Broadbell cruises to Commonwealth hurdles gold

BIRMINGHAM: Jamaica’s Rasheed Broadbell equalled Colin Jackson’s 32-year-old Commonwealth Games record as he cruised to victory in the 110m hurdles on Thursday as Australia won a cycling road race double.

Broadbell, 21, dominated the final from the start to win in 13.08sec, making up for the disappointment of last year, when injury prevented him going to the Tokyo Olympics.

Fellow Jamaican Hansle Parchment, the Olympic champion, had withdrawn earlier in the day due to a niggle just as he had done before last month’s world championship final.

Heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s boyfriend Andrew Pozzi won bronze.

“I knew I had to stay focused and that is what I did,” said Broadbell. “Sometimes, when you run, you don’t know what is going to happen.

“You just have to execute properly. I’m not sure if I clipped any hurdles.”

He said Parchment gave him a call to tell him he had withdrawn.

“I’m not sure what the problem was, but he’s an Olympic champion, so he knows best.”

Broadbell’s performance lit up a low-key evening athletics session in Birmingham, which was still a 30,000 sell-out.

LaQuan Nairn gave the Bahamas their first-ever men’s long jump gold, while Australia’s Matthew Denny won the discus.

Nairn won with a best leap of 8.08 metres, edging out Murali Sreeshankar of India on countback.

“I said in Eugene (at the world championships) that I wanted to come here and get a gold medal,” said 26-year-old Nairn. “To say that and do it is great.”

Sreeshankar gave India their first medal in the event since Suresh Babu won bronze in 1978.

“It feels good,” he said. “This medal has been a long time coming. I have been waiting for a global medal for a very long time, but I kept missing out.”

Denny threw a best of 67.26 metres, with England’s Lawrence Okoye taking silver a decade after he reached the Olympic final in London before departing to play in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers.

Grenada’s defending decathlon champion Lindon Victor is hanging on to his title by the slenderest of margins heading into Friday’s final five events.

He has a total of 4,327 points, just 85 ahead of Cedric Dubler of Australia.

“I’m actually ahead of my score from Eugene (world championships where he finished fifth) nine days ago. That is a good sign,” he said.

Reflecting the weakness of some of the fields in Birmingham, just 11 athletes competed in the two heats of the women’s 400m hurdles -- with eight going through to the final.

Jamaica look hot favourites to take gold -- both defending champion Janieve Russell and 2019 world bronze medallist Rushell Clayton looked smooth in their respective heats. South African sprinter Akani Simbine missed the men’s 100m medals ceremony.