Commonwealth

Georgia Hunter Bell is eyeing an ambitious sweep of gold medals in 2026 after winning the 800m Commonwealth Games title in Glasgow.

England’s Hunter Bell dominated the field to add Commonwealth gold to the 1500m world indoor title she won earlier this year in Poland.

The 32-year-old, a training partner of 800m Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson, will also race at next month’s European Championships and the inaugural Ultimate Championships in September.

“There are four opportunities to win gold this year,” Hunter Bell told BBC Sport.

“I am two golds down and two more to go.”

Hunter Bell is blossoming later in her career.

Having taken five years out from the sport before returning during the Covid-19 pandemic, she took 1500m bronze at the Paris Olympics before pipping Hodgkinson to silver at last year’s World Championships in the 800m.

This, though, is her first outdoor title – in the event Hodgkinson is Olympic champion.

“Every medal is a landmark moment but my first outdoor gold is huge,” she said.

Hunter Bell and Kenya’s world champion Lilian Odira were the favourites for this title after Hodgkinson opted not to compete. The final was barely a contest with Hunter Bell setting the pace and then kicking on with 200m to go to win by more than a second.

Hodgkinson has instead taken time off before the European Championships in Birmingham, which start on 10 August.

Hunter Bell is only running in the 1500m in that event, denying the chance to see an intriguing race between the pair, but took her opportunity in her friend and training partner’s absence.

Though she said the win validates her decision to come to Glasgow, she defended the decision of others to withdraw.

Scotland’s Melanie Woods has won the Commonwealth Games women’s 1500m T54 for the second time in under 40 hours after streaking to victory in the restaged final – however England’s Ellis Kottas could not replicate her silver medal.

Woods set a new Games record to triumph in Glasgow on Wednesday evening, but it emerged on Thursday morning that Para-athletics authorities had decided the race should be held again following appeals surrounding a first-lap crash.

However, the Scot kept her composure in her home city to replicate her initial success, break the record again, and reclaim the gold that was already hers – in mind if not around her neck.

Kottas, though, finished fourth, having said she was “low-key traumatised” when the race result was overturned.

Woods led from the start in her home city, although Noemi Alphonse of Mauritius and Australia’s Eliza Ault-Connell kept her honest over the first couple of laps.

The latter had fallen away by the final 200m, though, and the Scot held off the Mauritian as she was roared by down the home straight by the crowd.

“It was in my mind ‘what have I got left?’ and you do question what you’ve got in your arms,” Woods said.

“But I just needed to be confident I could stay out in front and it was nice coming down the home straight and not seeing her wheel moving in front of me.”

Woods – who has used a wheelchair since being hit by a car while riding her bike in 2018 – will also compete in the 400m later on Friday morning.

The heats of that will start a little more than 90 minutes after the replayed final.

Given Keith herself was a tad surprised she scooped up a medal here, her grandad’s take on the event ought to be a good one.

The 10,000m is her preference, but the longer distance final did not go to plan on Monday and she finished seventh.

The Inverness athlete said she was faced with the ‘can Megan win a medal?’ talk earlier this week, but with that weight of expectation lifted – combined with experience of the home crowd and “the help of two other Scots in the race” – she was freed from the shackles to soar to a classy and courageous run.

“If you look at Monday on paper, that was pretty disappointing,” the 24-year-old added.

“I don’t think you’d put me in the running for a 5km medal since the 10km is normally closer to being my strength, so that definitely helped, the removal of that pressure.

“I think I knew if I felt horrendous and dropped out or fell off the pace again it wouldn’t really matter so I may as well shoot my shot.”

And shoot she did. Biding her time in the middle of the congested pact, Keith made her move with four laps to go, weaving past early pacesetters from Kenya and Uganda.

She was afforded a bit of breathing space with two hurls around the track to go. But as expected, the exceptional Australian duo of Rose Davies – who made it a double gold at these Games with her 10km – and Jessica Hull, the 1500m Olympic silver medallist, entered another gear in the final lap.

While the cameras focused on the tremendous tussle between the pair in the matching yellow vests, the majority of the crowd had their eyes a wee bit further back, bawling at Keith on the final stretch.

She was home safe and sound. And swiftly searching for a saltire.

Once that was draped over her shoulders, and she’d caught up with fellow Scots Eloise Walker and Laura Muir, who finished 15th and 16th respectively, she was darting back around the track – the wrong way, this time – in search of her grandad.

He was eventually found for a quick hug, but a bigger debrief – and the declaration, surely, that this topped any other Scotstoun occasion – is still to be had.

Given that impressive 2025 she had, the pressure was on O’Connor to at least win a medal in Glasgow and it only ramped up after Katerina Johnson-Thompson, who had won gold ahead of her in 2022, pulled out.

The Englishwoman’s withdrawal paved the way for a good shot at that coveted gold, but she still had to go out and deliver.

O’Connor ended on 6,569 points, 291 ahead of her nearest challenger, England’s Jade O’Dowda, but it wasn’t all straightforward.

Resilience is a key trait for any sportsperson, but particularly a heptathlete.

Fortunes can fluctuate across the seven events so it is needed in ample supply to come out on top at the end of two days of competition.

It was particularly pertinent for O’Connor in a rain-soaked second session of the event on Tuesday evening.

After a good start in the morning, that brought a third-place finish in the 100m hurdles and a season’s best 1.82m in the high jump, O’Connor struggled in the shot put and dipped well below her high standards by throwing just 12.85m as the torrential rain hammered down.

She said trying to grip the shot put in that rain was akin to trying to lift a bar of soap and that she was “gutted” as she “made it a lot easier for the rest of them to beat me”.

Her resilience was shown in abundance in the 200m that followed as she defied the elements to easily win her heat in a time of 24.14.

The Newry-born athlete added she had to “work really hard” on Wednesday and that she did, finishing with a flourish.

First came a big leap of 6.37m in the long jump, then another season’s best, this time in the javelin, of 52.85m that far exceeded those around her.

It will be particularly satisfying as that was an event she had worked hard at improving heading into 2026.

All that was left was to hold her nerve in the 800m and she did that and more, cruising to victory in a time of 2:10.46 just as the sun broke through for the celebrations at Scotstoun.

“I came here expecting a lot from myself and I really wanted to score like 6,600 or 6,700 and open up my season because that’s the shape I felt I was in,” she added.

“After day one I had to raincheck myself a bit, it’s not always about getting huge big scores but competing and getting the best out of yourself with the elements and challenges.

“I tried to navigate it as best as I could. The shot put didn’t go to plan, it needs work in those conditions, but I’m happy overall with how I did.

“There’s a lot of positives to take from it. I’ve got a gold medal round my neck so I can’t say much more.”

A Scottish gold made up for the fact Scott missed out on his bid to defend his 200m freestyle title and add a 16th Commonwealth medal, having failed to qualify for the final at the end of a rigorous schedule.

And Evans’ success was not the only one cheered to the roof of Tollcross instead.

Aberdeen’s Toni Shaw stopped an Australian clean sweep of medals in the women’s S9 100m freestlye final to replicate the bronze of Birmingham four years ago.

“I had lots and lots of nerves even before the walkout, all day since my heat,” Shaw told BBC Scotland.

“But we’ve got a good support team and they helped me keep my cool and wish me luck. All you can do is swim as fast as you can and that’s the mentality I went into the race with.”

Meanwhile, Keanna MacInnes added 200m butterfly silver, having also come second in the 100m. The 24-year-old played her part in the relay silver too to take her own tally to three.

As she stood next to her relay team-mates Katie Shanahan, Evans, and Evelyn Davis the Stirling swimmer reflected on a Games during which Scottish swimmers have delivered 12 medals, four of them gold.

“If you said to me at the start of the week I’d win two medals I’d be over the moon – sneaking that extra mixed medley one last night was special for all of us,” MacInnes said.

“We heard it a 100 times, about the crowd being amazing but it absolutely delivered. I’m a proud and patriotic Scot so there’s been a lot of tears this week.

“Not only is it 12 medals but there are a lot of golds and silvers, not necessarily sneaking into bronze. That shows the depth.

“There were so many finals with multiple Scots in them. So not just medals but lots of personal and season’s bests which shows how good the team has been this week.”

Olympic champion cyclist Emma Finucane insists she has “nothing to prove” at the Commonwealth Games despite her ambitions of winning an elusive gold in Scotland.

Finucane, 23, collected two bronze medals in Birmingham four years ago but has since won 16 medals at the Olympics, World and European Championships.

The Welsh star says she is targeting “the top step” on the podium in Glasgow.

“I haven’t actually stood on the top step at the Commonwealth Games,” Finucane told BBC Sport Wales.

“That’s something I’d love to achieve this time round.

“I feel like I’m a different person four years on and I can’t wait to show what I can do on the track.”

The Carmarthenshire native credits the Birmingham 2022 Games as the “springboard” to where she is today.

“I would not be where I am today without the Commonwealth Games,” she said.

“The first time I was pretty young, pretty naive to the sport of sprint cycling.

“It was a very overwhelming experience, whereas this time round I feel like I’m more of an established rider.”

She added: “I was 19 [in Birmingham] and the year after I won my first world title, which was crazy for me.

“I think it gave me the confidence I needed as an athlete to develop in my career, and get to where I am so quickly.

“We became Olympic champions two years ago, and I actually don’t even know how that happened.”

Before the super-heavyweight bout Abdul told the BBC he wanted to become the new ‘King of Scotland’ – in reference to Amin declaring himself that name in 1976.

After taking power in a coup in 1971, Amin ran a brutal regime during which an estimated half a million people were killed. He was also known as the Butcher of Uganda.

Abdul, who never met his grandfather, was chasing Uganda’s first Commonwealth boxing medal since Auckland in 1990 – something which would have been guaranteed had he beaten Thomas.

Instead, he was given warnings in the previous two rounds and was trailing on all of the judges’ scorecards.

“All I can say about this is the decision is not right, I am not happy,” he said.

“He elbowed me. He caught me with the elbow.

“It [the head movement] was not intentional. I was trying to come back.

“How can I headbutt someone? I would not.

“He was the person they wanted to win. He was the winner before.

“I knew if I did not get knockout I could not win the fight.”

BBC Sport has contacted Commonwealth Games organisers and World Boxing for a response to Abdul’s comments.

Thomas, who is now guaranteed at least a bronze medal, said it was “not the way” he wanted to win.

“I can’t change what happened today but I can control how I box on Friday,” he said.

Amin, himself a boxer, harboured a fascination with Scotland after serving in the King’s African Rifles in his 20s.

At the height of the regime, he was fond of wearing a kilt and playing the bagpipes – and even declared himself “King of Scotland” in 1976.

Some years later, those predilections even spawned an Oscar-winning film, The Last King of Scotland, starring Forest Whitaker and James McAvoy.

In a previous interview, Abdul said he was “inspired” by Amin, although it was not entirely clear whether he was talking about his boxing feats or not.

Speaking to the BBC, he refused to answer when asked if he was proud to be the dictator’s grandson, but he did address the question of how he feels when he is linked to someone with such a sinister reputation.

After a relatively quiet day, the first medal was claimed by the men’s 3×3 basketball team just before 17:00 BST.

A couple of hours later, three more followed in the space of five minutes.

The women’s wheelchair 3×3 basketball team took silver; Evans added her second gold – and third medal – of the Games in the 200m breaststroke; then Woods claimed gold in the women’s T54 1500m.

Shaw then joined in with bronze in the women’s S9 100m freestyle before MacInnes was edged into second place in the women’s 200m butterfly to take her second individual silver of the meet.

Around the same time, MacKenzie was leaping to long jump bronze, before the haul was completed in the pool when Evans and MacInnes teamed up with Katie Shanahan and Evie Davis to take silver in the women’s 4x100m medley.

Three more further medals are guaranteed in boxing – with fighters in semi-final action on Friday – while further prospects remain in athletics, bowls, cycling, judo and weightlifting.

Kate O’Connor has won Northern Ireland’s first gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in the heptathlon at Scotstoun Stadium.

O’Connor, a World indoor and outdoor silver medal, finished top of the standings with 6569points and is the first new heptathlon champion at the Games in eight years.

England’s Jade O’Dowda claimed silver while Australia’s Tori West won the battle for bronze.

It is O’Connor’s first senior outdoor gold and her first gold at her third Games after she finished eighth in 2018 and claimed silver in 2022.

The 25-year-old becomes NI’s 12th medal winner in Glasgow, claiming the country’s first gold at the Games in athletics since 1986.

O’Connor was favourite heading into the event after the late withdrawal of England’s Katrina Johnson-Thompson, who beat her to gold in 2022 and she certainly lived up to the billing.

The Newry-born athlete led after the first two events on Tuesday. She ran the 100m hurdles in 13.54 seconds and produced a season’s best 1.82m in the high jump.

In a rain-soaked evening session, she dipped in the shot put, throwing just 12.85 in difficult conditions.

While she said she was “gutted” with that performance, she rallied and she bounced back well to run the 200m in a season’s best time of 24.14, which was just 0.07 off her personal best as she strolled to victory in her heat.

She earned 3731 points across the four events to top the standings heading into Wednesday’s second day of the competition and, with a 49-point advantage over O’Dowda, looked to be in pole position for gold.

O’Connor further increased that lead on Wednesday morning as she recorded a leap of 1.82m in the long jump and a season’s best 52.85m in the javelin to move 258 points ahead.

In the 800m, she finished first as she ran 2:10.45 to take home NI’s first multi-class gold medal since Dame Mary Peters won the pentathlon in 1974.

NI team-mate Anna McCauley finished eighth in the standings despite being second-fastest in the 800m behind O’Connor.

O’Connor will receive her gold medal on Thursday evening at 18:30 BST.

However Shanahan’s decision paid off in the pool, and she was seen fighting back tears after securing silver on Friday night.

Having been inspired by seeing Hannah Miley in action at the 2014 Games, Shanahan told BBC Scotland News she hoped future generations might have be likewise inspired by watching her in the pool this time around.

“I’ve always said that if I can inspire the next generation of athletes coming through, then my job has been done,” she explained.

“I know after 2014 watching Hannah I felt inspired, and it would be nice to think that maybe there’s some younger girls watching the 200m backstroke this time, and maybe they’ll get into swimming from it.”

She joked that the main problem since last Friday was finding the time to get back to various friends and well-wishers sending her messages to congratulate her.

“I’m so grateful for the support, and with it being a home Games it feels like that support has been ramped up a bit, which is so nice to experience.”

Some athletes struggled in the conditions.

England’s Morgan Lake did not clear the bar with any of her three efforts in the high jump.

Similarly, Scotland’s Steven Stone had attempts with his glasses on his face and the top of his head in the men’s T20 long jump but did not register a clean effort.

Northern Ireland’s Kate O’Connor said she was “gutted” with her throw of 12.85m in the heptathlon shot put.

“It just kept slipping out of my hands,” she said.

“When your chalk gets wet, it’s like you might as well have dish soap on your hands and I just probably spent too much time and effort trying to stay dry rather than doing the cues that I work on in training.

“I can’t blame anybody else apart from myself for not executing.”

But there were also a number of impressive performances given the conditions.

O’Connor responded by running a dominant 24.14 seconds in the 200m to reclaim top spot of the heptathlon competition. England’s Jade O’Dowda was only eighth quickest and slipped back to second, 49 points in arrears.

In the men’s 100m, Eseme’s winning time of 9.83 was a Commonwealth Games record, the third-fastest time this year and moved him third on the all-time list of African sprinters.

The hammer throw and the high jump were briefly paused but when the former did resume Canada’s Camryn Rogers produced another Games record – 74.91m.

Even Hunt, who was slow out of the blocks and off the pace for the first 60m, finished 0.01secs outside her lifetime best of 10.97 in the women’s 100m.

“I am just proud of myself for gritting it out and trusting my long legs,” she said.

“Ultimately, we all have to race in the same conditions. We are all on the start line together freezing.

“You just have to get out there and get it done.”

A smattering of hardy locals even stayed until the final anthem was sung as the clocked neared 11pm.

It was a night few will forget.

Clegg added: “My coach said something a bit silly earlier, which was that [footballer] Lionel Messi only shows up for the World Cup, and he meant that my experience allows me to step up for these big moments when all season I’ve been swimming a bit crap.

“He will hopefully agree that I’ve done that tonight.”

And how. Clegg attacked the second 50m of the race with relish and pulled away from his rivals to post a time of 24.73 seconds, half a second quicker than he has gone all year.

It also upgraded the silver he won in Birmingham over the distance – achieved when he was not only four years younger, but in much better shape physically.

All that was playing through his mind as he stood on the podium, lip trembling and trying hard to keep his shape, as Flower of Scotland played.

“I was really struggling to keep it together,” said Clegg, who had missed his sister’s wedding amid the preparations for these Games. “Once the anthem started playing, I just started shaking and started to tear up a little bit.

“I’m a very emotional person, but I don’t really let them out very often. And for me to show that emotion kind of, I think, speaks louder than words for me.

“Every time I tried to articulate it, I’ve fallen short of the actual feeling. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I think nothing in my career can really beat that moment. Even winning gold at Paris.”

Brock Whiston was already Paralympic champion, world champion and world record holder before these Commonwealth Games.

There were two things missing, however.

First, a Commonwealth gold medal. Second, it had been 17 years since her father Gel was poolside to watch her race.

“He doesn’t like swimming,” England’s Whiston, 29, told the BBC.

“He finds it too hot – doesn’t like the smell of chlorine.”

The last time Gel came to watch was when Whiston’s mother had cancer. She has since recovered.

Since then he has been a big “sideline supporter” from home – Whiston says he worked “so hard to get me to where I am today” – but has recently received a Parkinson’s diagnosis.

This time he was keen to make the trip.

“I just wanted to make him proud,” Whiston told TNT Sports.

“I just wanted to win this race for him. I didn’t care about the time.”

And win the race Whiston did – in a new Games record for the women’s 100m breaststroke SB8.

This month Whiston, who works in a primary school, spoke about wanting to keep her emotions in check, having missed out on gold in the same event at the Paris Paralympics after being overawed by the crowd.

“I didn’t spot him until I was doing my lap with my medal,” Whiston said.

“He gave me a kiss on the head and said ‘love you’. I think he was shellshocked.”

So will he be back? Whiston’s Games in Glasgow are finished but there are more meets to come.

“He said he’s done it now. He’s not coming back,” she said.

“He is very happy to support from home.

“Just to have him there that once was a special moment.”

Megan Keith was the sole Scottish representative in the women’s 10,000m after McColgan dropped out.

Despite a swell of cheers from the crowd at every pass, the Inverness runner was unable to replicate the iconic 2022 performance of her compatriot, finishing ninth in a time of 32:22.11.

Canada’s formidable Olympic hammer champion Ethan Katzberg drew gasps of awe from the Glasgow crowd with his herculean throw of 80.97m, which set a Commonwealth record.

But the biggest cheers in the hammer were reserved for Scotland’s Chris Bennett, competing in his fourth and final Games.

He finished fifth with his longest throw of 69.48m, clearly emotional as he wrapped up a 24-year career.

Alexander Thomson – who trains just down the road at Victoria Park and had fought back from knee surgery – finished ninth in the T38 100m final.

Jemma Reekie comfortably booked her place in the semi-finals of the 800m, finishing second in her heat with a time of 2:03.09 behind England’s world indoor 1,500m champion Georgia Hunter Bell.

Erin Wallace also booked her place in the semi-finals with a time of 2:03.15, but Mena Scatchard just missed out on qualification by 0.06 seconds after finishing fourth in her heat.

In the early sessions, Stephen Mackenzie got Scotland off to a strong start as he progressed to the men’s long jump final on Wednesday.

A second-round leap of 7.75m was enough to see him through in eighth place.

Meanwhile, hammer thrower Angela McAuslan-Kelly progressed to the women’s final, with a throw of 60.59m in the first round securing her place.

England bounced back from a difficult loss to world number one side Australia with a 73-38 victory over Malawi at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

There was no hangover from the 66-47 loss to Australia as England cruised into a 18-9 lead in the first quarter.

England consistently kept their advantage throughout before stepping it up in the final quarter to allow Malawi just five points to the Roses’ 18.

Goal shooter Eleanor Cardwell proved to be an influential substitution, scoring all of her 21 shots following her introduction in the second half.

“After yesterday’s loss, we’ve definitely turned things around and fixed some of the things we got wrong,” said vice-captain Amy Carter.

“At the start of a tournament, a loss isn’t actually a bad thing to have. In the last 24 hours, we’ve looked at video, righted some of the wrongs, connected as a group, had a games night and just spent time together as team-mates.

“We didn’t get too bogged down by it because we’ve got to look forward.”

The Roses are third in Pool A behind reigning champions Australia and South Africa.

They will next face Tonga on Wednesday at 16:00 BST before playing South Africa – their rivals for a place in the semi-finals – on Thursday at 21:00 BST.

England are looking to regain the gold they won in 2018 but have had a rocky preparation for the tournament.

Jess Thirlby stepped down as head coach in March for family reasons, leaving assistant Anna Stembridge in interim charge, while injuries to Helen Housby and Natalie Metcalf mean 10 of the Roses’ 12-player squad have made their Commonwealth debuts in Glasgow.

Sprinters Thomas Young and Sophie Hahn picked up gold medals for England on the opening night of athletics at the Commonwealth Games.

Both won their races in the men’s and women’s 100m T38 finals in Glasgow with Young doing so to mark his 26th birthday in style.

Young, who missed out on the 2022 Games with an injury, recorded a season’s best and Games record time of 11:11 seconds.

“It might be the best birthday I’ve ever had,” he said. “It’s actually joint with Fulham winning in the play-offs on my 20th, but it’s probably this to be fair. Just. I’ve not had my birthday cake yet. I was eyeing up a chocolate cake in the hotel so if they’re still open I’ll have some of that.”

In the women’s final, Hahn beat Team Wales captain and defending champion Olivia Breen into second place, triumphing with a time of 12:79, with England team-mate Maddie Down posting a personal best of 12:86 to secure a bronze medal.

“This is very special,” said Hahn. “It’s been a long time since I last won a Commonwealth Games back in 2018. This means a lot to come here in a home Games and to win.”

British champion Sam Bennett won silver in the men’s 110m hurdles final with a personal best time of 13:30 as he was beaten by Jamaica’s Demario Prince. England’s Tade Ojoro missed out on a medal in fifth.

Kimani Jack, 22, secured a bronze in the men’s high jump final with a jump of 2.20m, with the gold medal going to Jamaica’s Romaine Beckford who cleared 2.25m.

“I really really loved it out there, it was a great experience,” said Jack. “I’ve said it multiple times but shout out Glasgow, they know how to put on an event.”

In round one of the women’s 800m, Olympic silver medallist Georgia Hunter Bell won her heat in two minutes 02.61 seconds to finish ahead of Scotland’s Jemmie Reekie as both qualified.

“I was happy to control it and I felt really good,” said Hunter Bell. “I’m happy and it’s job done.

“I’ve never done the Commonwealth Games before, so it’s obviously my debut. For me, it was always going to be a no-brainer that I do it.”

“I was really struggling to get food down, and was stressing about things like getting a medley relay slot instead of thinking about getting a medal tonight.

“My coach said to me I had nothing to lose but to just relax and enjoy it.”

Alongside fellow Scots Ciara Schlosshan and Lucy Grieve – who finished fifth and sixth respectively – MacInnes did just that.

Third at the turn, she overhauled South Africa’s Erin Gallagher as the noise grew louder to earn a spot on the second step of the podium. Australia’s Alex Perkins took gold.

“Oh, God, I’m just starting to get my breath back,” MacInnes said. “That was so incredible.

“I’m so grateful to the crowd for making it such a special memory for me. I’m so grateful to my parents and boyfriend who are up in the crowd and I’m so glad I was able to do it in front of them.

“A silver is crazy to me. Maybe I was thinking ‘bronze could be really cool’ so this is just so amazing.”

Duncan Scott knows all about Games medals, given he has 14 of them in the house.

Gold in Friday’s 200m individual medley was a fine start to proceedings, but a couple of relay near-misses over the weekend were followed by another fourth place in the 200m butterfly on Monday.

“A little bit sore and a little bit stiff but that is to be expected,” Langton said of his condition.

“I can’t really complain too much.”

The teenager did not receive his medal until he returned to the team hotel on Saturday evening, with the other members of the team gathering to applaud him.

Whitehouse said the team wanted to do that in order to replace videos of his fall, which were circulating widely on social media over the weekend, with something more positive.

“That was incredible,” Langton said of the moment.

“Seeing all of the team-mates, coaches and getting my medal. I saw my personal coach from Birmingham. It was so nice.”

These things are, of course, relative, but Whitehouse’s Sunday was a disappointing one. He came seventh in an all-round final won by Scotland’s Reuben Ward.

His response on Monday was almost immaculate.

Malaysia’s Muhammad Sharul Aimy, Australia’s James Hardy and Ward all made mistakes in the early rounds of the competition, giving Whitehouse – the fifth gymnast to enter – an opportunity.

He barely faltered, scoring 14.566 to take gold – a score that was not bettered by the remaining three competitors.

“The last few days have been about regrouping after everything that’s happened and then coming out and delivering a good performance,” he said.

There was a similar story later in the women’s vault when England’s Abigail Martin, who finished 11th in the women’s all-round final, took silver behind Canada’s Lia-Monica Fontaine.

“Yesterday didn’t really go to plan the way I wanted it to, but I’m really pleased that I managed to pick myself back up today,” Martin said.

“For me, I just had a little cry about it, but then I thought about all the things that had gone well.”

Whitehouse and Martin will be back on Tuesday in the vault and floor respectively. Langton will again be in the stands.

He plans to “take it easy for a couple of days and do the rehab” before returning to training in the near future.

“I trust in my gymnastics capability,” Langton said.

“It was really just a freak accident.”

It was Anthony Hughes MBE, the driving force behind so many of Wales’ most successful Para-athletes as performance director at Disability Sport Wales, who first spotted her potential

He introduced Bowen to wheelchair racing, in which she immediately won medals, before she found a passion for throwing.

“I had just started shot put, discus and javelin when Covid happened. I went back after and was thrown into a competition and I won best performer,” she said.

“So I was like, ‘oh, I’m okay at it’ and then I just kept going and fell in love with it.”

It is hard to imagine there will be many spectators at Glasgow’s Scotstoun Stadium more proud than Bowen’s parents who still regard themselves “lucky” to have her.

“We nearly lost her at 13 months old, but she’s here and doing amazing,” said her mother Anne.

“Growing up, she wanted to be like her siblings and would say, ‘they can ride a bike, why can’t I ride a bike?’ So she did.”

Bowen’s determination is only matched by the efforts of her parents to make sure their daughter can achieve her potential in the sport.

Her father Martin built a specially adapted bicycle so she could ride with her family, then moved onto bigger things when he built a campervan to ensure his daughter could to travel to athletics competitions.

“She has just come on so well. Nothing has ever been an obstacle for her,” said Martin.

“Whatever you put ahead of her, she’ll try and do it and if she can’t do it, she’ll get around it.”

Now Bowen hopes she can make her parents proud when they cheer her on in Glasgow.

“It’s the biggest competition I’ve ever done and I’m just happy to be there,” she said.

“It would mean the world to me to win a medal but just being there, I’m so thankful.”

England’s Adam Ramsay-Peaty will have the chance to defend his men’s 50m breaststroke title at the Commonwealth Games after qualifying third fastest for the final.

The 31-year-old, who broke down in tears after taking bronze in the 100m on Saturday night, finished second in his semi-final with a time of 26.82 seconds.

World record holder Ramsay-Peaty will have to close the gap to South Africa’s Michael Houlie – who set the pace with 26.61 – when he races in the final on Monday at 20:07 BST.

Australia’s 100m breaststroke gold medallist Sam Williamson and Jersey’s silver medallist Filip Nowacki will also line up in the final.

“I think I’ve still got a little bit more to grow. I think there was a massive lesson in yesterday,” three-time Olympic gold medallist Ramsay-Peaty told BBC Sport.

“I can’t change anything obviously, so we have to get over it. I also know the trajectory I have to be on now and it’s a little bit different to what I thought it was.

“I’ve also got to remind myself that I haven’t swam a championships in two years. I put a lot of expectation on myself coming into this games.

“But as you know, the best athletes in the world, you don’t do it in training, you have to actually compete well and that is a skill on its own and we have to get used to that.

“I’m enjoying it and we’ll have to see what that result is tomorrow.”

Ramsay-Peaty’s team-mate Max Morgan finished sixth in the same semi-final race and was eliminated.

England captain Fran Williams said her team were “far from our best” in a heavy defeat by defending Commonwealth champions Australia.

The Roses opened their campaign in Pool A with a 83-34 victory over Northern Ireland on Saturday.

But they were outplayed on Sunday as Australia cruised to a 66-47 win at The Hydro in Glasgow.

“That’s not the result we came for and not the performance,” Williams told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“We didn’t cope well with their physicality. It’s really tough when a game blows out like that.”

Australia started strongly, racing into an 18-11 lead after the first quarter and extending their advantage to 56-35 by the end of the third.

Sophie Garbin scored 41 goals from 42 attempts for Australia, while Olivia Tchine was England’s highest scorer with 23 from 25.

England face Malawi at 14:00 BST on Monday.

Earlier on Sunday, Scotland picked up their first win in Pool B with a 56-47 victory over Wales.

England, who won gold in 2018, failed to make the podium at Birmingham 2022.

Only two of the 12 players in the squad – Eleanor Cardwell and Imogen Allison – have experience in the Commonwealth Games after injuries to gold medallists Helen Housby and Natalie Metcalf, who withdrew with a calf injury on Monday.

Jess Thirlby stepped down as head coach in March for family reasons, leaving assistant Anna Stembridge – head coach from 2011 to 2015 – in interim charge.