SportsHounds Editor at Large Louise Evans previews the key medal events for the Australians on Day 8 of 16 at the Paris Olympics.
Saturday August 3 – potential Australian medals = 8 | Rowing 3 | Swimming 3 | Sailing 1 | Tennis 1 |
Most of the action is in and on the water today. It’s the final day of the rowing and there’s another three medals on offer for Australia in the single sculls with Tara Rigney and in both the Women’s and Men’s Eight.
In the pool Kaylee McKeown returns for the 200m Individual Medley and possibly the tricky 4x100m Mixed Medley too.
Ariarne Titmus is also back in the pool for the 800m Freestyle against the American colossus Katie Ledecky who is bidding for a fourth 800m Olympic title.
In Marseille Grave Morris will sail for windsurfing gold in a final race that was delayed due to flukey winds.
And in the tennis at Roland Garros, Australia’s Matt Ebden and John Peers will take on Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in the final of the men’s doubles.
10:18 (18:18 AEST) Single Sculls – Tara Rigney
Sydney University student Tara Rigney, 25, describes her 2000m single scull event as running up steep stairs for seven minutes non stop. She’s an accidental Olympic rower who slipped back into the sport after blowing the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee on the netball court – twice. She’s now following in the famous wake of Australian rowing hero Kim Brennan, the 2016 single sculls Olympic champion and 2013 and 2015 world champion. Rigney has won two bronze medals at the 2022 and 2023 world championships and is going to the Olympics to enhance the hue in her trophy cabinet. Her major rivals in Paris will be Dutch world champion Karolien Florijn and New Zealand’s reigning Olympic champion Emma Twigg.
10:50 (18:50 AEST) Women’s Eight – Australia
If you need left-of-field solutions for effective team work and communication in your business, read about how 55kg of brainy brawn, cox Hayley Verbunt, helps Eight Amazons fly across the water in perfect unison – with one head and one heart. The Women’s Eight glided smoothly into Paris podium contention when they won the bronze medal at the world championships last year. Rowing Australia CEO and world championship silver medallist Sarah Cook said they are now “firmly focused on winning Australia’s first ever Olympic medal in the event.” Their biggest Olympic competition will be the top contenders from the 2023 world championships: 1. Romania | 2. USA | 3. Aus | 4. UK | 5. Canada. At the final World Cup III in Poznan before the Olympics, Australia won the Eight ahead of Romania and the Netherlands. The Paris-bound Women’s Eight are: Bow – Bronwyn Cox, 2 – Paige Barr, 3 – Georgie Rowe, 4 – Katrina Werry, 5 – Jacqueline Swick, 6 – Giorgia Patten, 7 – Sarah Hawe, Stroke – Lucy Stephan OAM. Cox – Hayley Verbunt.
11:10 (19:10 AEST) Men’s Eight – Australia
Australia’s attempt to win its first Olympic title in this blue riband event, following two silvers from Mexico 1968 and Sydney 2000, has drawn obvious comparisons to George Clooney’s Hollywood blockbuster “The Boys in the Boat”. Starring Australian actor Joel Edgerton as the coach, the movie follows the journey of the USA men’s Eight from underdogs to gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. “It will depend on the result, but maybe there might be a movie in it,” said new eight man Alex Purnell, who won gold in four at Tokyo. If their story also becomes a movie the tall (195cm) and lean (88kg) Purnell suggested Jacob Elordi play him – referencing the young Australian actor who was nominated for a BAFTA award for his role in the film “Saltburn” and who played Elvis Presley in the biopic “Priscilla”. The men’s Eight boasts three Olympic champions – Jack Hargreaves OAM, Spencer Turrin OAM and Purnell OAM – who were in Tokyo gold medal Four. The rest of Mark Prater-coached Eight are: Kendall Brodie (cox), Angus Widdicombe, Joseph O’Brien, Josh Hicks, Angus Dawson and Ben Canham.
12:00 (20:00 AEST) Tennis men’s doubles Matt Ebden and John Peers
The Australian men’s doubles team of Matt Ebden and John Peers will play American duo in Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in the final on the red clay of Roland Garros tomorrow. Both pairs are guaranteed a medal as the loser of the final takes the silver medal. One way or another the Australians will emulate the Woodies – Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde – who won the men’s doubles at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Games. Ebden won the Australian Open doubles earlier this year with Indian partner Rohan Bopanna, while Peers won the 2017 Australian Open doubles with Finland’s Henri Kontinen.
After 1300 (2100 AEST) Sailing men’s windsurfing – Grae Morris
Australian 20-year-old Grae Morris will sail for a medal in the men’s windsurfing after competition was postponed due to flukey conditions in Marseille. Morris is leading the fleet of 24 after 13 races and heads into the medal races guaranteed of finishing in the top three. “I’m super stoked, but it’s not over yet,” Morris said after finishing top of the leaderboard. “Anything can happen, we’re weather dependent – that’s why we have a reserve day in the schedule.” “I’m not nervous, I am super prepared mentally and I want to get it done and show the world what I’ve got. My Dad has pushed me to train as hard as I could and he made sure I did the work even when I didn’t want to and he put me where I am today.”
20:49 (04:59 AEST) Swimming 200m Individual Medley – Kaylee McKewon
Kaylee McKeown, 23, was ambitious to add this event to her Olympic program and to follow in the famous wake of Beijing 2008 Olympic champion Stephanie Rice and 1972 Munich Olympic champion Shane Gould. McKeown describes the 200mIM as a “bit of fun” despite being disqualified at the 2023 world championships for an illegal turn. Her best time of
2min06.53s makes her as the world No1. Her major rivals are: Kate Douglass, 22, (USA) 2min06.79s 22 world No2 and world champion and Summer McIntosh, 17, (CAN) 2min.07.06s world No3.
21:09 (05:09 AEST) Swimming 800m Freestyle – Ariarne Titmus & Lani Pallister
This is the third individual event for Ariarne Titmus who was disappointed with her winning 800m swim time at the trials as she was hoping to clock a personal best. All the focus will be on her US rival Katie Ledecky who will be vying to win an unprecedented fourth 800m Olympic title having already won the 800m in London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Fellow Australian Lani Pallister, 22, is also capable of finishing on the podium. She’s an Olympic debutante and the daughter of 1988 Seoul Olympic freestyle finalist Janelle Elford who finished fifth in the 400m and sixth in the 800m.
21:33 (05:33 AEST) 4x100m Mixed Medley
Who will swim what leg will depend on results from the past seven days. Kaylee McKeown, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Emma McKean, Mollie O’Callaghan and Kyle Chalmers will be in the mix. There’ll be a lot of number crunching to determine Australia’s line-up and who to pitch against the rest of the world.
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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