The Diamonds have won Australia's 1,000th Commonwealth Games gold medal with a thrilling 55-51 victory over Jamaica in the netball final.
Australia became the first country to reach four figures on the penultimate day of competition in Birmingham, which yielded seven golds as part of a 19-medal haul to stay well clear at the top of the tally heading into the final day of competition.
The Diamonds' triumph was their fourth Commonwealth Games gold medal, but just their second since 2002 as they claimed redemption for a one-goal loss to England in the 2018 final and revenge for a group stage loss to the Jamaicans.
Despite playing in their first gold medal match, the Sunshine Girls looked more composed to start, and did not panic when Australia jumped out to a 13-7 lead, pegging them back to 14-12 at the first break.
Jamaica started the second quarter on a 10-4 run, but Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich did a complete reshuffle of her line-up, moving Gretel Bueta from goal-shooter to goal-attack, introducing Cara Koenen as GS, and bringing Sarah Klau on as goal-keeper.
The complexion of the game changed from that point and scores were tied at 29 heading into half-time.
The Diamonds started the third quarter on a 10-1 run and ratcheted up the defensive pressure to rattle Jamaica, who trailed by six goals heading into the final term.
That was the same margin they trailed by in the group clash with Australia, which ended up as a two-goal win for Jamaica, but there was to be no such turnaround this time, with Bueta ending with a perfect 37/37 shooting record across both attacking positions.
Klau and Courtney Bruce performed excellently in the opposite circle, although Jamaican captain Jhaniele Fowler still ended with 46 goals from 47 attempts.
Earlier, New Zealand beat England 55-48 to claim bronze.
Seven gold medals on second-last day in Birmingham
Another of Australia's most successful teams, our women's cricketers, claimed an historic gold medal in the T20 competition.
They became the first gold medallists in women's cricket at the Commonwealth Games with a nine-run win over India in the final, adding the gold medal to their Twenty20 and 50-over World Cup wins.
Tahlia McGrath could not celebrate with the team though, as she tested positive for COVID-19 just before the match. She was still allowed to play but could not contact other members of the team, including telling them to stay away from her after she took a catch to dismiss Shafali Verma.
Beth Mooney starred with the bat with 61 runs off 41 balls as Australia reached 8-161.
India appeared ready to launch an assault on the run chase when Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues put on 96 runs for the third wicket, but India lost 8-34 to go from 2-118 to all out for 152 at Edgbaston.
The Hockeyroos did not have quite as good a time in their final against England, going down 2-1 to claim silver.
Cyclist Georgia Baker kickstarted the day's gold rush with her win in the women's road race, with Sarah Roy joining her on the podium in third.
There was double gold in the diving, with Cassiel Rousseau and Maddison Keeney winning the men's 10m platform and women's 3m springboard titles respectively.
The final day of the athletics program was also fruitful for Australia, with Kelsey-Lee Barber leading an Aussie 1-2 in the women's javelin with Mackenzie Little, who was one of four Australia silver medallists in track and field — alongside Brooke Buschkuehl (long jump), Peter Bol (800m) and Declan Tingay (10,000m walk) — while Abbey Caldwell got bronze in the women's 1,500m.
Both the men's and women's volleyball teams played exciting gold medal matches against Canada, with Chris McHugh and Paul Burnett winning the men's final, and Olympic silver medallists Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar forced to settle for women's silver.
There were two silvers in boxing, with Kaye Scott (women's light middleweight) and Callum Peters (men's middleweight) going down in their gold medal bouts.
In the table tennis, Lin Ma got silver in the men's singles classes 8-10, and Yangzi Liu won bronze in the women's singles.
Look back at how the action unfolded in Birmingham with our live blog.
Key events
- 🥇🥈🥉 Today's medals for Australia
- 🥈 Beach volleyball: Australia loses gold medal match, will go home with silver
- 🥇 Netball: The Diamonds back on top, winning Australia's 1,000th Comm Games gold!
- 🥈 Boxing: Australia adds another two silver medals to collection
- 🥈 Athletics: Brooke Buschkuehl wins second straight silver in long jump
- 🥇 Diving: Another gold for Australia, this time in women's 3m springboard
- 🥇 Cricket: Australia wins gold, beating India by nine runs to make history!
- 🥈 Athletics: Declan Tingay gets silver in 10,000m race walk
- 🥈 Athletics: Second for Peter Bol in 800m final
- 🥇 Athletics: Gold AND silver for Australia in women's javelin
- 🥉 Athletics: Abbey Caldwell completes podium in stunning women's 1,500m final
- 🥇 Beach volleyball: Aussie men win final
- 🥈 Hockey: Narrow loss for the Hockeyroos in gold medal match
- 🥇 Cycling: Baker gets gold in 'rubbish' road race, Roy takes bronze
- 🥇 Diving: Cassiel Rousseau wins men's 10m platform
Live updates
By Kelsie Iorio
What to watch on the FINAL DAY of Birmingham 2022
It's almost over for another year.
But there are still a few more chances for Australians to shine on the final day of competition in Birmingham — which, luckily for us, falls almost completely in prime time tonight.
Here's what's still to come (times below are in AEST):
- Diving: Shixin Li + Maddison Keeney and Domonic Bedggood + Anabelle Smith in the mixed synchronised 3pm springboard final from 7pm
- Squash: Alex Haydon and Jess Turnbull in the women's doubles plate final from 7pm
- Table tennis: Jian Fang Lay and Minhyung Jee in the women's doubles gold medal match after 7pm
- Diving again: Cassiel Rousseau + Emily Boyd and Domonic Bedggood + Melissa Wu in the mixed 10m platform final after 8pm
- Hockey: The Kookaburras play India for the gold medal from 9:30pm
Then it's the Closing Ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, and the baton will officially be passed to the next hosts — Regional Victoria, Australia.
We'll be bringing all the highlights from the closing ceremony to you live here on the blog, so we'll catch you again from 4am AEST tomorrow.
By Jon Healy
🥇🥈🥉 Today's medals for Australia
A massive day for Australia, winning 19 medals (including seven gold) to stay clear of England at the top of the medal tally.
The Diamonds' netball win gave Australia its 1,000th gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, and the netball team their fourth gold.
Meanwhile, Australia's cricketers won the first gold medal in women's cricket, taking out the T20 final against India.
The Hockeyroos didn't have quite as good a time in their final against England, going down 2-1 to claim silver.
Both the men's and women's volleyball teams played exciting gold medal matches against Canada, with Chris McHugh and Paul Burnett winning theirs, and Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar forced to settle for silver.
There was also double gold in the diving, with Cassiel Rousseau and Maddison Keeney winning the men's 10m and women's 3m titles respectively.
Kelsey-Lee Barber led an Aussie 1-2 in the women's javelin with Mackenzie Little, who was one of four Australia silver medallists in track and field — alongside Brooke Buschkuehl (long jump), Peter Bol (800m) and Declan Tingay (10,000m walk) — while Abbey Caldwell got bronze in the women's 1,500m.
Georgia Baker kickstarted the day's gold rush with her win in the women's road race with Sarah Roy joining her on the podium in third.
There were two silvers in boxing, with Kaye Scott (women's light middleweight) and Callum Peters (men's middleweight) going down in their gold medal bouts.
In the table tennis, Lin Ma got silver in the men's singles classes 8-10, and Yangzi Liu won bronze in the women's singles.
By Kelsie Iorio
🥈 Beach volleyball: Australia loses gold medal match, will go home with silver
Gahhhhhhhhh.
In shades of Gold Coast 2018, Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Arcacho del Solar have lost to Canada's Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes in the gold medal match, going down 15-12 in the third set.
Commentator Jonathan Fogarty tells me it's exactly one year and one day today since the same Aussie duo won silver at the Tokyo Olympics as well.
By Jon Healy
Athletics: About that thrilling English win to end the athletics program...
Earlier we flagged an English gold by 0.01 of a second in the women's 4x400m relay. It was a stunning result as they held off a fast-finishing Canada by the narrowest of margins.
BUT...
Looking around the place it seems Jodie Williams stepped into another lane during the first changeover, leading to the disqualification for England.
Wow. Massive moment.
By Kelsie Iorio
Beach volleyball: Canada take the second set
And we are going to a third.
Pavan and Humana-Paredes went up 21-17 in the second set and the Canadians are really easing into this match.
By Kelsie Iorio
Athletics: Australia fourth by fractions in women's 4x100m relay
Talk about close.
ICYMI overnight, Australia's 4x100m relay team of Ella Connolly, Bree Masters, Jacinta Beecher and Naa Anang has missed out on a medal by less than a tenth of a second behind bronze medallists Jamaica.
Nigeria won gold and England claimed silver.
Elsewhere around the track, Michelle Jenneke came in fifth and Celeste Mucci finished eighth in a red-hot 100m hurdles final, and Steve Solomon was seventh in the men's 400m final.
By Jon Healy
🥇 Netball: The Diamonds back on top, winning Australia's 1,000th Comm Games gold!
Redemption for the loss to England in the last Commonwealth Games final on the Gold Coast, and revenge for the loss to Jamaica in the pool stage.
The Diamonds win netball gold with a 55-51 victory over the Jamaicans, who can hold their heads up high for that effort, forcing Australia to play their very best at every turn.
Tears are flowing for the Aussie players, many of whom remember the pain of that 51-52 loss to England four years ago.
Huge credit to the players obviously, but Stacey Marinkovich used them superbly. The game completely changed when she introduced Cara Koenen and Sarah Klau at either end of the court.
For Jamaica, this is their best performance at a Games. They've already upset the Australia-New Zealand-England apple cart, and they're coming for more.
For Australia, it's the fourth time they've climbed to the top of this podium, but just the second time since 2002.
And it took until the penultimate day of competition, but Australia has its 1,000th Commonwealth Games medal. An amazing achievement, becoming the first country to do so.
By Kelsie Iorio
Beach volleyball: Australia takes the first set!
Taliqua and Mariafe have overcome some tense moments to win the first set 24-22.
These two teams have a history of going to three sets and I have no doubt they'll be hard to split. Tune in!!
By Kelsie Iorio
Beach volleyball: The scoreboard carked it so we're bringing back the old-school version
Bit of a gap in play there — I wasn't sure what they were doing at the time, but the officials have just swapped out the digital scoreboard with a plastic flippy version so it looks like they're having some technical difficulties.
We're tied 17-all in the first set.
By Jon Healy
Netball: Australia leading by six heading into final quarter
This is the exact same margin the Diamonds led by in their pool game, before Jamaica came back to win by two goals.
Safe to say there won't be any complacency from the Aussies this time.
Meanwhile, the umpires are copping it...
But the Sunshine Girls have rallied, and it's back to THREE GOALS!
The Aussie shooting pair of Gretel Bueta and Cara Koenen are unwilling to shoot from anything less than perfect position, which Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson simply aren't giving them.
The Aussies have re-established their lead, and they're going to get this one!
By Kelsie Iorio
Beach volleyball: Australia leading but still a long way to go
There's not much in it with Australia up 15-13 in the first set right now.
Commentator and Inside Volleyball host Jonathan Fogarty is watching along with us — he says Canada's missed chances could cost them.
"Australia is serving much more effectively at the moment," he says.
By Kelsie Iorio
Badminton: Women's doubles team lose bronze medal match
So close — Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen and Gronya Somerville have gone down 2-0 to India's Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela in the bronze medal match of the women's badminton doubles.
By Jon Healy
Netball: Australia leads Jamaica 45-39 at 3QT
The Diamonds start on a 4-0 run, which becomes 10-1 in five minutes, while Jamaica's passes aren't hitting their mark under intense defensive pressure from Australia.
If that's the "championship quarter", Australia's played a blinder there. Their best period of this final so far, heading into the final term with a big edge.
By Jon Healy
Athletics: England ends track and field program with 4x400m gold ... just
England has somehow come away with gold in the final athletics event of these games, winning the women's 4x400m relay by 0.01 of a second ahead of Canada.
Canada's last runner, Kyra Constantine, looked for all money to be running over the top of Jessie Knight, but the Englishwoman found a last reserve of energy in the last 20 metres and a few millimetres of length on the line to pip the Canadian team.
It was as close as anything you're likely to see, and honestly, watching the replay, I'm still not sure how Knight got there.
By Kelsie Iorio
Beach volleyball: Aussies go for gold in women's final
It's time!
Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar have walked onto the sand to face Canadians Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes for gold.
The Aussies are smiling and look like they're having fun as they're introduced to the crowd.
By Kelsie Iorio
Athletics: No medals for Australia in women's 5000m
Aussie finalists Isobel Batt-Doyle, Rose Davies and Natalie Rule have finished eighth, 17th and 18th in this gruelling event.
Beatrice Chebet and Selah Busienei of Kenya got the gold and bronze, and Eilish McColgan, the Scottish runner who broke her mum's Commonwealth Games record in the 10,000m just a few days ago, won silver.
By Jon Healy
Netball: Australia and Jamaica tied on 29 at half-time
Jamaica started the second quarter on a 10-4 run, but Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich did a complete reshuffle, including moving Gretel Bueta from goal-shooter to goal-attack and bringing Sarah Klau into goal-keeper, with Jo Weston leaving the court.
Australia clawed their way back into the game after those changes, and this game is fittingly tied up heading into half-time.
Here's what Brittany Carter thinks about the defensive efforts of Australia...
By Kelsie Iorio
🥈 Boxing: Australia adds another two silver medals to collection
Kaye Frances Scott and Callum Peters have both fallen just short of gold in their respective light middleweight and middleweight bouts overnight.
Peters lost on points to Scotland's Sam Hickey, and the referee stopped the contest between Scott and Wales' Rosie Eccles after some particularly hard hits.
ICYMI yesterday, Caitlin Parker, Eddie Coumi and Tina Rahimi all won bronze medals in their divisions as well.
That's it for the Aussie boxers at the Commonwealth this year.
By Jon Healy
Netball: Diamonds lead Jamaica 14-12 after first quarter
Australia built a 13-7 lead with three minutes left thanks to some excellent defence, then got another turnover, but couldn't convert, after which Jamaica rediscovered their poise and went on a 5-1 run to stop the Diamonds from getting out to a big lead.
Jhaniele Fowler and Gretel Bueta are both 11/11 from the circle.
By Kelsie Iorio
Beach volleyball: The women's bronze medal match goes to a third set
It's a tight race between New Zealand and Vanuatu for the women's beach volleyball bronze, with one set apiece at the moment.
Australia will play Canada for the gold after this game, in a rematch of the gold medal showdown at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (which Canada won).
UPDATE: It's bronze for Vanuatu! Miller Pata and Sherysyn Toko get the win over New Zealand's Alice Zeimann and Shaunna Polley.
