South African Olympic champion Cameron van der Burgh said retaining his 50m breaststroke Commonwealth title on Monday was the most emotional victory of his career after missing out on 100m breaststroke gold earlier in the week.
Van der Burgh had been beaten by 19-year-old English sensation Adam Peaty on Saturday, but earned revenge as he edged out Peaty by just two hundredths of a second to take gold in a new Games record time of 26:76sec.
World 100m breaststroke champion Christian Sprenger of Australia took bronze.
“It was one of the hardest races I have ever had in my life, said Van der Burgh.
“I think the mental victory is worth it as much as a gold medal. The last 48 hours has been really difficult for me.
“Mentally it has been so emotional for me. I have been talking to my mum a lot, so to come out tonight was one of the most priceless medals I will ever earn.”
