Olympic swimming champion Adam Peaty marked his return from a fractured foot by qualifying fastest for tonight’s 100m breaststroke semi-finals.
The defending champion won his fitness battle to get to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham following his foot injury, and showed he has retained his fitness during that time by posting a time of 59.92 – the only swimmer in the heats to go under a minute.
Earlier this morning England’s Johnboy Smith won the men’s wheelchair marathon after David Weir’s puncture while leading dashed his hopes.
Follow latest updates from Birmingham below
12:09 PM
Cricket news
New Zealand are playing South Africa at Edgbaston and veteran White Fern Suzie Bates has gone to a half-century. She’s got New Zealand off to a great start with opening partner Sophie Devine, but she’s now at the crease with young all-rounder Amelia Kerr.
South Africa have been in England a while after a bruising multi-format series against England which saw them lose all their white ball matches. They’ve got their work cut out here as well with New Zealand 133-1 off 17 overs.
12:04 PM
England out of rugby sevens medal contention
England have been defeated 20-0 by New Zealand which has put an end to their Commonwealth Games medal hopes. They lost fairly embarrassingly to Samoa yesterday and it was always a long shot to bet the Kiwis today. The English team will be very disappointed but great news for the Samoans who go through to the last eight alongside group winners New Zealand.
11:58 AM
Back to the pool
Scotland’s Olympic silver medalist Duncan Scott has just won his men’s 200m freestyle heat. Joe Litchfield finished third in that heat and makes the final.
English Olympic champion Tom Dean is in the next heat. He managed a bronze medal at the World Championship last month so let’s see what he can do here. He qualifies for the final with a time of 1:47:19 and wins the heat. He’ll be joined by Wales’s Matt Richards who finishes third
11:52 AM
In other news…
Away from the pool England are also in table tennis action against Nigeria. The women’s team event is in it’s group stages with England currently in a good position at 2-1 up. The men will be in action against Bangladesh later.
11:44 AM
Peaty sending a message
As was said on commentary – Peaty didn’t need to go that fast.
He’s not had any competition action for ten weeks because of that broken foot so he potentially wanted to set out a marker. He was speaking to the media after the heat.
“I have no idea where I’m at and I still don’t really. I’m still blowing out the cobwebs.
“Yeah, I think so it feels alright in the water. At a Commonwealth Games like this, you don’t need to put all the effort into the heats.”
“It’s a very home games for me, I grew up about 15 minutes away from here. I’ve got six people coming tonight and it’ll be great to see my boy in the crowd and we’ll see what I can get.”
11:36 AM
Peaty through to the final
It was never in doubt really but that was very fast from Adam Peaty considering this is just a heat. He finishes top of his heat with a time of 59.92 seconds – the only swimmer in the heats to go under a minute.
That foot injury he suffered just ten weeks ago doesn’t look to be holding him back. The English Olympic Champion looks in ominous form for the competition.
Ross Murdoch and James Wilby are also competing in these heats after their brilliant medal winning races last night. Wilby wins the heat with Murdoch just=missing out on second place but he should make it through.
11:29 AM
Time for Adam Peaty!
The coverage crosses to the pool with a very inspiring montage of Adam Peaty.
“I was born to be a hunter” says Peaty in the montage. Lets see if he can hunt down another medal at this games .
11:25 AM
Seaward just about makes it over the line
Ireland’s Kevin Seaward finishes the marathon as the best of the Irish duo but he doesn’t look too well. He’s wobbling all over the place as he completes the final stages of the race but he manages to get over the line. He’ll need some medical attention but he looks okay.
11:20 AM
Viktor Kiplangat wins marathon gold for Uganda
He’s over the line safely now and has a massive grin on his face. Not sure I’d be grinning after running 26 miles but I’m sure the gold medal helps!
Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu crosses the line in second place position. Solid effort from him.
Michael Githai from Kenya has just outpaced Liam Adams for the final medal spot. He came to Birmingham as a travelling reserve but due to problems with Kenyan entry requirements he made the start line and now has a medal. Great story – heartbreaking for Adams though who led the race for so long.
11:16 AM
Nearly a disaster in the marathon!
Viktor Kiplangat goes the wrong way at the end of the marathon course. Thankfully it doesn’t impact his gold medal as the second place runner is way back but if it had been close that would have been disastrous. It will impact his time but he’s about to cross the line and win the gold medal which I’m sure is all he cares about right now.
11:14 AM
News from the velodrome
Scotland’s Neah Evans has set a new Commonwealth record! She finished top of the field in the women’s 3000m individual pursuit qualifying race with a time of 3:23:476.
England’s Madeleine Hill sits in fifth place. The gold medal race will take place later on.
11:04 AM
The swimming has got underway – Adam Peaty will be competing shortly
The men’s 200m freestyle heats have been taking place. England’s Olympic Champion Tom Dean is through after winning his heat pretty easily and Scotland’s Tokyo silver medalist Duncan Scott is also through.
They will be joined in the final by Joe Litchfield and he Welsh double of Matthew Richards and Calum Jarvis.
Next up will be the Women’s 50m Freestyle Heats before Adam Peaty gets into the action in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke Heats. He will be joined in his heat by fellow English swimmer Greg Butler. That will get underway in around ten minutes.
10:58 AM
Men’s marathon entering it’s final stages
Just under 7km to go in the men’s marathon as the runners near the city centre. It looks like it will be a gold medal for Uganda as Viktor Kiplangat has dropped Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu. A very strong run for the Ugandan in what has not been a straightforward race
10:52 AM
Women’s individual sprint qualifying complete
Blaine Ridge-Davis will be joined by compatriot Sophie Capewell in the next round of the women’s sprint at the velodrome in Lee Valley. A strong showing from the home nations with seven of the top 16 qualifiers hailing from England, Scotland and Wales.
The next round of the competition should get underway in just under an hour.
10:48 AM
New Zealand beat England in the women’s rugby sevens
New Zealand have completed a 38-7 victory over England in the group stage match of the women’s rugby sevens. Team England now slip to third position in their group following their loss to Canada yesterday and won’t progress through to the next round of the competition.
The men’s sevens groups stage matches will get going later on today
10:44 AM
Women’s marathon getting started
A fairly small field for the women’s marathon with only 16 runners. English runner Georgia Schwiening is the home competitor. She runs alongside Natasha Cockram and Clara Evans from Wales. Unlike the men the women are starting off running as a group. Bearing in mind it’s such a small field that’s probably wise.
Looking at the men’s race, the two at the front have put some significant distance between themselves and the rest of the competition. They’ve got gold and silver sewn up unless something very unexpected happens.
10:38 AM
The two Kenyans falling away in the marathon
Kiplangat and Simbu have dropped Michael Gitae and his fellow compatriot who were hanging on to the group. The front two are putting in strong surges of pace to spread the field and drop the rest of the athletes. On what is a very difficult course it’s been a very strong pace and it’s no wonder the pack can’t keep up with these surges that are being put in by the front two.
10:32 AM
Liam Adams has been caught
It was only a matter of time really. The Australian who did so well to lead the first half of the men’s marathon has been caught by the chasing pack. Uganda’s Viktor Kiplangat was the one to make the move. He’s joined by Michael Githae and Alphonce Simbu in the front pack.
There’s a ten minute delay to the start of the women’s marathon. You heard David Weir and Johnboy Smith earlier say the course presented a significant challenge to the wheelchair athletes. The T53/54 men’s and women’s races meant there was also a delay before the men’s marathon got underway.
10:26 AM
England have kicked off in the rugby sevens
The news isn’t massively positive for England in the early stages of their match against New Zealand. They’re currently losing 19-0 in the first-half. It is New Zealand and they did hammer Sri Lanka and Canada yesterday. Hopefully the English side will be able to pull back slightly later on to finish in a qualifying position.
10:21 AM
Cycling: Women’s sprint qualifying
The velodrome is busy again today and the qualifying stage of the women’s sprint has been ramping up. There are 27 riders all vying for a place in the main event – only the top 16 riders will go through.
Several English hopefuls in this but so far only Blaine Ridge-Davis is in a qualifying position, sitting in sixth. There are plenty of other home nations hopeful’s looking likely to qualify however. Scotland’s Lauren Bell is currently in second place and Wales’s Emma Finucane is in third. The next round and quarter finals of that event will take place later today.
10:13 AM
Half-way point in the marathon
The runners are approaching the half-way point and despite my seemingly misguided early warning, Liam Adams is still going very strong. He’s still out in the lead and making the rest of the field work pretty hard to stick with him. They’ve completed this first half in under 65 minutes and they all look like they’re starting to struggle slightly with the pace. There’s a pack of five athletes just behind Adams but he’s still managing to maintain a slight gap to them. Great performance so far by the Australian.
10:06 AM
Women’s rugby sevens group stages results
It’s been a busy morning of rugby action today. Two matches have already finished with Scotland trouncing South Africa 33-12 and Fiji narrowly coming out on top against Australia. Both Scotland and South Africa were already out of contention for a place in the semi-finals, having lost two games in Pool B. Fiji’s victory over Australia sees them finish top of that group.
England will be in rugby action soon as they take on New Zealand in Pool A and the men’s pools will also get back underway later today. The rugby is being held at Coventry for these games.
09:57 AM
Amy Pharaoh in action in the lawn bowls
The lawn bowls group stages have also been taking place this morning. England’s Amy Pharaoh has won her match against Singapore’s Shermeen Lim. The title favourite has come out of international retirement to compete at a home Commonwealth Games. You can read all about her story here.
09:49 AM
Half an hour into the marathon
Australian Liam Adams is still out in front in the marathon – he is being reeled in by the main pack but he’s making sure this is quite a fast first phase of this race. The chasing pack is starting to get more strung out as the race enters it’s third 10k.
Third 10k started by the 40 minute mark – these guys are just machines.
09:40 AM
David Weir has been speaking after his marathon heartbreak
After finishing seventh with that puncture, David Weir has spoken on the live coverage at the roadside in Birmingham:
“I feel like I just don’t have enough luck in major championships since Rio. The last ten weeks of training have been the best in years.
“I was debating bringing a spare (tyre). I’ve never brought a spare ever in my life and I thought if I brought a spare then I’m going to jinx myself. I should’ve gone with my gut but I jinxed myself. I’ll know for next time.”
“It’s just a bit annoying because since May the training has been through the roof, I felt ten years younger. It’s just annoying to be honest.”
“If I didn’t have my mates running beside me in the last four kilometers I probably wouldn’t have finished. But from where I’m from, a council estate, you just don’t give up on anything. Especially when I saw my mates running beside me, it was emotional.”
On gold medal winning Johnboy Smith:
“He’s a good lad and it’s nice to see that England got a medal but I’m more proud of Eden. She’s a young athlete from the academy and she’ only 21 so to get her first medal at a major championships, I’m more proud of her today.”
I’ll say it again – what a champion
09:25 AM
The men’s marathon is underway…
The streets of Birmingham have been busy this morning and the men’s marathon hopeful’s are now racing. Liam Adams has broken slightly away from the main pack, injecting a fast pace early on. Maybe not the wisest start for a 26-mile race as he is going at quite some speed. I will stand completely corrected if he keeps it up though.
England’s hopeful in this race is Jonathan Mellor who’s currently sitting behind the lead group.
09:16 AM
David Weir crosses the line
All credit to the eight-time London marathon winner. Many would not have finished the race having to go for miles with such a problem, but he does cross the line in seventh place. Weir suffered the puncture in the last six miles of the race when he had lead of over a minute and a half. Devastating for him but what a champion.
09:08 AM
Johnboy Smith: “I should’ve got silver”
Johnboy Smith has just been talking on the BBC Coverage. He’s had some harsh words to say about the wheelchair marathon course:
“Whoever’s come up with that course I seriously might take them to court and sue them. I don’t know what they were thinking. That was so, so hard.”
“I assume Dave got a flat but he had me. By mile six he dropped me. I won but the better man didn’t win today, I should’ve got silver, he should’ve got gold. Your majesty if you’re watching, David Weir deserves a knighthood.”
09:07 AM
A bronze medal for Simon Lawson
England have won another medal in the marathon event. Simon Lawson has crossed the line in third position, completing a full podium of the home nations. Scotland’s Sean Frame taking the silver.
09:02 AM
Madison de Rozario wins gold
Australia’s Madison de Rozario has crossed the line in the women’s T53/54 marathon to take home the gold medal. She finishes with a time of 1:32:53 and retains her title from 2018.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper takes the silver after passing David Weir on the road who’s still racing in the men’s event. He’s been racing for a significant amount of time on a flat tyre. He shouts words of encouragement as she passes him – lovely to see but it’s just absolutely heartbreaking for Weir after being almost certain to win the race.
08:46 AM
What’s happening today…
England already have a gold medal this morning! Johnboy Smith has claimed victory in the men’s T53/54 marathon event after a heartbreaking puncture for David Weir. The six-time Olympic Champion was leading the field by over a minute when his tyre was pierced, he has dropped down the field with nothing he can do to fix the problem. Devastating.
England are also in the medal position in the women’s T53/54 race. Eden Rainbow-Cooper and Shelley Oxley-Woods are currently second and third on the road. There are actually only gold and silver medals available for this race as there are only four athletes competing.
There’s also gold medals to be won in the weightlifting final at the NEC. Ben Hickling is the England hopeful in the 55kg category. That will get underway from around 9am.
Adam Peaty will be in action in the pool with the men’s 100m breaststroke heats and (all being well) later on in the semi-finals. The three-time Commonwealth champion will be looking to win the title for the third games in succession.
Laura Kenny will pick up where she left off yesterday this afternoon as she hunts for another medal, this time in the women’s individual team pursuit. She will be joined on track by compatriot Charlie Tanfield in the men’s individual pursuit and Olympic silver medalist Jack Carlin will be hoping to go one better in the Kerin, representing Scotland.
The women will look to emulate the success of the men yesterday in the women’s team artistic gymnastics final and England will make their cricketing Commonwealth Games debut vs Sri Lanka. That match is set to get underway at 6pm.
We’ll bring all the live action throughout the day and evening on this page of course.
08:40 AM
Welcome to this morning’s coverage of day 2
Good morning and thank you for tuning in to our live coverage of the first Saturday of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. There’s plenty of action to get your teeth into today and lots of medals up for grabs but first let’s take a look back at what happened yesterday.
The big story as the competition drew to a close on Friday was England’s dominating victory in the men’s team artistic gymnastic final. They topped the tables in all six pieces of apparatus and became the first team to win three successive Commonwealth Games gold medals in the event. Birmingham’s home-grown champion Joe Fraser led the team out of the blocks with a score of 14.650 on the pommel horse just two weeks after a devastating ankle injury counted him out of the all-round competition.
That was England’s second gold of the day after Alex Yee won the first title of Games with victory in the men’s triathlon. He overcame a 16-second deficit going into the 5km run and took advantage of a 10-second time penalty dealt out to leader Hayden Wilde.
England’s netballers also began their title defence with a crushing 74-22 victory over Trinidad and Tobago, and swimmer James Wilby won England’s first medal in the pool after finishing ahead of Scotland’s Ross Murdoch.
Finally, Laura Kenny returned to the track by winning a bronze medal in the women’s team pursuit event. Despite it not being the step of the podium we are used to seeing the velodrome super-star standing on, Stratford rose in celebration of five-time Olympic Champion after she shared her story of miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy after Tokyo 2022. She will be back in action today in the individual event. You can read Tom Cary’s report on Laura Kenny and the team pursuit here.
