England's Helen Clitheroe not retiring after Commonwealth Games...but risks being 'strung up' if she guns for Rio 2016!

By Steven Oldham

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England's veteran distance runner Helen Clitheroe is adamant she will continue to be an athlete past the Commonwealth Games where she is set to race in the 5000m this weekend.

The 40-year-old has no intention of hanging up her running spikes just yet, as Glasgow 2014 is the culmination of a lengthy return from injury to top class competition that ruled her out of London 2012.

She is realistic however, when it comes to carrying on until the next Olympics in Brazil in two years time.

Helen said:"I wanted to prove to myself that I could get fit again and get back to competing.

I hope I can inspire older athletes. There's me and Jo Pavey both in the distance running team, we're both 40 - to have one of us that age is pretty unusual - two of us is pretty unheard of.

I had my best year in athletics at 37. Most athletes have retired by that age - if I can inspire people to carry on that would be great."

So what about her own future?

"After the Commonwealths I want to get another few another 5000m races and I will assess from there.

Rio 2016?! I think my husband would string me up if I went home and said I wanted to go for that!," she joked, before adding: "It's not easy being an athlete financially these days and at this stage of my career I have to justify what I'm doing. So I've not definitely ruled it out but I'd say it was very, very unlikely."

Helen after winning European championship gold in 2011

Helen - a European indoor 3000m champion and a Commonwealth bronze medallist from her home Games in Manchester twelve years ago - is heading into her fifth Friendly Games and it is obviously a competition that is close to her heart.

" The Commonwealths have been a massive part of my career. Kuala Lumpur '98 was my first senior international meet, I won a medal in Manchester, and I captained the woman's team in Delhi four years ago.

Glasgow 2014 was a real motivation when I was injured. I missed London 2012, and after seeing how amazing it was, I realised how special it was to perform in front of a home crowd. It meant so much to get the phone call to say I'd been picked, so I'm definitely still excited for the Commonwealth Games," she said.

The Preston-born runner is up against strong competition from Kenya's women, in the shape of Mercy Cherono and Janet Kisa. Distance running has again proved to be the African's trump card in these Commonwealths with Kenya's women taking four of their country's five gold medals to date. They also locked out the podium for 10,000m.  

"There's two really strong girls from Kenya in my race. It's a straight final - no heats - so anything can happen and I have to be ready for that. You never know what will happen in distance running and I need to be up in the mix.

I'd like to think I can beat my PB - but to be honest, that doesn't really matter in these competitions - it's all about where you finish. I certainly won't be running around looking at the clock. Obviously, it would be nice to beat my PB, but I'm more focussed on getting the performance to be competitive and I'm also determined to enjoy the moment."

"I can't wait to start competing now. You start to realise how close it is watching everyone in the holding camp and seeing the excitement."

Glasgow 2014: DAY 6: England dominate gymnastics team events, Canada rack up the medals, Kenya lock out long distance podium

England's gold-winning gymnasts (BBC Sport)

By Steven Oldham MISS DAY 5 HIGHLIGHTS? CLICK HERE

England dominated the gymnastic events today, taking gold in both the men's and women's team events.

A returning Louis Smith helped the men to gold in his first competition since the London 2012 Olympics.

Smith, Kristian Thomas, Max Whitlock, Nile Wilson and Sam Oldham - who missed two rotations due to an injury sustained in the vault - took England's first gold in this event since 2002 ahead of Scotland and Canada.

Hours later, the women's team matched their male counterparts by beating Australia and Wales to gold.

Rebecca Downie, Claudia Fragapane, Ruby Harrold, Hannah Whelan and Kelly Simm kept it clean and made the most of an error-prone display by Australia to take home the title.

In the pool, Ben Proud won his second gold medal of the Games by taking the 50m freestyle competition to add to the butterfly title he won over the same length.

There was also success for the men's 4x100m relay team who beat Australia to win gold in the final event in the pool.

Catherine Pendrel on her way to gold for Canada (@sarahtweetering)

Canada enjoyed their best day at Glasgow 2014 yet, picking up gold in athletics, cycling, weightlifting and wrestling and moved up to third in the medal table ahead of Scotland.

Jim Steacy matched Sultana Frizzell by winning the hammer event ahead of England's Nick Miller and Scotland's Mark Dry.

Damien Warner took the men's decathlon, while Catherine Pendrel won took the women's cross country cycling event ahead of team-mate Emily Batty.

Korey Jarvis also won gold for the Canadians in the 125kg, four years after he took silver in the 96kg event in Delhi. Marie-Ève Beauchemin-Nadeau also took weightlifting gold.

Kenya's dominant 10,000m runners (@VOASonnySports)

Kenya enjoyed another successful day in track and field, including a clean sweep of the podium in the women's 10,000m.

Joyce Chepkirui took the gold ahead of team-mates Florence Kiplagat and Emily Chebet.

Faith Kibiegon took victory in the women's 1500m but Hellen Obiri surprisingly missed out on a medal in the same event.

Sushil Kumar is now a 2x Commonwealth champion (@TheRSSPiyussh)        

India continued their strong pedigree in wrestling today with three gold medals, in the women's 48kg and men's 57kg and 74kg weight classes.

Sushil Kumar (74kg) has stepped up a weight since Delhi but the result remained the same, as he took victory over Pakistan's Qamar Abbas.



New 110m hurdle champion Andrew Riley (@TweetCam2014)



Jamaica are top ten on the medal table mostly due to their performance in athletics, and today they added titles in men's hurdles, and women's triple jump and 400m.

Not to be outdone by Kenya, the Jamaicans dominated the 400m and took all three places on the podium with Stephanie McPherson beating Novolene Williams-Mills and Christine Day to the title.
Kimberley Williams took triple jump gold, while Andrew Riley held off England's William Sharman to take the 110m hurdles.

DAY SIX DIGEST IN 60 SECONDS

• Scotland broke their medal record today with silver in gymnastics, swimming and shooting.
• Georgia Davies handed Wales a second gold in the pool after the country had waited 40 years for one.
  There was a first medal for Fiji, with weightlifter Apolonia Vaivai taking bronze in the women's 75kg weight class.
• Barbados also made their debut on the medal table with a bronze medal in the 110m hurdles for Shane Brathwaite
• Malta are still without a medal but it's not for a lack of effort. They missed out on bronze in wrestling today as David Galea lost to England's Mike Grundy in the 74kg freestyle.

Glasgow 2014: DAY 5: Scotland guarantee best ever Games with bowls success, Jamaica take athletics gold, Malaysia enjoy best day

Scotland's history makers Alex Marshall and Paul Foster (@_dpaj)

MISSED DAY 4 HIGHLIGHTS? CLICK HERE

By Steven Oldham 

It was only a matter of time before Scotland beat their eleven gold medals from Melbourne 2006 given their successful start to Glasgow 2014, and, with six days left, they achieved this today with victory in bowls as Alex Marshall and Paul Foster won the men's pairs.

The pair romped to an easy 20-3 victory over Malaysia and in doing so secured their place in Scottish folklore as the athletes who confirmed a historic best for the country.

Libby Clegg's victory in the T12 100m in para-sport athletics was another milestone matched, as Scotland now have 33 medals from this Games - matching their best ever total haul from a single Commonwealths.

Nicol David playing England's Laura Massaro (@starsport_my)

Malaysia enjoyed their best day of Glasgow 2014 so far, picking up gold in both squash and badminton.

World number one Nicol David beat English challenger Laura Massaro to take the women's squash event while they again outperformed the English in the mixed team badminton event, meaning both David and the badminton team retain the titles they won in Delhi four years ago.

Kemar Bailey Cole wins the 100m ahead of Adam Gemili (@sportsnet)

Jamiacan gold medals are like buses; you wait ages for one then two turn up at once.

Predictably, both came in athletics - Kemar Bailey-Cole won the 100m, and O'Dayne Richards took the shot put.

Veronica Campbell-Brown had to settle for silver in the 100m sprint, with team-mate Kerron Stewart third. Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare won the race.

Welsh swimmer Jazz Carlin (Getty Images)



Swimmer Jazz Carlin became the first women in 40 years to win a Commonwealth event for Wales as she took the 800m freestyle.

She took her first Games title ahead of New Zealand's Lauren Boyle and Brittany Maclean and now has Commonwealth gold, silver and bronze.

This was Wales' third gold this Games  in three different sports - swimming, judo and rhythmic gymnastics.

English discus thrower Dan Greaves (@spogo)

England had another successful day with titles in the pool, squash and athletics.

Swimmer Ollie Hynd completed the grand slam and added Commonwealth gold to his collection, which already includes Paralympic, European and world titles, by winning the SM8 200m medley. 18-year-old Sophie Taylor took the 100m breaststroke final, having won her semi final and been the fastest in the heats. 

Discus thrower Dan Greaves secured his country's first gold medal in athletics by winning the F42/44 final ahead of Wales' Aled Davies and Nigeria's Richard Okigbazi.

Nick Matthew retained his Delhi 2010 title by winning an all-English final in the men's squash against team-mate James Willstrop. Peter Barker's bronze meant the English completed a clean sweep of the podium, with Laura Massaro also winning silver.

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DAY 5 DIGEST IN 60 SECONDS...

• Northern Ireland edged closer to the top prize by picking up silver in the men's triples bowls competition
• Cameroon won their first gold medal of the Games, and first since the 2002 Games, as weightlifter Marie Fegue takes victory in the 69kg weight class.
• Singapore continued their dominance in table tennis, adding the men's team event to the women's title they took on day 4
• Medal table leaders Australia continue to add to their medal tally, winning gold in shooting and swimming
• Canada's Sultana Frizzell retained her hammer title from Delhi 2010 and beat her own Games record in the process

Glasgow 2014: DAY 4: South Africa shock New Zealand in rugby sevens, Australia break record in pool, Laura Trott seals gold in the velodrome

South Africa's history-making rugby sevens team (@Glasgow2014)

By Steven Oldham  MISS DAY 3 HIGHLIGHTS? CLICK HERE

Something unheard of today in the rugby sevens tournament, as the reigning and four-time Commonwealth champions New Zealand were beaten by South Africa in the final.

The All Blacks had never lost a match in any Commonwealth tournament since the sport debuted in 1998 and were seen as huge favourites to retain their title.

South Africa beat the Kiwis 17-12 in the final at Ibrox to secure a historic win and a glimmer of hope to the rest of the world that New Zealand are not a shoe-in to win the first Olympic title in sevens when it debuts at the Rio 2016 Games. The Springboks had twice previously won bronze but proved to be the better team today.

They also won gold in lawn bowls, as their women's fours team beat Malaysia in the final.



James Magnussen on his way to gold (BBC Sport)

Medal table leaders Australia had another day to remember in the pool, with the highlight coming in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay where they set a new world record and finished ahead of the second place team, Scotland.

James Magnussen (100m freestyle), Belinda Hocking (200m backstroke), and Ben Treffers (50m backstroke) also claimed individual gold on yet another day of success for the team from Down Under.

In the first day of athletics, Michael Shelley took the men's marathon.

England's Commonwealth champion cyclist Laura Trott (Getty Images)

England also had a good day in the pool with both Fran Halsall and Siobhan O'Connor picking up gold.

Halsall picked up the 50m butterfly title to add to her freestyle medal over the same distance. O'Connor finally won gold in the 200m medley ahead of Australia's Alicia Coutts, who was the most decorated athlete in any sport at the last Games in Delhi. O'Connor had previously won two silver medals in Glasgow.

In the final day of track cycling, Laura Trott added a Commonwealth title in the points race to her two Olympic titles from London 2012. The 22-year-old led a Home Nations podium, with Welsh rider Elinor Barker second and Scotland's Katie Archibald took bronze.

Steve Scott and Charlotte Kerwood also secured a successful day at the Barry Budden Shooting Range with both taking gold medals in the double trap.

Singapore's women won the team event in table tennis (@tdysports)

Singapore convincingly won the women's' team table tennis tournament, beating Malaysia 3-0 in the final.

They beat India and Canada en-route to the final and are a team who regularly do well in table tennis - at the last Games in Delhi, six of their eleven gold medals came in this sport.

The team also have a chance to win a medal in badminton tomorrow as they play India in the bronze medal match of the mixed team event after losing to Malaysia earlier today.

Kenya's marathon winner Caleb Ndiku (@eaofficialpage)



Kenya had a strong first day in the athletics, picking up gold in both the women's marathon and men's 5000m.

Flomena Daniel won the women's marathon ahead of compatriot Caroline Kilel, and Caleb Ndiku took the 5000m title, again leading a Kenyan 1-2 from Isiah kiplangat Koech.

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DAY 4 DIGEST IN 60 SECONDS...

• India and Nigeria shared the spoils in weightlifting today, both picking up one gold and one silver each
• Malaysia's world number one Nicol David made the final of the squash tournament where she will face Laura Massaro of England
• The Bahamas won their first medal - in the pool, with Adrianna Vanderpool Wallace winning silver behind Fran Halsall in the 50m butterfly.
• Malta are still without a medal, but they came close in shooting, with Nathan Xuereb losing out by just two points in his bronze medal match in the men's double trap.  

Glasgow 2014: DAY 3: Scotland equal best gold medal haul already, Isle of Man secure first medal, Wales beat Canada in gymnastics

Scottish flagbearer Euan Burton (@JudoScotland)

By Steven Oldham    MISSED YESTERDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS? CLICK HERE

Scotland have already equalled their best ever gold medal haul at a Commonwealth Games in just three days.

The host nation now have 11 gold medals, the same amount they managed from the entirety of the Melbourne Games in 2006.

They won three golds in judo today, including flagbearer Euan Burton's last ever competitive match as a judoka.

35-year-old Burton went out on a high by beating Pakistan's Shah Hussein Shah in the -100kg weight class final, while Sarah Adlington (+78kg) and Chris Sherrington (+100kg) also won their competitions as the judo tournaments came to a close.

The home nations have been dominant in judo, with Scotland and England both winning six gold medals.

Para-cyclist Neil Fachie and pilot Craig Maclean won their second gold medals of the Games in the velodrome, coming from behind to beat the Australian riders Kieran Modra and Jason Niblett 2-1 in the tandem sprint.

Wales' Frankie Jones won her country's first gold (Getty Images)

 Wales waited two days for gold and then won two on the third day of competition.

Rhythmic gymnast Frankie Jones took a third medal in as many days, and it was also her country's first gold, as she won the individual ribbon event ahead of Malaysia and Canada.

A second gold followed in judo, as Natalie Powell denied Scotland a husband-and-wife pair of gold medals by defeating Olympic silver medallist - and Mrs Euan Burton - Gemma Gibbons in the final.



Isle of Man's silver medal winner Peter Kennaugh (Adam Gerrie)



Cyclist Peter Kennaugh helped the Isle of Man onto the medal table by winning silver in the men's points race.

Kennaugh - an Olympic champion two years ago as part of the British team pursuit - came second to New Zealand's Thomas Scully.



Australia's Commonwealth skeet champion Laura Coles (@InsideWAIS)



Australia now lead the medal table thanks to winning five more bronze medals than England.

Both nations have 17 golds and 14 silvers so the race is still very tight with strong events still to come for both nations.

The team from Down Under won their first shooting medals today, with Laura Coles taking the women's skeet and Daniel Repacholi winning the 10m air pistol event.

They also had further success in swimming and cycling and will look to sports like hockey, athletics and rugby sevens to boost their medal tally further.

New 100m breastroke champion Adam Peaty (@BBCmtd)

Despite being bumped down into second in the medal standings, England again had a good day.

The country's domination of triathlon in Commonwealth circles continued as they won the first ever mixed team event.

Fran Halsall and Adam Peaty both took gold and new Games records in the pool, in the 50m freestyle and 100m breaststroke respectively.

There was also success in weightlifting with Zoe Smith also taking a Commonwealth record in the -58kg weight class. The diminutive 20-year-old managed to lift an unbeaten total of 210kg.

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DAY THREE DIGEST IN 60 SECONDS...

• Mauritius win their first medal of Glasgow 2014, with Annabelle Laprovidence taking bronze in the +78kg judo competition.
• India lock out gold and silver in two shooting competitions, with seven of their seventeen medals coming in this sport
• New Zealand's all-conquering rugby sevens team were given a scare by the hosts before winning 17-14 on the way to topping their group
• The first bowls gold medal went to South Africa who won the para-sport mixed pairs event ahead of Scotland
• Malaysia's world number one squash player Nicol David is through to the semi finals after beating England's Jenny Duncalf

Glasgow 2014: DAY 2: More success for England and Scotland, Cyprus win first ever weightlifting gold, Welsh athlete banned for doping violation

England's Chris Walker-Hebborn broke the Games record in 100m backstroke
(@NickHopeBBC)

By Steven Oldham
 
England and Scotland continued to rack up the medals on day two of the Commonwealths, with the hosts already well on their way to their best ever Games.
 
Medal-events in cycling, swimming, judo, gymnastics, shooting and weightlifting were settled today, and preliminary rounds continued in bowls, hockey, netball, squash and boxing.
 
There was more bad news for a Wales team already hit by injury and suspension, with hurdler Rhys Williams banned from the Games after failing a drugs test.

MISS THE ACTION FROM DAY ONE? CLICK HERE

 

Chris Walker-Hebborn broke the Commonwealth record while winning the 100m backstroke for England, just hours after teenager Ben Proud had won the country's first gold in the pool by taking victory in the 50m butterfly earlier in the day. Proud beat Olympic champion Chad le Clos in both the semi and final, with the South African having to settle for third.
 
Judo continues to be a happy hunting ground for Team England, who continue to top the medal table. Three more gold today came in for both male and female judoka, with Owen Livesey beating team-mate and room-mate Tom Reed in the final of the -81kg weight class. Danny Williams (-73kg) and Megan Fletcher (-70kg) also won their respective events to leave England with an impressive six medals in the sport already.
 
Joanna Roswell won the individual pursuit to secure a second English title in track cycling, and set a new Commonwealth record in the qualifiers, and beat her Australian opponent by nearly four seconds in the final.
 

The moment Sarah Clark won judo gold for Scotland (Daily Record)

 
 

Scotland's success in the pool continued with Daniel Wallace securing a stunning breakthrough win in the 400m medley ahead of Thomas Fraser-Holmes (Australia) and Sebastian Rousseau (South Africa).
 
Hometown favourite Michael Jamieson however is out of the 100m breaststroke after being eliminated in the semi finals where he could only place fifth. Compatriot and new 200m champion Ross Murdoch is safely through.
 
The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome also saw it's first homegrown champion in the para-cycling today. Neil Fachie and pilot Craig Maclean won the 1000m tandem time trial for visually impaired riders from teams from Australia and Wales.
 
Judoka Sarah Clark became the third Scottish woman to win gold on the mat by beating Cameroon's Helene Wezeu Dombeu in the -63kg weight class by making her opponent submit via an armlock.
 

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Cyprus won their first gold at these Games in weightlifting, with Dimitris Minasidis taking victory in the -62kg. He raised 276kg ahead of lifters from Sri Lanka and Samoa.  
 
He makes history by becoming the island's first Commonwealth weightlifting champion.
 


Cyprus' Dimitris Minasidis lifting for gold (BBC Sport)
 

DAY TWO DIGEST IN 60 SECONDS...

• Commonwealth powerhouse Australia also continued to pile up the medals, taking more gold in swimming and opening their account in shooting.
• Canada continue to dominate the rhythmic gymnastics, with Patricia Bezzoubenko winning her second gold in as many days in the individual all round event.
• Team Wales also put in a good show in rhythmic gymnastics, with flagbearer Frankie Jones and Laura Halford taking bronze today after team silver yesterday
• Nigeria also scooped a first gold of the Games in women's weightlifting, as Chika Amalaha won the -53kg weight division
• Singapore, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea all opened their medal tallies today.

DAY 3: WHAT'S UP FOR GRABS?

Mixed team triathlon makes it Games debut tomorrow, can England continue their dominace?

There are also medals to be decided in lawn bowls, rhythmic gymastics, cycling, judo, shooting, swimming and weightlifting. 



Glasgow 2014: DAY 1: Hosts Scotland off to golden start as 20th Commonwealth Games get under way



Scotland's Hannah Miley broke her own Commonwealth record in the
400m medley in front of a home crowd
(Getty Images)

By Steven Oldham

Glasgow 2014 kicked off today with a flurry of gold medals for host nation Scotland, England and Australia.

Medal events in swimming, cycling, judo, triathlon, weightlifting and rhythmic gymnastics meant the opening day got off to an action-packed start.

Host nation Scotland did well in the pool, with Hannah Miley breaking her own Commonwealth record in the 400m medley, retaining the title she won in Delhi four years ago.

There was also success in the men's 200m breaststroke, but not for Glasgow's poster boy Michael Jamieson - 20-year-old Ross Murdoch upstaged the more experienced swimmer and took his Games record to add salt to the wound. Jamieson cut a dejected figure afterwards despite taking silver.

Sisters Kimberley and Louise Renicks also both took gold in judo, in the -48kg and -52kg weight classes respectively. Kimberley overcome Indian judoka Sushila Likmabam, with Louise beating Kelly Edwards by disqualification after the Englishwoman collected too many penalties.

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England head into day two top of the medal table, claiming an impressive six gold medals on the opening day.

Triathlete Jodie Stimpson took the first gold medal of the 2014 Games and she was soon joined on top of the podium by Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee.  England dominated the competition,  taking four of the six medals, including silver for Alistair's younger brother Jonny.



England's Ashley McKenzie on the way to gold
(BBC Sport)

England also had a great opening day in judo, with London 2012 Olympians Colin Oates and Ashley McKenzie both scooping gold, in the -66kg and -60kg weight classes.  Nekoda Davis won the final gold of the night, beating home favourite Stephanie Inglis in the -57kg final, a result which helped tip the medals table further in England's favour.

In the para-cycling, Sophie Thornhill and pilot Helen Stott won tandem sprint gold in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, beating Scotland's Aileen McGlynn and Louise Haston 2-0 in a best-of-three final.

Sir Bradley Wiggins' return to track cycling saw Commonwealth gold elude him once more as the 4,000m team pursuit team were well beaten in the end by Australia in the final, leaving Wiggins with four silver medals from the Friendly Games.

Australia took three golds in the pool, including a stunning new world record time for the women's 4x100m freestyle relay, beating the former record holding Dutch team's time by nearly a second, with England and Canada second and third.

The team from Down Under also found success in the velodrome, winning both the 4,000m men's team pursuit, and the legendary Anna Meares won the 500m time trial ahead of team-mate Stephanie Morton. Meares also set a new Games record in winning and now boasts five Commonwealth gold medals among her medal collection.



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Canada took gold in the rhythmic gymnastics team event ahead of Wales and Malaysia, and also picked up gold in the pool thanks to Ryan Cochrane's victory in the 400m freestyle, retaining the title he won four years ago.

India also took two gold medals on the opening day, both in weightlifting, with the team picking up four of six available medals. Sukhen Dey (56kg) and Khumukchanu Sanjita (48kg) are now both Commonwealth champions, and the team have already matched their gold tally in this sport from their home Games four years ago.

So, what's up for grabs on day two? Shooting gets underway, There are also more medals in swimming, judo, track cycling and weightlifting. Many eyes will be on Michael Jamieson to see if he can bounce back in the 100m event.