Commonwealth Games 2026 LIVE: Online outcry over netball’s frock ‘atrocity’

When does a netball dress become a netball singlet? It’s a question that has occurred to many watching the Australian Diamonds start their Commonwealth Games title defence in winning fashion.

The Diamonds first trounced Tonga and then defeated England in their opening two games, showing it hasn’t taken long for the team to click since coming together so soon after the end of the Super Netball season.

However, there has been plenty of social media commentary about their uniforms, with some players having to tug at gold dresses that ride up above the bike shorts underneath.

It’s important to note the criticism has been more about the dresses’ functionality than their appearance.

After the Tonga game, Kiera Austin laughed off questions about whether the dresses were too short, noting they probably needed a few more wears to be flexible.

“I think before you have a few wears … they’re obviously a little bit tighter and whatnot. But yeah, I think they look great. They’re beautiful and we love wearing them,” Austin said.

There were more questions after their physical win over England during which social media users became obsessed with the dress.

Here’s a sample, including a reference to Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie.

Watchers of Super Netball would know it’s not that uncommon for netball dresses to ride up, but these outfits do seem shorter on material than usual.

Netball Australia knows uniforms can be a barrier to participation, especially at community level, having changed their guidelines in 2022 to allow players to wear any combination of dresses, singlets, bodysuits, short or long sleeve shirts, skirts, shorts and long pants with approval from their governing body.

Lachie Kennedy shrugs. Breaking 10 seconds in the 100 metres, winning national titles, upstaging the biggest name in athletics in the country – it doesn’t mean much if you don’t perform on the biggest stages.

“In order to be the best, which is what I want to be, you’ve got to be able to compete at your best when it matters most, which are these big events like this, like your Comm Games, your world champs, your Olympics, and all that,” he said on the eve of a Commonwealth Games he enters as the head of a threatening Australian sprint team.

“You’ve got to be at your best when it matters most. At the end of the day, that’s all that really matters.

Australian wheelchair 3x3 basketballer Georgia Munro-Cook is used to travelling around the world to watch her dad, Murray Cook – better known as one quarter of the original Wiggles – perform in front of thousands of adoring fans.

Now she jokes, the roles have reversed.

“It’s so special to have Dad and Mum supporting me, just knowing that they’re there makes it so much more special,” Munro-Cook said on Sunday.

“I think it’s so funny, I used to go round watching him on stage, and now he’s watching me.”

The athletics finally begin on Monday in Glasgow but not for some Australian sprinters, who have been waved through their heats directly to the semi-finals.

Star Lachie Kennedy will not need to run a heat of the 100 metres and will go straight to the semi-finals. He will still need to run the heat in the 200m.

Torrie Lewis similarly gets a pass on one sprint but not the other. She will need to run her 100m heat but not her 200m.

Aidan Murphy and Calab Law will not run their 200m heats and Tom Reynolds won’t be required for his 400m heat, with all advancing straight to the finals.

Due to the number of athletes competing at the Games, some events are not requiring top-eight runners – based on times run between January 1 and June 26, not on world rankings – to race in the heats.

There were many times on Sunday when another gymnastics medal looked unlikely for Australia.

Like when Jesse Moore fell off the pommel horse in his first apparatus of the afternoon in the men’s individual all-around final. Or when Breanna Scott was back in sixth place midway through her all-around final.

But in a sport where every moment and every moment counts for something, the two gymnasts never counted themselves out of contention. And, not only did they both finish with a medal – silver for Scott and bronze for Moore – they both also fell just short of winning gold.

Before Lachie Kennedy, before Gout Gout, there was Rohan Browning. Now he is almost forgotten in the rush of new Australian talent that has emerged. But it should not be forgotten that Browning is a two-time semi-finalist in the 100 metres at Olympic and world championships.

Last year he won the national 100m title while everyone was focused on others.

“That’s the lifecycle of this sport, right? You rise through the ranks and, eventually, you try to stand on top of the perch, and then eventually get knocked off the perch,” he said.

Hello all, welcome to our coverage of day four of these Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Today we will have Australians in action in weightlifting, gymnastics, basketball and more – plus the athletics competition begins.

Let’s get into it!

When does a netball dress become a netball singlet? It’s a question that has occurred to many watching the Australian Diamonds start their Commonwealth Games title defence in winning fashion.

The Diamonds first trounced Tonga and then defeated England in their opening two games, showing it hasn’t taken long for the team to click since coming together so soon after the end of the Super Netball season.

However, there has been plenty of social media commentary about their uniforms, with some players having to tug at gold dresses that ride up above the bike shorts underneath.

It’s important to note the criticism has been more about the dresses’ functionality than their appearance.