Culled by a Falling Pom

After becoming accustomed to regular renditions of the national anthem over the last 10 days, Australians were hit with a sucker punch as disaster struck on the final night of athletics.

Trouble usually occurs in twos and threes and the old adage proved true as Australia’s luck on the track hit a sour note.

The drama began in the men’s 4x100 metre final when Adam Miller struggled in vain to pass the baton to final leg-runner Matt Shirvington as the hopes of an Aussie medal came crashing down in the final straight.

There were no such troubles for the highly- fancied Jamaican team as Asafa Powell led them to a comfortable victory though Powell was disappointed to finish just outside the games record. South Africa and Canada claimed the silver and bronze.

And as if one dose of bad luck wasn’t enough, the gods dealt Australian 1500 metre favourite Craig Mottram the cruellest of blows. Coming into the 1100 metre mark, England’s Andrew Baddeley fell in a freak accident and clipped the heels of Mottram who also fell.

The brave Australian hauled himself up and made up three places to finish ninth. Mark Fountain won bronze for Australia to maintain the pride.

It was a bitter blow for Mottram who was aiming to leave the games with a gold medal after brother Neil won gold with the Boomers in the basketball final.

Mottram could not hide his disappointment after the race.

“You’ve got to move on but I’m pretty annoyed about it,” he said. “To finish the Commonwealth Games like that is very frustrating.”

The race was won by New Zealand’s Nicholas Willis ahead of Canadian Nathan Brannen.

But the home luck picked up in the women’s 4 x 100 metre final as a team boasting Sally McLellan, Melanie Kleeberg, Crystal Attenborough and Lauren Hewitt won bronze.

In a captivating final, Australian javelin hopefuls Will Hamlyn and Oliver Dziubak were undone by the strong-arm tactics of England’s Nicholas Nieland. Nieland produced a season best throw of 80.10 metres to claim top spot and demote the Aussies to silver and bronze.

But on a night of glorious highs and desperate lows, one image will be sorely remembered: when Mottram's golden dream ended at the hands of a falling Pom.

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