Julia Ratcliffe won her third consecutive Commonwealth Games hammer throw medal when took the silver medal in Alexander Stadium.
Ratcliffe, who won silver in 2014 and gold in 2018, put in a series of consistent throws – 67.26m, 69.59m, 69.63m, x, x, 66.93m. Her 69.63m effort placed her a clear second, though well behind Canadian Camryn Rogers.
Rogers managed just two legal throws, but both were whoppers – 74.08m and 73.89m.
The second New Zealander in the hammer throw was Nicole Bradley, whose best throw of 63.10m earned her ninth position.
Ratcliffe, 29, was very upbeat afterwards.
“I loved it out there, with the crowd roaring us on. After Tokyo, which didn’t have crowds and was dead, this was a great atmosphere.”
Ratcliffe said once she’d thrown 69m she felt the silver was probably safe, but she wanted to go after a really big one and see if she could catch Rogers.
“I changed to a faster pair of shoes, and I really left it all out there. My fifth throw was a big one, but it just went outside the line.”
Meanwhile George Beamish finished sixth in the 5000m. His time was a good 13min 21.71s, but he could not match the pace of the front runners.
Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo won in 13min 08.08s.