adminJAMAICA’S Elaine Thompson-Herah replicated her Olympic sprint double as she charged to Commonwealth 200m gold.
The 28-year-old, who took Wednesday’s 100m title, had the race won early, streaking clear of Nigeria’s Favour Ofili and Namibia’s Christine Mboma.
Her winning time of 20.02 seconds is a new Games record, beating the 22.09secs set by Shaunae Miller-Uibo.
England’s Zharnel Hughes had to settle for silver behind Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards in the men’s race.
Just as in Gold Coast 2018, the pair cut clear of the rest to contest gold.
On that occasion, Hughes was initially adjudged to have edged a photo finish before being disqualified for impeding Richards in the adjacent lane. Drawn in lanes four and seven respectively, there was clear track between the two at the start this time.
Unfortunately for Hughes there was clear track between them on the finish line, too.
Richards’ personal best time of 19.80secs broke the Commonwealth Games record set by Namibia’s Frankie Fredericks in 1994.
However, Hughes was pleased with silver in 20.12secs, the fastest he has gone since finishing fifth in the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.
“I really enjoyed myself. You saw the celebration at the end of it,” he told BBC Sport. To come away with a medal, I’m really happy with it. On to the Euros next.”
Thompson-Herah’s win came just hours after her compatriots Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, world 100m and 200m champions respectively, had landed impressive victories a thousand miles east at a Diamond League event in Poland.
Their absence, along with other high-profile stars such as Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, have hurt this edition of the Commonwealth Games and the lack of jeopardy made for an underwhelming final.
Namibia’s Christine Mboma is one athlete who could have made it more of a spectacle.
But the 19-year-old Olympic silver medallist has been hampered by a thigh injury and the storming finish that carried her on to the Tokyo podium never came.
Scotland’s Beth Dobbin finished eighth in a disappointing 23.40.
England’s Adam Hague and Harry Coppell were made to wait for the start of the pole vault final, with their equipment stuck in Birmingham traffic.
But both made the podium behind Australia’s Kurtis Marschall, with Hague clearing 5.55m and Coppell managing a best of 5.50m. – BBC Sport.
Online Reporter