Gladiator grabs England's first medal

A former Gladiators champion won England's first medal here yesterday but the national anthem which rang around the Aquatic Centre after the one-metre springboard diving competition is set to become the theme tune of these XVII Commonwealth Games.

Wakefield's Jane Smith won a bronze medal but the first gold went to Australia's Irina Lashko. She shocked Canada's world and Olympic champion Blythe Hartley in a competition held before the opening ceremony because of the tight schedule in the new £32m state-of-the-art pool.

Smith was then soon followed on to the podium by Luton's 29-year-old Tony Ally, who won silver in the corresponding men's event.

The 26-year-old Smith was competing in her third games but this was her first medal. Until yesterday she was best known for being the last-ever champion in the physical game show Gladiators, which was screened in 2000.

"My mum and dad keep asking me when I'm going to retire but I always wanted to compete in Manchester," she said. "It was always going to be a fabulous atmosphere and they haven't let me down."

Lashko, a 29-year-old originally from Russia, ensured Australia carried on from where they left off in 1998 games. Australia won an incredible 199 medals in Kuala Lumpur, 63 more than second-placed England. Home officials here have admitted they expect to hear Advance Australia Fair far more than Land of Hope and Glory.

The muscular Ally, the 1999 European 3m springboard champion, came through from third in the fifth round to take the silver behind Canada's 17-year-old Alexandre Despatie.

"Absolutely superb," said Ally, a bronze medallist in the 3m Commonwealth springboard in 1998. "I've showed the world what I can do. The team's on fire, we're ready for it."

Like many in England's team of 637, Ally's preparations have been bankrolled by the lottery. Six years ago he was so hard-up that he was forced to sell his Olympic tracksuit in an Atlanta mall to help raise some money so he could continue training.

Australia's current funding programme has been in place since 1976, which explains their overall dominance.

But even they could not come up with an answer to Despatie, the Commonwealth 10m platform champion at the age of 13 in the 1998 Games. He faltered in the second round of the six-dive final but his exceptional class carried him to a victory over Ally by nearly 20 points.