{"id":840536,"date":"2026-08-02T21:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T21:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/840536\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T21:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T21:12:10","slug":"emma-finucane-lands-keirin-to-claim-historic-fourth-commonwealth-gold-commonwealth-games-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/840536\/","title":{"rendered":"Emma Finucane lands keirin to claim historic fourth Commonwealth gold | Commonwealth Games 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Welsh cyclist Emma Finucane wrote her name into the history books on the final day of the Commonwealth Games<\/a>, but Glasgow 2026 will be remembered most for Australia\u2019s dominance.<\/p>\n

Before the Games, the Australia swimmer Sam Short had told reporters: \u201cI\u2019m so pumped \u2013 I can\u2019t wait to go over there and smash those Pommies up.\u201d And the whole Australia team seemed to get the memo as they finished with 171 medals, of them 70 gold. That put them a staggering 61 clear of England, who won 110 medals, with Canada third after winning 62.<\/p>\n

Despite the medal gap to Australia, Team England chef de mission, Jonathon Riall, issued a bullish assessment of the performance. \u201cTo finish the Games with 110 medals and second place on the medal table is an incredible achievement, one that every athlete, coach, support staff member and national governing body should be immensely proud of,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Team England, success is about more than medals. It can mean achieving a lifetime best, overcoming adversity simply to reach the start line, or standing on the podium with a medal around your neck. We have seen all those different ways of winning throughout these Games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won medals across nine sports, saw established champions deliver once again on the biggest stage and watched a new generation announce themselves on the Commonwealth stage. This team has embodied everything Team England stands for, and it has been an immense privilege to lead them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finucane will certainly go down as one of the athletes of the Games after becoming the first sprint cyclist to win four track gold medals at the same Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n

The Welsh cyclist added to the golds she had already won in the team and individual sprints and 1,000m time trial, with a bravuro victory in the keirin.<\/p>\n

Finucane, who won Olympic gold as part of the Great Britain sprint team at Paris 2024, moved to the front with two laps to go, daring others to get past her. None of them could as she won by half a bike length ahead of the Olympic champion, Ellesse Andrews of New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was convinced they would come round me,\u201d admitted Finucane. \u201cHonestly it is hard to put into words. I could have easily gone out in the semis.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter Paris, everything was a huge learning curve for me emotionally,\u201d she added. \u201cThat week was really tough, and what I came away with was hard to process. But going into these Games I\u2019ve learned to handle pressure better and regulate my emotions more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finucane now plans to take a holiday with her sister before shifting her focus towards the track world championships in Shanghai in October.<\/p>\n

Emma Finucane of Wales sprints down the home straight to win the women\u2019s keirin final. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely did feel the pressure but throughout the week I just rode my own race,\u201d she added. \u201cThe team sprint was a big aim. The last time we rode it was four years ago and we got a bronze medal.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo come back as the same team and win gold was iconic. Singing on the podium with the team was insane. I just rode each race as it came. I went out there and left everything on the track. To stand here and have four golds, I have no words.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever believe that I\u2019ve made history here. I can\u2019t believe little me has done this. Ten-year-old Emma is screaming inside, like, \u2018What is going on?\u2019 I hope I\u2019ve inspired the nation to get on to a bike and get into a velodrome. I can\u2019t believe I found this sport and this sport found me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier on the last day, Leigh Hoffman became the first Australian cyclist to win four medals at one Games by winning the 1km men\u2019s time trial, ensuring he took home three gold and one silver.<\/p>\n

And there was more success for Australia in the para bowls as 76-year-old Louise Hoskins became the oldest athlete to win gold<\/a> in Glasgow.<\/p>\n

Hoskins and her partner, Serena Bonnell, secured a 6-3, 4-4 win, leaving Hoskins delighted. \u201cIt is incredible. I\u2019m still pinching myself,\u201d she said. \u201cI never thought I\u2019d ever get gold at my age. Get out there and have a go, and never give up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere Jamaica fell short of pulling off another epic Commonwealth Games upset as they went down 56-48 to New Zealand in the women\u2019s netball final. However England missed out on bronze after being thrashed 68-50 by Australia, who recovered from a shock one-point defeat to Jamaica<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cFourth place is agonising,\u201d admitted the England captain, Fran Williams. \u201cIt\u2019s the position nobody really wants to finish in when you\u2019re just outside the medals. We just weren\u2019t clinical enough today, and credit has to go to the Diamonds.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAustralia managed to show up stronger than us on the day it mattered most. It hurts at the moment, but there are so many lessons to take from this experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least England were able to win three more gold medals on the final day. Emma Reid successfully defended her women\u2019s 78kg judo title, Katherine Rednall triumphed in the women\u2019s bowls singles final and Matthew Robertson defeated the home favourite Fin Graham in the velodrome to win the C1-C3 3,000m individual pursuit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Welsh cyclist Emma Finucane wrote her name into the history books on the final day of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":840537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":["post-840536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}