The Australian had just won the men’s 100m freestyle, a Commonwealth Games gold for six years – his first at a major international event since becoming an Olympic medalist in Rio in 2016. And after a week of baseless speculation and relentless questions about his private life, his time of 47.51 seconds symbolically silenced all the unwanted attention. “I thought about it before,” Chalmers told the Seven Network after the race, in which England’s Tom Dean and Scotland’s Duncan Scott won silver and bronze respectively. “Normally I do a bit of a bigger celebration after a win, but this was one that probably means more than just throwing a punch or flexing a muscle. “It’s special to win, but unfortunately I think it’s hard to enjoy the moment when everything that’s happened has continued. It makes for a difficult time. “I’m just thankful that I was able to block it enough to get up and win tonight. I hope this is a learning point for everyone and I hope no one else has to go through what I have gone through.” On a day when table-topping Australia again added to their already bulging medal tally in Birmingham, with Emma McKeon leading the swimmers’ dominance and Matthew Glaetzer (track and field cycling), Georgia Godwin (gymnastics), Ellen Ryan ( lawn bowls) and Tinka Easton (judo) among the other gold medalists, Chalmers said he was uncharacteristically emotional before the match. “These last 48 hours have been hell, it’s been an emotional rollercoaster,” he said. “I appreciate all the support I’ve had. I couldn’t pass [without] the. “Yesterday there were points where I thought I wouldn’t continue. This just lets the media win. For me, I had to stand up and do it, not for myself but for everyone at home, for everyone who was going through similar things. I hope I can inspire and I will continue this conversation.” It came as McKeon collected her fourth gold of the Games and 12th of her career, just holding off compatriot Holly Barratt – who tied for second with South Africa’s Erin Gallagher – to set her new record as the most successful Commonwealth Games athlete in history. . Also in the pool, Kaylee McKeown cruised to victory in the 200m backstroke to add to her 100m triumph, beating Kylie Masse and breaking the Canadian Commonwealth Games record in the process. Matthew Glaetzer celebrates his men’s 1km time trial gold despite a sprint steer race. Photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images The men’s relay team won a fourth straight 4x200m gold in Games record time and Matthew Levy won S7 men’s 50m freestyle gold to cap a brilliant career with a string of Paralympic, World Championships and Commonwealth Games gold medals . “It’s great to finish here and back it up four years ago,” Levy said. “I’ve had a very long career and it’s great to continue at this high level for 20 years and I’m very proud of tonight and proud of my career.” Meanwhile, Cody Simpson advanced to the final of the men’s 100m butterfly, qualifying fifth fastest with a third-place finish in his semi-final. “Pretty wild, pretty special,” Simpson said. “That was my goal, to make sure I went into the night. I’m just relieved to be there.” On the track, Glaetzer put two days of failure behind him to defend his 1km time trial from four years ago and equal Anna Meares’ Australian record of five Commonwealth Games cycling golds. Despite being forced to use different handlebars for safety reasons, Glaetzer (59.505 seconds) and Australia’s Tom Cornish (1:00.036) finished first and second ahead of Nicholas Paul of Trinidad and Tobago (1:00.089). The race – likely his last at a Commonwealth Games – was a fitting end to a nightmare 48 hours in which the 29-year-old from Adelaide crashed during the keirin and had to have his elbow amputated to remove shrapnel and then he was denied a bronze medal in the men’s sprint criticism. AusCycling had told the Australians they should use less aero sprint handlebars because of fears the aeros would not cope with the riders’ power output. The decision came as a result of a review following Alex Porter’s crash at the Tokyo Olympics, which found the governing body had failed to properly stress-test equipment. “It was pretty last minute when we found out,” Glaetzer said. “We couldn’t control it. But we’d rather be safe and not cut anything or hurt our hand with something going wrong, so we took it in stride.” Gymnast Godwin won the individual vault to take her strength to two gold medals and two silvers in a campaign that has almost single-handedly brought gymnastics into the limelight. The Diamonds remain unbeaten in netball after beating South Africa 74-49, although midfielder Paige Hadley is a doubt for the team’s next game against Wales on Tuesday after picking up a calf injury. It wasn’t a good day for the women’s 3 x 3 basketball team, who lost their semi-final 20-13 to host nation England.
