STRONGMAN Mark Swan lifted Team England to their first gold medal of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games – but he did not know why he had won.
There were bizarre and confusing scenes at the SEC Armadillo when Swan, 25, was told backstage he had become the first champion of these .
Mark Swan bagged Team England’s first gold medal at the Commonwealth Games Credit: Getty
The para-powerlifter narrowly beat Nigeria’s Roland Ezuruike (left) to top spot Credit: Getty
On the scoreboard after three lifts, Swan finished level par with Nigerian rival Roland Ezuruike on 153.9 points in the .
The North East para-powerlifter – a Paralympic silver medallist – initially thought he had got bronze until his coach surprised him with the good news.
Less than an hour after he had received the gold medal and listened to the strains of Jerusalem, the English national anthem, he still did not know why he was the victor.
Swan said: “I’m not sure why. I think it’s maybe because I lifted last. I don’t actually know.
“We both got the exact same score. I was in the backroom when I found out.
“I came back off the third lift and I actually thought I’d got bronze.
“My coach was like: ‘Good job on gold’. It didn’t make any sense, but then eventually we were lined up and he was like: ‘Mark, you’ve won gold’.
“I thought they were winding me up, but no, I’d actually won it. The wait was horrible. I actually thought I got third – I didn’t realise I had won.
Swan was shocked to find out he had finished at the top of the podium Credit: Getty
“They had put on (the bar) what I needed to win, so it took me by massive surprise that I’d actually won.”
organisers gave away some free tickets to members of the Tartan Army and this created a great atmosphere inside the arena – with songs by Fleetwood Mac and Dua Lipa played in between the Group A lifts.
One guy in particular, fellow powerlifter Liam McGarry, shouted out encouragement to Swan from the seats.
Swan, who has dwarfism, lifted 212kg for his first lift and then 222kg – but his world record-equalling attempt at 232kg was denied.
The officials hit the red button and said there was a “no-lift bench press sequence”.
Even though he asked for a review, it was rejected and the scores were tied.
On the screen it had them level to one decimal place but SunSport has been told Swan got the top spot on the podium because it went to a second decimal place.
The problem was this exact second decimal place was not shown on any scores or the official website – and even officials did not know what was going on.
Swan notched 153.9 points in the six-man lightweight final Credit: AP
The Sunderland fan was cheered on to victory Credit: Getty
Nonetheless, it was a great feeling to cross the border into Scotland and bring it home for England.
With a glint in his eye, fan Swan – who would love to turn his skills to film or TV acting – reacted: “Oh, it’s fantastic. It’s nice to have another one up.
“Big thank you to Glasgow for hosting us. The reception was massive, huge.
“The guy shouting would have been Liam McGarry. That’s exactly who it would have been.
“He’s a really good friend of mine, a hero in many ways. But he’s got a big mouth and he certainly made himself present.
“This is absolutely incredible. There’s a massive sense of achievement, a lot of relief as well.
“It’s really nice because it’s given me something to correct now and get right.
“The first medal for happens to be a gold one. So hopefully this brings everybody on now from Team England and they push and do the same.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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