[Gotham Dark Knight]

Commonwealth Games 2006 Kick Off in Melbourne Australia

MELBOURNE came alive last night for the party of a lifetime, as thousands of revellers flocked into the city.Live sites at Docklands and Federation Square provided a fun-filled alternative for those who could not secure a seat at the MCG or a vantage point along the banks of the Yarra.
Crowds started building from early afternoon at Federation Square to stake out prime positions overlooking the Yarra festivities from on high.




Brooke Hanson and Michael Klim compare "guns" during the unveiling of their new Commonwealth Games swimsuits

...hmmm...there is competitive sports life outside the US...who would have thought?

The Commonwealth Games usually provides some pretty good competition...Commonwealth Nation usually produce some pretty fantastic long distance runners...a list of the best Mile times from Commonwealth nations is shown below.

1 MILE
3:43.40 Noah Ngeny (KEN) Rome 7 Jul 1999
3:46.32 Steve Cram (ENG) Oslo 27 Jul 1985
3:46.38 Daniel Komen (KEN) Berlin 26 Aug 1997
3:47.28 Bernard Lagat (KEN) Rome 29 Jun 2001
3:47.33 Sebastian Coe (ENG) Brussels 28 Aug 1981
3:47.65 Laban Rotich (KEN) Oslo 4 Jul 1997
3:47.88 John Kibowen (KEN) Oslo 4 Jul 1997
3:47.94 William Chirchir (KEN) Oslo 28 Jul 2000
3:48.17 Paul Korir (KEN) London (CP) 8 Aug 2003
3:48.40 Steve Ovett (ENG) Koblenz 26 Aug 1981

Anybody out there been to the Commonwealth Games before?

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Yeen pole vaulter Vicky Parmov easily clears the bar at the Games selection trials. At 15, Parmov will the youngst member of the Aussie team

[Gotham Dark Knight]

1ST DAY OF COMPETITION: The Aussie's are kicking major butt...

The first day of competition, watched by approximately 110,000 sports mad fans, saw new Commonwealth Games records set in both Swimming and Cycling.

A total of ten gold medals were awarded, with Australia commanding an early position on the medal tally.

New Games records were set in the race for gold in the pool by New Zealand’s Moss Burmester in the Men’s 200m Butterfly and Scotland’s Caitlin McClatchey in the Women’s 200m Freestyle.

South Africa smashed the Games record set by Australia in Manchester in the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay.

Australia won a total of 12 medals in four sports – three gold, five silver and four bronze. Stephanie Rice smashed the games record in Swimming with gold in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley and on the cycling track Anna Meares claimed the games record from her sister Kerry.

Anna is now the holder of both the commonwealth and world records. Also at the cycling, Ben Kersten claimed gold in the Men’s Individual Pursuit.




Stephanie Rice to claim the 200m Individual
Medley.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

(3/17) The defending Commonwealth Games gold medallists New Zealand have won their third consecutive gold medal in the Rugby 7s after defeating England 29-21.
England were playing in their first Commonwealth Games gold medal match after earlier defeating Fiji 21-14. New Zealand made it to the final by beating Australia 21-19.



Strong performances on the beam and the vault helped the Australian gymnasts secure the Women's Team gold medal ahead of England and Canada.
The Australians scored 172.600 points to win by 8.250 points from England, which was without its injured captain, Beth Tweddle.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Day two of the Athletics competition was highlighted by the triple medal victories for Australia in both the Men’s and Women’s 20km walk.

Australian Jane Saville claimed gold in the Women's 20km Walk, recording a time of 1:32.46 – a new Commonwealth Games record, with sister Natalie in second place and compatriot Cheryl Webb finishing with bronze.

In another Games record, Nathan Deakes claimed yet another Commonwealth Games gold with Luke Adams collecting silver and Jared Tallent bronze. Deakes’ time of 1:19.33 was 5 minutes better than his previous record.

All eyes then turned to the Melbourne Cricket Ground with world record holder in the Men’s 100m, Jamaica's Asafa Powell losing his way in a sensation packed second semi final heat in which two of the runners were disqualified for breaking.In the final it was all business for Powell who powered his way to a winning time of 10.03, followed by Nigerian Soji Fasuba in 10.11 and Marc Burns of Trinidad in 10.17.

Jamaica were also successful in the final of the 100m Women’s event, with Sheri-Ann Brooks recording a personal best time of 11.19, with silver and bronze going to South Africa’s Geraldine Pillay and Delphine Atanga of Cameroon respectively.

The crowd rose to its feet for the 5,000m final when Aussie Craig Mottram battled a close two final laps against Kenya’s Augustine Choge who finally proved too strong for the Australian in a Games record time of 12.56.41, with Mottram earning a meritorious silver and pre-race favourite Benjamin Limo from Kenya winning bronze.

Nigeria won both gold and silver in the Women's Seated Shot Put EAD Final, with Nijdeka Iyazi throwing 6.78m and Virginia Ohagwu recording 6.08m. Australian Asti Poole took bronze with 5.33m.

Australian Brooke Krueger set a Commonwealth Games Record of 67.9m in the Women's Hammer Throw to take gold. She was trailed by Canadian Jennifer Joyce (67.29m) and England's Lorraine Shaw (66m).

Another Australian, Elizabeth McIntosh, won the Women's 100m EAD T37 final in 14.38 seconds.

South African Janus Robberts took gold in the Men's Shot Put Final with 19.76m, narrowly beating Jamaican Dorian Scott by one centimetre and Australian Scott Martin (19.4 claiming the bronze.