Jumpers lift Canada's medal count on Day 7

Last Updated: Sunday, October 10, 2010 | 4:15 PM ET

CBC Sports

Canadian jumpers claimed a pair of track and field gold Sunday as the country added nine medals to its tally on Day 7 of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Nicole Forrester of Newmarket, Ont., won the high jump, clearing 1.91 metres, while Alice Falaiye of Brampton, Ont., won the long jump with a leap of 6.50 metres.

Tabia Charles of Pickering, Ont., added bronze in the long jump, and Josh Cassidy of Port Elgin, Ont., finished third in the men's 1,500-metre wheelchair race.

Earlier, Canadians made a splash on the opening day of diving competition by winning two gold medals.

Alexandre Despatie captured the men's 1m springboard title for the third consecutive time, giving the Laval, Que., native the seventh Commonwealth gold medal of his career.

Jennifer Abel of Laval and Emilie Heymans of St-Lambert, Que., teamed up to win the women's 3m springboard synchro competition.

Canadian wrestlers added two more medals, highlighted by Arjan Bhullar's pinfall victory in the gold-medal match of the freestyle men's 120-kg division. Bhullar was born in India and now wrestles out of Richmond, B.C.

Chris Prickett of Guelph, Ont., won the bronze-medal match in the 66-kg class.

Archer Jay Lyon of Winnipeg picked up a silver in the men's recurve event.

With Sunday's nine medals — five gold, one silver, three bronze — Canada raised its total for the Games to 59 while remaining in fourth place in the overall standings with four days of competition left.

Australia leads with 131 medals, followed by England (100) and host country India (73).

Connaughton fades in 200

In the women's high jump, Forrester beat Sheree Latoya Francis of Jamaica, who cleared 1.88, the same as bronze medallist Levern Spencer of St. Lucia. Jillian Drouin of Corunna, Ont., placed 6th with a mark of 1.78 metres.

In the long jump, crowd favourite Prajusha Maliakkal of India was second to Falaiye with a jump of 6.47, while Charles's best was 6.44. Ruky Abdulai of Coquitlam, B.C., finished 10th with a jump of 6.13 metres.

Cassidy took the 1,500 wheelchair bronze in three minutes 21.14 seconds. Kurt Fearnley of Australia won in 3:19.86 while teammate Richard Colman was second in 3:20.90. Jean-Paul Compaore of Sherbrooke, Que., placed fifth.

Canada had another medal hopeful in sprinter Jared Connaughton, who won his 200-metre semifinal heat. But the New Haven, P.E.I., native was overtaken down the stretch for the final podium spot by Christian Malcolm of England.

Leon Baptiste of England led for most of the race and won in 20.45 seconds. Lansford Spence of Jamaica took silver after a surge over the final metres to finish in 20.49, and Malcolm took bronze in 20:52.

Whyte hot in hurdles semis

Sally Pearson of Australia began her latest quest for a Commonwealth Games gold medal, reaching the final of the 100-metre hurdles three days after her disqualification after finishing first in the 100.

"I was a bit wobbly today, but it was good to run the cobwebs out," said Pearson, who easily won her heat in 13.02 seconds, the fastest time of the day.

Edmonton's Angela Whyte won the other heat in 13.09 seconds, the second-best overall time.

On Thursday, Pearson crossed the line first in the 100 in 11.28 seconds, but she and Laura Turner of England were disqualified for a false start several hours later after a protest. Osayomi Oludamola of Nigeria was instead awarded gold.

"I was silly," Pearson said of the false start. "I was not relaxed and not focused on my own game. I didn't breath and stay relaxed. That's what I have to do in the hurdles final."

Kenyans dominate 800

Kenya swept the podium in the men's 800-metre race.

Boaz Kiplagat Lalang led the way with a golden time of in one minute 46.60 seconds at the nearly full Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Richard Kiplagat was next in 1:46.95 and Abraham Kiplagat took bronze in 1:47.37.

"We had planned it to finish 1-2-3 and it worked great," said Lalang, the world indoors silver medallist. "We didn't say before who had to win, we just let it be decided in the race who was the best."

In the women's 800, Victoria's Diane Cummins qualified for Monday's final after placing third in her semifinal heat.

Oludamola ran in the semifinals of the 200 on Sunday but failed to advance after finishing fourth in her heat with a time of 23.95 seconds. Eleni Artymata of Cyprus had the best time of 23.15 in the opening heat.

Halifax’s Adrienne Power advanced to the final with the third-best time.

The final of the 200 was scheduled for Sunday night but it was pushed back to Monday because the jury was considering an appeal.

David Greene of Wales surprised defending champion Louis van Zyl in the men's 400 hurdles, beating the South African to the finish line in 48.52 seconds. Van Zyl was second in 48.63 and Rhys Williams of Wales took bronze in 49.19.

"It is the wrong colour medal," a disappointed Williams said.

In the women's 400 hurdles, Muizat Ajoke Odumosu of Nigeria won in 55.28, followed by Eilidh Child of Scotland in 55.62 and Nickiesha Wilson of Jamaica in 56.06.

The men's discus gold medal went to Benn Harradine of Australia, who threw 65.45 metres. Vikas Shive Gowda of India took silver with a toss of 63.69, and Carl Myerscough of England earned bronze with 60.64.