Talel wins closest 10,000 on electric opening day
Kenyan Wilberforce Talel won the closest finish in a men's 10,000 metres in the 72-year-old history of the Commonwealth Games on Friday as the first day of sports action enjoyed the same buzz as the opening ceremony.
After Thursday evening's nightclub theme, a packed crowd at the 38,000-capacity City of Manchester stadium created a superb atmosphere for the first day of athletics which has often been missing from much bigger championships.
Manchester athlete Lorraine Shaw revelled in it, clinching the first gold medal for hosts England in the women's hammer before Talel won the longest track event by the thickness of a vest after a dramatic last-lap tussle between four athletes.
Talel took the gold in 27 minutes 45.39 seconds after beating his team mate Paul Kosgei by just 0.07 seconds in the kind of finish usually associated with a 200 metres race rather than an endurance event.
With the top four runners all crossing the line in a blanket finish, Tanzania's John Yuda grabbed the bronze in 27:45.78 with another Kenyan, John Korir Cheruiyot fourth. Less than half a second separated the top four runners.
Canadian triathlete Kelly Guest became the first competitor to be sent home from the Games for doping after a positive pre-Games test was announced before the first full day of action had even begun.
Before any athlete at the 17-sport event had had a chance to a shed a few tears of joy on a medals' podium, the 25-year-old struggled with his emotions after he lost his place in the Canadian team because of a positive test for steroids.
Guest tested positive for nandrolone at a World Cup event in Canada on July 14. Some athletes have blamed positive tests for the controversial substance on food supplements in the past.
An emotional Guest told a news conference: "I don't know how this happened. I do take nutritional supplements but these are well-known brands, something any athlete may take."
But the track and field dominated the first full day of action after two diving medals were decided on Thursday.
SUNNY DAY
Britain, considering an Olympic bid for 2012, is keen to improve its battered image as a host of major sports events after it was forced to pull out of the hosting of the 2005 world athletics championships because of stadium problems.
After cloudy weather in the run-up to the Games, Manchester enjoyed a bright, sunny day at the start of the event which brings together 72-nations from the group of largely former British colonies.
It appeared to lift the fans who also turned out in their numbers for the first events.
Teenager Mark Lewis-Francis upstaged his English team mate and rival Dwain Chambers to set the fastest qualifying time in Friday's second-round heats as the two favourites got involved in an intense battle of bodies and minds.
The highlight of the athletics is set to be Saturday's men's 100 metres final.
But the English crowd enjoyed Shaw's first major title even more than the more glamorous sprint event. Her victory was greeted with a huge roar.
"It means a lot to me, to win in front of my home crowd," said Shaw, at 34 the oldest competitor in the field. "It was absolutely brilliant. It was absolutely wicked (fantastic)."
England's gymnasts also defended their team title in front of a fanatical 6,000-crowd in a full G-Mex Centre.
Australia are the most successful nation in Commonwealth history and Lindy Tourky sealed their second diving title overcoming three Canadian rivals in the women's platform.
Tourky took the lead in a see-sawing contest in the seventh of nine rounds spread over the morning and evening sessions and held off further challenges to add a second gold to the one won by Irina Lashko on the one-metre springboard on Thursday.
Canada's 17-year-old Alexandre Despatie also netted his second gold medal after a magnificent victory in the men's three-metre springboard, where he won by a margin of over 30 points, to follow his one-metre springboard gold on Thursday.
