Hills takes out 10km run at Gold Coast Marathon

Commonwealth Games and Olympian Madeline Hills dominated in the women's Southern Cross University 10km Run this morning as part of the Gold Coast Marathon weekend.

The 31-year-old finished the in 32:35, 18 seconds outside the race record and 14 seconds from her road PB.

Her time has only been bettered by record holder Lisa Jane Weightman (32:17) in 2012.

After the race, Hills said she applied some unusual race tactics.

“Today I didn’t run the 10km a normal way," she said.

"I ran a hard 5km, stopped for a second and then just ran home. Spectators at the 5km probably thought it was a bit strange when I stopped my watch and pulled off to the side for a second.

Hills and Mitchell set to go head to head

Commonwealth Games long distances runners Madeline Hills and Victoria Mitchell head the seeds heading into this weekends Southern Cross University 10km Run.

The 10km run, which is part of the Gold Coast Marathon race weekend, will see Hills and Mitchell compete for the AUD $1,000 prize money.

Hills finished eighth in the 10,000m final at the Commonwealth Games in April before taking a break to recover and recharge her body.

“I took a decent holiday after the Commonwealth Games including a few weeks off running completely," she said.

“Usually this time of year I am competing overseas but, with no major championships now for the remainder of the year, I have the opportunity to do some fun runs and cross country races in Australia," Hills said.

Over the past couple of weeks, Hills has competed in races across Australia including a mile in Perth then the Victorian cross country championships

Kershaw named for World Cup

TOWNSVILLE’s Stephanie Kershaw has been named in the Australian Hockeyroos World Cup squad.

Kershaw was named in a 18-player squad to compete at nezt month’s championships in London.

Kershaw won silver with the Hockeyroos at this year’s Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and was part of the Hockeyroos’ squad which emerged victorious at the recent Tri-Nations series in New Zealand.

Kershaw’s slection further cements her place in the Hockeyroos’ new generation of players who will likely play at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Mariafe Artacho del Solar will be busy concentrating on winning medals in Europe during the FIVB world tour season

PERUVIAN-born Australian beach volleyball star Mariafe Artacho del Solar’s heart will be torn in two when Peru meets the Socceroos at the FIFA World Cup in Russia tonight.

Although Artacho del Solar, 24, will be busy competing in the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball world tour, she has kept a keen eye on the World Cup.

It’s little wonder, as her dad Oscar Artacho was a Peruvian soccer international and her grandfather, Argentinian-born Oscar Artacho was one of Peru’s most famous soccer commentators.

Tamsyn Moana-Veale sprints to her maiden Bundesliga win

IT came down to a final sprint to the tape, but Bathurst triathlon star Tamsyn Moana-Veale had the speed when it mattered to pick up the first Bundesliga win of her career on Saturday.

She out-sprinted Hungarian Zsófia Kovács – a woman who competed at the Rio Olympic Games – to take the honours.

“Got it. Sprint finish ... to claim my first Bundesliga win,” Moana-Veale said.

“This year I'm focusing on World Cup racing, with some French Grand Prix and Bundesliga races as well as building towards WTS racing and aiming for Tokyo 2020 under the guidance of Danielle Stefano.”

Edmondson in 3rd

Australia's Annette Edmondson is in third place after the first stage of the AMGEN Tour of California.

Riding for Wiggle High 5, Edmondson finished six seconds behind the pace of American Kendall Ryan after the 124km stage.

Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar win World Gold

AUSTRALIANS Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar have followed up their Commonwealth Games silver medal with gold at the beach volleyball World Tour event in Lucerne, Switzerland.

The number one seeds defeated Chinese third seeds Fan Wang and Xinyi Xia 21-12 21-18 in a dominant performance.

“We are really excited. This is the third gold and it is exciting for us how we can keep growing our game as a new team,” Artacho said on Tuesday. The gold medal is the duo’s third world tour gold since teaming up in October.

Reynolds picked for BMX world stage

Dual Olympian Lauren Reynolds has been named in the 17-rider elite squad to represent Australia at the 2018 UCI BMX World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan next month.

The 26-year-old Bunbury rider said she was excited to be back racing in the green and gold.

“I’ve been racing in the elite classes at the world championships since 2010 and I am very excited to be selected again,” she said.

Kershaw goes for gold

TOWNSVILLE Hockeyroo Stephanie Kershaw is up for gold medal contention along with her Kookaburra boyfriend Tom Craig.

Midfielder Kershaw helped the Hockeyroos progress through to the gold medal final after they beat India in a tight 1-0 “grind” on Thursday night.

“It’s unbelievable, everyone is very excited in camp,” Kershaw said.

“We managed to grind out the game.”

Australia win gold , silver in beach volleyball

Australia have taken out the men's beach volleyball gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and a silver in the women's competition.

Chris McHugh and Damien Schumann beat Canada's Samuel Pedlow and Sam Schachter in a three-set thriller, 21-19 18-21 18-16, while Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar just couldn't handle the class of world No.1 duo Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Peredis to go down 21-19 22-20.

The matches took place in front of a pumping crowd at Coolangatta Beach on the Gold Coast.

"A bit of Aussie sportsmanship" : Three distance runners wait on track for final 10k finisher

The most memorable moment of the women’s 10,000-meter race at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games on Monday may have arrived not with the first finisher, but with the last.

In a moving display of sportsmanship, the three Australian women who had long preceded Lineo Chaka across the finish line in Carrara, Australia, stopped, turned around and waited — and waited — as Chaka finished her final three laps.

“I just love racing with those two girls — they’re such classy athletes,” Celia Sullohern, who finished sixth in 31:50.75, told Australia’s Herald Sun, speaking of her teammates. “I think that’s the strength of Australian distance running particularly. We’re there for each other and we’re all out there having a go.

“It was lovely to stand there and show what I hope was a bit of Aussie sportsmanship.”

Scotland’s Beth Potter, the next-to-last finisher in the field of 19, had crossed the line more than three minutes before Chaka, who was representing the African nation of Lesotho, entered the home stretch of the final lap. Sullohern, Madeline Hills (eighth in 32:01.04) and Eloise Wellings (16th in 32:51.47) had all crossed the finish line minutes earlier, beaten by Uganda’s Stella Chesang (31:45.30).

Illawarra runner Madeline Hills heartwarming gesture to Commonwealth Games 10,000m race opponent

Australia’s relationship with sportsmanship took an upswing at the Commonwealth Games on Monday night.

Australia’s three 10,000m runners – the Illawarra’s Madeline Hills, Eloise Wellings and Celia Sullohern  – provided one of “the moments” of the games at Cararra Stadium.

With the near-capacity crowd cheering her on, the three Aussies – the only athletes remaining on the track – cheered home Lineo Chaka, representing the southern African nation of Lesotho.

Sharing Commonwealth Games success with family special for Amy Cure

Getting to share her Commonwealth Games success with family and friends made Amy Cure’s achievements on the Gold Coast just that little bit more special.

Speaking to Fairfax Media on Monday, the day after she completed her golden double by crossing the finish line first in Sunday’s 10km scratch race, she admitted those post-race moments with her mother Delwyn and sister Sarah were the ones she would saviour.

“It is all crazy, and I don’t think it has all really sunk in just yet,’’ said West Pine’s Cure, who was also part of Australia’s winning team pursuit line-up on Thursday.

“It is so nice to not only win these golds, but to have my family here as well does mean the world. 

Amy Cure's rolled gold double in Commonwealth Games cycling

UPDATED: Tasmania’s Amy Cure has won Australia’s ninth track cycling Commonwealth gold, the Penguin girl prevailing in a perfectly executed 10km scratch race.

Cure benefited from teammates Ashlee Ankudinoff and Annette Edmondson in the final few laps, edging ahead of Scottish pair Katie Archibald and Neah Evans on the final lap.

It is Cure’s second gold, following her opening night team pursuit title on Thursday.

The win also means Tasmania has exceeded its record gold medal haul at a Commonwealth Games.

Amy Cure wins her second gold of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games

Amy Cure collected her second gold medal of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games after winning the women’s 10km scratch race at the Anna Meares Velodrome on Sunday night.

It was an upgrade of sorts for the West Pine cycling star, who won silver in the event four years ago at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

“It was amazing,’’ Cure told Channel Seven post-race.

Amy Cure collects Commonwealth Games gold as part of Australia's team pursuit line-up

Amy Cure has added the title of Commonwealth Games champion to her impressive cycling CV after being part of Australia’s Women’s Team Pursuit gold medal winning line-up on Thursday.

Cure, along with Alexandra Manly, Annette Edmondson and Ashlee Ankudinoff, clocked a new Games record time of four minutes 15.214 seconds to defeat New Zealand in the final at the Anna Meares Velodrome.

Australian beach volleyballer Mariafe Artacho del Solars incredible journey to the Gold Coast

LIKE a lot of kids at the time, Mariafe Artacho del Solar was inspired by each volleyballers atalie Cook and Kerri Potthars earing gold medals on Bondi during the Sydney Olympics.

Unlike most of those kids, however, del Solar didn’t see a minute of the Aussie u play.

And for good reason. Sh wa living almost 13,000km awa in Peru.

But courtesy of an amazing twist of fate, words of encouragement from Cook and Pottharst still found their way to a seven-year-old del Solar in Lima and inspired her to also become an Olympic beach volleyballer.

She wasn’t to know then that four years later her mum would take her to Australia to live, and 5 years later del Solar would fulfil her dream by competing in green and gold at the Rio Olympics, and this week in the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

Amy Cure on track for a big Commonwealth Games

Tasmanian Institute of Sport cycling coach Matthew Gilmore believes Amy Cure is on the cusp of some serious success at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Cure has been confirmed as a starter in Australia’s team pursuit line-up with Ashlee Ankudinoff, Annette Edmondson and Alex Manly when competition begins at Brisbane’s Anna Meares Velodrome on Thursday, with Launceston’s Georgia Baker and Rebecca Wiasak missing out as the event makes its Games debut.

Gold Coast will mark Cure’s second appearance at a Commonwealth Games, with Gilmore confident the 25-year-old from West Pine was a more well-rounded cyclist than the one who won silver in the scratch race and bronze in the individual pursuit in Glasgow four years ago.

“She has come a long way for sure, mainly because of the experience she has gained in those four years,’’ Gilmore said of the dual Olympian and multiple world champion medalist.

Cure in sight after Rio's pursuit setback

Like all cyclists, track riders try their best to forget crashes but Amy Cure believes the one that spoiled Australia's charge in 2016 for Olympic gold in the team pursuit is different.

The Tasmanian star was part of a squad fancied for a medal in Brazil before a training incident saw all but one member fall just three days out from competition.

A re-jigged line-up managed to ride through the pain of multiple injuries to finish fifth and add another chapter to a sorry Olympic campaign that amounted to just two medals on the track.

Cure insists there are no mental scars from the accident and says the adversity has actually helped them grow in the two years since the setback.

"You learn things from every race and crashes do happen; if we were to think about it every time we got on a bike we wouldn't get far," the 25-year-old said.

"It's more looking forward than back at what can happen ... you go in with a fresh mind but it does give you that bit extra to go that one step better."

Success at a home Commonwealth Games would mean the world to Amy Cure

Despite being what you could describe as an old hand when it comes to major events like the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, there’s still an element of nervousness for Amy Cure just days out from hitting the track at Brisbane’s Anna Meares Velodrome. 

The 25-year-old from West Pine cyclist will don the Aussies colours for the second time at a Commonwealth Games, with the added aspect of it being in her home country adding another element of excitement for her.