SportsHounds Editor at Large Louise Evans previews the key medal events for the Australians on Day 4 of 16 at the Paris Olympics.
Tuesday July 30 – possible Australian medals = 5 | Triathlon 1 | Shooting 1 | Swimming 2 | Surfing 1 |
Pray the rain stays away and the Seine is free of storm water and sewage for the men’s triathlon. Hervey Bay’s Matt Hauser has the form and ranking to become the first Australian male to win a triathlon Olympic medal. The streetscapes will be fabulous as he swims, cycles and runs through central Paris.
Then we’re off to the shooting in Chateauroux, 270m south of Paris, where world No2 James Willett, 28, has clay targets and a trap medal in his sights.
The swimming will again be magnificent with world backstroke boss Kaylee McKeown in action in the 100m. She’ll be quickly followed by 800m freestyle contender Elijah Winnington.
Meanwhile in a French galaxy far far away, three brave Aussies will be surfing one of the biggest and most dangerous barrels in the world at Teahupo’o on the southwestern coast of Tahiti in French Polynesia. The things you do for gold.
0800-10:30 (16:00-18:30 AEST) Triathlon men – Matt Hauser & Luke Willian
World No6 Matt Hauser is both a lead runner and a raider who excels at all three legs of the triathlon – 1500m swim, 40km cycle and 10,000m run.“We’re in a position where myself and Luke Willian (world No12) podiumed at a recent world championship series race. I want to fly the flag and create a new generation of Australian triathletes who can compete with the best in the world. I really want to strive for a medal and I know that on my day I am capable of that.” The 26-year-old bachelor of business graduate is not daunted by the Paris triathlon course which includes running and cycling along the Champs Elysee and swimming in the Seine which is supposedly now sewerage free. “It’s the Olympics, we’ve come too far to be stopped by a little bit of sewerage,” Hauser said.
15:30-17:00 (23:30-01:00 AEST) Shooting men trap – James Willett
Australia’s love of clay target shooting has already bagged five Olympic gold medals. The quintet of Olympic trap champions started with dual gold medallist Michael Diamond in 1996 Atlanta and again in 2000 Sydney plus Russel Mark in 1996 Atlanta in the double. At Athens 2004 Suzy Balogh became the first Australian woman to win Olympic shooting gold and then Cath Skinner rounded out the five with gold at the 2016 Rio Games. World No2 James Willett, 28, is one of three Australian shooters vying for gold in Paris after winning the Baku World Cup in May. Skinner, 34, is backing up in Paris for her second Olympics having won a World Cup medal in Italy. She’ll be joined by fellow medal contender Penny Smith, 29, who won silver at Baku. The women compete tomorrow.
20:57 (04:57 Wednesday AEST) 100m backstroke – Kaylee McKeown
Two backstroke guns, two world records set and broken within a week, one gold medal – it’s going to be brutal. Kaylee McKeown, 23, lost her brand new world record to American rival Regan Smith, 22, who swam 57.13s at the US trials in June, taking 0.28 seconds off McKeown’s mark set a week earlier at the Australian trials. “It was part of the plan,” Smith said after reclaiming the record she first held in 2019. Smith won Olympic bronze behind McKeown in Tokyo where the young Australian won three golds in the 100m and 200m backstroke and the medley relay. In Paris McKeown is adding a third individual swim to her program with the 200m individual medley. This is McKeown’s first event. No pressure.
21.03 (05:03 Wednesday AEST) 800m Freestyle – Elijah Winnington
All hopes rest on Elijah Winnington after world championship silver medallist Sam Short failed to qualify for the final. Winnington, 23, won the Australian trial in 7min44.90 ahead of Short and is the world No2. His major rivals are Daniel Wiffen, 22, (IRL), 7min40.94 world No1 and world champion, and Gregorio Paltrinieri, 29, (ITA) 7min42.98 world No3, world bronze medallist and Olympic silver medallist.
19:00-05:15 (03:00-12:15 AEST) Surfing Tahiti – Tyler Wright, Jack Robinson, Ethan Ewing.
The biggest rival facing Australia’s world-leading wave warriors will be mother nature and what she serves up at one of the world’s most dazzling and dangerous surfing breaks at Teahupo’o on the southwestern coast of Tahiti. Over a very short distance, the sea floor off Teahupo’o rises from a depth of about 15 metres to a shallow one-metre reef which forces the wave up and over a steep ocean ridge. With so much water moving so fast, the wave breaks over the top of the sea ridge and curls as it drops, creating a huge tube of heavy water barrelling to the shore and crashing on the shallow reef below. It’s going to be a wild ride but the images will be spectacular.
19:00 (03:00 AEST) men’s quarterfinals | 21:24 (05:24 AEST) women’s quarterfinals
23:48 (07:48 AEST) men’s semifinals | Wed 31 July 01:00 (09:00 AEST) women’s semifinals | Wed 02:12 (10:12 AEST) men’s bronze medal match | Wed 02:53 (10:53 AEST) women’s bronze medal match | Wed 03:34 (11:34 AEST) men’s gold medal match | Wed 04:15 (12:15 AEST) Women’s Gold Medal Match.
Louise Evans is an award-winning journalist who has worked around Australia and the world as a reporter, foreign correspondent, editor and media executive for media platforms including The Sydney Morning Herald (eight years), The Australian (11 years) and Australian Associated Press (six years in London, Beijing and Sydney).
A women sports’ pioneer, Louise was the first female sports journalist employed by The Sydney Morning Herald and the first female sports editor at The Australian. Louise went on to work at six Olympic Games, six Commonwealth Games and numerous world sporting championships and grand slam tennis events.
Louise is the Founding Editor of AAP FactCheck, the Creator of #WISPAA – Women in Sport Photo Action Awards and national touring Exhibition and the author and producer of the Passage to Pusan book, documentary and exhibition.
In 2019 she was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) Queen’s Honour for services to the media and sport and named an Australian Financial Review Top 100 Woman of Influence for services to the arts, culture and sport.
In 2020 she won a NSW Volunteer of the Year Award plus the NSW Government Community Service Award for her women-in-sport advocacy work.
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