Ballard’s brilliance leads to gold

Wheelchair track & road star Angela Ballard (@angie_ballard) won Australia’s only gold medal on day eight of the 2014 Commonwealth Games after a stellar display in the women’s T54 1500m.

Competing in wet and slippery conditions, Ballard showed great composure throughout the technical race to time her final surge perfectly down the home straight, moving past Diane Roy of Canada to secure her first Commonwealth Games gold medal by 0.35 seconds.

NSWIS racer Christie Dawes also competed in the race, finishing fourth to miss out on the medals.

Ballard’s gold was complemented by fellow NSWIS athlete Kurt Fearnley (@kurtfearnley), who won silver in the men’s T54 1500m. In another exciting race following Ballard’s stellar win, Fearnley led until the final lap before long-time rival David Weir surged past to clinch the gold.

Elsewhere in Glasgow, there was a silver medal win for the Australian women’s triples bowls team that featured NSWIS athletes Karen Murphy (@KMBowlsClinics) and Kelsey Cottrell (@kelc68), after the Australian trio, including Lynsey Clarke, were outclassed by England in the gold medal match.

The NSWIS medal tally now stands at 12 gold, five silver and seven bronze medals following eight days of competition.

Day eight of Commonwealth competition also saw the Australian men’s hockey team continue their blistering form as they accounted for Scotland 5-0, with NSWIS athlete Kieran Govers (@Wizza27) scoring a goal. The Kookaburras will next face England in the semi-finals.

Several more medals are up for grabs on day nine of competition, with Dani Samuelsheadlining the chances in the women’s discus. Diver Matthew Mitcham(@matthew_mitcham) will look to add to his silver medal from earlier in the competition as he competes in the men’s 3m springboard synchro and 10m platform synchro events.

View the links below for a full list of NSWIS results from day eight, and the upcoming action on day nine of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Click here for a full list of NSWIS results from day eight.

Click here for a full list of NSWIS athletes competing on Friday August 1.

Click here for a full list of NSWIS athletes competing on Saturday August 2.