Commonwealth Games: Diamonds’ golden moment one in 1000

The responsibility for claiming Australia’s 1000th gold medal in Commonwealth Games history rested comfortably on the powerful shoulders of Gretel Bueta.

Gretel Bueta, fourth from the left, and her fellow Diamonds celebrate beating Jamaica and winning Australia’s 1000th Commonwealth Games gold medal. Picture: Getty Images

The responsibility for claiming Australia’s 1000th gold medal in Commonwealth Games history rested comfortably on the powerful shoulders of Gretel Bueta.

Cometh the hour, cometh the shooter. Bueta did not miss once – 37 goals from 37 shots – as the Diamonds defeated Jamaica in the netball final at the Birmingham Games and reached the medal milestone.

There had been hiccups on the way to 1000 on the penultimate day of the Games. The Hockeyroos, riding a wave of redemption, stumbled at the final hurdle, going down to England 2-1 in the gold medal match. Beach volleyballers Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar couldn’t hold off the Canadian pair.

Gretel Bueta with son Bobby during the medal ceremony. Picture: Getty Images

Butterflies were no doubt doing laps in the stomachs of Bueta and the Diamonds as they ran out against Jamaica, carrying the weight of expectations of the 1000th gold.

Despite going into the Games as favourites, Australia had stumbled against Jamaica, and their towering shooter, Jhaniele Fowler, in the pool games, losing after an uncharacteristic fourth-quarter collapse. They lost to England in the gold medal match at the Gold Coast Games in 2018 – was history about to repeat?

But the Diamonds hit the court with a focus that had been missing in previous games. Sights set squarely on putting a tick in the box next to the one task coach Stacey Marinkovich had set them: win.

Kate Moloney, replacing the injured Paige Hadley, was a workhorse in the midcourt. Ash Brazill put her AFLW skills to use, pulling off a number of sensational intercepts. But the star of the show was the relentless and pinpoint accurate Bueta, who can reasonably lay claim to the crown of world’s best netballer.

While Fowler up the other end stood solid and intimidating, Bueta was athletic, mobile and laser-focused on the ring. Neither she nor fellow shooter Steph Wood were missing anything.

Bizarrely, she didn’t even realise she had shot at 100 per cent until journalists pointed it out after the game.

“I just want to do the best job I can for my team and I think everyone came on and did their job,” she said. “It was a full team effort.”

Australia has dominated these Games, sitting comfortably atop the medal tally since making a splash at the swimming.

Coming in, the Aussies needed 66 gold to reach 1000 and by day 10 the target was just seven away.

Cyclist Georgia Baker kicked things off, winning the women’s road race. Kelsey-Lee Barber threw the javelin further than anyone else and men’s volleyballers Chris McHugh and Paul Burnett did their part, toppling Canada.

When diver Cassiel Rousseau claimed gold in the 10m platform with an exhilarating final dive, the historic mark was in reach.

Meg Lanning’s women’s cricket team, despite having a player on the field with Covid, pulled off a nailbiting win against India in the gold medal match and diver Maddison Keeney took out the 3m springboard final. Then it was down to the netballers.

Chef de Mission Petria Thomas, who has nine Commonwealth Games medals of her own from a stellar swimming career, was sitting in the stands as the Diamonds held on to beat Jamaica 55-51.

“Australia has a long and proud sporting history, with this 1000th gold medal cementing our spot at the top of the Commonwealth table,” she said.