Aussies dominate medal count as 76yo makes Comm Games history

Seventy six year old Louise Hoskins became the oldest Commonwealth Games gold medallist ever on the final day of competition in Glasgow with victory in the para women’s pairs.

It made Australia’s final gold medal tally a whopping 70 for the Games, and 171 medals in total. The second placed country was England with 29 gold and 110 medals.

Hoskins’ teammate Serena Bonnell delivered the winning bowl and roared loudly once the gold medal was secured.

Bonnell needed to thread a small gap so she could knock the jack closer to the pair’s three bowls.

She did just that and celebrated truly as they won 6-3, 4-4 against New Zealand.

The gold medal for Bonnell came after she won silver at Birmingham in 2022.

Hoskins said she was “tearing up” when interviewed on Seven before Bonnell described it as the “cherry on top” to her campaign.

When Hoskins was told age is just a number, her simple reply was “exactly”.

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That wasn’t the only gold in the bowls after Damien Delgado and James Reynolds matched the heroics from Hoskins and Bonnell’s success.

The men finished first in the men’s para pairs B6-B8 after New Zealand’s Mark Noble couldn’t hit the jack towards his bowls with the final effort.

The Australians finished their campaign undefeated.

Aussies dominate on the velodrome

It’s been an incredible campaign for our cyclists and that extended on the final day.

It all started when Leigh Hoffman won gold in the 1000m time trial run, to go with his gold in the team sprint earlier in the Games.

Hoffman’s time was 58.530 which is a Commonwealth Games record. Fellow Aussie Tayte Ryan won bronze.

The next gold for Australia was one of the most emotional.

Georgia Baker was in the women’s elimination final fighting to become the first Australian cyclist to win six Commonwealth Games gold medals while Alyssa Polites and Sophie Edwards were in the battle too.

Edwards finished ninth and fell away from the pack with Baker, Polites and Canadian Maggie Coles-Lyster in the final three.

Polites torched her two opponents and ended up with a victory lap, draping the Australian flag behind her.

The 23-year-old was emotional when interviewed standing next to Baker and had clearly been crying before it.

“I didn’t even think it was a possibility,” she told Seven.

“It was such a stacked field and when you’ve got idols in your team like G (Georgia Baker), I can’t believe it.”

Baker praised the selfless Polites and said, “I’m so rapt for her, she really does deserve it”.

Australian para athlete Tara Neyland also took home gold and a world record in the women’s C4-C5 1000m time trial.

Her real time was 1:09.667 and factored time was 1:08.761.

Silver Ferns defy chaos at home to win gold; Aussies in tears

Before the gold medal netball match, the Diamonds managed to claim bronze with a 68-50 win over England.

Jo Weston and Kate Moloney both described it as “bittersweet” while tears were captured on the faces of numerous players, including Courtney Bruce.

Clearly the devastation of not making the gold medal match still lingered.

Then came New Zealand and Jamaica for gold.

At the end of the first and second quarters, the lead was a three-point margin for New Zealand.

During the third quarter, the scores were level on multiple occasions before the Silver Ferns’ class showed when they led 41-36 at the final break.

By full-time, the lead extended to 56-48 and there was jubilation at The Hydro for New Zealand’s players.

It’s an incredible achievement considering the adversity they’ve faced.

Back home, the domestic competition has an uncertain future with major debt issues.

They also lost players due to injury including Catherine Hall with her ACL during the tournament.

Last year, coach Dame Noeline Taurua was also stood down pending an investigation into her coaching techniques. She was cleared and is now a Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning coach.