Nine medals at Games on Friday for NZ

11:02 am on 9 October 2010

New Zealand's medal tally almost doubled at the Commonwealth Games on Friday.

Nine medals were won: a gold for the individual pursuit in cycling, six silvers and two bronze.

The silver medals were won in swimming, cycling, weightlifting and athletics.

The medal rush began with New Zealand's first gold of the tournament - won by cyclist Alison Shanks in the individual pursuit.

Shanks, 27, says it was a proud moment when she crossed the finish line to win the gold for New Zealand.

She was just a fraction away from equalling the Games record in the final, and says the medal makes all of her hard work worth it.

Her gold medal was New Zealand's first in Delhi.

Shanks said that winning gold at Delhi held extra meaning for her, with the women's individual pursuit being taken out of the Olympics.

She said winning her final was an important achievement.

Shanks' cycling team-mates Eddie Dawkins, Sam Webster and Ethan Mitchell later claimed silver in the team sprint.

Other medals

The swimmers contributed four medals - with silvers for Glenn Snyders and Daniel Bell and bronzes for Hayley Palmer and the women's 100m freestyle relay team.

In the athletics, Nikki Hamblin won silver in the 1500 metres and Brent Newdick won silver in the decathlon.

Richard Patterson won a silver medal in the men's under-85kg weightlifting event.

New Zealand now has a total of 19 medals.