Australia cemented its place at the top of the medals table on day three, with nine more golds in rugby sevens, gymnastics, swimming and track and field cycling to take the country’s total haul to 22 golds – double that of hosts England in the second position. In a stunning performance at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre, Ariarne Titmus set the fastest ever time in the women’s 200m freestyle to anchor the Australian relay team of Madi Wilson, Kiah Melverton and Mollie O’Callaghan to a world record seven minutes 39, 29 seconds. and bested the 7:40.33 set by China at the Tokyo Olympics. And women’s 100m backstroke world record holder Kaylee McKeown won her pet event. Ariarne Titmus is congratulated by teammates Madi Wilson, Kiah Melverton and Mollie O’Callaghan. Photo: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images But McKeon was the absolute star of the show. The Olympic champion started the one-lap final first and finished in the same manner on Monday morning (AEST) to overtake fellow Australian greats Susie O’Neill, Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones, who are tied with 10 gold medals each. McKeon had faced stiff competition from fastest qualifiers Shayna Jack and Meg Harris but, despite her compatriots moving up in the second 25m, McKeon found another gear to lead the clean sweep as Harris took silver and Jack bronze . The triumph follows her previous wins in Birmingham in the 4×100 medley relay and the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay. He also won four gold medals at each of the 2018 Gold Coast Games and the 2014 edition in Glasgow. “It’s pretty cool to be mentioned next to some of those names and I’ll be a part of that history for years to come, hopefully,” McKeon said. “They are the ones who inspired me when I was young. I remember watching them on TV and that lit the fire in me to be where I am now. “Is special. It makes me reflect on the last eight years since my first Commonwealth Games. I can see how far I’ve come as a person and as an athlete.” McKeon, who is also Australia’s most decorated Olympian with 11 medals – five gold, two silver and four bronze – will have the chance to add to her collection at these Games when she competes in four more events. Earlier on Monday morning she qualified fastest in the 50m butterfly final. Australia’s Maddison Levi (centre right) celebrates with teammates after winning rugby sevens gold. Photo: Jacob King/PA Also in swimming, Zac Stubblety-Cook (men’s 100m breaststroke), Jenna Strauch (women’s 200m breaststroke) and Tim Hodge (men’s 100m breaststroke S8) won silver while Blake Cochrane (men’s 100m breaststroke and Sam Williams men’s S8) secured copper. And Kyle Chalmers put aside the controversy of the last 24 hours to advance to the men’s 100m final with the second-fastest time of the year. It came as Australia won women’s rugby sevens gold for the first time by beating Fiji 22-12 in the final. Fiji, who knocked Australia out of the Tokyo Olympics in the quarter-finals and beat them in the group stages in Birmingham, were no match for the green and gold in the final. Madison Ashby and Madi Levi both scored tries and Faith Nathan crossed twice to build a 22-0 lead and keep the scoreline as Fiji scored just before the end and again after the buzzer. The men’s team settled for fourth place, losing 26-12 to New Zealand in the bronze medal match. In a thrilling and dramatic day of cycling, Australia won four golds thanks to Matt Richardson (men’s sprint), Georgia Baker (women’s 25km points race), Christina Clonan (women’s 500m time trial final) and para-cyclist Jess Gallagher and pilot Caitlin. Ward (Women’s Tandem B 1000m Time Trial). Matthew Richardson won a dramatic gold in the men’s sprint. Photo: Garry Bowden/REX/Shutterstock But it was another unlucky day for Matt Glaetzer, who thought he had beaten Scotland’s Jack Carlin to bronze in the sprint but was relegated after the stewards ruled he had used unfair contact. Beau Wootton and co-pilot Luke Zaccaria also secured bronze in the men’s tandem B sprint. In gymnastics, Georgia Godwin won her first Commonwealth Games gold medal in the rhythmic all-around. The Queenslander, who won silver in the team event at the weekend, put in a thrilling performance in her fourth and final discipline at Arena Birmingham, where she performed her floor routine to a Michael Bublé version of Feeling Good. Godwin finished ahead of England’s Ondine Achampong and Canada’s Emma Spence who became the first Australian to win the event since Lauren Mitchell in Delhi 2010. The 24-year-old did it against the odds, having considered skipping the 2022 Games due to back injuries ankle. In the triathlon, Sophie Linn anchored Australia to bronze in the medley relay to build on Matt Hauser’s bronze in the individual event two days ago. The women’s cricket team claimed a nine-wicket win over Barbados to book a place in the semi-finals ahead of Wednesday’s final group game against Pakistan. The Olympic silver medal winning volleyball team of Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar won their first pool match, defeating Sri Lanka in straight sets.
