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Finucane seals fourth cycling gold on final day of Commonwealth Games / Photo: © AFP
Finucane seals fourth cycling gold on final day of Commonwealth Games
Emma Finucane sprinted into Commonwealth Games history with a fourth track cycling gold as New Zealand were crowned netball queens in the final day of action in Glasgow.
Welsh sensation Finucane has been one of the stars of the games and completed a clean sweep of sprint medals with victory in the keirin at the Chris Hoy Velodrome.
After previous gold medals in the team and individual sprints and the 1000m time trial, Finucane proved too strong for New Zealand's Olympic champion Ellesse Andrews, who took silver with Kristina Clonan of Australia in bronze.
No male or female cyclist had ever won four sprint golds at a single Commonwealth Games on the track.
"Honestly, I can't put it into words," said Finucane.
"Every time I won this week, it was like 'are you going to get the four?' And it was just so hard to block it out.
"I really wanted it but just had to race through the races."
Australia picked up two more golds in the velodrome through Leigh Hoffman in the men's 1000m time trial and Alyssa Polites in the women's elimination race to round off a spectacular 10 days for those in green and gold.
The Australian state of Victoria pulled out of hosting the 23rd Commonwealth Games three years ago due to concerns over rising costs.
But Australia's athletes have looked at home in Glasgow as they won 70 gold medals among a total haul of 171 medals.
England were second in the medal table on 29 golds, followed by Canada.
India, which will host the centenary version of the Commonwealths in four years' time in Ahmedabad, tied with hosts Scotland for fourth place with 13 golds and 39 medals in total.
One of the few scenes of disappointment for Australia was on the netball court as they failed to reach a Commonwealth final for the first time after a shock single-point defeat by Jamaica on Saturday.
Jamaica could not spring another surprise as the Silver Ferns of New Zealand pulled away after a tight first half to claim gold, winning 56-48 in front of a sold-out 14,000 crowd.
Australia did at least salvage bronze with a 68-50 win over England.
The netball court at the Hydro will quickly be ripped out on Sunday to make way for the closing ceremony.
Prince Edward is set to deputise for King Charles III to declare the Games closed after the baton is passed to Ahmedabad.
U.Campbell--SFF
