Australians advance to semis

In another busy day of athletics at the MCG, Australians Crystal Attenborough and Melanie Kleeberg qualified for the semi finals of the women’s 200m sprint at the Commonwealth Games.

The two girls both ran third in their heats, both clocking decent times, spurred on by the pro-Australian crowd.

Attenborough was simply pleased to advance to the next round.

“I’m happy; I just wanted to get to next round.” Attenborough said after her race. “The roar of crowd was just excellent; it lifts you up so much, just run for it” a relieved Attenborough puffed after her race.

Cydonie Mothersill, of the Cayman Islands, clocked the impressive time of 23.11sec, while Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell, the favourite to take out the Gold, ran a settled 23.17sec to comfortably advance to the semis.

Kleeberg struggled in lane one on the bend, but came back well to finish in 23.51sec, to take third place in her heat, to finish ninth overall.

The Australian clearly relished the opportunity to compete in front of a roaring home crowd.

"How can you not enjoy it in front of your home crowd, it was awesome.” Kleeberg beamed not long after the race ended.

Both Australians will look to run to their peak in the semis, forced to keep up with the likes of Mothersill as well as the Jamaican trio Campbell, Sherone Simpson and Sheri-Ann Brooks – who are all tipped to star in the finals.

Uganda pull away from Aussies for inaugural Steeplechase Gold Medal

In a closely fought competition held over 3000m, Rollison (9mins 24sec) pushed Inzikuru all the way, with the Ugandan saving petrol for the final lap, where she broke away from the Australian, comfortably winning in 9mins and 19.51sec.

Rollison appeared in with a chance on the final lap, before appearing to struggle on a hurdle, Inzikuru seising to opportunity to snatch a lead – one she was never to surrender.

Australian MacFarlane (9mins 25sec) finished with a late flurry, storming home ensuring two medals for the host nation.

McFarlane’s final dash was so strong in almost overtook Rollison, who ran out of steam towards the finale of a brave race.

Inzikuru, the world record holder, is the first Ugandan to take out a medal of any sort at the friendly Games, and relished the chance to celebrate with the packed MCG crowd after the race.

Another Australian, Victoria Mitchell, finished 4th in 9mins 34sec, while New Zealander Kate McIlroy rounded out 5th place, clocking 9mins 35sec.

Jamaican's continue dominance

Jamaica's track runners have continued their stranglehold on the women’s 200m sprints, with Veronica Campbell and Sheri-Ann Brooks helping their nation take a clean sweep of the semi finals.

Campbell took out race one in 23.23sec, while fellow Jamaican Brooks was a narrow second, clocking 23.39sec over the 200m.

The women from the West Indian island continued their dominance in the following race, with Sherone Simpson notching 23.18sec, leading Cydonie Mothersill (Cayman Islands) and South African Geraldine Pillay to the line – the latter only .11 of a second behind the overall victor.

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