Gate crashes road race party
It was bloody hard work those last three laps and, when it came down to the
sprint and I had the prime position to run at that line, I
just couldn’t believe it.
All you need to know from a successful day 10 of the Commonwealth Games for New Zealand as Aaron Gate and our Kiwi squash stars made history.
Gate claims astonishing victory
Cyclist Aaron Gate sprinted into the record books after winning his fourth gold medal of the Commonwealth Games, this time in the men’s road race.
It is the first time a New Zealander has won four gold medals at one Games and it came in style, with a ride both astonishing, yet believable.
The only New Zealander in a leading group of 15 that escaped with more than 100 kilometres to go, Gate spent an inordinate amount of energy chasing moves from other riders, only to find gas still left in the tank to sprint past some of the world’s best at the finish line.
“I put my arms up and I didn’t really know if it had actually happened,” Gate told Sky Sport.
“It was bloody hard work those last three laps and, when it came down to the sprint and I had the prime position to run at that line, I just couldn’t believe it.”
In the women’s road race, Georgia Williams was NZ’S best finisher in 13th place.
Four-time gold medallist Aaron Gate
dispiriting defeat in pool play to England to gain revenge in their final match.
Coll, King add to Kiwi glory
For a pairing who admitted they hadn’t trained together since 2018, Paul Coll and Joelle King certainly played like a synergised team as they put on a dominant display in the final of the squash mixed doubles.
King and Coll took down English pair Alison Waters and Adrian Waller in commanding style, making a mismatch of a clash between the tournament’s top two seeds.
For King, it was redemption, after she bowed out without a medal in the women’s singles, while Coll added a second gold to his Birmingham haul.
King had another chance at a gold overnight after progressing to the women’s doubles final
with Amanda Landers-murphy earlier in the day.
White Ferns take bronze
The White Ferns’ new era has started with a glint of promise, taking out the bronze medal.
The Kiwi side impressively sealed a
surprisingly dominant eight-wicket thumping of England, quietening the home crowd at Edgbaston.
After a poor showing at the ODI World Cup, the White Ferns found the Twenty20 format under new coach Ben Sawyer more to their liking, and managed to bounce back from a
Silver Ferns bounce back
After slumping to a fourth-place finish in 2018, another edition without a medal looked possible, if not probable, in 2022, after the Ferns were thrashed by Jamaica in their semifinal.
That booked a bronze medal match against England, who had easily accounted for the Kiwis by 10 goals in pool play, but — much like the White Ferns — the Silver Ferns turned things around to win a medal, triumphing 55-48.
Coach Dame Noeline Taurua was proud of her squad for the way they responded to consecutive losses and the heat of the home crowd.
“For us to go home with a medal is massive. Not only for our confidence, but also the selection of the players, and also the lead into the Netball World Cup.”
Black Sticks lose another shootout
After falling short in a shootout against
England in the semifinal, it was again their downfall in the bronze medal match as they were beaten 2-1 by India in the tiebreaker after some late heroics forced the game to that stage.
An Olivia Merry penalty stroke with less than 20 seconds remaining in the match levelled the scores at 1-1 in a match that always felt like the New Zealand side were chasing.
That was where the celebrations ended for the New Zealand side, however, as they return home from Birmingham without a medal.
Meanwhile, the men’s Black Sticks defeated Wales 2-1 to finish fifth on overall classification.