Surprises highlight big night at Games track
gold coast — It was a night of surprises on Thursday on the track at the Commonwealth Games.
An expected close duel between Olympic champions was lopsided, with Shaunae MillerUibo winning the women’s 200 metres final in a games record time and Elaine Thompson missing out on a medal.
And Zharnel Hughes initially was awarded the win in a photo finish with Jareem Richardson in the men’s 200 final but was later disqualified. Richardson, who was in the adjacent lane and appeared to be impeded by Hughes’ left arm only metres from the finish, was subsequently declared the winner in 20.12 seconds.
Watching it all was eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt, now retired but in the stadium to present the medals to the women’s champion. Many expected him to be draping the gold medal over the neck of fellow Jamaican Thompson, who had matched his feat at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 by winning the 100-200 double.
Instead it was Miller-Uibo, who won the 400 in Rio, who won in 22.09, lowering the mark set by another Bahamas sprinter, Debbie Ferguson, in 2002. Elsewhere around the Commonwealth Games:
The newly-retired Bolt left no doubt about his future, which doesn’t include a return to elite sprinting.
Asked at a news conference at the Commonwealth Games if it’s possible the world might see him at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, — “am I right, or am I wrong?,” a journalist asked — Bolt replied: “Very wrong.”
Also asked if he felt that his 100-meter world record of 9.58 seconds would be broken, he said: “I just hope it doesn’t happen anytime soon.” —