Canadian women capture gold in team gymnastics
GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA Canada won gold Friday in the Commonwealth Games women’s artistic gymnastics team final.
Ellie Black of Halifax, Isabela Onyshko of Minnedosa, Man., Jade Chrobok of Toronto, Shallon Olsen of Surrey, and Brittany Rogers of Calgary finished ahead of runner-up England and Australia at Coomera Indoor Sports Centre.
It’s Canada’s first women’s team gymnastics gold at the Games since 1990.
The women had to watch England and Australia before finding out which medal they won.
“It was nerve-racking watching,” Black said. “These teams are so great. It’s an incredible feeling to know that we went out and did our job today, and I’m really proud of this team.”
Zach Clay of Coquitlam, Rene Cournoyer of Repentigny, Que., Scott Morgan of Vancouver, Cory Paterson of Montreal, and Jackson Payne of Calgary won silver Thursday behind winner England and runner-up Scotland.
Aussies lead: Australia won nine gold medals Friday for its best daily total since 2010 to take a commanding lead in the medal count.
The host country won six swimminggoldsattheGoldCoastAquatic Centre, added two at the velodrome in Brisbane and got a surprising one from Tia-Clair Toomey, who took gold in the women’s 58-kilogram weightlifting, Australia’s first gold in that sport at the Commonwealth Games in 12 years.
Australia had 14 gold medals after Friday’s events, with England next best with nine. Australia has 36 medals overall, double that of second-place England.
Fit Toomey: Dubbed the fittest woman in the world after winning the 2017 CrossFit Games, Australia’s Toomey successfully switched sport. Sitting in second spot behind Canadian Tali Darsigny after the snatch, the 24-year-old Queenslander lifted 114 kilograms with the final attempt in the clean and jerk for a winning total of 201. Wrong turn: The Grenada women’s beach volleyball team was mistakenly taken by a bus driver to Brisbane after a GPS malfunction. Renisha Stafford and Thornia Williams ended up at the shooting venue in Chandler, an outer suburb of the state capital. That’s a distance of about 100 kilometres out of their way in each direction. The Grenadians were quickly brought back to Coolangatta, but ended up losing their match to Scotland.