Commonwealth Games Thread

[BoyBrumby]

Pretty disappointed our women's 4x400 got DQ'd. It seemed just as much the Australians' fault as ours.

 

[Anna]

From the sounds of it it was only the one Aussie involved who complained.....the coach & Pittman have both said England deserved the medal (but then Pittman & whatever-hername-is had a bust up before the games....). Either way, it sounds like Danvers-Smith did little wrong....oh well, tis life I spose.

 

[Sir Redman]

If there's a short-corner, the ball must hit the backboard. Benchy is also right - in open play it can be disallowed if it's seen to be dangerous ie. skimming past the defender's ear or something.

Unless you flick it.

 

[Nate]

Poor Craig! Rigged I tells ya.

 

[age_master]

How shameful is the fact that a country of Pakistan's size hasn't won a single frickin' medal in the games so far?

yeah thats pretty poor, will get one in the hockey today though.

 

[age_master]

Pretty disappointed our women's 4x400 got DQ'd. It seemed just as much the Australians' fault as ours.

yeah they ran better and deserved the win - it was an englishman that tripped up Motram in the 1500m so i feel little sympathy.

 

[Robertinho]

You sound like almost as poor a loser as this guy:

http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,18607465-23218,00.html

Willis beat him when they last raced each other before the Olympics and has a faster personal best. Why exactly was Mottram supposed to beat him?

Before the Olympics? C'mon Volty, Mottram has come in leaps and bounds since then, and it was shown by his sub-13 minute time in the 5000.

Mottram also qualified fastest for the final, and you could see he was just jogging in the heat. Not only that, he had 85,000 countrymen cheering him on. I'm not saying he was definitely going to win, but he would've been hard to beat.

But anyway - who's blaming Willis for anything? He did nothing wrong by my books, he was at the front, had absolutely nothing to do with what happened to Mottram. It's the fact that it appears this Nick McCormick **** pushed another runner (his teammate) into Mottram, and we'll never know if he could've won that gold. I'm sure Willis is happy with the gold but would've preferred to have had a crack at beating Mottram. Good on him, anyway, he beat all the other runners.

 

[Smudge]

Yes, before the Olympics - over 109 metres more, but essentially the same.

12th February 2006
Willis sets personal best time with victory over Mottram

Nick Willis gave his Melbourne Commonwealth Games medal prospects a fillip with a stunning victory over number five in the world last year over the mile, Craig Mottram of Australia, on Saturday evening in Wanganui. The 22 year old came from behind with a storming finish to edge out Mottram over the final 50 metres in a personal best and a Cooks Gardens record of 3m 52.75s.

In perfect conditions in front of a supportive crowd of 3000 Neil Sampson and Tim Prendergast provided an ideal pace over the first two laps covered in 1m 58s, before handing over to Mottram and Willis. Mottram led Willis through the three quarter in 2m 56s. The pair streaked down the back straight and Mottram still had the upper hand turning into the final straight. Working on strict instructions from his coach, Willis waited until the final 50 metres before turning on the pace to pass Mottram and charge to the finish line. With hands raised Willis had the satisfaction of going two up after three races against Mottram.

"I was scared before the race because he (Mottram) is such a great runner. It was just a matter of holding my form over the last bit," said a delighted Willis. "It was a real blessing having the help from two good pace makers and it was the help from these runners and the outstanding crowd support that got me to a personal best," said Willis. "The ultimate goal is now the gold in Melbourne, I want a shot at it, and if it doesn't come off I will be happy with having done my best." Willis won $10,000 for his win, but immediately announced that he will be donating it to World Vision.

Mottram said he was disappointed. "It was disappointing, no one likes being beaten. The time is OK, but it was frustrating being beaten in the home straight," said Mottram. "Tonight's race was good for New Zealand, he (Willis) is a world class runner."

Mottram recorded 3m 53.14s, with English runner Mohamed Farah third in 3m 58.45s. Willis' time broke the previous best time at Wanganui of 3m 53.8s set by Jurgen May from East Germany in 1965. John Walker holds the New Zealand allcomers and resident mile record with his time of 3m 50.6s set in Auckland in 1981. Paul Hamblyn was fourth in 3m 59.05s with former New Zealand 800m champion Gareth Hyett breaking the four minute barrier for the first time with 3m 59.80s for fifth.

http://www.athletics.org.nz/news.html

Did you see the heats, Robertinho? Willis was almost tripped - he staggered for a few metres - but was still classy enough to win his heat and eased over the line.

And where exactly did I claim others were blaming Willis?

 

[Robertinho]

You said Broncoman was a sore loser. I don't think that anyone feels Willis didn't deserve that medal - we're happy for him - but we're frustrated about what happened to Mottram and the fact it appears deliberate (though who knows).

 

[Smudge]

You said Broncoman was a sore loser. I don't think that anyone feels Willis didn't deserve that medal - we're happy for him - but we're frustrated about what happened to Mottram and the fact it appears deliberate (though who knows).

Once again, where did I claim others were blaming Willis? My reference was to broncoman calling the Englishman a cheat. Does he have any proof of this?

 

[Robertinho]

Once again, where did I claim others were blaming Willis? My reference was to broncoman calling the Englishman a cheat. Does he have any proof of this?

Video replays? It looks quite deliberate. And you can understand that it's been exaggerated by the fact he's our golden boy of the track.

 

[Smudge]

Video replays? It looks quite deliberate.

I've seen the video replays. It's not conclusive, as far as I'm concerned.

And you can understand that it's been exaggerated by the fact he's our golden boy of the track

You Aussies really don't like it when things don't go your way...

And he can't be called a golden boy anymore.

 

[Simon]

You Aussies really don't like it when things don't go your way...

no we don't....

And he can't be called a golden boy anymore.

we'll call him what we want...

 

[Robertinho]

The gold medal match in netball is on now. Van dyk - so incredibly tall. Sharelle McMahon can attack my goal any day

 

[Right arm fast]

gold for nz womens netball team!!

 

[Blaze]

I don't mind the netball, especially the NZ vs. Aus games

 

[Burpey]

Sharelle McMahon can attack my goal any day

The most exciting moment of Sharelle's life ...

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/15/1089694487964.html?from=storylhs

... meeting Larry.

 

[JASON]

NZ women's netballers are current World Champs so their getting Gold is deserved.

There were some swimmers (at these games)who beat World records and are World Champons in their own right.

But apart from those and a few others, most of the sports at the Commenwealth Games are contested by people who would mostly struggle to rank in the top 10 in the world.

As such it gives these people a chance to glory when they would struggle to feature prominently in the Olympics or World Championships.

Even most of the leading Track athletes from Jamaica and Africa chose to keep away from the Commonwealth Games, because they feel its a waste of time or not worth their while to turn up. Just shows where they rank the Comm games !!

Also on another point, it also shows that you don't need the Elite athletes in most sports to put on a good show. Even the second or third best can still put on a good show.

 

[Blaze]

I have changed my attitude on the games now that they are over.

I have actually enjoyed the games, it is one of the only opportunities for us to see most of these athletes compete in their chosen sports on tv.

 

[Robertinho]

Even most of the leading Track athletes from Jamaica and Africa chose to keep away from the Commonwealth Games, because they feel its a waste of time or not worth their while to turn up. Just shows where they rank the Comm games !!

Yes, like Asafa Powell... oh wait...