The 2022 Commonwealth Games is underway after the opening ceremony took place last night to kick off 10 days of intense sporting action. Celebrities and musicians welcomed the athletes from across the Commonwealth in a three hour long performance that showcased the best and brightest from the West Midlands. More than 5,000 athletes representing 72 nations and territories will compete in the games with 280 medals available to be won.
16 of those are on offer on day one as gymnastics, triathalon and netball all get underway on Friday. Olympic silver medallist Alex Yee made it gold in the men’s triathlon for the first medal of the Games for Team England. Fellow Tokyo hero Georgia Taylor-Brown took silver in the women’s race. Later, in the velodrome, Laura Kenny helped England to team pursuit bronze alongside Josie Knight, Maddie Leech and Sophie Lewis before Australia took gold. Team England would have two further chances for gold but had to settle for silver after being beaten by New Zealand and then Australia in the men’s team pursuit and men’s team sprint finals respectively.
Later, the English team of Joe Fraser, James Hall, Courtney Tulloch Jake Jarman and Giarnni Regini-Moran delivered a dominant gold medal in the artistic gymnastics team final. The action then moved to the pool, where a dominant Australia team took five of the first seven gold medals on offer - but it was arguably Ross Murdoch’s bronze medal that stole the show. Women’s T20 cricket also made its Commonwealth debut in Birmingham earlier with a huge match as Australia squeezed past India at Edgbaston while England beat Trinidad and Tobago to kick off their netball defence.
Follow all the latest updates from the Commonwealth Games below:
