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Live Coverage: Commonwealth Games - July 31

Follow Sports Mole's live coverage from the eighth day of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow
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Welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of the eighth day of action from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Yesterday saw a flurry of medals for England in the athletics, gymnastics and diving, moving them three golds clear of Australia at the top of the medal table.

Today, there will be more chances for the home nations to add to their medal count on the track, in cycling and in wrestling.

Follow our updates throughout the day below.


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Good morning! It's day eight of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and there are 25 gold medal across 12 sports to be handed out today. The home nations will be optimistic of success when the road cycling time trials get underway later this morning. Diving, athletics and wrestling all continue today as well.

Before we turn our attention to today's action, let's look at some of the stories to come out of Glasgow overnight...

Laugher: 'I handled the pressure really well'

Gallantree: 'We didn't think we could beat Canada'

Report: Team Wales athlete assaulted at Commonwealth Games

Mears: 'Laughter is on fire at the moment'

Harrold overwhelmed after winning silver


Last night, England long jump star Greg Rutherford added Commonwealth gold to his Olympic title with a leap of 8.20m at Hampden Park, bettering his silver from Delhi four years ago. The 27-year-old has said that he hopes to maintain his "peak" for another two years so that he can retain his Olympic gold in Rio.

Rutherford's had a pretty busy morning with the media already. As well as confirming his Rio ambitions, the long jump champion has revealed that he is going to attempt to become only the sixth person to win medal at the Summer and Winter Olympics as he's going to try to take up skeleton.

It around 10 minutes, the women's individual time trial will get underway on the streets of Glasgow, with the men's event following at around 12.30pm. One of the competitors in that event will be Michael Hutchinson of Northern Ireland, who has just missed out on the medals in the last two games. The 39-year-old actually spends most of his time writing about the sport these days, and admits that it feels "slightly odd" to be preparing to compete again.

The diving qualifiers for tonight's final are just getting underway in Glasgow. 1m champion Oliver Dingley will be looking for his second gold in as many days when he goes in the 3m springboard event for England, but he insists that he isn't feeling the pressure.

Also underway at the minute are England's hockey men in their final pool stage match against Canada. Having lost to New Zealand earlier this week, the team really need a win to make sure that they reach the semi-finals. Despite that defeat, David Condon insists that the team are still optimistic of winning gold. It's looking good for them so far, they're already 2-0 up against Canada.

In cycling, the women's individual time trial is well underway, with Scotland's Lucy Coldwell, England's Joanna Rowsell and Wales's Elinor Barker all on the course already. England's Emma Pooley is one of the last riders to go, and has said that the Glasgow course suits her a lot more than the course in Delhi four years ago.

England's Jack Laugher has been in action in the 3m springboard qualifying this morning, and Sports Mole was there to watch:


England's gold-medal winning squash star Nick Matthew is the favourite for the men's doubles event too with partner Adrian Grant. They already top their pool following a convincing win over a pair from Papua New Guinea, but Matthew insists that they are not getting carried away.

Earlier we mentioned that England's men's hockey team were in action against Canada looking to secure a place in the semi-finals of the event. That match has now finished, with the English side sealing a 3-1 victory to progress. It's likely that they will face Australia in the last four.

MEDAL! The first medal of the morning goes to England in the open triples B6/B7/B8 bowls, as they've beaten Scotland 13-12 in the bronze-medal match. We'll bring you more on this shortly

As promised, here are the details of England's win over Scotland in the bronze-medal match in the open triples lawn bowls event. The gold-medal match has just finished too, with South Africa edging out New Zealand for the title.

MEDAL! There's no golden finish for Emma Pooley as New Zealand's Linda Villumsen pips the retiring English cyclist to gold in the women's time trial, with Australia's Katrin Garfoot in third, while Scotland Katie Archibald was fifth. We'll have more details coming up shortly.

Meanwhile, James Willstrop has warned his squash partner Daryl Selby that there is no margin for error in the knockout stage of the competition.

Scotland's only male competitor in the diving, James Heatly is in action in the 3m springboard qualifiers this morning. The 17-year-old also reached the final in the 1m event yesterday, and has been speaking to Sports Mole about competing in front of his home crowd.

Here are some more details from the women's individual time trial, which saw England's Emma Pooley claim silver. The men's time trial is due to get underway in around an hour, where defending champion David Millar will be looking to retain his title in front of his home crowd.

If you were following our Commonwealth Games coverage last night, you'll know that Athletics Australia suspended their head coach after he criticised current Commonwealth and Olympic 100m hurdles champions Sally Pearson. Well, they've announced this morning that Eric Hollingsworth has had his accreditation for the Games revoked, and that he will fly home later today. Pearson begins the defence of her title this evening.

For much of the women's time trial, Scotland's Katie Archibald was in third place, but she dropped out of the final medal spot in the closing stages to finish fifth. The 20-year-old has blamed the flat nature of the course for her result.

England's Ashley Jackson scored two goals during the men's hockey team's 3-1 win over Canada earlier, which books their place in the semi-finals. He says that the team must make sure that they progress to the gold-medal match.

Well that's all from me for now, but Joe Fish is here for the next four hours to keep to you up to date with all the action from Glasgow.

Thanks Sian. Well, where to start? I know exactly where - the medals table, because England are top! Well joint top, anyway, having amassed 107 medals, equal with Australia, throughout the Games.

The last athlete to add to that tally was cyclist Emma Pooley, who won the silver medal in the women's time trial. She has admitted that she could not have done any more to secure gold.

It has been a great games for Jack Laugher so far. He won diving gold for England in the 1m springboard on Wednesday evening and has now made comfortable progress into the final for the 3m springboard. James Denny and Oliver Dingley will also go for medals in tonight's final.

The 3m springboard is actually Laugher's favourite event and the the 19-year-old is confident that he can add to his Commonwealth Games gold medal collection this evening.

The men's time trial is now underway. There is no Bradley Wiggins for England this time around, but replacement Alex Dowsett and Geraint Thomas of Wales will have hopes of winning a medal.

Max Whitlock will be hoping to add to yesterday's all-around gold when he goes in the men's floor final later this afternoon. His England teammate Sam Oldham will not be competing against him, though, having been sent home to Nottingham to recover from an ankle ligament injury.

Gymnast Sam Oldham is helped onto the top of the podium by England teammates Kristian Thomas and Louis Smith, with Max Whitlock and Nile Wilson watching on, after they won team gold in the Commonwealth Games on July 29, 2014© Getty Images


That means Oldham will not be spinning around with the rest of the Glasgow athletes when Kylie Minogue performs at Sunday's closing ceremony. The Australian pop queen has been confirmed as the headline act for the Commonwealth Games finale at Hampden Park.

The clock is yet to start on any of Britain's medal hopes in the men's time trial. Welshman Geraint Thomas is among the favourites for gold but has admitted that he does not know what affect his participation in the Tour de France, which only finished last week, will have on his condition.

Here's one of those stories that makes you question the sanity of the people in charge of the Games. Two security guards have apparently been sacked for taking 'selfies' with six-time Olympic champion and world's fastest man Usain Bolt. The horror. Lock them up and throw away the key, I say.

Tonia Couch won silver for England in the women's synchronised 10m platform on Wednesday and she isn't bad without Sarah Barrow by her side either. She has qualified in second place for the final of the individual event. Her teammates Barrow and Victoria Vincent will also dive for medals tonight.

Sports Mole correspondent Barney Corkhill has been catching up with England 200m runner Bianca Williams, who admits that she has been inspired by Adam Gemili and Laura Weightman's success on the track. Williams comfortably qualified for the 200m semi-finals on Wednesday evening.

Kemar Bailey-Cole of Jamaica crosses the finish line of the men's 100m ahead of England's Adam Gemili on July 28, 2014© Getty Images


It has been a fairly productive hour or so for England in the racquet sports. Jenny Duncalf and individual silver medallist Laura Massaro are into the semi-finals of the women's squash doubles, while the table tennis pairings of Joanna Parker and Kelly Sibley, and Karina Le Fevre and Tin Tin Ho, have advanced to the last 16 of the women's doubles. Parker and Sibley are out of the solo event, though.

And to add to that, Sarah Walker has qualified for the quarter-finals of the women's badminton courtesy of a narrow two-set victory over Jersey's Liz Cann. Here is SM's full report on the action.

An update from the men's time trial, with the last riders having passed through the first checkpoint. It is a good start for England's Alex Dowsett, but Scotland's defending champion David Millar is a little off the pace. Dowsett currently leads New Zealand's Jesse Sargent's time after 6.4km.

The men's gymnastics floor final is now underway, with Max Whitlock going for a second gold in as many days. Scotland's Daniel Keatings, silver medallist to Whitlock in the all-round, is also competing.

MEDAL! It's gold for England in the 40km men's time trial! Alex Dowsett was going well and then finished very powerfully to pip Australian Rohan Dennis to first place. Wales rider Geraint Thomas finished third only days after completing the Tour de France, but it was Dowsett's day in Glasgow.

GOLD! Another gold for Team England, and for three-time Commonwealth Games champion Max Whitlock! He has won the men's floor competition to add to his team and all-round gold. And with the Pommel Horse and Rings finals to come, the 21-year-old could end up with five! The star of the Games?

Max Whitlock of England competes on the pommel horse during day one of the men's artistic gymnastics team final at Glasgow's SSE Hydro on July 28, 2014© Getty Images


Here is some immediate reaction from an avenged Dowsett, who has admitted that the memory of previous snubs drove him to gold. The 25-year-old missed out on TDF and Delhi 2010 selection.

That was a golden climax to my stint covering the Glasgow action! Let us hope that there are more medals for Sian Cowper to celebrate as she guides you through until 8pm this evening...

Thanks Joe, there are certainly plenty more medals to be handed out this afternoon with individual apparatus finals taking place in the gymnastics, and several wrestling events coming to their conclusion as well, before the athletics and diving continue later.

One gymnastics medal has already been decided this afternoon, with Max Whitlock securing his third gold of the games with a superb floor routine. His England teammate Kristian Thomas posted the lowest score of the final to finish eighth, and he's told Sports Mole that he'll be working to improve his performance in the future.

Another England competitor who watched his teammate win gold earlier was Steve Cummings. He finished seventh in the men's time trial while compatriot Alex Dowsett powered to the gold. He's admitted that he found it "incredibly hard".

GOLD! All-round women's gymnastic champion Claudia Fragapane has another gold, winning the vault final. We'll have more online shortly.

So if you want to read more about Claudia Fragapane's third gold of the games, you can now do so here. She'll have a chance to add two more to her rapidly expanding collection tomorrow when the floor and beam finals take place.

Two more diving medals will be decided later today. Taking part in the sport for the first time is Jamaica, with 18-year-old Yona Knight-Wisdom representing the Caribbean nation in Glasgow. Read Sports Mole's exclusive interview with him ahead of this evening's contests.

The doubles table tennis tournaments have been progressing over the last couple of days, and England's Liam Pritchard, who already had a silver medal from the men's team event, has admitted that he is delighted to have been paired with Tin-Tin Ho for the competition.

One of the first medals to be decided today was the bronze in the men's open triples in lawn bowls. Bob Love, who uses his feet to bowl after being born without arms, describes winning the medal as the pinnacle of his sporting career.

The men's pommel horse contest is nearing its conclusion, but Louis Smith won't be retaining his gold. The Olympic medallist loses his momentum towards the end of his routine in preparation for his dismount, leaving him second behind Dan Keatings with three more competitors to go.

GOLD! A near-flawless routine from Daniel Keatings gives the Scottish gymnast gold in the men's pommel horse event, with Max Whitlock taking silver, and Louis Smith claiming the bronze.

If you want to read more about Scotland's Daniel Keatings ending Max Whitlock's golden run at the gymnastics, our report from the pommel horse final is now online.

MEDAL! Four sets of medals will be handed out in wrestling this afternoon, and the first bronze of the afternoon has gone to England's Louisa Porogovska in the FS 55kg competition.

England's men's hockey team will have the daunting task of facing Australia in their semi-final. The world's top ranked side completed their final pool match this afternoon, beating Scotland 5-0.

In badminton, England's Rajiv Ouseph is through to the quarter-finals in the men's singles, where he will face Scotland's Kieran Merrilees, who is a friend of the Englishman's. The 27-year-old admits that it will be difficult to face his friend in front of a crowd that will be backing Merrilees.

Earlier, Claudia Fragapane secured her third gold medal of the games with victory in the vault final. She told Sports Mole that the event was all about having fun.

GOLD! England have another gymnastics gold as Becky Downie narrowly beats Larrissa Miller to win the event.

Here's some more on Downie's gold, which is her second of the games. The men's ring final is still to come this evening, with the home nations having won every gymnastics event so far today.

This evening's athletics session is now underway, and England will be optimistic of a medal in the women's 200m later, as three English sprinters are through to the final.

England's Louis Smith had to settle for bronze in the pommel horse final earlier. The Olympic silver medallist tried a harder routine in order to push for bronze, but made a mistake preparing for the dismount. He told Sports Mole that he was in two minds about trying the harder moves.

MEDAL! It's a Canadian 1-2 in the rings final, but Scotland's Daniel Purvis manages to claim the final spot on the podium.

You can now read all about Purvis's bronze medal in the rings in our report. That's the gymnastics done for today, but the rest of the individual apparatus finals will take place tomorrow, so there are six more golds to be decided.

Back in the athletics, there's more good news from the 200m for England, but this time for the men as Danny Talbot has secured a place in the final, which will take place later tonight.

DIVING UPDATE! There's some breaking news from the Malaysian diving team as they've withdrawn both pairs from the 10m platform final, which takes place tomorrow. It means that there will only be four pairs taking part, including England's James Denny and Tom Daley, the latter of which is the defending champion. Since there are only four teams, the organisers have announced that it will not be awarding a bronze, so only the top two will get medals.

MEDALS! There are two medals for England in the 3m springboard diving as Jack Laugher makes a mistake to slip to second, while Oliver Dingley wins the bronze.

GOLD! There's another gold for England, as the English team have beaten Australia in the final of the women's triples event in lawn bowls.

Meanwhile, here's the report from the 3m springboard diving, which saw England pick up silver and bronze.

English gymnast Max Whitlock won his third gold of the games before winning a silver on the pommel horse, and has told Sports Mole that he's tired after a busy couple of days.

MEDAL! England's Jade Jones comes homes third in the para-sport 1550m final to win her first senior medal.

GOLD! There's more para-sport success for England as David Weir takes gold in the men's 1500m T54 event.

Another athletics gold has already been handed out tonight, with India's Vikas Gowda winning the men's discus final.

Here's the report from Jade Jones's bronze medal win, while our report from David Weir's victory is also online now.

England runner Jennifer Meadows booked her place in the final of the 800m with a fifth-placed finish in her semi-final earlier. Despite progressing, she admitted that she was disappointed with the race.

There's a surprise in the 800m final as a late charge for Botswana's Nijel Amos sees him get the better of Olympic champion David Rudisha.

Well that's all from me this evening, but there it still plenty of athletics to come this evening, as well as more from the diving centre, so Callum Mulvihill will be here until midnight to keep you up to date.

Thanks Sian. Yes, there's certainly a lot more action to come tonight. We've still go the 200m finals to come from Hampden Park, so make sure you stick around.

Jade Jones delighted the crowd with an excellent display to clinch bronze in the Para-Sport 1500m final earlier this evening, but she has admitted that she wasn't expecting to take home a medal.

Cornel Fredericks has just produced a superb performance in the 400m hurdles final to take gold ahead of world champion Jehue Gordon, who failed to close down his rival from South Africa with a late response on the home straight.

It's silver for Eilidh Child! The home favourite was roared on by the crowd inside Hampden Park, and she responded with a brilliant run, with only the dominant Kaliese Spencer of Jamaica finishing ahead of the 27-year-old.

Success for the home nations keep on coming. England's Jazmin Sawyers has just collected silver in the long jump with a season's best of 6.54m, with only Ese Brume of Nigeria managing a better effort, but that's not all! Jodie Williams and Bianca Williams have held their nerve on the home straight to claim silver and bronze, respectively, in the 200m final. It won't be a surprise to hear that Blessing Okagbare has completed the double in the sprints with a dominant display.

You can now read Kristian Johnson's report of a thrilling 200m final, with England's stars putting on a great show to share the limelight with Okagbare.

Usain Bolt is waiting for the relay to begin, Yohan Blake is nursing a dodgy hamstring, but the doesn't stop Jamaica from sweeping the medals in the 200m final. Rasheed Dwyer held off the challenge of Warren Weir to secure gold, with Jason Livermore producing a late response to snatch bronze.

Neil Flannery, who finished fourth in the 400m hurdles final earlier tonight, has been speaking to Sports Mole about his performance in Glasgow. You can read the interview now.


Tonia Couch missed out on securing a second medal of the Games after finishing fifth in the 10m platform final this evening, but she has told Sports Mole's Pascal Lemesre that she is proud of her performances at the Royal Commonwealth Pool Edinburgh.

Sports Mole has caught up with Jodie Williams and Bianca Williams after the English pair secured silver and bronze, respectively, in the 200m earlier this evening. It's fair to say they were pretty delighted with their achievements.

Victoria Vincent made her international debut for England at the Games today, and the 13-year-old diver has spoken to our very own Pascal Lemesre about her experience after finishing 10th in the 10m platform final.

Liam Pitchford has already won silver in the men's team event at the Games, but he believes Thursday was the best day of his career after the table tennis star booked his spot in the semi-finals of the mixed and men's doubles.

Geraint Thomas finished third in today's time trial to pick up the bronze medal, and the Welsh rider is confident of challenging once again ahead of Sunday's road race.

Northern Ireland head coach John Conlan is certain that none of his boxers will be willing to settle for bronze ahead of the semi-finals on Friday. The nation are guaranteed to bring home at least nine medals.

That's all from the live blog tonight. We hope you've enjoyed our coverage, but make sure you're back at 9am as we guide you through all of the action on day nine of the Commonwealth Games. Goodnight.

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A picture of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games logo on June 7, 2014
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