John Salvado / AAP News
The recent world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber completes her set of Commonwealth Games medals by winning gold over fellow Aussie MacKenzie Little, relegating the Commonwealth Games debutant to the silver medal.
Ice-cool Kelsey-Lee Barber has produced yet another clutch finish to snatch gold from fellow Australian MacKenzie Little in the women’s javelin at the Commonwealth Games.
Barber is a peerless big-event performer, as evidenced by her two world titles in 2019 and 2022 and bronze at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.
And she did it again on Sunday with the gold-medal throw of 64.43m in the final round edging out Little, who had twice exceeded her personal best with efforts of 64.03m and 64.27m.
The bronze went to Annu Rani from India with 60.00m.
Barber also won gold with her final throw at the 2019 world championships in Doha and she clinched third spot at the Tokyo Olympics in the same dramatic fashion.
The 30-year-old now has the full set of Commonwealth medals, having won bronze in 2014 and siver in 2018.
Australian Michelle Jenneke produced another fast time but it proved only good enough for fifth in a red-hot women’s 100m hurdles final.
World record holder Tobi Amusan from Nigeria blew the field away with a winning time of 12.30 seconds, smashing the 16-year-old Games record of 12.65 in the process.
Minor medallists Devynne Charlton from the Bahamas (12.58) and England’s Cindy Sember (12.59) also dipped under the 12.6 mark.
Drawn alongside Amusan in lane six, Jenneke was also impressive, finishing fifth in 12.68 – just a couple of hundredths of a second outside her personal best set last month at the world championships in Eugene.
“That is like by far the fastest race that has ever been at a Commonwealth Games,” said Jenneke.
“The previous Games record was 12.65 and that was just absolutely obilterated.
“Fifth at the Commonwealth Games probably doesn’t sound that impressive but in that field, I tell you what, it really is because that was red-hot.
“All the girls are absolutely incredible.”
Fellow Australian Celeste Mucci was seventh in 13.03.
Declan Tingay was overtaken by Canadian veteran Evan Dunfe e in the final lap of the men’s 10,000 race walk and had to settle for silver.
Dunfee clocked a winning time of 38:36.37 ahead of Tingay in 38:42.33.
Muzala Samukonga (44.66) won Zambia’s first gold medal of the Birmingham Games, storming home over the top of local hope Matthew Hudson-Smith (44.81) in the men’s 400m final.
Australian Steve Solomon was seventh in 46.22, ending another injury-blighted season where he had to overcome a hamstring tendinopathy issue.
Julian Konle was 10th in the men’s triple jump with 15.90m.
