Day Six at the Commonwealth Games: Johnson-Thompson and Campbell go for gold

The pair will be bidding to follow up gymnast Jake Jarman and swimmer Adam Peaty’s successes on Tuesday.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson leads going into day two of the heptathlon (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Wire)

Emily Campbell bids to add Commonwealth Games gold to her Olympic silver medal in the women’s weightlifting, while Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s heptathlon challenge reaches its conclusion on the track.

Here, the PA news agency tees up Wednesday’s action and looks back at some of the highlights from day five.

Emily’s gold bid

Emily Campbell bids to add to her collection of major medals (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Archive)

Campbell shot to fame when she won a silver medal in the women’s weightlifting 87kg+ category at the Tokyo Olympics.

The Nottingham 28-year-old, who won bronze on the Gold Coast four years ago and is also the reigning European champion, is favourite to snatch a gold medal on her home stage and continue England’s successful run in the competition.

Will Evie come up Short?

Evie Richards is bidding to become the cross-country queen (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Archive)

Evie Richards would love to put a year of injury and illness behind her by upgrading the mountain bike silver she won in 2018 to a gold medal, but said she must be realistic after months of back problems and a recent bout of Covid.

That could potentially open the door for Scotland’s Isla Short, while New Zealand’s defending champion Sam Gaze is favourite in the men’s race.

KJT conclusion

Katarina Johnson-Thompson concludes her heptathlon bid (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Wire)

Defending heptathlon champion Johnson-Thompson aims to retain her title as she goes into day two with a 109-point lead, but she is likely to be pushed by England team-mate Holly Mills among others.

Also on the track, Daryll Neita set down a marker the women’s 100m by clocking 11.02 seconds in her heat and her expected 100 metres final showdown with Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica is one of the most intriguing face-offs of the Games.

Social media moment

Pic of the day

Samoa’s Don Opeloge celebrates winning the men’s weightlifting competition (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)

Best of Tuesday’s action

Peaty completes the set

Adam Peaty roars in delight after winning the 50m breaststroke gold medal (David Davies/PA) (PA Wire)

Adam Peaty had said he was “heartbroken” after his eight-year unbeaten run in the 100 metres breaststroke ended with a fourth-placed finish in Sunday’s final, but he then attracted criticism for suggesting he was “not bothered” about this event and was instead focused on the Olympics in two years’ time.

He answered his critics with victory – and a striking celebratory roar – in the 50m event to complete the set of major international championship wins. “I can retire now!”, he joked to the BBC afterwards.

Jake’s clean sweep

Jake Jarman completed an extraordinary clean sweep in the men’s gymnastics competition by claiming his fourth and final gold medal of the Games in the men’s vault final.

Team-mate Joe Fraser had to settle for three golds after winning the parallel bars but falling off the horizontal bar. Alice Kinsella’s floor title ensured England would end up with 10 of the 14 artistic gymnastics gold medals on offer.

Cyrille’s dream over

Cyrille Tchatchet was defeated by injury (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)

Cyrille Tchatchet’s dream of capping his remarkable story with a Commonwealth medal for England was dashed when he cramped midway through the men’s 96kg weightlifting competition.

Tchatchet managed to snatch 158kg to leave him in the silver medal position at the halfway stage but he collapsed after his first clean and jerk and two more failures prevented him registering a final total.