Katarina Johnson-Thompson wins heptathlon gold as Eilish McColgan takes thrilling 10,000m title

You don’t need Brummie glam rock icons Slade to ‘feel the noize’ at the Alexander Stadium.

Another capacity crowd - take note Seb Coe and World Athletics - rose as one to roar Eilish McColgan and Katarina Johnson-Thompson to golds in the space of 29 raucous and rocking minutes at the Commonwealth Games.

Johnson-Thompson’s 6981-point personal best, set when winning the world heptathlon title in 2019, meant this was always going to be her gold to lose.

But in career defined by peaks and troughs in equal measure, the 29-year-old has long learned to take nothing for granted, dedicating her victory to gran Mary Johnson, who died last week.

Her winning points score here - 6377 compared to the 6222 that placed her eighth at the World Championships - shows encouraging signs after two difficult years pitted with injuries.

Backing up two heptathlons in the space of 16 days was always going to be a challenge but Johnson-Thompson still banked a personal best, letting out a roar after unleashing a 44.33m throw in the javelin.

“I’m so happy to get through it healthy,” said Johnson-Thompson.

“Hopefully, this will be a steppingstone for me like it was in 2018 and we’ll hope for better things next year. I’m happy with the points but it wasn’t about that,

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“The Commonwealth Games in 2018 was my first global medal outdoors so now it’s about getting into that positive mentality, being competitive. Everything bodes well and next year I can start afresh.”

Moments earlier McColgan produced one of the defining performances of these Games with a brilliant 10,000m gold, judging her tactics to perfection to leave Kenya’s Irine Cheptai in her wake as 30,000 roared her to victory.

It’s 11,296 days since mum Liz, a two-time Commonwealth champion, won her world title in Tokyo and she was first to greet her daughter, wrapped in the Saltire, disbelief etched across her face.

“It’s been such an up and down year,” said McColgan. “I couldn’t have asked for anymore. To have my family here, the crowd on that last 200n, I cannot explain, it was vibrating through my whole body. I’ve never sprinted like that in my life. It’s just an absolute dream.

“Your family know the ups and downs and how difficult that journey is. This is my fourth attempt and I’ve come sixth every time. I was ready to win a medal, but you could see in that last 200m I wanted gold. I can’t put it into words, it’s just mad.”

Parents always want better for their children and McColgan admitted she found watching Eilish tough as she took up the race from the front and grind her rivals down, a chip off the old block.

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“The crowd was amazing but for me as a mother, not even as a coach, to see your daughter win in the same event I won in is amazing,” she said. “She’s just run the race I always knew she was capable of running.

“It has been a long time coming and she put it together tonight. I know the hard work she does, there are people here who don’t normally get to watch her running, and it’s all come together.”

Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala won the men’s 100m while England’s Daryll Neita, who ran a lifetime 10.90 sec best in the semis, won bronze in the women’s 100m, won by Olympic champion, Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah.

“It’s fantastic to be racing the fastest women to ever have existed,” said Neita. “It’s an honour and the fact I’m getting closer, and these ladies are so encouraging, it’s a great atmosphere to be a part of. It’s like a private members’ club.

“It’s great to get a Commonwealth medal and I ran a PB in the semi, so I’m in fantastic shape. I just need to perform better in these finals.”

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