Gold Coast 2018: Third Commonwealth Games silver for Eilidh Doyle as Leon Reid claims historic 200m medal
Hurdler Eilidh Doyle and sprinter Leon Reid won silver and bronze respectively on a dramatic night of athletics as University of Bath-based sportspeople took their Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games medal tally to 15.
Doyle thanked her “fantastic” support team after once again producing a superb performance on the big stage as she finished runner-up in the 400m hurdles final, replicating her achievements at Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014.
Reid then won Northern Ireland’s first-ever sprint medal at a Commonwealth Games after running superbly to finish fourth in the 200m final before being upgraded to bronze when winner Zharnel Hughes was disqualified.
While Reid – coached by James Hillier at the University’s Sports Training Village – was enjoying his first major senior podium place, it was a 15th major championship medal for Scotland flag-bearer Doyle.
She is coached at the University by husband Brian Doyle having previously worked with the legendary Malcolm Arnold from 2011 until his retirement last year.
“I have a really good team around me,” said Doyle, who will race for Scotland in the 4x400m relay this weekend.
“It is slightly different now with having my husband as my main coach but I still have that expertise and guidance from Malcolm Arnold who coached me for so many years.
“My whole support team has been fantastic, they are the ones who get me here in the best shape possible and give me the confidence to know I get out there and perform.”
Here is a round-up of Thursday’s Commonwealth Games action featuring University of Bath-based sportspeople– click here for full news, results and schedules.
Athletics
Eilidh Doyle demonstrated once again that she is a championship performer as she executed a superb race to win 400m hurdles silver for the third successive Commonwealth Games.
The Scot was third coming off the final bend and then maintained her composure to stride past South Africa’s Wenda Nel and take second spot behind Jamaica’s Janieve Russell in 54.80.
“That meant so much to me, I knew this was going to be the hardest Commonwealth Games to come and win a medal at,” said Doyle after standing on the podium at a major championship for the 15th time.
“You never know with hurdling, you’ve just got to get it right on the night, so it is great to come away with a silver.”
Leon Reid won the second medal for a University of Bath-based athlete in a dramatic 200m final that saw England’s Zharnal Hughes originally given the victory before being disqualified after he was adjudged to have impeded Trinidad & Tobago’s Jareem Richards, who was elevated to gold.
That meant that Reid, who has excelled all week and produced another storming finish to cross the line in fourth in 20.55, was upgraded to bronze – a first-ever sprint podium for Northern Ireland.
Reid was once again cheered on in the Carrara Stadium by proud mum Claire Russell, who is a Teaching Fellow in the School of Management at the University. He will collect his bronze on Friday after the medal ceremony was delayed following an appeal by England over Hughes’ disqualification.
Sports Performance graduate Jack Green, a former training partner of Doyle at the University of Bath, missed out a medal by the narrowest of margins in the men’s 400m hurdles final.
Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands was a clear winner but Green was involved in a terrific tussle for the remaining medals, with Jeffery Gibson of the Bahamas coming through on the line for silver and Jamaica’s Jameel Hyde just holding on for bronze.
Green’s time of 49.16 was just eight-hundredths of a second off the silver medal but he was happy with his performance, saying: “That was a world-class field and I was pleased with that run.
“I am in a good place and, as you can see, a happy athlete is a fast athlete. It is nice being back and being healthy.”
Katrina Hart, part of Rob Ellchuk’s training group at the University, returned to the Commonwealth Games stage eight years after winning T37 100m gold in Delhi.
She was the only T37 athlete in a T38 100m final won by fellow English sprinter Sophie Hahn, with Hart’s time of 14.82 a season’s best.
Netball
Team Bath Netball’s Chelsea Lewis and Zanele Vimbela finished their Gold Coast 2018 campaigns on a winning note as the minor placings were decided on Thursday.
Shooter Lewis produced an excellent 90 per cent conversion rate as she scored 35 times – taking her tournament tally to 192 goals – in Wales’ 81-32 victory over Fiji in the 11th-placed play-off. Former Blue and Gold player Amanda Varey, a University of Bath Pharmacy graduate, provided 32 assists from wing attack.
Defender Vimbela was an unused replacement as South Africa beat Uganda 53-42 to finish fifth overall.
Focus now turns to Saturday’s semi-finals, with England’s match against Jamaica being moved forward to 6.02am BST.
Badminton
There was disappointment for University of Bath Economics & Mathematics student Jessica Li, coached by Pete Bush, who had to retire from her women’s singles last 16 match against India’s Saina Nehwal through injury. She had lost the first 21-4 to the Olympian and was 2-0 down in the second when Li was unable to continue.
Hockey
University of Bath graduates Leah Wilkinson and Eloise Laity helped Wales’ women to a 2-0 penalty shoot-out win over Ghana in their ninth-placed play-off after the match had finished level at 1-1 in normal time.
