Georgia Godwin has continued her breakthrough Commonwealth Games, with another gold medal in artistic gymnastics in Birmingham.
A day after winning the women’s all-round individual title, the 24-year-old again produced her best to claim the vault.
And it was as tight as you can get.
Godwin and Canada’s Laurie Denommee finished on the same score after their two vaults.
However, the Queenslander won on the tie-break rule, with the highest scoring single vault.
“Coming off of two days of comp, I am feeling it a little bit, so I just gave 110 per cent of what I had left into that first vault,” she said.
And straight after the final vault, she backed up for the uneven bars, and this time grabbed silver.
While gold might seem to shine brightest, Godwin was most emotional when talking about sharing the silver medal in the team final earlier in the week.
“The team one means so much to me,” she said.
“To go through everything we have with the other four girls, and to come away with a silver, I’m so proud of them.
“I’m just proud of myself and everything I’ve had to go through. And everyone who’s helped me get here. It takes a huge village.”
Godwin is the advertisement gymnastics needs after a report last year showed serious issues in the sport.
And she’s willing to help the sport move forward.
“I like to see myself as the mother figure. I am older,” she said.
“This team I was honored to be the captain of — and I’ve really just tried to take everyone under my wing, show them what sportsmanship looks like and try [to] guide them in the right direction at the end.
“I do my best to try [to] show that gymnastics is a safe sport, and that everyone should feel safe when doing gymnastics, and we’re heading in the right direction.”
Godwin still has one more event to come: the women’s beam final.
Glaetzer ‘over the moon’ to win after rollercoaster competition
Track cyclist Matthew Glaetzer has had one of the wildest rides of all athletes at the Commonwealth Games.
He started competition with gold in the men’s team sprint, then was involved in a scary crash in the keirin, which threatened to end his campaign.
He was left fuming after being denied a bronze medal in the men’s sprint upon review.
Then, to throw another spanner in the works, just hours before the men’s 1000m time trial, AusCycling released a statement saying the Australians would have to use different handlebars, due to them being ruled unsafe.
So, among that dramatic backdrop, Glaetzer still somehow managed to summon a phenomenal performance to win the time trial, using equipment that would’ve added at least a second to his time.
“I’m making a habit of bouncing back at the Commonwealth Games,” he said.
“I’d rather not have such lows to come back from, but it shows there is always a new day and we can always try again.”
Glaetzer has now equaled Anna Meares’s track cycling record of five Commonwealth Games golds.
“It was special, but I was surprised I won, given how bad I felt out there,” he said.
“Last night I said I’d be over the moon just to get a medal, considering everything that’s happened.
“To come home with a win in such a special time, shows how strong we are as a nation.”
Another bright star emerges on the green
Ellen Ryan, 25 — the youngest member of the Australian lawn bowls team — took out the gold medal in her debut Games women’s singles final, overcoming Guernsey’s Lucy Beere 17-21.
However, in the men’s triple final, while Australia’s men almost pulled off one of the great comebacks, they had to settle for silver..
Barry Lester, Carl Healey and Ben Twist were trailing 12-1, with two ends to go.
They managed to get back to 12-all but England edged ahead to win 14-12, leaving the Aussies with a silver medal.
“We used every bit of Aussie spirit we could and put ourselves in a position [to win],” Lester said.
“ButJamie [Chestney, England] and the boys played really well and they’re worthy winners.”
Weightlifting gold out of reach
Kyle Bruce was in the gold medal position in the men’s 81kg weightlifting category after a Commonwealth Games record of 183kg in the clean and jerk.
He was given three white lights by the judges, however, on review, officials ruled his arms didn’t fully extend in the overhead position and, so, he was left with silver behind England’s Chris Murray.
“A lot of people at home that don’t know weightlifting that will would be cheering and screaming like ‘Wow, that’s the gold, he’s got it,'” Bruce said.
“And then, a few minutes later, to say it’s a ‘No lift’, some people wouldn’t understand that.
“But, as a weightlifter, that’s the rules. I understand that.”
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