zac Incerti, Flynn Southam, William Yang).
BIKE
19.00 – 22.30 (EST)
Men’s sprint qualifying
Tandem B men – Sprint qualification
Sprint Men 1/8 finals
Tandem B Men – Sprint semi-finals
Men’s sprint, quarter-finals
15km men, scratch race, qualification
25 km women, points race, qualification
SELECTED TIME, AUGUST 1
SWIMMING FINALS (from 4am AEST on Monday)
Women’s 50m freestyle final
Men’s 200m butterfly final
Women’s 200m Breaststroke Final
Men’s 100m breaststroke, SB8 final
100m backstroke women S8 final
Men’s 50m backstroke, semi-finals
Women’s 50m butterfly, semi-finals
Men’s 100m freestyle, semi-finals
Women’s 100m backstroke final
Men’s 100m Breaststroke Final
Mixed relay 4x100m freestyle S14 Final
Women’s 4x200m freestyle relay final
LOCUST
The Australian Women’s T20 team will take on Barbados at 3am AEST, with victory meaning a place in the semi-finals.
LIVE BLOG
Follow the action in the live blog below. If you don’t see the blog, click here.
