NEW DELHI: Within the space of minutes, India was celebrating its first track gold medal in 52 years at the Commonwealth Games and the progress of its men to the field hockey final with a stunning comeback win over England. True to form, though, the global attention shifted almost instantly to a problem: confirmation in a news release that Osayomi Oludamola, the winner of the women's 100m, was stripped of her gold medal after testing of her “B” sample confirmed she was positive for a banned stimulant Methylhexaneamine. The 21 medals on offer Tuesday were overshadowed early by the second announcement in 24 hours that a Nigerian runner had failed a doping test. Samuel Okon, a finalist in the men's 110-meter hurdles, waived the right to have his “B” sample tested, so he was suspended immediately and also had his results in New Delhi nullified. Oludamola herself was elevated to first place and awarded the gold medal. Three days later, she was provisionally suspended for failing a doping test that was confirmed Tuesday. That means Natasha Mayers of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who served a ban for doping several years ago, will move up to gold, Katherine Endacott of England - who originally crossed the line fourth - will get silver. Bertille Delphine Atangana of Cameroon will be awarded bronze. The locals were, however, celebrating a completely unexpected win in the women's 4x400-meter relay - the first in athletics since Milkha Singh, the “Flying Sikh,” won the 440-yard race at Cardiff in 1958 - and warming up for India's field hockey gold medal final against three-time defending champion Australia. Seb Coe, a distance running great and head of the London 2012 Olympics organizing committee, was at the track Tuesday night and thought the women's win might signal the dawn of a new era. “That may just have changed the direction of track and field,” said two-time Olympic 1,500 meter-champion Coe, whose mother is of Indian descent. “Not only track and field in India, but in Asia.” Ashwini Akkunji overtook a Nigerian opponent just before the final handoff and Mandeep Kaur sprinted to victory, finishing almost a second clear of Nigeria. England earned the bronze. The crowd at the Nehru Stadium, which was packed nearly to capacity for the third straight night, roared to cheer on Mandeep Kaur over the final 400 meters. National coach Bahadur Singh, a former shot putter, described the win as the beginning of India's emergence as an athletics power. It followed a medal sweep in the medals discus Monday night, the first ever medals for India in women's athletics. India earned a record 31st gold medal when Annu Raj Singh and Heena Sidhu won the women's 10-meter air pistol pairs event. The country's previous record of 30 golds was set at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. In other athletics finals, Silas Kiplagat of Kenya won the men's 1,500 in 3:41.78, and teammate James Magut was second in 3:42.27. But defending champion Nick Willis of New Zealand helped avoid a Kenyan sweep by claiming bronze in 3:42.38. Kenya was able to sweep all the medals in the women's 5,000, however, with world champion Vivian Cheruiyot winning in 15:55.12 and world silver medalist Sylvia Kibet next in 15:55.61. Ines Chenonge fell off the pace on the last lap and took bronze in 16:02.47. It was the fourth Kenyan medal sweep at the Games. England swept the gold medals in the 4x100 relays, winning both the men's and women's races and giving Mark Lewis-Francis his second medal of the week. Australia won the men's 4x400 and also picked up a gold from Alana Boyd in the women's pole vault. The New Zealanders got some revenge in rugby sevens, overcoming a 10-point deficit to beat Australia 24-17 and win a fourth consecutive Commonwealth Games title. England's 16-year-old world champion Tom Daley combined with Max Brick to win the men's 10-meter platform synchronized final with 439.65 points, almost 16 clear of Australia's Olympic 10-meter platform champion Matthew Mitcham and Ethan Warren. World No. 1-ranked Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia beat India's Chetan Anand Buradagunta 21-11, 21-12 to reach the badminton singles final at the Commonwealth Games. He will next meet England's Rajiv Ouseph, who beat India's Kashyap Parupalli 19-21, 21-12, 21-18 in the other semifinal. Australia led the standings with 68 golds and 153 medals overall. India was next with 32 gold - its best at a Commonwealth Games - and 85 in total, with England in third place with 30 gold medals and 121 overall.
