Team England boss Mark England hails 'exceptional' Commonwealth Games after record medal haul

England’s record-breaking performance at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games bodes well for a medal push at the Paris Olympics in two years’ time, according to the team’s chef de mission Mark England.

Team England eclipsed their previous total medal tally by two, finishing with 176, while their final gold tally of 57 was just one short of their record set in Glasgow in 2014.

“This has been an absolutely exceptional Games for Team England, and what has been exceptional about it is the fact that it’s a very young and ambitious team,” England said.

“We’ve got 17-year-olds who are winning old medals, and it is by some margin the best home performance of any English team in the Commonwealth Games.”

England’s haul ensured they finished second in the final medal table behind Australia, who ended the 11 days of competition with 67 golds in a total of 178.

Scotland finished the Games with 13 gold medals out of a total of 51, comfortably beating their previous record for medals won outside their home Games in Glasgow in 2014.

Northern Ireland’s seven golds – including five in the boxing ring – beat their previous gold medal total of seven, set in 1994, while Wales finished with eight golds out of 28.