Malta Independent

Caster Semenya rules on the track

- 79-YEAR-OLD FINISHES 8TH

Caster Semenya didn't let a light drizzle and technical malfunctio­n prevent her from setting the Commonweal­th Games record in the 1,500 meters.

The two-time Olympic 800-meter champion crossed in 4 minutes, 0.71 seconds, taking more than four seconds off the old mark.

That came after a 12-minute delay at the start because of a technical fault, and a slower-than-usual first two laps from Semenya.

She started her surge with 250 meters to go and rounded the leaders with 200 remaining, extending her lead in the home stretch and then flexing her biceps in a bodybuildi­ng pose after crossing the line. FINAL NIGHT AT THE POOL There was yet more gold for Australia along with personal milestones for South African Chad le Clos and Canadian teenager Taylor Ruck.

Australia added six more gold medals Tuesday to finish with 73 medals — 28 gold, 21 silver and 24 bronze — in swimming events.

Ahead of the last night of competitio­n, le Clos won gold in all three butterfly distances — the 50, 100 and 200, and had a silver in the 100 freestyle. Those four medals had increased his career Commonweal­th Games total to 16, a record for a swimmer, and two fewer than the record 18 overall held by two shooters.

Le Clos made it 17 when South Africa won bronze in the medley relay.

The 17-year-old Ruck finished with eight medals at these Games, breaking a 52-year-old Canadian women's record. Canadian Elaine Tanner won seven medals (four gold and three silver) at the 1966 edition in Kingston, Jamaica.

Ruck had one gold, five silver and two bronze medals on the Gold Coast, picking up her eighth medal when Canada finished second in the medley relay.

Robert Pitcairn, the 79-year-old Canadian and oldest-ever athlete to at the Commonweal­th Games, finished eighth in the Queen's Prize Pairs shooting event with partner Nicole Rossignol.

England's Parang Patel and David Luckman won gold, with Welsh pair Chris Watson and Gareth Morris taking silver and Scotland's Alexander Walker and Ian Shaw took bronze.

British shooters also filled the podium in the men's 50-meter rifle prone — David Phelps of Wales took gold, Neil Stirton of Scotland won the silver and Kenneth Parr of England took the bronze. It was Phelps' second gold of the games, and on his 41st birthday. BOXER FINED FOR FIGHTING

Sean McComb, a 25-year-old boxer from Northern Ireland, was fined 756 Australian dollars ($580) and banned from the Gold Coast night club district after an alterca- tion with security overnight. Local media reported that McComb had been drinking with friends when he was removed from the nightclub, and police were called when McComb tried to re-enter the club. Police said McComb was arrested and issued with an infringeme­nt notice for public nuisance and violence.

McComb's night out came after he was beaten by England's Luke McCormack in the 64-kilogram division on Sunday.

Athletics

Men’s 110m Hurdles

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Caster Semanya
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