It was supposed to be the fairytale finish.
Instead, it turned into one of the cruelest twists the Commonwealth Games has ever seen.
England's women's 4x400m relay team crossed the line first in a photo finish for the ages — Jessie Knight holding off Canada's fast-finishing Kyra Constantine by a barely believable 0.01 seconds — only to have the gold medal ripped away from them in a stunning late disqualification.
The crowd inside Birmingham's Alexander Stadium went absolutely berserk when the replays flashed up on the big screen. Knight had done it. By a thousandth of a second. A famous victory for the host nation on the final night of athletics.
Or so they thought.
The England quartet of Ama Pipi, Victoria Ohuruogu, Jessie Knight and Jodie Williams were already halfway through their victory lap when the hammer fell. They had no idea they were about to be hit by a bus.
Officials ruled that England had committed a lane infringement during the first baton change — Jodie Williams drifting to the inside lane (Lane 2) as she positioned herself to take the baton. It was the kind of technical breach that, in a final decided by a hundredth of a second, was always going to be fatal.
This is the lane infringement that led to England's women being disqualified from 4x400m relay gold.
— Commonwealth Games officials
England launched an immediate appeal, desperate to salvage the headline moment of their entire Games. Twenty minutes later, the verdict came back: appeal denied.
Gold gone. Just like that.
Canada Strikes Gold, Scotland Snags Bronze
The reshuffle handed Canada a stunning gold, with Jamaica promoted to silver and Scotland bumped up to bronze — a bitter-sweet podium for the home nations, and a gift from the heavens for the Canadians.
There can be no doubting the officials got the call right. The replay was damning. Williams had clearly stepped inside her lane before receiving the baton, and in a relay the rules are unforgiving: break the lane, lose the race.
For the English fans who had already streamed out of the stadium celebrating, the news landed like a gut punch. For the athletes, it was worse. They had completed a lap of honour, waved to the crowd, soaked in the adulation — then learned it was all for nothing.
A Night of Highs and Heartbreak
The drama capped off an extraordinary final night on the track, one that had already delivered plenty.
Australia's Peter Bol claimed a gutsy silver in the men's 800m, while Scotland's Laura Muir ended her Commonwealth Games campaign in style with gold in the 1500m — timing 4:02.75 and finally exorcising the demons of a medal-less 2014 and a missed 2018 Games through veterinary exams.
"You learn from it and your time will come," an overjoyed Muir said. "It sounds cheesy but it's true. Eight years of Commonwealths and it's been bugging me so this means a lot."
Her teammate Eilish McColgan, the 10,000m champion, narrowly missed a memorable double, finishing second to Kenya's world silver medallist Beatrice Chebet in the 5000m.
India's Eldhose Paul claimed his nation's first-ever men's triple jump gold, while Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem — strapping on his right arm and all — launched a Games-record 90.18m to seize javelin gold and hand his country a historic triumph over bitter rivals.
Nigeria's Ese Brume leapt 7.00m to win the women's long jump, Australia's newly-crowned world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber took the women's javelin with a 64.43m throw, and Canada's Evan Dunfee walked his way to 10,000m race walk gold.
Trinidad and Tobago closed the show by winning the men's 4x400m relay — but it was the women's final, and England's agony, that everyone will remember.
A photo finish. A victory lap. A disqualification. A gold medal, gone.
That's sport. That's the Commonwealth Games. And that's why we watch.
With AFP
