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Adlington triumphs as Lewis-Francis claims silver

Rebecca Adlington looked tired during her 800m final swim © Getty Images

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Day Four Gallery

Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington produced a courageous swim to chalk up one of England's five gold medals on Thursday as she won the women's 800m freestyle event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Adlington, like many of the swimmers in Delhi, has had to put up with illness in the early part of the Games, and there were rumours that she would not even compete in Thursday's final. However, the best female freestyle swimmer in the world led from the front, clocking a time of 8:24.69 to bring home the gold in comfortable fashion.

"I'm so pleased, not about the time, but everyone's been a bit slow due to these Games coming towards the end of the season," Adlington told the BBC. "My coach told me to stick with them all at 400m, but I thought there was no point holding back.

"I saw people closing in towards the end but thought there was no way they were catching me. With the 400m tomorrow, it's a big ask to have it so close. With everything going on you just don't want to push it too far."

In athletics, Mark Lewis-Francis overcame a shocking start - caused by slippy blocks - to power through the field for a silver medal in the men's 100m final. Lewis-Francis' blocks clearly slid backwards as he pushed off, leaving him seventh through 50 metres, but his finish was exceptional as he clocked a time of 10.20 to trail Jamaican winner Lerone Ephraime Clarke.

"My block slipped, and that's why I looked like I was so far behind," he told the BBC. "I had to run from deep within, so that shows there's so much more to come. There's that little bit of disappointment, but this has been the best year of my career."

In the women's final, controversy reigned as Australia's Sally Pearson recorded a false start, only to see England's Laura Turner credited with jumping the gun. Both girls ran the race knowing an investigation would follow, and Pearson powered to victory ahead of England's Katharine Endacott who came fourth. A protest against Pearson's false start could feasibly see Endacott promoted to the bronze medal position, but official start times showing Turner reacted first are likely to save the Australian.

Mark Lewis-Francis was cost gold by his starting blocks as he was narrowly edged out in the men's 100m final © Getty Images

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Elsewhere on the track on Thursday, Helen Clitheroe and Hannah England qualified for the women's 1500m final alongside Steph Twell and Ciara Mageean. There was also success in the field as Zoe Derham claimed bronze for England in the hammer, while silver went the way of Wales' Carys Parry.

However, 2006 Commonwealth high jump silver medallist Martyn Bernard failed to even reach the final of the 2010 event in Delhi, falling short of the 2.16 qualifying standard. Bernard had been expected to medal after securing European bronze earlier this year, but he could not follow compatriots Tom Parsons and Samson Oni into the final.

"Although 2.16 is just bread and butter, today it just didn't happen," said Bernard. "I'm just kind of gutted. Qualifying is where you just want to go in and just get through. I had a little problem with my knee and so 2.16, I didn't really want to take it. I skipped the first attempt and I thought I would be able to get through with 2.13, but it wasn't the case. Then the next two attempts, I was just concentrating on my knee more than my technique and getting over it."

Earlier in the day, England followed up their first Commonwealth gold medal in archery since 1982 with a second on the same day as both the men's and women's teams triumphed in their respective finals.

The trio of Danielle Brown, Nicky Hunt and Nichola Simpson set the tone with a 232-229 victory over Canada in the women's compound final, thanks largely to the nerve of Hunt on the final arrow. The world No. 1 required an eight for victory, yet she pulled out a 10 to clinch the match in style. The result sees Brown add Commonwealth gold to the Paralympic medal she won in Beijing, after becoming the first Paralympic archer to represent England in the Games.

And the men swiftly followed suit with an even tighter climax against host nation India, winning 231-229. The trio of Liam Grimwood, Chris White and Duncan Busby all nailed maximums early on as England breezed into a halfway lead, but they needed an eight on the final arrow to clinch victory, which eventually arrived with a nine for good measure.

England's Stevan Walton added to his nation's gold medal tally, winning shooting gold in the men's double trap individual event. Nick Baxter and Michael Gault later won silver in the men's 10m air pistol pairs event, behind India's Gurpreet Sing and Okmar Singh.

Prior to Adlington's victory in the swimming pool, it had already been a good day for the home nations, led by Gemma Spofforth, who set a new Games record in the 50m backstroke. Spofforth set a marker of 28.30, although it was quickly broken in the semi-finals by Australia's Emily Seebohm, who touched for a time of 28.03. A tense final awaits.

Fran Halsall, struck down by illness on Wednesday, returned to show good form in the 50m freestyle semi-finals, having set the fastest time of the morning in the heats. Kate Haywood was also unrivalled as she led the times for the 100m breaststroke in 1:08.37.

Ellen Gandy got England off to a good start in the pool © Getty Images

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The first swimming medal of the day went to England's Ellen Gandy, who claimed silver in the women's 100m butterfly behind Australia's Alicia Coutts. Jemma Lowe took bronze for Wales. Gandy's effort was followed up by the surprise performance of Simon Burnett in the men's 100m freestyle final, which yielded an unexpected silver medal behind Canada's Brent Hayden who won in a Commonwealth record time of 47.98 seconds.

The men's 400m individual medley provided yet another medal for the English team, with Joe Roebuck taking silver behind Chad le Clos, who recorded a Games record of 4.13.25. Wales' Tom Haffield came fourth amongst claims that the English team want to study test results on the pool, which stands accused of causing athletes to become ill. Haffield commented to BBC Sport: "People can sugar-coat it as much as they want but this is a very difficult environment to be in."

Staying in the pool, England's Jenna Randall and Lauren Smith picked up silver and bronze respectively in the solo synchronized swimming competition. Marie-Pier Boudreau-Gagnon claimed gold for Canada. Boudreau-Gagnon also took gold in the duet event, which saw England's pairing of Jenna Randall and Olivia Allison finish second.

A bronze medal arrived on the third day of track cycling, after Anna Blyth battled on with a faulty rear wheel to claim third place in the women's 10km scratch race. Northern Ireland also celebrated a third-placed finish in the men's team pursuit, their first medal of the Games. And Wales' Becky James wore a wide smile after taking silver in the women's sprint, losing a desperately tight final to Australia's Anna Meares.

Reiss Beckford of England claimed his second silver of the Games in the men's gymnastics floor event. Beckford built on his all-round silver medal by falling marginally short of Australia's Thomas Pichler on Thursday. There was also a silver medal for Max Whitlock, while Imogen Cairns defended her title on the vault for England's fifth gold medal of the day.

And England's men's hockey team will be disappointed after they could only draw 1-1 with Canada. England had to come from behind after conceding early, but after drawing level they squandered plenty of chances to win the match, prompting jubilant celebrations from Canada at the final whistle.

Elsewhere, Stephanie Millward took silver behind Natalie du Toit in the women's para S9 100m freestyle, while Katrina Hart claimed gold in the women's 100m T37 athletics final.

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