Aaron Gate celebrates winning his fourth gold medal. Photo / Photosport
NZME's sports journalists look back at the best and worst of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Kris Shannon: The Games ended on a high for both New Zealand and, more importantly, me personally, watching Joelle King team with Paul Coll and Amanda Landers-Murphy to win double doubles gold in squash. And the sport itself was a brilliant spectacle, with Coll in particular catching the eye with a combination of athleticism, commitment and skill. He's an athlete more Kiwis would do well to watch - and squash is a sport that absolutely should be at the Olympics.
Kate Wells: All track and field events. There was so much energy at Alexander Stadium and it was great to see the athletes put on a show after competing at empty stadiums for the past couple of years.
Cameron McMillan: The track cycling and swimming with roaring crowds. You forget what that's like after the Covid Olympics.
Chris Rattue: As a Games channel surfer, I often stop at weightlifting. There's something uniquely fascinating about the drama, perhaps because the viewer gets to look back stage. There's the build up, coaches exhorting their charges, and then it is all over in a flash, either good or bad. I imagine some of them - I presume most are still amateur - back in the office next week, muscles bulging under their work gear. Every day people with little moments in the limelight.
Shannon: On the topic of what should or shouldn't be at the Olympics, 3x3 basketball is an abomination and it boggles the mind that it has somehow sneaked its way into both big Games. A vastly inferior product to the real deal, played by vastly inferior athletes, it feels like searching for a solution to a problem that doesn't exist: basketball is very good and needs no adjustments.
Wells: 3x3 basketball. Nothing against the sport but I don't think there's a place for it at pinnacle events.
McMillan: I hope this is a safe space but got to put it out there...I'm not a big judo guy.
Rattue: I'm not genuinely interested in the Commonwealth Games at all. The Commonwealth concept was presented to me, as a kid, as something warm, caring and wonderful. I found out over the years that it was little more than exploitative imperialism. I'm also an anti-royalist. I'm surprised that athletes - particularly from the most abused countries - don't refuse to participate in protest.
Shannon: That none of our teams even managed to play for gold, let alone win it. Well, not quite none of them - a couple of cycling and squash teams did all right. But in terms of our more traditional sports, fans would have expected at least one team would reach the final. There was no shortage of bronzes and some - like the White Ferns' - did represent a good result. Yet going from three golds in 2018 to none in 2022 was surprising.
Wells: The White Ferns winning bronze. After a disappointing World Cup I wasn't expecting them to medal, but their refreshed squad and new coach have given them a well-needed boost.
McMillan: That Covid didn't play a bigger part. We had the withdrawal of Kiwi 3x3 player Nikau McCullough on the eve of the Games, mountain biker Anton Cooper testing positive before his event and other than the Tahlia McGrath story on the final day, Covid didn't really make many other headlines. Considering the drastic measures that were taken for Tokyo last year, maybe the IOC should have just held on one more year and we could have had a proper Olympics with fans (which of course would have had to come at the expense of the Commonwealth Games but who would have been complaining other than Birmingham, squash, netball and lawn bowlers).
Also, shout out to Andrew Jeffcoat for his 50m backstroke gold medal performance.
Rattue: The medal haul from a few Kiwi athletes. I didn't know cyclist Aaron Gate was quite that good. But his incredible four gold medals - across track and road - also suggest the standard of the Games is open to question. That's the problem with the Commonwealth Games - you just don't know a lot of the time. But most track cycling is a terrific sport to watch, and a strength of the Commonwealth and Olympic Games. Its more confusing events should be tossed out though.
Shannon: My abiding memory of Birmingham will be Lewis Clareburt winning the 200m butterfly, especially since that triumph augurs well for future success in the event for a swimmer who chiefly focuses on medley races. Watching from the Sandwell Aquatic Centre stands, disbelief was the prevailing emotion as Clareburt flew into the lead in the final 50 metres, but the outcome didn't overly surprise the man himself. The 23-year-old is supremely confident and always backed his pre-race plan to finish strongly.
Wells: Seeing the New Zealand cyclists dominate on the track, mountain bike and road. It's some positive news for Cycling New Zealand after what's been a couple of turbulent years.
McMillan: The way Lewis Clareburt and Ellesse Andrews dominated their respective events. Both of them, you could see exuded confidence in their abilities and power, especially Andrews who was up against Tokyo Olympic sprint champion Kelsey Mitchell, and I can't wait to see their progress toward the Paris Olympics.
Rattue: Jacko Gill getting a silver medal in the shot put. I'm a big fan of Jacko and his family, who I have met while doing stories on him. He has struggled to kick on from his junior glory days, and has lived in the shadow of the great Tom Walsh. Was great to see Jacko Gill make the podium.
Shannon: The last event I saw at Alexander Stadium was also the most exhilarating, as England's men won the 4x100m relay final. The noise that built as the hosts' lead did likewise was immense. And then, watching on television later that night as England's women barely held off Canada to cross first in the 4x400m final - only to be disqualified for a lane infringement minutes later - added high drama to England's earlier dominance.
Wells: Scotland's Eilish McColgan winning the women's 10,000 metres. She looked like she had nothing left in the tank in the last 200 metres, but she managed to accelerate past Kenya's Irine Chepet Cheptai to win the race. McColgan's mother Liz was in the crowd, who won the event at the 1986 Edinburgh Games.
McMillan: The arrival of Canadian 15-year-old swimmer Summer McIntosh. She made waves, yes pun intended, at the World Championships in June winning the 400IM and then left Birmingham with six medals (two gold in the medley events) as well as pushing world record holder Ariarne Titmus in the 400m freestyle final. Did I mention she's only 15?
Rattue: Love watching great sprinters (and track races in general, especially when there is a photo finish). So for my international moment, it was brilliant to see Zoe Hobbs make the 100m final, a rare moment for New Zealand sprinting. She is a trailblazer and has never let selection disappointments get her too down. Inspiring.
Shannon: The first gold medal handed out at the Games could still soon become two, with Hayden Wilde's appeal against his time penalty somehow still pending. But even if the appeal proves successful, one rogue official denying us the chance to witness Wilde and England's Alex Yee sprint for gold was disappointing and underwhelming. Surely, when the perceived infraction was so minor, the better approach would be to leave the athletes to determine the result.
Wells: The Black Ferns Sevens not making it through to the gold medal match. It's no secret they are disappointed too, but they have a World Cup fast approaching and they'll be hungry to right their wrongs.
McMillan: The coverage from Sky and Prime was superb but I wasn't a fan of the UK-based commentary at the swimming, especially in the 400IM men's final when they kept focusing on Scotland's Duncan Scott in lane one while Kiwi Lewis Clareburt was ahead by a metre for the entire race.
Rattue: None in particular…but I really think a lot of the public just isn't interested in the Commonwealth Games. For me, there is nothing to match being a kid watching the 1974 Games held in Christchurch. Dick Tayler, John Walker v Filbert Bayi, a Brit hurdler Alan Pascoe falling over hurdles while trying to celebrate, weightlifter Graham May crashing down, I even had a little crush on ace Aussie sprinter Raelene Boyle…and on and on and on. It was an incredible event, made even more remarkable because colour TV had just arrived in New Zealand. I feel so lucky to have been of an age when you could enjoy sport on this very human level. Those Games had so many dramatic moments - ones that live on with me to this day. There was warmth, there was humour. The modern version feels like a box-ticking exercise in comparison. Maybe I am just growing old.
Shannon: Cricket? Big fan. Would be interested in watching more cricket.
Wells: As mentioned earlier not a fan of 3x3 basketball. I enjoyed the Twenty20 cricket but I think it should just be a one-off.
McMillan: Maybe 4x4 basketball or 1x1 instead? It just looks like a game of pickup at the park. Cricket was good, only because it's a strong field.
Rattue: Please. No. I hear netball wants to get into the Olympics. Egad. There are only a handful of countries that play netball well. Sports now seem to think these big events are there to promote their interests. What can you do for the Olympics (or Commonwealth Games)? That's the question. I'd strip them back to the bare essentials…athletics, swimming etc. Golf at the Olympics? What a stupid joke.
Shannon: The fans. A bit mawkish, I know, but both Birmingham locals and plenty of domestic tourists turned out in huge numbers to vocally support an event that has, in general, recently waned in popularity. The fans' passion reinforces the case for taking the Commonwealth Games to areas that aren't accustomed to hosting high-level sport - and surely the good people of Victoria will provide further evidence in support of the idea in 2026.
Wells: Celebrating sport post Covid. Thousands of people flocked to each venue to cheer for their favourite athletes, which was a joy to see and be part of.
McMillan: Many Commonwealth Games performances get forgotten pretty quickly so outside of Gates, Clareburt and Andrews, people will remember the scary track cycling crash, Wilde being denied a shot at gold, and the sevens performances being part of New Zealand Rugby's 2022 woes.
Rattue: Nothing really, not like we remembered things back in the day. The world has changed. The corporate sports industry spin doctors will try to talk it up as part of the funding grab of course. There will be the inevitable flag waving over the medal haul and I'm just not into the allegedly patriotic sports stuff.
I'd rather see money put into a great athletics meet, with a sprinkling of international stars, held in this country every 10 years or so. Is that possible in this day and age? Do we even have the facilities? I don't know.
I'd also love to see money put into providing great athletics facilities around the country. I still think athletics, with the variety of disciplines involved, offers a lot for kids today, and can also provide the basis for other sporting careers. As for cheering for 3x3 basketball (whatever that abomination is), no thanks. Because I can watch the NBA.
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