Jack left laughing the loudest as diving rivals swept aside again
English diver Jack Laugher extended his dominance in the one-metre springboard event yesterday to take a third straight gold at the Commonwealth Games.
The 27-year-old Laugher, who was England’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony, continued a run that also included gold in Glasgow in 2014 and on Australia’s Gold Coast four years ago.
He had been below his best in the morning’s preliminary rounds but hit peak form from midway through the six rounds to take control and later credited the threat posed by Australian diver Shixin Li for inspiring him.
Laugher, who won Olympic gold in the 3-metre synchronised event at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, posted a total of 447.05 points to defeat Li by 10 points. England’s Jordan Houlden claimed the bronze.
‘‘I was under loads of pressure, trying to defend that title, which I’ve had for eight years now,’’ Laugher said.
Cyclist Geraint Thomas, the 2018 Tour de France winner, crashed early in the individual time trial in Wolverhampton, striking a barrier when making a sweeping turn. Thomas was able to remount his bike and recovered well to claim the bronze medal behind winner Rohan Dennis, a double time trial world champion.
‘‘I just went into the corner a bit too hot. [I have] only myself to blame. I went at it too hard after that, with all the adrenaline,’’ Thomas said.
Dennis made it a clean sweep for Australia in the individual time trial after Grace Brown claimed the women’s event earlier yesterday.
In athletics, Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah returned to Alexander Stadium just over 12 hours after her triumph in the 100 metres on Thursday. A double Olympic champion in the 200, she qualified second fastest for today’s semifinals in an easy heat win in 22.80 seconds.
LaQuan Nairn of the Bahamas won the men’s long jump ahead of India’s Murali Sreeshankar. Both leaped 8.08 metres, but the gold medal was awarded to Nairn as his second jump was further than that of Sreeshankar.
The track and field events in Birmingham have been hit by a number of withdrawals.
The proximity of the event to the world championships in Oregon in late July and other major meetings saw Jamaican sprinting star Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce opt against racing.
But injury and illnesses are also causing issues, with Australia’s team hit by the withdrawal of three medal contenders.
Stewart McSweyn, a finalist in the 1500m in Tokyo, did not take his place in qualifying heats in the morning session due to influenza. Kathryn Mitchell, the gold medallist in javelin on the Gold Coast four years ago, has also been ruled out of competing in Birmingham.
Athletics Australia said Mitchell was suffering from an unknown virus she picked up when travelling from the United States.