Mark Lewis-Francis off to flier in Delhi

The athletics programme at the Commonwealth Games got under way in Delhi today despite fears over the state of the track in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

An army of workers spent last night repairing the track and infield turf which were wrecked during Sunday's opening ceremony. There were four visible patches of relaid track, and three labourers were still scraping away bits of the reddish surface before the action got underway.

One of the first out in the arena was English sprinter Mark Lewis Francis, who won the first heat in the men's 100metres in 10.15secs.

He said: "I think there has been a lot of fuss. I am very comfortable in the village and on the warm-up track. India is putting on a great show, man. I am enjoying my moment here."

However, there is still a lot of work to do to. The waterjump for the steeplechase was still full of sand this morning and will require more attention before the heats start for the women in that event on Saturday.

Elsewhere today there were gold medals for England in swimming, shooting, gymnastics and Greco-Roman wrestling.