Bolt- the cynosure of all eyes

By Chinthana Wasala reporting from Glasgow, Scotland

The world's fastest man and the most celebrated athlete in the world, Usain Bolt made his first appearance in the Commonwealth Games when he competed in the second heat of the men's 4 x 100 metres relay at the Hampden Park on Friday night. The venue, the national stadium of Scotland was full of spectators and held over 40,000 people and most of them were there just to witness the lightning Bolt.

Although his race was just a heat before the finals, when Usain Bolt entered the track, the crowd went crazy and the whole arena was trembling due to the roaring. Bolt was the last baton holder for team Jamaica in the event and made sure his team stayed ahead with a qualifying time of 38.99 seconds amidst the resistance which came from Nigerians who clocked 39.11 seconds to move to the final.

Bolt who made headlines even before his arrival in Glasgow, proved that he is a star to watch and had expressed his satisfaction for being part of the Games which is also his first appearance in Commonwealth Games.

All the remaining events at the Hampden Park were scheduled to be held last night.

Meanwhile England's Steve Lewis won his third medal in the men's pole vault, this time a gold. Lewis had won bronze in Melbourne and silver in Delhi. Aussie Sally Pearson made sure her domination stands and won the women's 100m hurdles with British champion Tiffany Porter winning the silver. Australia won a gold medal in the women's high jump after a gap of more than two decades when 18-year-old Australian Eleanor Patterson won the gold.

The men's 10,000m final, came down to a thrilling photo-finish when Uganda's Moses Kipsiro held off the Kenyan Josphat Bett to win in 27.56.11.

The Kenyans once again proved that they are kings on the track when they swept away the three medals of the men's 3000m steeplechase. There was a surprise for the two Kenyans who were in the front from the beginning, J Birech who has run the three fastest times in 2014 and the two-time Olympic champion Ezekiel Cheboi as their unfancied teammate Jonathan Ndiku crossed the line first after trailing almost till the end to set a new Commonwealth Games record of 8:10.44

Meanwhile the Commonwealth Games officials dismissed any concerns about Ebola contagion after a cyclist competing for Sierra Leone was tested for the virus with negative results.

The cyclist, Moses Sesay was tested for Ebola after being admitted to a Glasgow hospital last week when he was feeling unwell. A spokesman for Glasgow 2014 said to the international media: "There is no Ebola in the athletes' village of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. We can confirm an athlete was tested for a number of things when he fell ill last week, including Ebola. The tests were negative and the athlete competed in his event on Thursday. We are dismayed by some of the sensational and misleading headlines to date."

England leads medal tally

England were at the helm of the medal tally with 149 medals including 50 gold, 53 silver and 48 bronze medals at the time of going to press. The Australians, with 42 gold, 40 silver and 44 bronze medals were in the second slot with Canadians bagging 42 gold medals, 40 silver and 44 bronze medals to occupy the third slot. Sri Lanka dropped down to the 27th position after failing to add anymore medals to that of Sudesh Peiris' silver which came in weightlifting. Sri Lanka were on par with their South Asian counterparts Bangladesh while India was the only other South Asian country to win medals during the 20th Commonwealth Games. India was in the 5th place with 30 gold medals, 14 silver and 31 bronze medals. Only 34 nations have managed to win medals during this year's Games.