Rose blooms in golden Glasgow show

Middle-distance star Rose Davies has become the first woman in history to win the 5000m and 10,000m double at the Commonwealth Games, leading an Australian 1-2 punch in Glasgow that will stand the test of time.

It was a dream scenario at Scotstoun Stadium as hometown hero Megan Keith (SCO) led the field into the final two kilometres to the delight of the crowd, with Davies and teammate Jessica Hull stalking her every move.

With 200m remaining, it was Davies who launched her bid for a golden double having already secured the 10,000m crown on the opening night of competition. But Hull wasn’t letting her go, and it was a neck-and-neck sprint to the line, with Davies taking charge of the race in the last 30 metres to win in 14:44.53, with Hull claiming silver in 14:45.01.

“I can’t believe it!” Davies said. “Having Jess on your shoulder with 100m to go is scary but I honestly just blacked out and was running as hard as I could.”

Both women were smiling across the line, knowing the enormity of the performance, and both embraced after the finish. 

“It means the world to me. As a little girl you watch the Commonwealth Games and see your idols on the screen, and you want that to be you,” Davies, a proud Novacastrian, said.

It was the sweetest of silvers for Hull, who shares the same training track as Davies in Newcastle.

“I’ve been on teams with Rose for a long time now and I’ve seen her rise over time. I hope she takes a moment to reflect on her growth,” Hull said. “The composure she had to hold me down the straight; that’s not easy to do when you have an athlete on your shoulder, and she did it with so much pride.”

Linden Hall finished in seventh place, crossing the line in 14:55.28. She had a strong race but a slight stomach illness meant she had no energy left for a final sprint.  

Earlier in the day, Hull led an Australian middle-distance trio into the final of the Mile, where she and Abbey Caldwell delivered clinical runs to finish in second and third placings of the opening heat in 4:34.20 and 4:34.87, while Claudia Hollingsworth won the second heat in 4:31.17.

Triple jumper Desleigh Owusu leapt to fourth place with a season’s best 13.81m (+1.1), producing the second best jump of her career to miss the podium by 15-centimetres.

A hot start saw Owusu land the marker in the second round, before encountering foul trouble on the final two jumps as she laid it on the line in pursuit of the podium. She was happy to be only five centimetres off her best but was disappointed she couldn’t land a bronze medal effort.

Australia’s youngest ever team member in Athletics and Para Athletics, 15-year-old Lexie Brown came close to her personal best when clocking 13.15 (+1.7) in the 100m T47 to scribe another chapter in her budding career.

Coming full circle in her return to Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games, Michelle Jenneke raced to fifth place in the Women’s 100m Hurdles, posting a time of 12.84 (+2.5) in the final after successfully advancing from the heats in the morning.

“This was my fourth Commonwealth Games final. I ran about half a second faster than I did here 12 years ago, but I still placed the same!” Jenneke said.

Australia will have three men in the Men’s 800m final as Peter Bol, Luke Boyes and Peyton Craig secured three of the eight lanes in Saturday’s showdown.

Bol bided his time in Semi-Final 1 as his experience shone in the final 200m to get himself out of the pack and sprint home strong, while Boyes and Craig scrapped their way into the last dance with strong finishes in Semi-Final 2.

“Man, [Wycliffe] Kynyamal did impress me, he’s going to be a tough man to beat in the final, but I’m going to rewatch that tape and see what we can do to adjust. I just need to do a little bit better and you can’t afford to make any mistakes in the final,” Bol said.

National record holders and 100m medallists Torrie Lewis and Lachlan Kennedy extended their range to 200m when booking their tickets to tomorrow’s final, with Lewis winning her semi-final in 22.64 (+4.7) and Kennedy advancing on time, 20.12 (+1.3).

A sub 23-second showing from Monique Hanlon in 22.90 (+1.7), her second best career time, and a 23.12 (+1.5) performance from Mia Gross were not enough to progress, as Aidan Murphy and Calab Law’s individual campaigns also ended in 20.70 (+3.5) and 20.60 (+2.0).

Oceania champion Thomas Reynolds emerged as a contender for the Men’s 400m podium winning his semi-final in 45.63-seconds, cruising into the home straight with a big lead before ‘racing scared’ brilliantly to hold on to the line. Reece Holder did not progress from the other semi-final, finishing in 45.99-seconds – a valiant effort considering this is his first competition since May.

The Athletics and Para Athletics will continue tomorrow at Scotstoun Stadium, with the first event scheduled for 10:00am local time.

Commonwealth Games Australia