Sprint kjng: England's Leon Baptiste (centre) wins gold in the men's 200m finalLeon Baptiste, the forgotten man of British athletics, arrived on the starting blocks to follow Christian Malcolm home in the 200metres final - or so it was thought. Yet Baptiste kept his nerve to take gold for England, as Malcolm badly misread the script here.
The surprise garland went with an anticipated victory for Wales's Dai Greene in the 400m hurdles on a day of double track success for Britain.
Baptiste's golden run was all the more remarkable because he was not even selected for the European Championships this summer after losing a run-off against Marlon Devonish.
An aspiring footballer before he injured a knee so badly he still can't kick a ball, Baptiste took the defeat by Devonish as a crushing blow to his esteem, admitting: 'It was the lowest point of my career, along with when I had knee surgery in 2004.
'It was just really hard to deal with and I sat down and did a lot of self-evaluation. I said, "Do you know what? I'm going to make something of this. I'm going to go to the Commonwealths and do the best I can".
'My aim was to make the final, and to come out with a gold medal is a bonus. The last serious medal I won was in 2003 - the European junior championships in 100m.'
The 25-year-old's winning time of 20.45sec gave him a clear victory, ahead of Lansford Spence, the fast-finishing South African, who notched a personal best of 20.49sec. European silver medallist Malcolm, of Wales, was third, a further 0.03sec adrift.Baptiste, whose semi-final time of 20.43sec was the fastest of his life, said: 'My coach (Michael Khmel) and I had a plan about six to eight weeks ago. We decided to get ourselves in the best shape possible. We came out with a plan and things paid off. When you're injured for a long time you get all these doubts.
'Steadily I've improved every year since 2005 - that's the only reason I've carried on.'I feel really proud. I can't wait to get home and see my family and enjoy the moment.'
Baptiste's tormentor from earlier in the year could finish only fifth. 'I wasn't ready at the start. I got up into the set position, I wasn't focused,' Devonish said. 'I daren't put my hand up because they were being funny. I didn't do what I wanted to do today. I didn't come all the way to India to come fifth.'
Malcolm was also dejected. 'It's tough,' he said. 'I came here for the gold and it wasn't to be. I'm not going to lie - I'm disappointed, but hats off to Leon. He's turned it around this season and he's proved maybe he should have been selected for the Europeans. Well done to him.'
If Baptiste's gold was unheralded, Greene's was not. South African pursuer Louis van Zyl went close with a final bid for gold but the Welshman held on to add the Commonwealth crown to his European title.
Greene is a genuine contender for a medal at the London Olympics. His time here of 48.52sec was nothing special, reflective perhaps of the late scheduling of these Games beyond the end of the European season. It is why Greene's illustrious compatriot Jessica Ennis was not in town.
Credit, then, to Greene for keeping his appointment with the Games. 'I knew Van Zyl was the guy to watch out for but I always felt I had an extra gear to switch to when I wanted to and I did in the home straight,' said Greene, whose training partner Rhys Williams was third to cap Wales's best moment of the Games.
'The season couldn't have gone any better. I won the UK trials, the Europeans and now the Commonwealths. There's nothing else I could possibly have won. 'It bodes well for next year and the Worlds, then 2012.'
Joining Baptiste and Greene as British gold medallists yesterday was shooter Aaron Heading, who edged out Aussie double Olympic champion Michael Diamond 147-146 in the men's single trap.
Heading missed his first target, but hit all but two of the remainder. Overcome with joy, the 23-year-old from Spalding said: 'I just carried on - and look how it turned out.'
source: dailymail
