AS MANCHESTER continues to wind down after a successful Commonwealth Games, the home nations can look back on the ten days of sporting action with pride. Although Australia topped the medals table, England, Scotland and Wales all won more medals than at Kuala Lumpur four years ago.
England finished second in the medal table with a total of 165 medals – 54 Gold, 51 Silver and 60 Bronze. This is up from 136 medals last time round, 36 of which were Gold, and marks England’s best ever haul at a Commonwealth Games. The team particularly benefited from superb performances in the athletics and swimming events. With 12 Gold medals, Team England was the top athletics team at the Games, and the ten Golds in the pool was only bettered by Australia.
Scotland finished an excellent ninth in the overall medals table, more than doubling their medal tally from four years ago. In 1998, Scotland won a total of 12 medals, three of which were Gold. In Manchester, the team won six Gold, eight Silver and 16 Bronze – a total of 30 medals. Two of the Golds came on the bowling green, with others in cycling, gymnastics, judo and swimming – Alison Sheppard becoming first Scottish female swimmer to win Commonwealth Games Gold since 1954.
The Welsh team wasn’t far behind, in 11th position overall, as it too more than doubled the total medals won at the last Commonwealth Games. The four Gold, 15 Silver and 12 Bronze won by the Welsh in Manchester compares to three Gold, four Silver and eight Bronze won in 1998. Nicole Cooke’s performance in winning cycling Gold in the women’s road race was certainly one of the highlights.
The Northern Ireland teamed matched its performance of four years ago by winning five medals – two Gold, two Silver and a Bronze – to finish 17th in the final table. David Calvert was the hero in the shooting, winning both of the team’s Gold medals, one in partnership with Martin Millar.
UK Sport’s chief executive, Richard Callicott, was delighted with the performances.
"Over the last ten days in Manchester we’ve seen athletes from all the home nations perform against many of the best competitors in the world," he said. "To come away with well over 200 medals is a fantastic achievement and one of which we are very proud.
"The success of the Games and our athletes is further evidence of the ongoing benefits of the UK’s high performance sport strategy."