Canada breaks gold medal drought in team event

Canada broke a 12-year gold-medal drought in men's team artistic gymnastics at the Commonwealth Games on Thursday, beating Australia and defending champion England in the final.

Photo: Canada breaks gold medal drought in team event

The team of Olympic champions Kyle Shewfelt and Grant Golding and David Kikuchi, Adam Wong and Nathan Gafuik dominated, scoring the highest points on four of the six apparatus.

Canada won the event with a total of 269.750 points, followed by Australia (268.850) and England (260.000).

It was Canada's first men's team gold medal since a home victory in 1994 in Victoria. The Canadians also won Commonwealth Games gold in 1978 and 1990.

Shewfelt, 23, scored a competition-high 16.600 on vault, performing his trademark Yurchenko layout 2 1-2, and a Tsukahara layout double-twist. The 2004 Athens Olympic champion also registered the best score on the floor.

The Australians got off to a bad start with their two most-experienced competitors, Philippe Rizzo and Damian Istria, falling from the high bar and on their floor routines, reports the AP.

D.M.