16 Apr 2018 The Australian, Australia Author: Wally Mason • Section: General News • Article type : News Item Classification : National • Audience : 94,448 • Page: 1 • Printed Size: 996.00cm² Market: National • Country: Australia • ASR: AUD 20,128 • Words: 856 Item ID: 940538199 Licensed by Copyright Agency. You may only copy or communicate this work with a licence.
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Fearnley flies green and gold flag to the end WALLY MASON SPORTS EDITOR
Kurt Fearnley always wanted to go out like his uncle, rugby league hardman Royce Simmons, who ended his career with two tries for Penrith in his team’s winning 1991 grand final and never played again. Yesterday, he did just that. After winning a gold medal in his last ever wheelchair marathon for Australia at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games yesterday morning, Fearnley carried the flag at the head of the Australian team in last night’s closing ceremony. A winner to the end. “I want to run to the finish like he did. Go out on a high. Go out with a celebration that you’ll never forget,” Fearnley said. The Australian team celebrated hard at last night’s all-singing, all-dancing ceremony, after streeting the field in the medal tally and recording its best result since the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006, when the halo effect from the Sydney Olympics still lingered.
Australia finished these Games with 80 gold medals, 59 silver and 59 bronze for a total of 198 medals, well ahead of second-placed England on 45 gold, 45 silver and 46 bronze. In Melbourne, Australia topped the tally with 84 gold, 69 silver and 69 bronze. This time around, Australia was so dominant we even won more gold than the combined British teams — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland won 65 gold medals between them. GOLDOC chairman Peter Beattie described the Games as “bloody fantastic”. A host of Australian musical superstars brought the curtain down on the Games last night — along with an element of the indigenous flavour that sparked criticism of the opening ceremony. Indigenous band Yothu Yindi and the Treaty Project were Continued on Page 5 MORE REPORTS P5 SPORT P30-32
FINAL TALLY Gold
Silver Bronze TOTAL
AUSTRALIA 80
59
59
198
46
136
20
66
27
82
ENGLAND 45
45
INDIA 26
20
CANADA 15
40
NEW ZEALAND 15
16
15
46