Orlando wins 6 gold at Games

Canadian rhythmic gymnast Alexandra Orlando won four gold medals at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday, tying a record with six golds overall.

• FROM MARCH 25, 2006: Canada hot in pool, track at Games

Canada's Alexandra Orlando displays her six gold medals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games on Sunday in Melbourne, Australia. (William West/AFP/Getty Images)

The 19-year-old from Toronto was named Canada's flag-bearer for the closing ceremony in the evening in Melbourne, Australia.

Orlando tied a record first set 28 years ago by Canadian swimmer, Graham Smith, at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton. Two Australian swimmers have equalled it since – Susie O'Neill in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and Ian Thorpe in Manchester, England, four years later.

"To be asked to carry Canada's flag into the closing ceremony is an incredible honour," said Orlando, who captured gold in the team competition and the individual all-around, and in each of the four individual apparatus finals – rope, ball, clubs and ribbon.

"There are so many amazing athletes here. To think I'll be out there representing them is really a dream come true."

Orlando's six gold medals were an important addition to a Canadian team that recorded scores of personal bests and dozens of Canadian and Commonwealth Games records.

Canada's 253 athletes won 86 medals (26 gold, 29 silver, 31 bronze) over the course of the 11 days of competition. Canada achieved its goal of finishing in the top three countries overall.

Australia dominated the Games with 221 total medals (84 gold, 69 silver, 68 bronze), while England finished second with 110 (36 gold, 40 silver, 34 bronze).

No time to rest

After leading Canada's athletes into Melbourne Cricket Ground Sunday night, Orlando shifts her focus to qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Prior to these Games, Orlando's best international result came at the 2005 world championships where she placed 18th overall in the individual all-around competition.

She told reporters she would like to finish in the top 15 at one of her international events coming up this year, but she knows she'll have tougher competition than she faced in Melbourne.

Eastern European countries like Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan tend to dominate rhythmic gymnastics.

"It's harder for us to crack into that top 15 at the international stage," Orlando said. "So this [Commonwealth Games] is a great confidence booster for all these athletes here."

Orlando's teammate Yana Tsikaridze of Montreal won a silver and bronze on Sunday.

Canadian cyclists fall short of podium

Canada's only other athletes competing on the final day of the Games were the road cyclists. Victoria's Gina Grain was the top Canadian in the women's 100-kilometre road race with a fourth-place finish while Ottawa's Gord Fraser was fifth in the men's 166-km race.

Grain finished three minutes five seconds behind winner Nathalie Bates of Australia, who won in 2:56:08.

Erinne Willock of Victoria was 11th, Amy Moore of Georgetown, Ont., was 15th, Susan Palmer-Komar of Hamilton was 19th, Mandy Poitras of Langley, B.C., was 22nd and Audrey Lemieux of Alma, Que., was 27th.

Canada's top medal hope in the event, Lyne Bessette, withdrew from the Games after she injured her shoulder in a training accident.

Mathew Hayman of Australia captured the men's event in 4:05:09. Fraser was 38 seconds behind.

Montreal's Martin Gilbert was ninth while Dominique Perras of Montreal was 15th and Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., was 20th.

The next Commonwealth Games will be held in Delhi, India, in 2010. Canada is bidding to host the Games in 2014 in Halifax.

With files from the Canadian Press