Commonwealth Games: While you were sleeping - Day 2

Kris Shannon of APNZ round up what happened at the Commonwealth Games while most of New Zealand slept.

Double gold for Webster

Barely 24 hours after triumphing in the team sprint, Sam Webster sealed his second gold medal of the Glasgow Games in the individual race. Webster had to ride past teammate Eddie Dawkins in the semifinal to make the gold-medal showdown, edging a nervy three-race final against English Olympic champion Jason Kenny. Considering Joelle King's gold-silver combo in Delhi was enough to carry the flag at the closing ceremony, Webster may have already locked up that honour.

More medals on track

And, like yesterday, that gold was only a culmination of a successful day for New Zealand at the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome. Dawkins bounced back from his semifinal defeat to take bronze comfortably over Australian Peter Lewis, while Marc Ryan also grabbed bronze in the individual pursuit. The medals took to five the Kiwi tally on the track at these Games, well on the way to match the nine the team won four years ago in Delhi.

Judo duo shine

The Kiwi judo team are pushing the cyclists hard for the title of the most successful sport for New Zealand at these Games, taking two more medals today after Darcina Manuel's bronze yesterday. First came Adrian Leat in the 73kg division, securing silver and dedicating his medal to the brother he lost earlier in the year, then Moira de Villiers also finished with a silver in the 70kg division after defeat to Megan Fletcher on England.

Some swim success

The pool hasn't been quite as happy a hunting ground as the track or whatever the hell you call a judo arena, but there have been hints of promise. Matthew Stanley finished seventh in the 400m freestyle, following a third in his heat at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre, while the men's 4x100m freestyle relay team and teenager Nikita Howarth, in the para-swim 100m freestyle, have also qualified for finals.

Pair censured

A couple Comm Games athletes earned varying degrees of ire from the authorities overnight. Welsh hurdler Rhys Williams, the European champion in the 400m, was the first, being booted from the competition after being charged with an anti-doping violation. Malaysian cyclist Azizulhasni Awang was the other censured, reprimanded by his team for wearing gloves with 'Save Gaza' written on them during competition.

 

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