Some athletes struggled in the conditions.
England’s Morgan Lake did not clear the bar with any of her three efforts in the high jump.
Similarly, Scotland’s Steven Stone had attempts with his glasses on his face and the top of his head in the men’s T20 long jump but did not register a clean effort.
Northern Ireland’s Kate O’Connor said she was “gutted” with her throw of 12.85m in the heptathlon shot put.
“It just kept slipping out of my hands,” she said.
“When your chalk gets wet, it’s like you might as well have dish soap on your hands and I just probably spent too much time and effort trying to stay dry rather than doing the cues that I work on in training.
“I can’t blame anybody else apart from myself for not executing.”
But there were also a number of impressive performances given the conditions.
O’Connor responded by running a dominant 24.14 seconds in the 200m to reclaim top spot of the heptathlon competition. England’s Jade O’Dowda was only eighth quickest and slipped back to second, 49 points in arrears.
In the men’s 100m, Eseme’s winning time of 9.83 was a Commonwealth Games record, the third-fastest time this year and moved him third on the all-time list of African sprinters.
The hammer throw and the high jump were briefly paused but when the former did resume Canada’s Camryn Rogers produced another Games record – 74.91m.
Even Hunt, who was slow out of the blocks and off the pace for the first 60m, finished 0.01secs outside her lifetime best of 10.97 in the women’s 100m which was won by New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs.
“I am just proud of myself for gritting it out and trusting my long legs,” Hunt said.
“Ultimately, we all have to race in the same conditions. We are all on the start line together freezing.
“You just have to get out there and get it done.”
A smattering of hardy locals even stayed until the final anthem was sung as the clocked neared 11pm.
It was a night few will forget.
