Stunning Josh Kerr lands one mile gold medal for Scotland at Commonwealth Games

Josh Kerr is having one of those summers you never want to end and while it wasn't exactly balmy in Glasgow on Saturday night - one of the Indian pole-vaulters was wearing a woolly hat - Kerr brought the sunshine and warmed his adoring public.

Two weeks after breaking the world record, he surged to victory in the Commonwealth Games Mile, adding a gold medal to his already impressive resume in a race for the ages.

This run was considerably slower than the one in London two weeks ago when he crossed in 3min 42.66sec to bring down the mark set by Hicham El Guerrouj's 27 years ago. But it was enough to seal a glorious victory on home soil and delight those inside Scotstoun who roared their approval.

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Kerr finished in 3:54.12, more than a second clear of Aussie wunderkind Cam Myers, who won silver, and Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot, who took bronze. Jake Wightman, Kerr's old Edinburgh AC team-mate, looked like he might make it a Scottish 1-2 but was edged out in the home straight and finished sixth.

Kerr is a bona fide superstar and stood imperious on the start line next to Myers, wraparound shades hiding any emotion. This was his home Games, his moment. Fifteen years ago, as a 13-year-old, he finished fifth at the Junior Scottish Championships at Scotstoun. He joked this week that they had made the old stadium “look like Hollywood” for the Games and he duly delivered an ending fit for celluloid.

Botswana’s Tshepiso Masalela set the early pace and there was the odd shove and bump during the second and third laps, with Kerr looking a little boxed in at one point. Cheruiyot was first to make a move but Kerr soon stepped up, surging to the front with around 300 metres to go. Wightman went with him at the final bend but couldn’t hold on as the world record holder sped home, urging on the crowd as he ran to victory. It was epic stuff.

The mile hasn’t been run at the Commonwealth Games for 60 years but this was a triumphant return, one to go into the history books alongside Kip Keino's 1966 triumph and the classic 'Miracle Mile' duel between Roger Bannister and John Landy in 1954. For Kerr, it was pure joy and atonement for a desperately disappointing run at the 2022 Games in Birmingham.

“It means everything,” he said. “This was the championship of my season, with world indoors and going after the record in London. This was on the calendar before any of that. I didn’t put together the performance I wanted in 2022. I think a British crowd deserved more from me and I owed them that.

“When you’re running that slow, your job is not to waste energy and I did that there. I knew an opportunity would open up. Jake was on the outside and he’s such a great closer. But I had enough energy to put a gap on him in the last 200.”

He admitted that his world record run had taken its toll and returning to proper racing had reenergised him.

“London was a big stress, pushing my body to the extreme limit. Doing a championship race is a nice clean of palate, using your brain instead of your body. It’s how I love to race.”

The women's mile was an Australian clean sweep as Abbey Caldwell (gold), Jessica Hull (silver) and Claudia Hollingsworth (bronze) took the medals. Scottish pair Sarah Calvert and Jemma Reekie finished seventh and tenth, respectively.

Woods lands another gold for Scotland

There was gold too for Scotland’s Melanie Woods who has had a Games to remember. Having finished first and broken the Games record in the 1500m T54 on Wednesday, the wheelchair racer was forced into a rerun after authorities decided the final should be held again following appeals surrounding a first-lap crash. She duly returned the following day and won again in an improved time.

Woods, who was left paralysed from the waist down when she was hit by a car while cycling in 2018, underlined her class by winning a second gold on Saturday night, powering to victory in the 400m in a season’s best time of 56.43. Fellow Scot Joanna Robertson was seventh.

Sean Frame just missed out on a medal in the morning session, finishing fourth in the men’s 1500m T54.

Andrew Butchart brought the curtain down on his storied track career by finishing 18th in the men’s 5000m. The two-time Olympian was still feeling the after effects of his run in the 10,000m earlier in the week but enjoyed a rousing reception at Scotstoun.

“It was just about the crowd for me tonight,” said Butchart, 34, who now plans to concentrate on road racing. “The fans have been unbelievable and it’s been amazing to compete out there this week.

“The likelihood is that I’ll move onto the roads now and put the spikes away. But if this was the last race of my track career then I’ve done pretty well.”

Kenya’s Mathew Kipchumba Kipsang won gold, ahead of Ky Robinson of Australia, with India’s Gulveer Singh picking up bronze.

The Scottish mixed relay team of Brodie Young, Rebecca Grieve, Bradley Francis and Nicole Yeargin finished fifth in the 4x400m which was won by Jamaica, with England second and Nigeria third. Yeargin had also been fifth in the individual 400 earlier in the day.

Scotland also did well to qualify for the women’s 4x100m relay, finishing fourth in their heat, and they were seventh in the final, with Lucy Fraser, Georgina Adam, Alyson Bell and Alisha Rees setting a new native record of 44.81. Jamaica sped to victory ahead of second-placed Canada and third-placed Trinidad and Tobago. Australia edged out Canada (silver) and Nigeria (bronze) in the men’s 4x100m.

Jax Thoirs finished an agonising fourth in the pole vault at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and came out of retirement to compete in this edition. But there was to be no fairy tale return for the local athlete who had three failed attempts at 5m 10cm.

Nick Percy, another Glasgow-born veteran of Glasgow, finished seventh in the discus which was won by Australia’s Matthew Denny.

England’s Jazmin Sawyers, who won silver at the Commonwealth Games in 2014, went one better this time, landing long jump gold.