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Commonwealth Games: Bizarre and ridiculous leaves indelible mark on Birmingham extravaganza

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Steve ButlerThe West Australian
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Birmingham has left an indelible mark on the Comm Games.
Camera IconBirmingham has left an indelible mark on the Comm Games. Credit: Supplied

The bizarre and ridiculous only seemed to gather more momentum the longer the Commonwealth Games stretched over the past fortnight.

From marathon mums to bikes flying into crowds, alleged pool love triangles and epic bellyflops - and ultimately a T20 women’s cricket final that was oh so very COVID - the “Friendly Games” have again been positioned as a unique multi-nation, multi-sport extravaganza.

And that extraordinary cricket finale, particularly featuring the plight of Australian all-rounder Tahlia McGrath, could not have provided a better representation for all of the weird and the quirky that has filtered through the customary athletic brilliance throughout the course of the Games.

McGrath returned a positive COVID test on the morning of the match, but was given the green light to play for gold by the Commonwealth Games Federation Results Analysis Clinical Expert Group and then the International Cricket Council.

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But after not being allowed to sing the national anthem alongside her teammates before the match, she also sat away from them when she was not on the field and wore a mask.

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When she took a catch during India’s innings, she shooed away teammates who were looking to celebrate with her.

Sri Lankan diver Dulanjan Kaushalya Fernando had earlier laid claim to the most mesmerising moment of the games for all the wrong reasons when he mistimed his 2.5-somersault tuck and hit the water with a painful, horizontal splash. It brought tears of a totally different kind to the ones normally produced by the emotions of the Games.

The sight of Australia’s “Flying Mullet”, star sprinter Rohan Browning, lying face down on the athletics track during a botched baton handover, also followed Fernando’s suggestion that Commonwealth Games should be less about the guts and more about the glory.

Rohan Browning of Team Australia competes during the Men's 100m Round 1 heats on day five of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at Alexander Stadium on August 02, 2022 on the Birmingham, England.
Camera IconRohan Browning of Team Australia competes during the Men's 100m Round 1 heats on day five of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at Alexander Stadium on August 02, 2022 on the Birmingham, England. Credit: David Ramos/Getty Images

Although, WA boxer Alex Winwood showed plenty of intestinal fortitude when he got up from a bruising blow by Zambia’s Patrick Chinyemba, only to see the referee wave off his hopes in an instant without even being afforded a count or proper assessment.

It left WA boxing legend Danny Green seeing red over what he described as “an absolutely disgraceful and completely incompetent decision”.

“We get knocked to the ground from a shot that would put most of the world’s population to sleep and get back up and start our crucial and acute recovery process,” a livid Green wrote on Facebook after Winwood’s tearful exit.

“This is the Commonwealth Games, not a novice tournament.”

Alex Winwood of Team Australia reacts following defeat in the Mens Over 48kg-51kg (Flyweight) - Quarter-Final fight on day seven of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at NEC Arena on August 04, 2022 in Birmingham, England.
Camera IconAlex Winwood of Team Australia reacts following defeat in the Mens Over 48kg-51kg (Flyweight) - Quarter-Final fight on day seven of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at NEC Arena on August 04, 2022 in Birmingham, England. Credit: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

But despite Winwood’s woes, WA’s record gathering of 53 athletes to assemble as part of a Commonwealth Games team did the State proud.

Pole vaulters Nina Kennedy and Kurtis Marschall led the golden charge that spread across sports of all shapes and sizes.

They included Kristina Krstic claiming the State’s first lawn bowls gold in 40 years and Maddison Keeney making an against-the-odds comeback from injury for diving victory.

And it was impossible not to be moved by one-time gymnastics hopeful Matt Richardson bawling into the arms of his mother Lesley after winning sprint gold at the velodrome. It stamped his champion mindset after he had sat trackside, waiting to ride in a qualifying race for the event, and saw England’s Olympic champion Matt Walls and his bike career over a trackside barrier and into a group of stunned spectators in an incident that left two riders were hospitalised and several spectators requiring medical treatment.

WA's gymnast-turned cycling champion Matt Richardson.
Camera IconWA's gymnast-turned cycling champion Matt Richardson. Credit: Unknown/Facebook

And while the continuation of competition for para-sports was again a seemingly seamless part of the Games, perhaps swimmer Kyle Chalmers provided the biggest statement of the event in his powerful stand for the mental health of athletes, after being embroiled in an out-of-pool furore over his supposed rocky relationship with Dolphins teammates Emma McKeon and Cody Simpson.

The latter pair are now a happy couple after Chalmers and McKeon, now Australia’s most decorated Olympian and Commonwealth Games athlete, had finished a previous liaison.

It is hard to unsee Chalmers standing in the pool with one index finger pressed firmly to his lips in a plea for quiet after bulldozing his way to victory in the 100m freestyle final.

“That probably means more than giving a fist pump or a tensing of the muscles,” Chalmers said of his gesture, which perhaps complements some of world sport’s most enduring images.

Kyle Chalmers of Team Australia celebrates after winning gold in the Men's 100m Freestyle Final on day four of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at Sandwell Aquatics Centre on August 01, 2022 on the Smethwick, England.
Camera IconKyle Chalmers of Team Australia celebrates after winning gold in the Men's 100m Freestyle Final on day four of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at Sandwell Aquatics Centre on August 01, 2022 on the Smethwick, England. Credit: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

“For me, I hope that sends a powerful message.”

The moment prompted Steve Incerti, father of Chalmers’ gold medal-winning relay teammate Zac, to say: “When someone says enough is enough, I think people should lay off”.

His son continued to build his own impressive resume as a positive role model with another three Commonwealth Games gold medals after publicly revealing his battle with anxiety.

For several years now, the Commonwealth Games have been at the centre of discussion as to whether it has the modern-day authenticity required to remain viable as a world sporting spectacular.

Kurtis Marschall of Australia reacts after clearing 5.70 meters in the Men's pole vault final during the athletics competition in the Alexander Stadium at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Alastair Grant
Camera IconKurtis Marschall of Australia reacts after clearing 5.70 meters in the Men's pole vault final during the athletics competition in the Alexander Stadium at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Alastair Grant Credit: Alastair Grant/AP

But it no doubt remains a champion-builder with Australian 1500m gold medallist Ollie Hoare a perfect poster boy.

Not only did Hoare muster a fighting win for the ages, he became the only Australian man other than one of the nation’s greatest sporting legends, Herb Elliott, to claim the title in the history of the Games.

And the viewing eyes on all the prizes also make for compelling evidence.

Channel 7 reported that in the first week of competition, nearly 10 million Australians had watched on broadcast television and a further 1.77 million online at 7plus. That was up 165 per cent on broadcast viewing compared with the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and up 86 per cent on live streaming.

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