Our lawn bowlers got the ball rolling with gold and bronze, and Jack Bauer completed the haul on his bike as Nelson’s record contribution to the Commonwealth Games was celebrated with six medals.
New Zealand’s 45 medals made Glasgow the country’s third most successful Commonwealth Games, and some of the most memorable moments were created or shared by Nelson’s ten-strong contingent.
Jo Edwards, who won the women’s lawn bowls singles, led the way with Nelson’s only gold, while Tasman Mako Bryce Heem earned a silver in the rugby sevens, Motueka’s Shannon Francois was in the second-place Silver Ferns squad and Golden Bay’s Jack Bauer signed off with New Zealand’s 45th and last medal – a silver in the men’s road race.
Amy Mcilory and Val Smith were part of the women’s four which finished third place and secured a bronze medal in the lawn bowls, while Black Sticks speedster Anita Punt scored plenty of goals as her team finished third as well, adding to the silver she won in Delhi four years ago.
Anita’s parents Adele and Nicky Punt made the trip to Glasgow, and say they have had an “amazing time” watching their daughter, after missing the chance in 2010. “We were both very proud when the girls stepped onto the podium to be presented with a bronze medal,” says Adele, via Glasgow. “It was disappointing that the medal was not gold, but on the day they achieved well. As a parent you feel for them when things don’t go to plan, as you know the sacrifice she and the others girls have had to make to represent their country.”
Even though they didn’t come away with medals, bowler Shannon Mcilory, judoka Mark Brewer and 1500m runner Julian Matthews still proudly represented their country, with Shannon finishing fourth in the men’s singles after his triples team were knocked out in the quarter finals, Mark reaching the quarter finals of men’s 81kg class, and Julian reaching the final in his first major international event.
Julian was ninth in the final and despite a good start, he struggled to hold it. “There was a lot of pushing, a lot of shoving, Nick [Willis] nearly went down a few times which I was worried about, but no, it’s a big learning curve for me, obviously the biggest race of my life,” he says. “I’ll take a lot from it and learn and get better and hopefully next time give it a better shot.”
