A sensational personal performance by Mark Lewis Francis and the England domination of the relays were the highlights of the England team's appearance at the recent Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
Relay teams win four medals
The relays saw England’s men and women produce medal-winning performances to take home two golds, one silver and one bronze.
The women’s 4 x 100m team had something to prove after a poor display in Barcelona with “schoolgirl mistakes”, to quote Head Coach Van Comenee, but they made amends in Delhi with a faultless performance to take gold and kickstart a string of wins for England.
The performance of the Games came in the form of Mark Lewis Francis and England’s 4 x 100m relay team. Mark Lewis Francis ran one of the best legs of his life, and finding himself at least five metres behind a Jamaican athlete when he received the baton in the final bend, he went on to astonish the crowd by taking gold with a final push of the chest.
The men and women’s 4 x 400m relay teams both gave solid performances to take the bronze medal. However, since the Games one of the athletes from the Nigerian women’s 4 x 400m team has tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug which puts England up to silver.
Turner, Hazel and Jackson take gold
Many of the top British athletes didn’t take part in Delhi due to fatigue and injury but that did not prevent England from notching up several medals across the board.
In the men’s 110m hurdles, Andy Turner led the way by taking gold, with team mates William Sharman collecting silver and Lawrence Clarke taking bronze.
Leon Baptiste put in one of his best performances to take silver in the 200m and veteran Abi Oyepitan mirrored Baptiste’s performance in the women’s 200m. In the heptathlon Louise Hazel (pictured below) won the gold followed by fellow Brit, Grace Celemens in third. Jo Jackson took gold in the women’s 20km, Martin Brockman won bronze in the decathlon and Greg Rutherford, Steven Lewis and Max Eaves all came in medal-winning positions in the field. It was a tough fortnight for the British athletes who now have a break to recover ahead of the indoor season.
Medals table
| GOLD |
| Andy Turner |
Men's 110m Hurdles |
| Jo Jackson |
Women's 20km Race Walk |
| Leon Baptiste |
Men's 200m |
| Louise Hazel |
Heptathlon |
| Men's Relay Team |
Men's 4x100m Relay |
| Women's Relay Team |
4x100m Relay |
| SILVER |
| William Sharman |
Men's 110m Hurdles |
| Greg Rutherford |
Long Jump |
| Steven Lewis |
Men's Pole Vault |
| Abi Oyepitan |
Women's 200m |
| BRONZE |
| Lawrence Clarke |
Men's 110m Hurdles |
| Martin Brockman |
Decathlon |
| Grace Clements |
Heptathlon |
| Max Eaves |
Men's Pole Vault |
| Men's Relay Team |
Men's 4x400m Relay |
| Women's Relay Team |
Women's 4x400m Relay |