CWG 2014: Rowsell wins track pursuit, England lead in golds
CWG 2014: Rowsell wins track pursuit, England lead in golds
Track cyclist Joanna Rowsell helped England break New Zealand and Australian domination of the individual pursuit at the CWG.

Glasgow: Track cyclist Joanna Rowsell helped England break New Zealand and Australian domination of the individual pursuit at the Commonwealth Games on Friday.

While Scottish comedian Billy Connolly watched with Chris Hoy - in the velodrome named after the retired Scottish Olympian - Rowsell finished a second ahead of Australian Annette Edmondson.

New Zealand had won the event four times and Australia twice.

In an all-Australian final in the men's individual pursuit, Jack Bobridge won his second gold medal in two days when he beat Alex Edmondson, Annette's younger brother, in the individual pursuit.

Bobridge, who returned to the track after a year with a Dutch road racing team, won gold in the team pursuit Thursday. He plans to remain on the track to compete at the 2016 Olympics.

New Zealand won their second gold medal in cycling - and fifth overall - when Sam Webster beat England's Jason Kenny, a three-time Olympic champion, in the men's sprint. It ended Australia's 44-year winning streak - the country hadn't lost a race in the sprint since 1970.

Later Friday, Connolly moved over to the games' swimming pool to watch Katerine Savard become the first Canadian to win the 100-meter butterfly since 1978, breaking the Commonwealth record in the process.

England lead the overall gold medal count with 12.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Achieving success at the games is all about intense preparation? Maybe not. England judo competitor Danny Williams was only called up as an injury replacement the week before competition started in Glasgow.

"I was eating a fairly large spaghetti bolognese with wholemeal garlic bread when I found out I got the Commonwealth Games call-up," Williams said. "I swiftly put that meal to the side and went back down the gym."

The next time Williams is at home he'll be able to eat with a gold medal around his neck, after beating Adrian Leat of New Zealand to win the Commonwealth title in the under-73 kilogram division.

"I wasn't anywhere near within weight in all honesty," he said. "It has been a very hard six days. I don't think people see that part of the sport - if you don't make weight, then you don't fight."

TEEN WEIGHTLIFTER: Sixteen-year-old Chika Amalaha of Nigeria became the youngest female weightlifter to win Commonwealth Games gold. In the 53-kilogram class, she broke the previous record of 188 kilograms to total 196. Dika Toua of Papua New Guinea won silver and Santoshi Matsa of India earned the bronze.

FOG DELAY: At Carnoustie, heavy fog disrupted the full-bore shooting pairs on the first day of qualification. All 19 teams will complete the remainder of their first-stage shots at the 600-yard range before moving on to the stage 2 targets of 900 and 1,000 yards.

BINDRA WINS AGAIN: Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra went out a winner during his last Commonwealth Games, taking gold in the 10-meter air rifle at Carnoustie, an event he also won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. "It feels good winning in my final games and finishing off with an individual medal," said the 32-year-old Bindra, who has five games gold medals since 2002 in Manchester. "It's been a long time ... and I have to hand it over to young Indian talent."

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