But Ben does his country proud by striking gold

BEN PROUD cast aside his opening-day wobbles to claim 50metres freestyle gold last night and then set his sights on a treble at Birmingham 2022. Proud was uncatchable as he defended his splash -and-dash title on the final day of swimming. But even Proud, 23, felt the full force of on-song Australia in the 4x100m medley relay finale when he was caught on the anchor leg. Yet Proud certainly stood out for the way he atoned for his 50m butterfly disqualification on day one after movement on the starting blocks. His gold riposte was achieved in a blistering 21.35secs as he became the second Englishman after Mark Foster to retain the freestyle crown. “This gives me more energy to come back in four years’ time in front of a home crowd and hopefully I’m still in good shape,” he said.

Proud, right, is one year into his new training surroundings in Turkey and under coach James Gibson, the Plymouth flier is finding the extra trimmings to his starts and finishes for his 50m tilts.

He said: “We live in a hotel with the pool on site and it is as professional as you get. When it comes to retiring I can look back and say there was nothing more left to give.” Proud tried to give his all in a fitting medley climax, but Kyle Chalmers, the Olympic champion, produced a superb leg to claim gold for Australia in a Games record 3mins 31.04secs. Proud was 0.09secs down. England’s other medal successes came in the 400m freestyle when Holly Hibbott and Ellie Faulkner won silver and bronze respectively. Australia romped to 28 golds with England landing nine in second. Grant Robins, England’s team leader, said: “Our job over the next four years is to try and use the momentum and come back bigger and stronger.”