VXIII Commonwealth Games-Laporte grabs bronze with career-best 6.57m leap |26 March 2006

Laporte, 22, the 12th and last qualifier in Wednesday's (March 22) heats with 6.21 metres, eclipsed her previous national record of 6.40 metres by 17 centimetres Friday.

She became the second Seychellois to win bronze in Melbourne following that won by weightlifter Janet Thelermont in the 69kg category on Sunday.

In Wednesday's heats Laporte struggled to qualify out  of 17 competitors. Her 6.21 metres made her the 12th and last qualifier ahead of the representatives of Anguilla, Bermuda, Bangladesh, Fiji and Ghana.

The best qualifier was Australian Bronwyn Thompson who also won the gold medal yesterday by smashing the Commonwealth Games record with a second-round leap of 6.97 metres. Thompson's qualifying distance on Wednesday was 6.71 metres

Another Australian Kerrie Taurima took the silver medal Friday with 6.57 metres, the same distance as Laporte.

Taurima, wife of Australia's 2000 Olympics silver medallist Jai, was awarded the silver on countback.

Thompson, 28, fouled her first attempt before producing a superb second jump which broke the Commonwealth Games record, set in 1982, by nearly 20 centimetres.

"I'm very elated, it means the world to me to win in front of a home crowd," Thompson told a news conference.

Thompson finished fourth in the 2004 Athens Olympics shortly after discovering she had a tumour in her takeoff foot.

It was removed after the Games and found to be benign.
Meanwhile, in other developments at the Commonwealth Games, half of the Sierra Leone team disappeared on Friday and two Indian weightlifters failed doping tests.

Police said another four athletes from Sierra Leone had fled the Games village in suburban Melbourne, bringing the number of missing athletes from the country to 11.

Officials confirmed Raju Edwin and Tajinder Singh had tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Stanozolol while Australian police began searching for missing athletes after the government issued a warning to competitors seeking asylum.

Almost everything Australia touched turned to gold on the playing fields as the host nation extended their massive lead in the medal standings.

England had a miserable day, failing to win a single gold after their crack sprint team messed up in the relay heats and their men's hockey team conceded a golden goal in extra time to lose a semi-final to Pakistan.

Australia won golds in athletics, diving, basketball and bowls to raise their total to 72 after nine of the 11 days of competition.

England remained in second place on 24 with Canada joining India in third place on 20 followed by South Africa (11), Scotland (10), Jamaica (8) and Kenya (6).
The full results of Friday's long jump final was as follows:
1. Bronwyn Thompson (Australia) 6.97m.
2. Kerrie Taurima (Australia) 6.57m.
3. Celine Laporte (Seychelles) 6.57m.
4. Chantal Brunner (New Zealand) 6.56m.
5. Jade Johnson (England) 6.55m.
6. Anju Bobby George (India) 6.54m.
7. Esther Aghatise (Nigeria) 6.47m.
8. Jackie Edwards (Bahamas) 6.46m.
9. Elva Goulbourne (Jamaica) 6.34m.
10. Tanika Liburd (St Kitts & Nevis) 6.27m.
11. Gillian Cooke (Scotland) 6.14m.
12. Lisa Morrison (Australia) 6.12m.