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Shaw wins England's first gold
Shaw smashed the Games record in the final
Lorraine Shaw won England's first gold medal of the Commonwealth Games with victory in the hammer throw. Her victory was the first leg of a double celebration for the hosts, who also claimed the men's team gymnastics title. Shaw, the oldest competitor in the event at 34, smashed the Games record with a best throw of 66.83 metres in the third round. The result saw her go one better than Kuala Lumpur four years ago where she won silver. Her winning throw shaved 2.27m off the previous Games best set by Australian Boddie Sosimenko.
The English thrower had looked in dominant form from the oustet, topping the standings with a best throw of 66.10m in qualifying. She saved her best for the final, though, to move Bronwyn Eagles of Australia into second place. Afterwards the new Commonwealth hammer champion told the BBC: "It felt sweet as early in the season I was struggling big time. "And I came out and did a season's best and another one to break the Commonwealth Games record. No one could have asked any more from me. "The last time it was silver so it means a lot and the crowd was 100%." Eagles pushed Shaw to the final throw, recording a best of 65.24m before her rival's Games record. The Australian's final effort, though, ended in a foul. Another Australian, Karyne Di Marco was third with 63.40m. |
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