'It was stupid': Clareburt surges to gold in stunning fashion

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Author: Cameron McMillan,
Publish Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2026, 8:58am

Lewis Clareburt celebrates his win in the 200m butterfly final at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Photo / Photosport

Lewis Clareburt has defended one of his Commonwealth Games titles in sensational fashion, coming back from seventh place halfway through the 200m butterfly to take gold.

Clareburt trailed Australian leader Harrison Turner in second-to-last place after two laps and then sat fourth with 50m remaining before charging past the medal places to win his third Commonwealth Games gold.

It is Clareburt’s sixth career Commonwealth Games medal. He finished in a winning time of one minute 55.05 seconds to edge Turner by 0.33s with fellow Aussie Matthew Temple in third.

“I’ve got no words. I felt like I could run through a brick wall at the end of that race,” Clareburt told Sky Sport.

“I just couldn’t believe I was gaining on Harry [Turner] there. I just knew that he was the benchmark and if I was next to him or in front of him in the last 50m then I was going to be in the hunt. Just happy as.”

Clareburt ended up setting a personal best after a slow start.

“I’m pretty surprised. I felt I was so slow out and just knew I had enough in the tank for the last 75, never really hit the wall. There is no way I can redo that race again. It was stupid,” he told Sky Sport.

Clareburt will line up in the 400m individual medley final tomorrow morning where he will look to defend his second gold of the Games.

Lewis Clareburt stands on the podium after winning gold in the 200m butterfly final at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Photo / Photosport

It was another strong day in the pool for New Zealand, where all eight medals have been claimed so far. The women’s 200m freestyle relay team of Erika Fairweather, Caitlin Deans, Eve Thomas and Milana Tapper took out bronze in the final, finishing behind gold medal winners Australia and England in second. It was New Zealand’s third medal in the day from the pool.

Earlier, Joshua Willmer added to his Commonwealth Games gold four years ago with a silver medal after initially finishing third in the 100m breaststroke SB9 final.

Willmer won gold in the SB8 category at the last Commonwealth Games but had to move up a category to SB9 for this year’s event.

Australian Beau Matthews won the race in a time of one minute 9.41s with Canada’s Fernando Lu, of Canada, in silver, 1.43s back. Willmer finished 2.03s back from Matthews as the top SB8 category swimmer in the field and setting a new Commonwealth Games record.

However, Lu was disqualified after a review of the finish, which upgraded Willmer to silver. For Lu, it is the second time in Glasgow he’s been disqualified from a medal position after also being denied in the 100m butterfly final earlier in the week.

New Zealand silver medallist Joshua Willmer on the podium with Beau Matthews and Timothy Hodge after the 100m Breaststroke SB9 at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. Photo / Getty Images

“Pretty mint. I couldn’t ask for more. Let this young bucks win a bit. I think I executed it right on ... I think coach is going to be happy with that,” Willmer told Sky Sport.

“To have the opportunity to race up a class is just an awesome opportunity in itself.

Willmer’s silver is New Zealand’s sixth medal, and fourth silver, of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, all coming from the pool.

Hazel Ouwenhand couldn’t add to her bronze from the 50m butterfly final after finishing eighth in the 100m final this morning. Ouwenhand was sitting fourth at the halfway mark but faded in the second 50m to finish 3.25s behind winner Alex Perkins of Australia, who completed the 50-100m double.

World champion Geordie Beamish missed out on the medal in the 3000m steeplechase final with Kenya producing a clean sweep of the podium. Beamish finished fourth with Edward Serem winning the gold, followed by Simon Kiprop Koech and Leonard Kipkemoi Bett.

Beamish was sitting fifth with one lap to go, 20m back from the leading trio which was too much to make up, finishing just under six seconds back from Serem.

Last night Lauren Bruce set the second best distance in the heats of the women’s hammer throw while Anthony Barmes finished sixth in the men’s hammer final this morning with a best effort of 67.49m.

In other sports, the women’s 3x3 basketball team topped off their group with an unbeaten record to book a spot in the semi-finals while the men’s team advanced to the play-in game after finishing second in their group.

In lawn bowls, the B2-B3 mixed pair of Sonya Woodrow and Kerrin Wheeler will have a chance at bronze after losing their semi-final clash with Scotland 1.5-0.5 after sharing the first set. Shannon McIlroy missed out on the semi-finals after finishing second in his section with five wins and one defeat, while the women’s pair of Selina Goddard and Katelyn Inch were also eliminated from medal contention after also finishing second in their section.

In gymnastics, Courtney McGregor was fifth in the women’s vault final while Daniel Stoddart finished seventh in the rings final.

Weightlifter Marco Mollo finished fifth in the men’s 79kg final with a combined total of 298kg.

Tomorrow morning the Silver Ferns take on Uganda at 6am in their third group game as they look to maintain a perfect group record. Sprinter Zoe Hobbs lines up in the 100m semi-finals (6.36am) with a potential final at 8.40am. Clareburt will be going for a second gold in the 400 IM final at 6.47am while Fairweather is a strong chance for a fourth medal in Glasgow when she races in the 800m freestyle final (8.12am).