CG Day 5 – Gold for teenager Isaac Beacroft

1 August 2026

CG Day 5 – Gold for teenager Isaac Beacroft 

On day five at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 19-year-old Isaac Beacroft has re written the record books, with an outstanding win in the men’s 10,000m walk. But also going under the radar was an incredible women’s T38 Long Jump where three NSW athletes won two medals and set records galore.

MEN 10,000m WALK
Going into the race, Isaac was a definite medal hope, but was up against defending Commonwealth Games champion and world 35km walk champion, Canada’s Evan Dunfee. Deep into the race, Beacroft and Kenyan Stephen Kihu were the clear leaders as they fought out the likely gold medallist. Side-by-side at the bell, with 300m to go, Isaac tried to make a break, but the Kenyan was equal to the challenge and looked like he was going to try and break away. But Isaac was determined and made another move and then kicked away in the home straight to win in 38:45.51 from Stephen Kihu (Ken) 38:46.57 and in third Evan Dunfee (Can) 40:03.39.

Isaac victory was historic for the athlete aged 19 years 13 days on the day of competition. He becomes the youngest gold medallist in Commonwealth Games race walking history, for any country, amongst men and women. He is also the second youngest Australian male in an individual event to win gold, behind 400m hurdler in 1954 David Lean who was aged 18 years 347 days. He is also the youngest Australian male gold medallist for 52 years.
Many quotes from Isaac are below.

WOMEN T38 LONG JUMP 
Three NSW athletes battled out the medals in the T38 women’s Long Jump - Ayla Kowalczyk, Sienna Newton and Layla Sharp.
Layla struck early with a jump of 5.02m on her second attempt. That put her into a clear second place and also smashed her PB of 4.86m.
Through the competition Ayla and Sienna were in the mix for the bronze. In round five, Mauritius athlete Anais Angeline was in third with 4.71m, Sienna in 4th with 4.70m and Ayla 6th with 4.58m.
Then in the last round Ayla pulled out a leap of 4.71m. She was now equal third, but she would take the bronze on countback from Angeline, with Sienna just 1cm behind in 5th.
What was amazing, is all three athletes smashed their PBs. Layla twice broke her Australian open record with 5.02m then 5.06m.
Ayla moved from a best of 4.55m to 4.71m and broke her own Australian U17 record. Sienna also broke her PB, raising it from 4.62m to 4.70m.

MEN JAVELIN final
Cameron McEntyre unfortunately didn’t get going in the javelin throwing 71.66m, 72.34m and a foul, to place 11th.

WOMEN 400M HURDLES final
Sarah Carli placed 6th in the 400m hurdles final in a solid time of 55.85.

OTHER HEATS QUAL ROUNDS
Delta Amidzovski was through smoothly to the Long Jump final after jumps of 6.50w and 6.55w. 
In the mixed 4x400m relay heats, two NSW athletes helped the team qualify comfortably for the final. Luke van Ratingen ran a great lead off leg and Jemma Pollard brought the team home to a comfortable second in their heat.

ISAAC BEACROFT QUOTES
“I thought it was going to be a pretty fast race after the first three laps, but then it slowed down slightly. When we hit that 6km mark the handbrake went on—we eased off a little bit. As soon as it slowed down, and Cameron was kind of taunting me on the inside, I thought, "This is going to be a really fast finish." So I backed myself, as you can see, and I just wanted to give it my best shot in the end. I think it paid off very nicely. 

“I'd argue it's actually more tiring than a 10,000m (running) race. We're putting in just as much effort, but it goes on for about 10 minutes longer. Race walking is the same kind of aerobic event and it takes just as much out of you. It's something that doesn't get seen enough. As you saw, I closed with a 1:17 final lap—that's about what the women were running for each lap of their 10,000m race. It was a very tactical race, but I think it was every bit as hard. 

“Yeah, that was my girlfriend (in the crowd). She's come over to support me, which is really special. She's been with me in Switzerland for the past month while I've been training, so it's amazing to have her here, along with a lot of my family as well.”

David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW
Image: Isaac Beacroft  (copyright Michael Thomas Australian Athletics)