Mitch Larkin takes out the backstroke treble in hot start to night five
Mitch Larkin has completed an incredible backstroke treble, taking out the men's 200m event to claim Commonwealth gold for Australia on night five on the Gold Coast.
Larkin, who had already claimed 50m and 100m Commonwealth titles, became the first man in history to complete the backstroke triple.
His time of 1:56.10 consigned compatriots Bradley Woodward and Josh Beaver to second and third place respectively as the Aussies swept the podium.
Bradley Woodward led for most of the race before being overtaken by Larkin in the final 50 — he took silver in 1:56.57, ahead of teammate Josh Beaver (1:57.04).
Larkin's win in the pool added to earlier successes on day five, with gold medals in gymnastics, lawn bowls and athletics.
It was an excellent day for the artistic gymnastics home team at Coomera.
In the final gymnastics event on day five, Sydney-sider Alexandra Eade took out the floor exercise apparatus final.
The 20-year-old did not have the most difficult routine in the event, but she delivered an error-free program that had the crowds cheering in the stands, as Eade scored 13.333 in the final.
Welsh gymnast Latalia Bevan had better execution but a less difficult routine, finishing .033 back in the silver medal position.
Earlier, Christopher Remkes produced a consistent performance to win the gold on men's vault, Australia's first in the event at the Commonwealth Games since Bret Hudson at Victoria in Canada in 1994.
The 21-year-old Remkes — who was born in the Philippines — delivered the second and third-best vaults of the competition with his first and second attempts.
His total of 14.799 was enough to keep him ahead of England's Courtney Tulloch, who nailed his second vault with a score of 15.000, but whose first vault was only 14.333, leaving his total score on 14.666.
Tulloch's countryman Dominick Cunningham took the bronze with a total of 14.333.
Remkes finished sixth in Sunday's men's pommel horse final.
The gymnastics medals did not stop there, as Georgia-Rose Brown — who finished fifth behind Eade in the floor exercise — won a silver medal on the balance beam apparatus.
Brown's performance earned her a score of 13.066 points, just ahead of English bronze medallist Kelly Simm (13.033). But she was unable to match Simm's teammate, Alice Kinsella, who scored 13.700 to take the gold.
Another Australian, Emily Whitehead came fifth with a score of 12.500.
O'Hanlon wins Australia's first gold on the track
Evan O'Hanlon provided Australia with its first gold medal in track events via a convincing victory in the men's T38 100 metres final.
O'Hanlon, a five-time Paralympic gold medallist, streaked across the finish line in 11.09 seconds before dramatically losing his footing and falling to the ground.
Australian teammate Samuel Walker was sixth in 11.80.
Women's fours grab gold over South Africa
The Australian women's fours lawn bowls team — skipper Natasha Scott, Kelsey Cottrell, Carla Krizanic and Rebecca Van Asch — defeated South Africa 18-16 in a see-sawing contest at Broadbeach.
The home team went behind early, trailing 3-0 after two ends, but the team hit back to lead 9-3 after six ends.
The momentum swung the other way once again, with the South African team of skip Elma Davis, Esme Kruger, Nicolene Neal and Johanna Snyman hitting the front at 10-9 after taking two shots on the ninth end.
They held the lead only momentarily, however, and Australia pulled ahead 15-12 after the 13th end, before taking three shots on the next end to ensure victory.
There was silver for Australia in weightlifting, as Kaity Fassina came close to grabbing gold in the women's 90kg class.
Fassina led the competition after the snatch with a lift of 104kg, but Fiji's Eileen Cikamatana hoisted 130kg in the clean and jerk to take the title with a total of 233kg over Fassina's 232.
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