Australians competing on Day 13 schedule, medal chances, updates, blog, diving silver medal, men’s sprint cycling final, Opals vs USA basketball
Australia added to its medal tally on Day 13 of the Paris Olympics with a pair of bronzes in the boxing, an epic silver in the Seine and another in the kayak sprint while the men’s 4×100 relay team set a national record.
On Friday the Men’s canoe sprint kayak double 500m duo of Tom Green and Jean van der Westhuyzen secured a bronze medal with a strong paddle.
Then diver Maddison Keeney joined the party with a silver, the first time an Australian has earnt a medal in the Women’s 3m Springboard.
Meanwhile, Sprint cyclist Matt Richardson is one win away from a gold medal and will take on the Netherlands Harrie Lavreysen in his final.
KEENEY’S AUSTRALIAN FIRST DIVING MEDAL
Maddison Keeney has won a sensational silver medal, the first Australian to ever finish on the podium in theWomen’s 3m Springboard final.
China’s Chen Yiwen took home gold, with a tally of 376 points, Keeney recorded 343.1 while bronze medallist Yani Cheng was able to score 318.75.
“That’s her best from the prelims, the semis and the finals. 343. Well done. Maddison Keeney,” Mark Taylor said.
“She’s a world champion. She’s a Commonwealth Games champion and now she’s won an Olympic medal,” Sam Fricker added.
“What an incredible dive. She’s the only athlete using the double out. She’s so strong she makes it look easy. Oh what a special moment.”
Keeney’s medal was also the first in an Olympic springboard individual event for Australia in 104 years.
The three divers who finished on the podium celebrated together once the scores were finalised, sharing a warm embrace.
“There she is. Here’s your gold medallist and there’s your silver medallist on the right. They’re great mates. It’s terrific to see that. That is what sport is all about,” Taylor said.
RICHARDSON ONE WIN AWAY FROM GOLD
Sprint cyclist Matt Richardson is one win away from a gold medal, beatingthe Netherlands’ Jeffrey Hoogland in the best-of-three semi final.
The pair recorded “the slowest opening lap that we have seen so far in the sprint competition” according to dual Olympian Kate Bates.
Richardson is now guaranteed at least a silver medal and will take on the Netherlands’ Harrie Lavreysen after recording 9.640 in his first sprint, and 9.698 in his second.
“I’ve got goosebumps. That was textbook. That was beautiful. Straight through in two rounds, not challenged at all by a guy (Jeffery Hoogland) who holds a world record over a one kilometre event. That was very, very, very convincing,” Bates said.
Richardson already has a bronze medal to his name at the Paris Games, having been apart of Australia’s succesful team sprint.
‘AMAZING’ KAYAKING DISPLAY AS MEN WIN BRONZE, WOMEN FINISH SEVENTH
Tom Green and Jean van der Westhuyzen have won bronze in the Men’s canoe sprint kayak double 500m final, with Germany taking home the gold medal.
Hungary finished in the silver-medal placing, with the Aussies looming strongly for second place at the 250 metre mark.
However, being a half-boat length behind the Germans, Green and van der Westhuyzen were unable to reel in the leaders and were also bested by Hungary’s duo who steamed home.
Germany finished with a time of 1:26.87, a time which the Aussie team finished faster than in their semi final heat, recording an Olympic best of 1:26.85. In the final, Australia finished in 1:27.29.
“We didn’t have the greatest start,” Green said on Channel 9.
“I kind of stuffed it up a little bit. I’m a little bit unhappy with that. At the end of the day … we’re still able to get on to the podium. We have done a lot of work. So we’ve got to be happy with that.”
To round out the race, Spain finished in fourth, Germany’s second pairing in fifth following by Portugal, Czechia and the USA.
Following Australia’s simmering semi final time, six-time Olympian, triple gold medallist and Australian team flag bearer James Tomkins was incredibly optimistic of a first-placed finish.
“Cruising to the line. Perfect. That’s fantastic… a beautiful start, really worked that middle part of the race and cruised to the finish line,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ella Beere and Ally Bull were unable to come away with a medal in the final in the same event, finishing in seventh with New Zealand won gold.
Hungary went home with silver and Germany bronze, with the Australian pair recording a time of 1:40.94, slightly slower than their 1:40.26 that saw them finish fourth in their semi final to qualify.
CRAIG’S CRUEL 800M BLOW… AS AUSSIE TEEN STAR OF FUTURE ARRIVES
Peyton Craig delivered a personal best time in the 800 metres semi final heat three, recording a 1:44.11.
Craig finished in sixth in his heat, however his time would have won him both the first (1:45.08) and second (1:45.05) heats in a cruel blow.
His previous best time was 1:44.12 and his most recent effort sees him miss out on running for a medal.
Tamsyn Manou, a three-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, was full of praise for Craig after the run.
“Can we take a moment to appreciate, 19-year-old Peyton Craig has just run brilliantly. Tactically he did everything right from the crossover to working to make sure he didn’t get pushed back,” Manou said.
“They were moving so quickly. He is 19 years of age and in the semi final of an Olympic Games. He moved wide off the bend to try to chase some of the athletes down.
“He hoped they would get more tired than they did. He’s run 1:44.11 in a semi final at the Olympic Games.
“Imagine what he can do at the next Olympic cycle and the one after that, which is a home Games.”
Craig admitted in a post-race interview with Channel Nine that he was “nervous” ahead of the heat but felt the freedom of having no real expectations in the semi-finals.
“I was really nervous. I expected myself to get out of the heat. Once I did that, I felt like pressure left my shoulders,” he said.
“Today just about enjoying the experience. The way I looked at it, no-one was expecting me to get through. I took peace in that, knowing whatever I delivered today is for me and for me only and I was really happy with how I ran, there is not much more I could have done. “Sometimes you do your best and your best isn’t good enough, that was today.”
EVERYTHING ELSE
Women’s B-Girl Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn went down 2-0 in her first breaking bout against the USA’s Logan ‘Logistx’ Edra, losing 9-0, 9-0 in straight sets.
However, her Olympic campaign isn’t over, with ‘Raygun’ still a chance of progressing through from Group B with strong performances to end the group stage.
Cassiel Rousseau has already booked his place in the Men’s 10m Platform semi finals, finishing in sixth after recording a total score of 453.10 points from his six dives in the prelim.
Jaxon Bowshire also did enough to join his teammate, finishing in 14th overall with 390.3.
Nick Sloman and Kyle Lee finished in 11th and 13th respectively in the men’s 10km marathon swimming event which finished earlier this evening, being the first Aussies to compete on Day 13.
On the track, heptathletes Camryn Newtown-Smith and Tori West went about building on a strong start to their Olympic campaigns in the long jump.
Newton-Smith recorded a best of 5.78 metres, the seventh best of any athlete which saw her drop down to 15th on the overall leaderboard.
West, meanwhile, notched up a best jump of 5.41 and was left in 21st place.
Then the pair took part in seperate heats in the javelin event, with Newton-Smith finishing sixth in group with a best throw of 44.77 metres.
Meanwhile, West bested for teammate, finishing fourth in her group with a 48.79 metre throw.
Newton-Smith now sits in 16th while West is four places behind in 20th.
Prior to Friday’s events, Newtown-Smith ran 13.46 seconds in the 100m hurdles and cleared 1.80 in the high jump to sit in eighth position with 2034 points.
West completed the hurdles in a personal best time of 13.62s and cleared 1.71m on the high jump to sit 20th after the same point.
Women’s cycling sprint star Kristina Clonan finished in 11th in qualifying with a time of 10.310, going through to the heats.
Coming up against the Netherlands’ Steffie van der Peet, she then won her heat with a time of 10.98, flying underneath her opponent with a tactical ride. She now progresses to the final 16.
Meanwhile, Taekwondo athlete Leon Sejranovic went down 4-0, 7-1 in his round of 16 men’s 80kg clash against Tunisia’s Firas Katoussi.
STILL TO COME
In the early hours of Saturday morning, the Opals are aiming to cause a massive boilover in the women’s basketball as they face the USA for a spot in the gold medal game.
The US women’s basketball team is on a 59-game Olympic winning streak. If the Opals lose, they will still have a chance to go for bronze against either France or Belgium.
Then, Tokyo silver medallists Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy will be going for bronze at 5am after falling to world number one Brazil in the semi-final.
If that isn’t enough sport for you Minjee Lee and Hannah Green will be looking to move up the leaderboard in the golf.
Elsewhere, there is more cycling, water polo and weightlifting while Connor Murphy and Lauren Ryan feature in the triple jump and women’s 10km finals in the early hours of Saturday morning.
OPALS PREVIEW: DAUNTING TASK FACES AUSSIES IN PARIS
The US women’s basketball team is riding a 59-game Olympic winning streak into their semi-final showdown with Australia on Friday, eyeing two more for a record-setting eighth straight Olympic gold medal.
“We didn’t come this far to go home,” two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player A’ja Wilson said after the Americans ended Nigeria’s fairytale run in the quarter-finals.
“We’re slowly starting to get our legs under us and (improve) the chemistry. We’re starting to grow together,” Wilson said.
That’s an ominous sign for Australia, but Opals coach Sandy Brondello, who coaches US stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu at the WNBA’s New York Liberty, says the Australians won’t be intimidated.
“Most of us play in the WNBA,” Brondello said.
“We face these players day in, day out. They’re humans. They’re basketball players. Anything can happen at one time.
“You have got to believe it. It’s got to be a positive mind set, knowing on any given day you can come out, and you can beat them … we’ve got to go in with the mindset that they have to stop us, as well.”
US coach Cheryl Reeve says her players are laser-focused on their Paris mission and not on the fact that a victory would see them break a tie with the US men’s basketball team, who won seven straight Olympic titles from 1936-68.
During the women’s gold rush, launched at the 1996 Atlanta Games, the Australians have come up with silver against them three times — in 2000, 2004 and 2008.
Looking for their first medal since earning bronze in London in 2012, Australia have been building momentum since a shock loss to Nigeria in their Olympic opener.
“It’s taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get here, so we’ve still got a lot of fight in us,” Aussie forward Alanna Smith said.
France and Belgium booked a semi-final meeting with dominant quarter-final victories.
European champions Belgium are in the semi-finals for the first time while France are hoping a raucous home crowd can carry them through to a chance to improve on the bronze medal they won at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games three years ago.
“Both teams know each other’s coaches, all the players,” France coach Jean-Aime Toupane said.
“It’s going to be a big battle and hopefully we’re going to take it.”
AUSSIES IN ACTION — Day 14 highlights (All times AEST)
FRIDAY PM
15:30 Marathon Swimming Men’s 10km (Kyle Lee, Nick Sloman)
17:00 Women’s Golf Round 3 (Minjee Lee)
18:00 Diving Men’s 10m Platform Prelims (Cassiel Rousseau, Jaxon Bowshire)
18:50 Canoe Sprint Women’s Kayak Double 500m Semifinals (Ella Beere, Ally Bull)
19:10 Canoe Sprint Men’s Kayak Double 500m Semifinals (Tom Green, Jean van der Westhuyzen)
21:10 Canoe Sprint Women’s Kayak Double 500m Final (Beere, Bull)
21:30 Canoe Sprint Men’s Kayak Double 500m Final (Green/van der Westhuyzen)
22:41 Cycling Track Men’s Sprint Semifinals (Matthew Richardson, also at 23:29 and 23:52)
23:00 Diving Women’s 3m Springboard Final (Maddison Keeney)
23:00 Weightlifting Men’s 89kg (Kyle Bruce)
SATURDAY AM
01:30 Women’s Basketball Semifinal AUSTRALIA vs USA
02:00 Men’s Water Polo 5th-8th Classification AUSTRALIA vs Greece
02:00 Cycling Track Men’s Sprint Finals Race 1 (Matthew Richardson, other races 03:02 and 03:38)
03:30 Weightlifting Women’s 71kg (Jacqueline Nichele)
04:13 Athletics Men’s Triple Jump Final (Connor Murphy)
04:57 Athletics Women’s 10km Final (Lauren Ryan)
05:00 Women’s Beach Volleyball Bronze Medal Match (Mariarfe/Clancy, Australia)
