Clarke carries the Queen's Baton in the opening ceremony

The Australians were awarded gold after their protest led to England being disqualified as Natasha Danvers Smith was in the wrong place at a changeover.

"I am appalled by what went on and our girls should never have accepted the medal," he told the Daily Telegraph.

"How can they accept a gold medal when they were out-raced?"

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Australian Athletics officials said England would have been disqualified even without the protest as track officials had spotted the rule breach.

But Clarke added: "They applied the rules but it's bad sportsmanship."

Clarke, currently mayor of Gold Coast, set 18 world records in middle and long distance events in the 1950s and 1960s.