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 Australian star Lauren Mitchell won her fourth gold medal Friday at the Commonwealth Games, tying a 20-year Games record for a female artistic gymnast. The 14,400-seat Indira Ghandi Arena — sparsely attended during the first few days of competition — was at near capacity as Mitchell tied the record for most gold medals by a female gymnast in a single Commonwealth Games. Mitchell won balance beam Friday to match Canadian Lori Strong's feat of four golds at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland. (Canada's Curtis Hibbert holds the men's Commonwealth record with five golds, also won in 1990.) Mitchell returned to competition in Delhi after nearly a year of being sidelined with injuries. After winning golds with the team, in the all-around and uneven bars, Mitchell appeared slightly weary in her fourth consecutive day of competition in Delhi. Nevertheless, she outperformed the field by a wide margin on balance beam, where she is the reigning world silver medalist (ff, ff to two-foot layout; switch-half to back tuck; front somi; ff, ff, double pike). Lim Heem Wei hit an elegant set to win the silver on balance beam (Yurchenko mount; ff layout; front tuck; side somi; layout front full dismount), the best result in international competition for Singapore gymnastics. On Thursday, compatriot David Chan won the bronze medal on pommel horse, the first medal for a Singapore gymnast at the Commonwealth Games. Lim is coached by former Chinese world team member Yuan Kexia, the all-around silver medalist at the 1994 Asian Games. Quebec's Cynthia Lemieux-Guillemette tied Lim with the second-highest score, but a tie breaker bumped her to bronze, one of three medals of the day for Canada. Mitchell had the chance to beat Strong's record outright, but British Olympian Imogen Cairns edged the Australian for the gold on floor exercise. On floor exercise — where she also took second at the world championships — Mitchell was unable to catch Cairns after nearly stumbling out of bounds on her first tumbling pass. Cairns, who won vault Thursday, capped a remarkable comeback of her own by capturing a second gold medal on floor exercise. Following the 2008 Olympics, Cairns spent six months on crutches after suffering simultaneous injuries to both feet, which required two surgeries. The 21 year performed elegantly on floor, nailing all her tumbling (Arabian double front to stag jump; triple twist; 2 1/2 to sissone).  "One year ago I didn't think I'd be able to train again," said Cairns, currently an alternate to Britain's world championships team. "I think I was only just getting back to walking. Gymnastics just wasn't in the equation until my surgeon said that anything I did to my feet couldn't make them worse — so I decided to go for it again." Ashleigh Brennan, the 2006 Commonwealth Games silver medalist on floor exercise, won the bronze for Australia. The 2008 Olympian edged Scotland's dynamic Amy Regan, who tumbled the only double layout of the women's final. In the men's competition, all-around champion Luke Folwell (England) grabbed another gold on vault (Tsukahara 2 1/2; handspring double front). India's Ashish Kumar, 19, had a chance for the gold after landing his Tsukahara double pike — the only 7.0-Difficulty vault in Delhi — but erred on his second attempt. The springy Kumar already made history for India on Thursday with the bronze medal on floor exercise, where he stuck a 2 1/2 twist, punch double front. "I am disappointed at not getting the gold medal, but at least I have the experience of competing at this level," he said after the vault final. Joshua Jefferis won parallel bars, matching Australia's haul of nine golds at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. Jefferis performed aggressively with the most difficulty of the final (double pike between the bars) after his disappointment in the all-around, when the p-bars had been set at the wrong width for his routine. On high bar, Dimitris Krasias (Cyprus) caught a Kovacs to win the competition's final gold medal. Australia was the only Commonwealth power to send its top teams to Delhi, and its gymnasts will depart Monday for the world championships in Rotterdam. Other nations elected to send emerging talent to the Commonwealth Games to gain experience for future competition. The 20th Commonwealth Games will take place in 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland. External Link: Official Website XIX Commonwealth Games
Comments (3)
Lora
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... I hope Mitchell gets a few days rest and won't be too tired in Rotterdam! With her new vault she can really challenge for an AA medal. |
Ana Raquel F.
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... These gymnasts are constantly travelling to other countries. I don't know how they don't get exhausted and go to school. |
Ana Raquel F.
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... Do these girls ever go to school? They are constantly travelling to competitions in other countries. Do they ever get exhausted? I think all that travelling can really wear them out.  |
