Hansen - left it late to claim gold medal.
HANSEN HANGS ONTO GOLD-EN CROWN
By Ian Gordon, PA Sport
England's Ashia Hansen retained her Commonwealth Games triple jump title after
an extraordinary finale in the City of Manchester Stadium.
The Birchfield Harrier took gold after breaking the Games record with her
final jump of the competition.
Hansen had dominated the event after twice breaking the Games record in the
opening two rounds only to see Cameroon's Francoise Mbango take the lead with
her last jump with a Games record of 14.82m.
But Hansen, who was next up, responded in stunning fashion as she took to the
runway to win with her third Games record of the competition of 14.86m.
"It was absolutely fantastic," said Hansen, who admitted she was swept along
for that final jump on a wall of noise.
"I did not let the pressure get to me. It inspired me. When the whole stand
started cheering I thought Steve Backley must have been coming down the runway.
I couldn't believe it was for me.
"I only heard it for the first six strides and then I went into auto-pilot.
It's brilliant. It shows that under stress I can cope."
With a couple of her cuddly toys strategically placed along the triple jump
runway Hansen twice smashed the Commonwealth record with her first two jumps,
only to see Mbango eclipse her mark 14.66m with the penultimate leap of the
competition.
It seemed the crown Hansen won in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur was to be wrested from
her head, but cometh the hour cometh the woman and tonight Hansen was in no mood
to surrender.
She swayed on the runway, composing herself for one last effort. And then
released the brakes, accelerating with the power and grace of a jet down a
runway before leaping for glory.
It was clear from the roar of the capacity crowd it was a big one. It was
obvious from the huge grin on Hansen's face and the way she pumped her arms in
euphoric celebration the gold was on the way to England.
It took what seemed an age, however, for the scoreboard to confirm it but when
it came it stood out in neon letters - 14.86m - Hansen's third Commonwealth
record of the night and her passport to paradise.
