Skip to navigation Skip to content
Deakin student and gymnast Kate McDonald

4 August 2022

Congratulations to our medal-winning elite athletes competing in Birmingham!

It’s day seven of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games for Deakin’s elite-athlete students. With six athletes yet to compete and seven still competing, there’s some exciting moments ahead.

Since last Friday, we’ve been able to cheer on several Deakin elite athletes, every one of them making themselves, their country and Deakin proud.

Kate McDonaldOn Tuesday, Kate McDonald won a stunning Gold in the Women’s Balance Beam final after an exceptional performance. She also took out Silver in the Women’s Artistic Gymnastic Team Final on Sunday. ‘I definitely was not expecting a score like that. And then I looked at my score and I was shocked that I was in first place,’ she said.

After finishing seventh in the uneven bars, Kate said: ‘I just I had nothing to lose, I was like, “I’m just going to enjoy myself”.’  And that she did!

Congratulations on winning Commonwealth gold, Kate!


Emily WhiteheadEmily Whitehead was also part of the Women’s Artistic Gymnastic Team who took out Silver. Emily also won the Bronze medal for Tuesday’s Women’s Floor Exercise Final. Congratulations on your dual medals, Emily – a sensational outcome made more satisfying after a difficult lead-up to the Games.

‘It’s been a pretty rough Games, so just to even hit that routine was pretty emotional for me,’ she said. ‘To end up like that is pretty special.’


Marena WhittleMarena Whittle was part of the Women’s 3X3 Basketball side that took out Bronze. Congratulations to Marena on this hard-fought and tightly contested match – the team won 15–13 after being down 10–6 in the dying minutes of the match.

Marena led the offensive charge with just three minutes to go, scoring nine points to level the game. A late foul saw Australia go to the line to win. Congratulations Marena, and the entire team, on an outstanding performance!


Other notable performances include:

Tune in to follow these events and athletes in coming days:

Just getting started:

Best of luck to all our elite athletes – we’re cheering you from home! The 2022 Commonwealth Games are televised live and free exclusively on Seven and 7plus.

*Some photographs by Getty Images.



back to top