GC Games team gets a pass

Men’s shot put – Tom Walsh: 1st in qualifying with 22.45m (CG record), gold medal in final. Cycling – Track – Dylan Kennett: 7th in men’s time trial, 15th in men’s scratch race final, bronze medal in men’s individual pursuit. Bowls – Bruce Wakefield: silver medal in B6/B7/B8 open triples. Women’s trap shooting – Natalie Rooney: 7th in qualifying Cycling – Road – Shane Archbold: 6th place class performer.

- Julia Ratcliffe: The Ivy League athlete who learnt to throw the hammer on a lifestyle block with the help of her PE teacher father, The Rat is a tremendous story. A silver medalist in Glasgow, injury played a huge part in her missing the 2016 Rio Olympics and she only qualified late for the Gold Coast. With her shoulders held together by sticky tape, she mastered the wet conditions and the pressure.

- Sam Gaze: His ride to win men’s mountain bike gold was breathtaking. Everyone wrote him off when he got a flattie, but with his dander up and his head down, he chased down fellow Kiwi Anton Cooper to roar to victory. There was more than a touch of John McEnroe about how he did it, which added to the moment.

- Black Sticks women: Critics have said they’ve choked or underperformed at big tournaments in the past. This time, they held their nerve in a semifinal shootout and, buoyed by that, steamrollered Australia to grab the gold they’d waited so long for.

- Joelle King: The affable racqueteer has overcome a major injury to reman a force in world squash and she continues to climb the rankings aged 29. After singles bronze in Glasgow, King won two gold on the Goldie; the blue riband singles and the women’s doubles and also claimed bronze in the mixed doubles – due reward for the hardest-working Kiwi at the Games.

- David Liti: All eyes were on Laurel Hubbard on the final day of weightlifting. And while her injury kept her in the headlines, it was the 166kg former rugby player who delighted with his gold. He blew a kiss to the judges and after the medal ceremony and guided injured silver medalist Lauititi Lui in a wheelchair off the stage. Disappointments: - Silver Ferns: The loss to Malawi was the nadir for a team that has been going downhill quicker than Sam Gaze on a final lap.

- Lawn bowls team: Two medals, a gold to Jo Edwards and a silver from the Open B6/B7/B8 triples side was nowhere near enough.