• Marschall rounds off successful day at Commonwealth Games
• Wins on athletics track, in diving, gymnastics and lawn bowls

Australia rediscovered their winning feeling on day nine of the Commonwealth Games as Kurtis Marschall successfully defended his gold medal in the men’s pole vault to conclude a day on which the nation added a further nine golds to their tally.

While Australia stalled on day eight in Birmingham, the golds came with a rush from early until late on Saturday, moving onto 59 in the medal table, nine ahead of nearest rivals England who reached the half century mark with two days of competition remaining.

• England close gap on medal table with Australia remaining on 50
• Golubovic and Dubler finish second and third in decathlon

Australia began day eight of the Commonwealth Games with 50 gold medals, a metaphorical bat raised towards the pavilion with hopes of more to come. Instead, after such a dominant opening week, the Australian team stalled for the first time and were unable to add to their golden tally in Birmingham.

Host nation England promptly closed the gap on the medal board with a swag of golds to sit on 47, trailing by just three with as many days to go. But the one-day drought did not mean the day was a complete disappointment for Australia.

• Pair blow away competition to each take time trial gold
• Para star Madison de Rozario claims her second gold of Games

As Grace Brown was preparing for the first leg of an Australian clean sweep of the Commonwealth Games individual time trials, the task ahead was brought into harsh focus. English rider Hayley Simmonds, a bronze medallist on the Gold Coast four years ago now working as a commentator while injured, articulated perfectly the demands of the event.

“It’s called the race of truth,” Simmonds said on the BBC. “In the end, it’s just you and the pain in your legs and thoughts in your head. You cannot hide behind your teammates. It is literally the strongest rider who will win.”

• Australian surpasses fellow greats O’Neill, Thorpe and Jones
• Women’s rugby sevens team win gold on another dominant day

Emma McKeon has written her name into the history books as the most successful athlete in Commonwealth Games history after winning her 11th gold medal in the women’s 50m freestyle, as the Australian women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team set Birmingham alight with a world record.

Australia cemented their position atop of the medal table on day three, with a further nine golds across rugby sevens, gymnastics, swimming and track cycling to take the country’s total haul to 22 gold – double that of host nation England in second place.