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Praught-Leer Makes History, Semenya Dominates; Commonwealth Highlights

Praught-Leer Makes History, Semenya Dominates; Commonwealth Highlights

Aisha Praught-Leer's gold medal in Jamaica highlighted the first four days of competition at the Commonwealth Games.

Apr 11, 2018 by Kevin Sully
Praught-Leer Makes History, Semenya Dominates; Commonwealth Highlights

The action at the Commonwealth Games has reached its halfway point and, like most championship meets, there have been plenty of surprises, a fair share of history-making performances, and some excruciating disappointments. 

Here are some of the highlights of the first four days of competition.

Aisha Praught-Leer Makes History In The Steeple

Praught-Leer is off to a spectacular start in 2018. Indoors, she won the Millrose Games 3000m and finished sixth at the World Indoor Championships in the 1500m. Wednesday she stayed on a roll, running 9:21.00 to win the Commonwealth Games steeplechase—the first gold in the steeplechase for Jamaica in the history of the event. 



To do it, Praught-Leer had to catch Celliphine Chespol of Kenya down the stretch. Chespol is the world junior record holder and owner of the third-fastest time ever in the event. But that didn’t matter on Wednesday as Praught-Leer raced past Chespol to make history. 

The prospect Jamaica scoring a gold medal in a distance event also got the attention of the Kenyan distance establishment. 



In other distance action, Caster Semenya set a personal best and a national record on her way to taking gold in the 1500m. The 800m specialist ran 4:00.71, well ahead of Beatrice Chepkoech’s 4:03.09 and Melissa Courtney’s 4:03.44. All three medalists took home personal bests. 



The men’s 5000m saw Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda prevail in a tactical 5000m. Cheptegei ran a sub-four for the final mile to beat Mohammed Ahmed of Canada by almost two seconds. Edward Zakayo finished third for Kenya. 



Ahye, Simbine Take 100m Titles

Michelle-Lee Ahye of Trinidad & Tobago won the women’s 100m, her first gold medal since she competed as a junior. She held off two Jamaicans, Christania Williams and Gayon Evans, who ran 11.21 and 11.22, respectively. 



In the men’s race, Akani Simbine of South African scored a big win. Simbine’s 10.03 put him well clear of his teammate Henricho Bruintjies, who claimed silver with a time of 10.17. Yohan Blake never recovered from a slow start out of the blocks and ran 10.19 for the bronze. 

Simbine’s victory continues his strong record over the past three years where he scored a fifth-place finish at the 2016 Olympics and the 2017 World Championships. Monday’s gold also got him a shout out from the big man. 



Warner Suffers Cruel Fate In Decathlon 

Damian Warner of Canada was cruising to victory in the decathlon until the pole vault reared its unforgiving head. Warner was unable to clear a height, taking him from almost certain victory to out of the event entirely. In his absence, Lindon Victor of Grenada won gold, while Pierce Lepage of Canada and Australia’s Cedric Dubler rounded out the podium. 



In other non-track action, Luvo Manyonga lived up to his status as the favorite in the long jump. The reigning world champion from South Africa jumped a world-leading 8.41 meters to finish ahead of Australia’s Henry Frayne and South Africa’s Rushwahl Samaai.  

Botswana Comes To Play In The 400m

Isaac Makwala and Amantle Montsho won the men’s and women’s 400m race. Add in Baboloki Thebe’s runner-up finish in the men’s race and Botswana claimed three total medals in the 400m. 

Makwala’s winning time of 44.35 was a routine performance for him, but it was the fastest time of 2018. Montsho’s run was her best performance since she returned from a two-year doping ban in 2017. The 34-year-old ran 50.15, comfortably ahead of Jamaica’s Anastasia Le-Roy who ran 50.57. Stephenie McPherson took the bronze in 50.93.