Young woman from Nashik brings home first individual track medal in 52 years

India’s first individual medal in 52 years in a running event at the Commonwealth Games was won today by a 25-year-old tribal woman who grew up running double the distance she covered in the 10,000-metre race — fetching water each time the river flowing through her village Savarpada, 90 km from Nashik in Maharashtra, dried up during summers.

Kavita Raut clocked 33 minutes and 5.28 seconds to win the bronze, the 10th athletics medal India has ever won at the Commonwealth Games. The last individual medal for a Commonwealth Games track event was Milkha Singh’s gold in 1958.

Expectedly, the Kenyans—Kwamboka Grace Momanyi and Chepkwemo Doris Changeywo—won the Gold and Silver. With 1,200 metres to go, Kavita found the energy in her legs and staying power to break from the rest and cross the finish line after the Kenyans. The home crowd roared and Kavita scampered around to find a Tri-colour for a victory lap.

“I wanted to improve my best timing at the Games but I couldn’t. But this Bronze has given me a lot of confidence. I can only get better from here. I want to thank all my coaches. Without them I wouldn’t have been able to achieve what I did today,” Kavita said.

Her bronze-medal winning time paled in comparison to her personal best of 32:41.31 but Kavita was confident that she would bag the Gold and improve her performance at the Asian Games next month.

On Friday, her family in Savarpada village would have been happy that Kavita’s long-time coach Vijendra Singh was adamant that the teenager put her lung capacity to better use than running to fetch water.

It took Singh, who is with the Sports Authority of India, Nashik, three years to convince Kavita’s parents that she could become a famous runner and win the country medals. “Her parents wanted her to stay back in Savarpada, complete her basic education in a government school and help the family make both ends meet by working on the farm,” Singh said.

Singh spotted Kavita at an inter-school sports competition when she was 15. “She won the 1,500 and the 3,000 metres but was really raw. Years of running up to 18-20 kilometres everyday to fetch water during the summer months had given her a lot of stamina. She even had to walk five kilometres to her school. After I coached her for three months, she won an under-16 gold. From then on she has only gone from strength to strength,” said Singh who couldn’t watch the 10,000-metre final live on television because the channel he was tuned into was telecasting boxing. And he suspects Kavita’s family, too, missed the final. “I had put up posters in Nashik to alert people that Kavita was running tonight. I doubt anyone saw it because we could only watch boxing here.”

Prince Charles's bodyguard collapses as they fly to Commonwealth Games

Prince Charles was involved in a mid-air medical emergency when his security chief suffered a heart attack on the royal plane to India.

Superintendent Tim Nash collapsed during the private flight from London to Delhi last Saturday, just yards from where Charles and his brother Prince Edward were sitting.

It meant the heir to the throne was left to carry out a high-risk four-day tour of India without his most senior protection officer.

Charles’s personal doctor treated the senior Scotland Yard officer as the royals were kept abreast of the ‘traumatic’ situation.

His condition was deemed so serious that aides feared the plane – part of the Queen’s Flight – would have to make an emergency landing.

But the chartered aircraft, which is believed to have been nearing the end of its eight-hour journey, was able to touch down in Delhi at 1.35pm, where it was met by paramedics.

Mr Nash is still recovering in hospital, leaving the rest of his team to protect Charles during the Commonwealth Games.

A source said: ‘Tim had a massive heart attack and it was very touch and go – they thought he was at death’s door.

‘His career may be effectively finished – he may not be able ever to go back to work.’

Clarence House declined to comment.

Records tumble as Kumar grabs a Gold

Indian shooter Vijay Kumar set a new Commonwealth Games Final Record, grabbing a Gold medal in Singles 25m Rapid Fire Pistol.

“I'm happy because this is my second Gold medal.” said Vijay.

The 25-year-old racked up 787.5 points on his way to victory, having earlier broken his own Games Qualification Record with a score of 583 points.

Malaysian shooter Hasli Izwan won Silver with a score of 760.3 points.

“I went through the first target okay, but after that I had a problem with the trigger and moved a bit too slow, so that's why I had a bad first shot. The rest of the shots were okay.” Izwan told

Meanwhile, Gurpreet Singh, the Indian Gold medallist in the Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Pairs and 10m Air Pistol Pairs, continued his golden run by adding a Bronze to his medal haul.

“I was not satisfied with my score,” he said.

When asked about him being under any pressure, “There was no pressure on me because my score was not good,” he added.

CWG: Shooters Gagan Narang, Imran Khan win 16th gold for India

Shooters Gagan Narang and Imram Hasan Khan bagged yet another gold medal at the XIX Commonwealth Games for India at a shooting range event on Friday.

Narang and Khan won the gold in the 50 m rifle 3 position pair event, thus, raising India's gold medal tally 16.

1 step forward, often 2 back at Commonwealth Games

The pool water is clean, but the toilets in the aquatic venue are blocked. Ticket sales are on the increase but the stadiums still seem mostly empty. There was a "major communications blunder" at the track that nearly resulted in athletes presented with their medals despite the race being protested.

It's day five of competition at the Commonwealth Games. But somehow, based on all the problems, they all seem to have a common theme.

Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell on Friday said officials at the athletics stadium erred the previous night by not telling the medalists in the women's 100 that the event was under protest. Just as well, as the original winner, Sally Pearson of Australia, was later disqualified.

On a day when 43 gold medals will be presented, the sports often seemed to be an afterthought, not helped by a results system that has not worked properly since the games opened a week ago.

Fennell is part of what is called the "games-time management committee." It meets every morning, and on Friday they had several new and continuing issues to handle: the reports of blocked toilets at the swimming venue; poor quality of food to volunteers; and trying to get approval for helicopters to encroachment on restricted airspace over the city for television coverage of the marathon and road cycling events.

But the biggest question mark of all: if 900,000 tickets have been sold, why do many of the stadiums appear nearly empty?

Previous problems in the leadup to the games included construction delays, corruption allegations, concerns about security, outbreaks of Dengue fever and, perhaps the most damaging, complaints about unfinished and filthy accommodations in the athletes' village just days before teams were due to arrive.

One mystery out of the way Friday was the quality of the pool water, which was suspected of being responsible for a dozen or more cases of "Delhi belly" affecting mostly Australian and English swimmers.

Fennell said three pools were tested - including the main pool and warmup pool at the aquatics venue - "and the tests results of all those pools is that the water is in keeping with the standards that are required. There are no problems with the water in those pools."

He said the Commonwealth Games Federation doctor had spoken to several team doctors and "they all agreed that the problems they are having with some of the athletes and officials in the village is not from the water, but could be caused by a number of other things."

Fennell also said that the spiked security barrier which malfunctioned and slammed into a Ugandan team car, injuring three of its officials, would be "demobilized so there could be no fear of a recurrence."

In early athletics action at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Jamie Adjetey-Nelson ran the second-fastest time in 110-meter hurdles and the second best throw in the discus to stay in the lead of the decathlon after seven events. The Canadian finished the hurdles in 14.76 seconds and threw the discus 45.21 meters to increase his total to 5,888 points.

The first of eight track gold medals on Friday's program went to Diane Roy of Canada, who won the parasport 1,500 in 3 minutes, 53.95 seconds. Chineme Bibian Obeta of Nigeria was second in 4:09.29 and Anita Fordjour of Ghana took bronze in 4:18.83.

Later, 11 gold medals were scheduled to be awarded in the pool, five each in gymnastics and shooting, and the first in badminton.

Many of those venues were completed well after they were supposed to, which prevented many so-called "test events" from being held. Staging test events would have allowed officials to iron out many of the major problems they are being forced to deal with during these games.

"I don't want to argue that if the stadiums had been delivered to the organizing committee earlier, it would have been better," Fennell said. "There is no question about that."

Glynn hammers hat-trick for New Zealand

Katie Glynn scored a hat-trick on Friday to guide New Zealand into the semifinals of the Commonwealth Games women's hockey competition with a 4-1 win over England.

South Africa held defending champion Australia to a 1-1 and also moved atop Pool A.

England opened the scoring via Ashleigh Ball in the 14th minute before Glynn took over with some brilliant stick work inside the striking circle.

Samantha Harrison got the equalizer in the 25th minute and just before halftime Glynn ran into the striking circle, dived in front of goalkeeper Beth Storry and scored off a reverse stick for a 2-1 lead.

Glynn twice broke through the England defense in the second half to complete her deserved hat-trick.

"We wanted to play aggressively," Glynn said.

"I got a couple of good balls which I put through, but I think it was a good team performance."

England has six points and is expected to make it to the last four with a match against Malaysia, but Friday's result was a letdown for Ball.

"It's really disappointing as they made their chances count in the second half and made us pay for that," she said.

New Zealand which has nine points from three victories will meet Canada in its last Pool B game on Saturday.

In the first match, Hockeyroos went ahead through Ashleigh Nelson's eighth-minute field goal which was equalized by South Africa's Sulette Damons in the 31st. However, both teams defended well in the second half to settle for a draw.

"It was really hot, but I actually felt really good," Damons said.

"It was a tough match and I think anyone could have taken it towards the end."

South Africa and Australia have virtually booked places in the semifinals with seven points each, but South Africa has an advantage with a superior goal difference.

"We are going to gain a bit of momentum and doesn't matter who we play (in semifinals) because we have a tough match ahead," Australia's Jade Taylor.

Australia plays against Scotland on Saturday while South Africa takes on India.

"We just need one more point to qualify," South African captain Marsha Mareschia said. "We have a long history with India and it will be more of a mind game than a tactical one."

On a busy Friday in the hockey competition, India plays against Trinidad and Tobago and Wales will be up against Canada in the women's matches.

The two men's matches are: South Africa vs. Trinidad and Tobago and Malaysia vs. Scotland.

Used condoms block drains at Delhi Commonwealth Games

THOUSANDS of used condoms blocked the drains at the Delhi Commonwealth Games village after they were flushed down toilets by amorous athletes, local media reported today.

A report in the Indian newspaper Mail Today claimed a condom vending machine containing around 4000 contraceptive packs had been installed at the village, but the precautionary measure was now causing problems with the plumbing.
                
Games chief Mike Fennell said yesterday he was just happy to see that so many of the 7000 competitors at the athletes’ village were being careful.

"This shows that athletes are being responsible and are promoting safe sex," he said.