Commonwealth Games: Kate McDonald claims redemption gold in the uneven bars
Kate McDonald has made up for her Birmingham heartbreak with a near-flawless gold-medal victory in the uneven bars.
Kate McDonald has made up for her Birmingham heartbreak with a near-flawless gold-medal victory in the uneven bars.
She came into the final as the top qualifier and the competition as a whole as the favourite in her speciality discipline.
And it didn’t take her long to assert herself, her strong Tkatchev giving her a difficulty score hard to match.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.She was deducted a few minor marks to finish with a score of 14.333, well clear of Elsabeth Black, who looked to give her a brief scare before the judges revealed the Canadian’s total of 13.900.
McDonald shocked everyone in Birmingham when she took gold on the balance beam, only to then finish seventh in the uneven bars.
But four years later, she was not letting her specialty slip.
She looked ice-cool ahead of the routine, her trademark headphones never leaving her head as she prepared.
The Aussie staff were the first indicator of her success, jumping for joy as she nailed a perfect landing.
Her teammate Ruby Pass was the last athlete between her and gold but fell after a difficult jump, sealing McDonald’s gold medal.
Welsh woman Emily Roper finished third to become the first athlete from Wales to claim a medal in the discipline after her sister medalled earlier in the day on the vault.
Earlier in the gymnastics program, James Hardy grabbed Australia’s first silverware of day four with an outstanding performance in the men’s floor exercise final.
Hardy was a member of the men’s group that broke Australia’s team medal drought over the weekend with a bronze medal, and his form followed him into Monday’s final.
He had the crowd on their feet after landing his last twisting jump, but was hit with a two-tenths penalty that saw him sitting precariously in third.
Hardy’s challenge to the deduction was unsuccessful; however, the rest of the competition was unable to unseat him from the bronze-medal position, the Aussie hanging on with a score of 13.433.
England’s Luke Whitehouse claimed gold comfortably with a score of 14.566 while Canada took silver through Rene Cournoyer on 13.966.
Hardy was not done there, grabbing a second surprise bronze in the men’s rings final.
He was just 0.100 off silver.
Teammate Ritam Malik was the heartbreak story of the day for the Aussie gymnasts, finishing an agonising fourth after a minor error on his dismount pirouettes.
