Marschall hollers for pole vault gold, Stevens sets new Games record in discus

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Marschall hollers for pole vault gold, Stevens sets new Games record in discus

By Michael Gleeson

One jump. That was all that was left. Miss, and it's a jump-off with the former world champion for gold. Clear it and win gold. Simple equation.

Kurtis Marschall cleared the jump. The 20-year-old announced himself as a new star of world athletics, beating the 2015 world champion Shawn Barber to claim pole vault gold when he cleared 5.70m.

Kurtis Marschall was pumped after his winning jump.

Kurtis Marschall was pumped after his winning jump.Credit: AAP

Marschall's effort capped a busy night on the track for Australia, with Brooke Stratton winning long jump silver and former world champion Dani Stevens, the reigning world silver medallist, making a formality of a second successive Commonwealth Games gold medal in the discus with 68.26m, a new Games record. And Luke Mathews stole bronze at the line in the 800m after coming from the dead to finish third.

"That was amazing. I am stoked. Third attempt, man, I have never been in that situation before jumping for gold," Marschall said.

"I went out there ranked in the top few and I didn’t know if I was up to the challenge. I have had a few tough experiences, I came second in world juniors in 2016 to a guy ranked way lower.

"So I knew coming into this that I had that pressure on my back but I learnt from that experience and remembered that no matter who is in the competition or whatever height it is that I still have a chance if I have one more jump left. I proved that to myself that even if I have one jump left I can do it."

Commentating the jump for Seven was Steve Hooker, the man whose gold medal win at the Beijing Olympics made Marschall take up pole vaulting.

"He is a big time performer. Every opportunity he has had, he has taken. This is just an amazing step in his progression to be a truly amazing step towards him being a medal prospect at the Tokyo Olympics," said Hooker.

Marschall has been a star junior but this was the breakthrough victory for the 20-year-old who missed the final at the Rio Olympics on count back. He immediately understood the parallel with Hooker in Melbourne in 2006.

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Dani Stevens notched a Commonwealth record to win gold in the discus.

Dani Stevens notched a Commonwealth record to win gold in the discus.Credit: AAP

"We are on a similar path actually. Steve won 2006 Comm Games, home games, and I just did exactly the same thing, but Steve went world No.1 the next year so that is the next goal," Marschall said.

"I still have the task ahead of me. I am a little bit younger than he was in comparison but I am stoked to be compared to that great man.

“I consider myself a student of the sport."

After indifferent early jumping Marschall was the first to clear 5.55m, with Barber taking until his third attempt to clear it.  Barber won gold in Glasgow but had an eventful four years afterwards. He was done for cocaine use in 2016 but argued that he took the drug accidentally when a woman he met on Craiglist passed on the drug to him when kissing the night before the drug test.

Canadian authorities accepted his explanation. Twelve months later, he came out as gay.

Barber is an excellent pole vaulter - one of a small club who has cleared six metres - and was jumping well but inconsistently on the Gold Coast.

When it came to it at 5.70m, Barber had missed his three tries. Marschall had missed twice and it came down to one last jump - and he nailed it. He then had a go at the Commonwealth record, cheekily set one centimetre higher than Hooker's 5.8m mark. He missed.

Earlier, Brooke Stratton claimed silver in the long jump only months after doubting she would be in the game, as she wore a moon boot to deal with foot stress fractures after also missing Glasgow through injury four years ago.

"I am a pretty emotional person so it was just so special to have my family in the crowd watching and all of Australia watching," she said

Controversy hit the men's 200m final, with England's Zharnel Hughes disqualified after crossing the line first. He was found to have interfered with Trinidad and Tobago's Jareem Richards 10 metres from the line. Hughes and Richards both finished in 20.12s but Hughes would have taken the gold on photo save for the fact he threw an arm wide into Richards and was deemed to have impeded him.

In the 200m, Shaunae Miller-Uibo didn't need to dive this time to claim gold. Miller-Uibo won gold in the 400m in Rio when she dived across the line to beat Allyson Felix, but here the tall, big-striding runner from the Bahamas comfortably beat Rio 100 and 200m champion Elaine Thompson, winning in 22.09s.

Mathews looked dead and buried in the 800m but surged in the last 30 metres to come from nowhere to win bronze. Amazingly, Botswana’s Nijel Amos, the silver medallist from the London Olympics and gold medallist from Glasgow, and this meet's pre-race favourite, finished last.

"Going through the bell I thought 'this race is mine' but I lost concentration in the back straight," said Mathews who runs for St Kevins in Melbourne.

"I am happy with third for now but I am sure I will be asleep one day and it will haunt me that I could have won that race."

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