July 26, 2002	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 15,1423

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MANCHESTER, July 25: Russian-born Irina Lashko clinched Australia the first gold medal of the Commonwealth Games when she won the women’s one-metre springboard diving final on Thursday.

Former world champion Lashko prevailed in a battle with reigning world champion Blythe Hartley of Canada, who squandered her chance of gold with a disappointing dive in the fourth round of the five-dive final.

Hartley took the silver ahead of England’s Jane Smith.

Australia have won more medals than any other nation in the 72-year-old history of the Games.

Hartley, second to Lashko in the morning’s preliminary round, had outscored her predecessor as world champion in the afternoon’s semi-finals.

She took the lead from her 29-year-old rival in the second round of the final and held a slender advantage going into the fourth round.

But the 20-year-old Canadian failed to do justice to a reverse 1-1/2 somersaults piked which earned her only 44.64 points. Lashko, diving next, scored 61.92 for the same dive and the contest was effectively over.

Lashko, twice an Olympic silver medallist and twice a world silver medallist on the three-metre springboard, sealed her victory with her final dive — an inward 1-1/2 somersaults piked which earned 62.64 points and included a score of 9.5 from one of the seven judges.

Lashko won with a total of 302.82 points, with Hartley taking the silver with 287.04. Smith scored 274.71.

Later, Canadian teenager Alexandre Despatie won the men’s 1m springboard Commonwealth Games diving gold medal here Thursday, with England’s Tony Ally capturing the silver.

Australia’s Steven Barnett won the bronze.—AFP