MELBOURNE, 21 March 2006 — Jamaica’s 100 meters world record holder Asafa Powell won his first major title yesterday at the Commonwealth Games.
Leisel Jones smashed a world record in the 100 meters breaststroke as Australia’s women swimmers delivered on their promise to turn the Melbourne Aquatics Center into their private golden pond.
Powell never threatened the world record of 9.77 seconds he set last year, racing across the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 10.03 seconds. “I can run sub-10 any time but I’m just not ready,” Powell told reporters.
“I’m pleased. I didn’t want to push too hard because I’m just coming off an injury.” Sheri-Ann Brooks won the women’s 100 meters in 11.19 to seal a Jamaican sprint double in front of more than 80,000 spectators.
Jones slashed more than six-tenths of a second off her breaststroke world mark to capture her third gold of the Games.
Teammate Libby Lenton picked up two in two hours to take her total for the week to four, with another one in the pipeline.
“My goal was definitely to go out and get the world record, but I’m pretty shocked by the time,” Jones said.
The absence of Australia’s serial record-breaker Ian Thorpe has thrown up surprising results in the men’s swimming this week, with England and Scotland the main beneficiaries. Nothing compared, however, with Ryan Pini’s achievement in winning the 100 meters butterfly. He beat former world record holder Michael Klim to win gold for Papua New Guinea, a country which has just one full-length swimming pool.
It was Papua New Guinea’s second Games title after winning a gold in bowls at Auckland in 1990 and Pini’s victory made him, in an instant, his country’s greatest sportsman.
“It’s going to be so huge. I can’t wait to get back there and show off my medal,” he said.
Kenya won their second gold in Melbourne when former junior champion Augustine Choge won the 5,000m, kicking clear of Australia’s Craig Mottram on the final bend.
Australia won four golds in the pool and on the track on Monday, the busiest day of the Games, and another six across bowls, shooting, squash and gymnastics to raise their overall total to 42 after five days of competition and with six left.
England won five golds on the day to lift their total to 18 and widen the gap over third-placed India, who ended the day with 12.
Pakistan, Malaysia, Cyprus won their first golds of the Games yesterday.
Shuja-Ud-Din Malik won the men’s 85kg weightlifting title for Pakistan, Malaysia won the women’s triple bowls and Antonis Nikolaides teamed up with George Achilleos to win the shotgun pairs for Cyprus.
Notes: The 153-year-old Melbourne Cricket Ground, the main site of competition for the 1956 Olympics, underwent a $310 million renovation for the Commonwealth Games, including the building of new grandstands and a general sprucing up of the famous complex.
But many of the other main sites for competitions, including two main arenas used for the Australian Open tennis tournament and another major downtown football stadium, are being used for many of the events.
That meant there was not a pressing need to build new complexes, a decision that looks good based on discouraging news from Sydney and how much the facilities built for the 2000 Olympics are still costing taxpayers.
