‘I’m also human’: Aussie flag bearer loses Games title
Shayne Hope and Ian Chadband |
Olympic pole vault champion Nina Kennedy has lost her Commonwealth Games title to New Zealand’s Eliza McCartney in a huge upset.
Kennedy missed gold on a countback and had to settle for silver in Glasgow.
Compatriots Lachie Kennedy and Torrie Lewis were unable to repeat their 100m medal magic in their respective 200m finals, both finishing sixth.
Australian flag bearer Nina Kennedy had one miss at 4.65m before clearing on the second attempt.
The difference was McCartney, who also cleared 4.65m, did not miss a height before missing three times at 4.70m.
“I’m disappointed. I wanted to win, and I didn’t, and that’s OK, you know,” Kennedy said.
“I’m superhuman most of the time, but I’m also human a lot of the time. I make mistakes, and that’s OK.”
McCartney held the Oceania record with 4.94m until Kennedy broke it by clearing 4.95m in Monaco last month.
It was the fifth-best height on the all-time list and best in the world for the past five years, and had Kennedy eyeing the five-metre mark.
But the 29-year-old conceded she didn’t handle the cold conditions well at Scotstoun Stadium.
“I don’t think I’ve jumped that low in like four years, and I think that just demonstrates how tough it was,” Kennedy said.
“I know I’m in better shape than that, and I’m excited for the rest of the season.
“But … the Comm Games, it’s just so much fun.
“I know this sounds silly, but sometimes sport is more than just the medals. It’s about the memories made and the connections.”
In the men’s 200m, South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile won in 19.96 seconds, ahead of Nigeria’s Udodi Onwuzurike (20.09) and Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor (20.11).
Australia’s fastest man Lachie Kennedy, who faced a difficult task from the inside lane, ran 20.41.
British Virgin Islands’ Adaejah Hodge (22.07) won the women’s 200m gold ahead of Trinidad and Tobago’s Shaniqua Bascombe (22.35) and Jamaica’s Alana Reid (22.56). Lewis ran 22.88 from lane seven.
Earlier, Isaac Beacroft won gold in the men’s 10,000m race walk before Sarah Billings dug in to take bronze in the women’s 800m, sharing the podium with a pair of world champions.
England’s Georgia Hunter Bell claimed 800m gold ahead of Kenya’s Lilian Odira.
Billings was the first Australian woman to win a medal in the 800m since Sharon Stewart claimed bronze in 1990.
AAP