Curtain falls on Delhi Games

NEW DELHI, India (AP):

Competition at the troubled Commonwealth Games ended yesterday when the final 16 of 272 gold medals were presented and the closing ceremony was held at Jawarharlal Nehru Stadium amid the tightest security of the 10-day games.

While gold medals were handed out yesterday - Kenyan marathon runners John Ekiru Kelai and Irene Kosgei won the men's and women's events, and Australia won the men's field hockey gold over India - organisers gave their final briefing and basically awarded themselves a gold medal.

Australia led the gold-medal count with 74, followed by India with 38 and England at 37. The host country pulled ahead with a late gold by Saina Nehwal in the women's badminton final.

Commonwealth Games Feder-ation President Mike Fennell said despite the late completion of the athletes' village and venues, and ticketing and transport problems, the games were a success because the athletes enjoyed them.

Chaotic start

The athletes' village was in a terrible state just a week before the games started on October 3, with several teams forced into hotels or delaying their arrivals because of filthy and unfinished conditions.

When Fennell was asked who was most responsible for getting the last-minute problems fixed, he said it was "teamwork".

"You can't ascribe success to any one individual," Fennell said. "When it was recognised that there were a few things that were not going right, the Delhi government at various levels and the national government put in a lot of resources to help correct the situation."

The closing ceremony celebrated martial arts from several provinces of India and showcased the culture of Scotland, which will host the next Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.

Final medals table

GSBTot.Australia745548177

India 38 27 36 101

England375946142 Canada 26 17 32 75

South Africa 12 11 10 33Kenya 12 11 9 32Malaysia 12 10 13 35Singapore 11 11 9 31Nigeria 11 10 14 35Scotland 9 10 7 26New Zealand 6 22 8 36Cyprus 4 3 5 12N. Ireland 3 3 4 10Samoa 3 0 1 4Wales2 7 10 19Jamaica 2 4 1 7Pakistan 2 1 2 5Uganda 2 0 0 2Bahamas 1 1 3 5Sri Lanka 1 1 1 3Nauru 1 1 0 2Botswana 1 0 3 4St. Vincent 1 0 0 1Cay. Islands 1 0 0 1Trinidad 0 4 2 6Cameroon 0 2 4 6Ghana 0 1 3 4Namibia 0 1 2 3P. N. Guinea 0 1 0 1Seychelles 0 1 0 1Isle of Man 0 0 2 2Tonga 0 0 2 2Mauritius 0 0 2 2St. Lucia 0 0 1 1Guyana 0 0 11Bangladesh 0 0 1 1