Commonwealth Games poster boy Kerr delivers mile gold in Glasgow / Photo: © AFP
Commonwealth Games poster boy Kerr delivers mile gold in Glasgow
Fresh from setting a new world record in the mile, Josh Kerr delivered Commonwealth Games gold for Scotland on home soil in the highlight of Saturday's action, which saw 44 gold medals won.
Kerr was 12 seconds slower than the mark of 3min 42.66sec he set in London last month to break Hicham El Guerrouj's record that had stood for 27 years.
But the Olympic silver-medallist could afford to whip up the crowd in celebration as he crossed the finish line in Glasgow after pulling well clear of the field.
Australia's Cameron Myers took silver and Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya the bronze as another Scot and former world champion Jake Wightman missed out on the podium.
Kenya's Mathew Kipsang produced a decisive kick away from the pack on the final lap to win the men's 5,000m and denied Australia's Ky Robinson double gold after his success in the 10,000m.
Robinson finished second with India's Gulveer Singh taking bronze to add to his 10,000m silver.
Australia edged a thrilling men's 4x100m to win gold from the outside lane.
Lachlan Kennedy, Joshua Azzopardi, Calab Law and Rohan Browning crossed in a time of 38.07 seconds to seemingly edge out Canada.
However, the Canadians were disqualified to bump Nigeria into silver and give Ghana a bronze medal.
Jamaica stormed clear to take the women's 4x100m from Canada and Trinidad and Tobago.
In the afternoon session at the Scoutstoun Stadium, Samuel Ogazi lived up to expectation to win gold for Nigeria in the men's 400m.
Ogazi, who set the fourth fastest time ever in the 400m earlier this year, was a class apart as he led home Trinidad and Tobago's Jereem Richards and South Africa's Zakithi Nene.
"I didn't want to come out here and disappoint. I just had to go out there and do my thing," said Ogazi, who was not holding back on his ambitions going forward.
"Maybe an Olympic gold, a world championship gold, become the greatest athlete ever. That's what I'm working towards."
Jamaica's Dejeanea Oakley was just as dominant in the women's 400m to win by nearly eight tenths of a second from Sada Williams of Barbados and Nigeria's Ella Onojuvwevwo.
Jordan Scott landed another gold for Jamaica in the men's triple jump with India taking both silver and bronze thanks to Praveen Chithravel and Selva Thirumaran.
Australia's Matthew Denny secured gold in the men's discus from Jamaica's Fedrick Dacres with Lawrence Okoye of England in bronze.
- Jamaicans exact Aussie revenge -
But there will be no Australian gold in the netball after Jamaica produced a huge upset to defeat the holders 46-45 in front of the watching Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Catherine, and their children.
Jamaica will face New Zealand in Sunday's final after exacting revenge for defeat in the final four years ago.
"We knew we had it in us. We're carrying a bit of vengeance from the last Commonwealth Games," Jamaican captain Shamera Sterling-Humphrey said.
The royals were also spotted at the velodrome on the Games' "Super Saturday".
"Incredible atmosphere at the Commonwealth Games today. Watching world-class talent compete and seeing the power of sport to bring people together is truly special," the Prince and Princess said in an Instagram post.
Emma Finucane became the first Welsh woman to win three gold medals at a single Commonwealth Games after adding the sprint and 1000 metre time-trial titles to her part in the team sprint on Friday.
"I absolutely love what I do, so I just want to go out there and ride my bike and enjoy every moment," said Finucane, who could add a fourth gold in the keirin on Sunday.
O.al-Sadah--BT
