SportsHounds Editor at Large Louise Evans previews the key medal events for the Australians on Day 7 of 16 at the Paris Olympics.
Friday August 2 – potential Australian medals = 5 | Rowing 1 | Sailing 1 | BMX Racing 1 | Swimming 2 |
Australia’s medal assault in the rowing continues with Olympic champions Annabelle McIntyre and Jessica Morrison reforming after Tokyo to attack the Pair event which slipped out of their hands in 2021.
Almost 800km south of Paris in the port city of Marseilles on the Mediterranean, former rugby player Grae Morris will race at 60km per hour in the new fast and furious iQFOil windsurfing class.
Saya Sakakibara, 24, will also race at 60km per hour but on dry land in the BMX where she is the dual World Cup champion and the reigning world number one BMX racer. Sakakibrra will be riding for redemption in Paris after crashing in Tokyo.
In the pool Cameron McEvoy, 29, is on a mission at his fourth Games to become the first Australian male to win an Olympic 50m medal. That mad 50m dash will be followed by Kaylee McKeown, 23, the reigning world record holder and Olympic champion in the 200m backstroke. It’ll be the second of potentially three individual events for McKeown – including the 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley.
11:42 (19:42 AEST) Rowing Pair – Annabelle McIntyre and Jessica Morrison
Annabelle McIntyre and Jessica Morrison already have one Olympic gold medal but an ill wind that blew through Tokyo has set them on a different course to Paris. Two hours after rowing 2km to help secure an historic victory for the Australian women’s four at the Tokyo Games, McIntyre and Morrison were forced back on the water for the women’s pair due to scheduling changes caused by heavy winds. It was mission impossible. They didn’t have time mentally or physically to recover and back-up. “When we got off the water and were sitting in the boat shed moping, Jess just turned to me and said: ‘Well I guess I’ll see you in Paris’. And that was the start of it.”
Paris now is all about redemption. And McIntyre and Morrison, who began rowing together in 2019, will focus solely on the pair at these Olympics. M&M are the world silver medallists and world ranked No.2 heading into Paris after finishing second again to the Dutch world champions Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester at the Lucerne World Cup II (May 24-26) in Switzerland.
Annabelle McIntyre and Jessica Morrison’s path to Paris
12:00-19:00 (20:00-03:00 AEST) Windsurfing iQFOil – Grae Morris
Grae Morris, 20, is a former Rugby player who will contest the new super fast iQFOil windsurfing class that’s making its Olympic debut in Paris. Instead of a fin, the iQFOil board has a streamlined wing-like foil which lifts athletes almost a metre above the waves, allowing them to fly over the water rather than on it, with greater speed and manoeuvrability. The reduced drag also means greater danger and the risk of high-speed crashes. Morris says the 26 Olympic competitors who’ll contest the event in the southern French port city of Marseilles, almost 800km south of Paris on the Mediterranean, will reach speeds of more than 60km per hour as they accelerate, twist and bump their way around the course on the Marina. “We try not to bump into each other but it happens. There’s going to be contact, and we’ve just got to work with what we get.” Morris finished fourth at an Olympic test event on the Marseilles course in July 2023 and moved into medal contention by becoming the under-21 world champion and finished fourth in the open final at the 2024 world championships.
20:00-22:30 (04:00-06:30 AEST) Cycling BMX Racing – Saya Sakakibara
Saya Sakakibara, 24, is the dual World Cup champion and the reigning world number one BMX racer who’ll be riding for redemption in Paris after crashing in Tokyo. In BMX racing, riders launch out of a start gate, down an eight-metre high hill and onto a bumpy 400m track at speeds of up to 60km/h. Sakakibara’s been preparing for the Paris Olympics at her base in Sarrians in southeast France, which she shares with French boyfriend Romain Mahieu, the reigning world No2 BMX racer, and the 2023 world champion. “We have a very relaxed environment at home and we have a lot of fun day to day,” she said. “Being in France in the lead up to the Olympics is a big advantage. The Olympic track is open for the riders, so I am able to have more time learning and mastering the track. Coming into Paris from the same time zone is an advantage as well.”
Saya Sakakibara’s path to Paris
20:30 (04:30 AEST) Swimming 50m Freestyle – Cameron McEvoy
Cameron McEvoy, 29, is on a mission at his fourth Olympics to become the first Australian male to win an Olympic 50m medal. He quit swimming following his third Olympics in Tokyo but came back after dramatically changing his training to win the 2023 world championships and then the silver 50m medal in the Doha world championships this year. He’s the only Australian male with a No.1 ranking in any event, based on best times this calendar year. “About 18 months ago, my goal was to just come back, give this new training approach a go and see what happens,” he said after winning the trials. “What I’ve done so far has just obliterated any expectations I had. I’m most excited to try and get this done (medal at Paris) and then compile what I’ve learned and just push it out there into the public”. There are many rivas for this 50m dash including Benjamin Proud, 29, (GBR) 21.25s world No2 and world bronze medallist. Vladyslav Bukov, 21, (UKR) 21.28s world No3 and world champion and Caeleb Dressel, 27, (USA) 21.41s world No4 and Olympic champion.
20:39 (04:39 AEST) Swimming 200m Backstroke – Kaylee McKeown
Kaylee McKeown, 23, is the reigning world record holder and Olympic champion in this event. This is also the second of potentially three individual events for McKeown including the 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley. At the Australian trials McKeown won the 200m backstroke in 2min03.30 and was pleased with the time that was close to her 2min03.14s world record. “I’m happy to still be swimming around that time, not many people in the world are doing that at the moment,” McKeown said. “You’re putting your heart on the line, you’ve done months worth of hard training … and you just want to do yourself proud.” Her major rival is the Olympic silver medallist and world No 2 Regan Smith, 22, (USA) 2min03.99s.
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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