Decathlon silver and bronze but Australia go without Games gold for first time

Australia began day eight of the Commonwealth Games with 50 gold medals, a metaphorical bat raised towards the pavilion with hopes of more to come. Instead, after such a dominant opening week, the Australian team stalled for the first time and were unable to add to their golden tally in Birmingham.

Host nation England promptly closed the gap on the medal board with a swag of golds to sit on 47, trailing by just three with as many days to go. But the one-day drought did not mean the day was a complete disappointment for Australia.

Decathlete Cedric Dubler will forever be remembered for the outstanding sportsmanship and selflessness he showed at the Tokyo Olympics last year, but for all the backslapping that followed, Dubler is a competitive beast and he wanted his own medal. Now he has a bronze.

Over the past two days, the Queenslander was centre stage throughout the decathlon when engaging in an enthralling battle with Grenadian Lindon Victor and fellow Australian Daniel Golubovic. After eight events, Dubler had the lead. But the defending Commonwealth Games champion Victor rebounded strongly in the javelin, his favourite event, to seize control. By the end, Golubovic passed Dubler as well when claiming the 1500m in brilliant fashion to clinch the silver in what proved a great event to watch.

Sam Fricker partnered Shixin Li to a bronze medal in the 3m springboard, while Dom Bedggood and Cassiel Rousseau matched the feat in the synchronised 10m platform. Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva also claimed a bronze in the rhythmic gymnastics all around event.