Seven golden medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Team England secured a record-breaking medal haul in athletics events at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, bagging seven golds along with 15 silver and 12 bronze. Let’s look back at the story of a tremendous medal haul from our Team England athletes
Smith wins historic Commonwealth gold
Johnboy Smith (coach: Christine Parsloe; club: Sutton & District) secured his place in the history books as he claimed Team England’s first ever wheelchair marathon title. David Weir (Jenny Archer; Weir Archer Academy) was on course to clinch first spot before a cruel puncture in the final 10k gave Smith a chance to capitalise and take Team England's first athletics gold of the Games.
Emmanuel Oyinbo Coker and Hannah Cockroft end the first evening of track and field in style
Emmanuel Oyinbo-Coker (Coral Nourrice, Newham and Essex Beagles / Loughborough Students) set the tone for Team England athletes on the first night on the track by bulldozing his way to a stunning gold in the men’s T45-47 100m. Oyinbo-Coker opened a huge lead straight out of the blocks to secure gold and his first sub-11 second finish. The Personal Best Foundation ambassador said:
“It went perfectly to plan. To be honest it was almost like a dream.”
Oyinbo-Coker’s success was followed minutes later as co-captain Hannah Cockroft (Jennifer Banks, Leeds City AC) set a Games record in the T33-34 100m with 16.84, ahead of Kare Adenegan (Job King, Coventry Godiva Harriers) who took the silver in 17.79.
Johnson-Thompson successfully defends Commonwealth title
The Liverpool Harriers athlete (coach: Aston Moore) fought back from a few injury plagued years to claim an emotional gold in the heptathlon and defend her title from the 2018 games. The funetics ambassador said:
“It feels incredible to do that in front of my home crowd. It was the crowd who got me through the competition, especially the 800m when the noise was so loud.”
It’s Miller time again!
Nick Miller (coach: Tore Gustafsson, club: Border Harriers) threw a huge 76.43m in the hammer – a distance which has only been beaten twice in the history of the Commonwealth Games – to defend his gold medal from the Gold Coast in 2018.
Maguire takes the gold on a high-flying Friday
A blistering pace was set in the men’s T53/54 1500m with Nathan Maguire (Steven Hoskins, Kirkby AC) and Daniel Sidbury (coach: Christine Parsloe, club: Sutton and District AC) setting up a thrilling finish. In the end Maguire took the win with 3:11.83, narrowly edging out Sidbury in 3:12.15.
Relay success on stunning Sunday session
Team England brought home gold in the 4x100m in spectacular fashion on the penultimate day of athletics. Jona Efoloko (Clarence Callender, Sale Harriers Manchester), Zharnel Hughes (Glen Mills, Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers), Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (Ryan Freckleton, Newham and Essex Beagles) and Ojie Edoburun (Stuart McMillan, Shaftesbury Barnet) fought off a strong Trinidad & Tobago and Nigeria to secure gold in front of a packed Alexander Stadium.
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- Look back on the rest of our 2022 Commonwealth Games coverage