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The 21st Commonwealth Games in the gold coast ended with dramatic victories in Netball and Rugby against this year’s hosts, Australia.
New Zealands’s women’s Rugby team beat Australia in the final with a try in sudden death extra time, winning 17 – 12, while England’s netball team also shocked title favorites Australia with a decisive penalty shot in the last seconds of the game winning 52 – 51. They became the first team apart from Australia and New Zealand to win netball gold.
Australia still managed to lead the medal’s table with 80 gold medals, and a total of 198 medals.
Queen Elizabeth’s youngest son Prince Edward called on the athletes to gather again in Birmingham in four years time before officially closing the XXI Games.
“Every four years these Games bring the spirit of our Commonwealth alive,” the Prince said.
Medal haul for Team Africa
Africa was represented on the medals’ table by South Africa in the 6th position with 13 gold medals and a total of 37 medals, Nigeria in the 9th position with a total of 24 medals and Kenya in the 14th position with a total of 17 medals.
Other African countries on the medals table included Uganda with 6 medals, Botswana with 5 medals, Namibia with 2 medals, Cameroon with 3 medals, Mauritius, Seychelles and Ghana, each with 1 medal.
Final day
On the final day of the games, Africa’s medals came from Namibia’s Helalia Johannes who won the women’s marathon in two hours, 32.40 minutes, Uganda’s Munyo Mutai who won silver in a dramatic men’s marathon where Scotland’s Callum Hawkins collapsed inside the final five kilometers after leading for most of the race.
English city Birmingham were awarded the next Games in 2022 after original hosts Durban were stripped of the multi-sport event for failing to meet Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) deadlines.
