Broadbell cruises to Commonwealth Games hurdles gold as Australia seal cycling double

BIRMINGHAM: Jamaica’s Rasheed Broadbell equalled Colin Jackson’s 32-year-old Commonwealth Games record as he cruised to victory in the 110m hurdles on Thursday as Australia won a cycling road race double.

Broadbell, 21, dominated the final from the start to win in 13.08sec, making up for the disappointment of last year, when injury prevented him going to the Tokyo Olympics.

Fellow Jamaican Hansle Parchment, the Olympic champion, had withdrawn earlier in the day due to a niggle just as he had done before last month’s world championship final.

Heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s boyfriend Andrew Pozzi won bronze.

“I knew I had to stay focused and that is what I did,” said Broadbell. “Sometimes, when you run, you don’t know what is going to happen.

“You just have to execute properly. I’m not sure if I clipped any hurdles.”

He said Parchment gave him a call to tell him he had withdrawn.

“I’m not sure what the problem was, but he’s an Olympic champion, so he knows best.”

Broadbell’s performance lit up a low-key evening athletics session in Birmingham, which was still a 30,000 sellout.

LaQuan Nairn gave the Bahamas their first-ever men’s long jump gold, while Australia’s Matthew Denny won the discus.

Nairn won with a best leap of 8.08 meters, edging out Murali Sreeshankar of India on countback.

“I said in Eugene (at the world championships) that I wanted to come here and get a gold medal,” said 26-year-old Nairn. “To say that and do it is great.”

Sreeshankar gave India their first medal in the event since Suresh Babu won bronze in 1978.

“It feels good,” he said. “This medal has been a long time coming. I have been waiting for a global medal for a very long time, but I kept missing out.”

Denny threw a