World champ Hooker on top India wins historic gold in discus NEW DELHI: After a host of self-induced problems that brought bad publicity for India's Commonwealth Games organizers, a new one surfaced Monday that was completely out of their control: a positive drug test. In what has become almost inevitable at multi-sports events, Commonwealth Games Federation President Mike Fennell announced the first doping case of the New Delhi Games, saying Osayomi Oludamola of Nigeria tested positive for the banned stimulant Methylexanemine and could be stripped of her gold medal in the 100 meters. The New Delhi event has been plagued by problems with ticketing, near-empty stadiums, construction delays and filthy conditions in the athletes' village before the Games began. More than 900 doping tests have been conducted since the Games open Oct. 3 and, so far, Fennell said Oludamola had returned the only positive. Fennell said Oludamola has been notified of the adverse finding and had requested the testing of the “B” sample. On Monday, Fennell said he was uncertain what effect the positive test would have on the Games. “Any positive test, whether it is in a high-profile event or not, is something that is very much regretted for a clean Games, clean sport and a clean competition,” Fennell said, adding that no decision had been made on the medals.” Oludamola failed to make the 200m final which itself proved controversial with Elena Artymata of Cyprus, the fastest qualifier, disqualified from her semifinal for stepping out of her lane. A Cypriot appeal prevented the final going ahead Sunday as scheduled and when it was finally run Monday the Cayman Islands' Cydonie Mothersill handed her country their first-ever Commonwealth gold medal. Testing was continuing in New Delhi, with medalists in all events tested and others done at random. The eighth of 11 competition days Monday included 14 gold medal events, the semifinals in boxing and the first day of the rugby sevens tournament at Delhi University. Australia's world pole vault champion Steve Hooker claimed Commonwealth gold while Richard Mateelong upstaged his more illustrious Kenyan countrymen to win the 3,000m steeplechase title. India also pulled off a stunning clean sweep in the discus, winning the country's first athletics gold in 52 years and only their second ever. Kenya's Nancy Langat, meanwhile, bagged a 800-1,500m double when she powered to the shorter distance gold medal, making the most of the absence of world champion Caster Semenya. Seven gold medals were decided at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, with Hooker, who is also Olympic champion, clearing 5.60 meters to easily defend his title. Hooker is the only vaulter to pass the magical 6.0m barrier in 2010 with no-one else in the Delhi field having jumped higher than 5.50m this year. While many nations have diminished teams in New Delhi, Kenya has a strong squad and Mateelong stamped his authority on the steeplechase to lead a Kenyan 1-2-3. The African champion crossed the line in a pedestrian 8:16.40 but ahead of world champion Ezekiel Cheboi and Olympic champion Brimin Kipruto. A Kenyan victory was always on the cards with the country winning every Commonwealth men's steeplechase final since 1990. Meanwhile, Australia's Sally Pearson, who was stripped of her 100m gold medal for a false start, bounced back in emphatic fashion to win the 100m hurdles title, adding it to her Olympic silver medal. She was the red-hot favorite and never looked like losing, crossing the line in a new Games record time of 12.67 seconds. With Australian discus world champion Dani Samuels missing, India pulled off a clean sweep with Krishna Poonia taking gold with a throw of 61.51 meters ahead of Harwant Kaur and Seema Antil. It was the country's first athletics gold since Milkha Singh won the 440 yards in Cardiff in 1958. New Zealand, South Africa, England and Kenya won all three of their sevens matches Monday to qualify for Tuesday's medal round, Kenya with a 12-10 upset of IRB Sevens world champion Samoa in the last preliminary match. Alexandre Despatie won his second gold in the diving pool, successfully defending his 3-meter springboard after winning the 1-meter on Sunday. His Canadian teammate Reuben Ross finished second and Grant Nel of Australia won the bronze. It was Despatie's eighth career gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. His first came in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1998 at the age of 13. “Right now I am just feeling the day,” Despatie said. “I felt great this morning, took the afternoon off and didn't think about competition. I'm healthy and it was good to see it pay off tonight.” The first two gold medals Monday were presented in shooting, where Jan McIntosh and Kay Copland of Scotland won the women's pairs 50-meter rifle prone and Georgios Achilleos and Andreas Chasikos of Cyprus took the skeet pairs. The Games end Thursday, and street kids will have a chance to see the closing ceremonies. The Delhi government has asked the Games' organizing committee to reserve 700 tickets which it will buy. The tickets will be distributed to 200 children who live and work on the streets of this city of 12 million. The other 500 will go to students of government schools.
