WOEFUL? WE WERE WONDERFUL

FROM ALEX SPINK on the Gold Coast TEAM boss Sarah Winckless refused to accept England had been “woeful” at the Commonwealth Games despite their medal-table thrashing.

Four years after being top dogs for the first time since 1986, England won just 45 golds to Australia’s 80. In all they picked up 62 fewer medals than the host nation – their total of 136 some 38 short of their Glasgow tally four years ago. It prompted the local newspaper to scream: ‘Woeful England fail to show up for the fight’ and tastelessly brand England’s campaign “the worst organised since Gallipoli.”

Winckless (left) was having none of it as more than 400 athletes – the largest team sent by England to an overseas sporting event, complete with an additional £4million of Lottery funding – headed home.“I think ‘woeful’ would be very unkind,” said the former worldchampion rower. “We were close to our best-ever away performance.”

England were indeed just one gold short of their best-ever ‘away’ haul, set in Auckland in 1990, and four medals shy of the biggest total tally set in Delhi in 2010. But too many of the big names either failed to turn up or did and then failed to deliver – blaming the fact April is too early in the year to deliver top-quality sporting performances.

That did not wash with sprinter Adam Gemili who countered: “We all knew it was going to be in April and had plenty of time to prepare for that. It shouldn’t be an excuse.”