Sportshounds Senior correspondent Mike Osborne wraps up the Australian highlights on Day 10 of 16 at the Paris Olympics.
Noemie Fox won the kayak cross gold medal to ensure her family’s domination of the white water in Paris after sister Jess won the canoe and kayak slalom events.
After beating her sister in the second round to cruel Jess’s hopes of three gold medals at these Olympics, Noemie showed nerves of steel to win every race she contested at her debut Games.
“It’s surreal, for me even just dreaming of getting to the Olympics,” Noemie said after Jess and her mum Myriam dived into the water to celebrate with her.
“But when I got there I thought ‘anything is possible’. I started off with a really hard heat and was a bit stressed out and then it was hard to be against Jess in the next round.
“I was just so happy to make it through to the semifinal. That was my goal. Today just went to perfection. I enjoyed every second.”
Fox’s victory lifted the Australian gold medal tally to 13.
| Athlete | Sport | Number | Gold Medals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mollie O’Callaghan | Swimming | 3 | W 200 freestyle W 4×100 freestyle relay W 4×200 freestyle relay | |
| Jess Fox | Canoe/kayak | 2 | Kayak Slalom Canoe Slalom | |
| Kaylee McKeown | Swimming | 2 | W 100 backstroke W 200 backstroke | |
| Ariarne Titmus | Swimming | 2 | 400 freestyle 4×200 freestyle relay | |
| Grace Brown | Cycling | 1 | W Time Trial | |
| Shayna Jack | Swimming | 1 | W 4×100 freestyle relay | |
| Emma McKeon | Swimming | 1 | W 4×100 freestyle relay | |
| Meg Harris | Swimming | 1 | W 4×100 freestyle relay | |
| Lani Pallister | Swimming | 1 | W 4×200 freestyle relay | |
| Brianna Throssell | Swimming | 1 | W 4×200 freestyle relay | |
| Cam McEvoy | Swimming | 1 | M 50 freestyle | |
| Matt Ebden | Tennis | 1 | M Doubles | |
| John Peers | Tennis | 1 | M Doubles | |
| Noemie Fox | Canoe/Kayak | 1 | W Kayak Cross | |
| Arisa Trew | Skateboard | 1 | W Skateboard Park | |
| Matt Wearn | Sailing | 1 | M Laser Dinghy | |
| Keegan Palmer | Skateboard | 1 | M Skateboard Park | |
| Oliver Bleddyn | Cycling | 1 | M Team Pursuit | |
| Kelland O’Brien | Cycling | 1 | M Team Pursuit | |
| Sam Welsford | Cycling | 1 | M Team Pursuit | |
| Conor Leahy | Cycling | 1 | M Team Pursuit | |
| Nina Kennedy | Athletics | 1 | W Pole Vault |
Meanwhile at the athletics an injured Kurtis Marschall finished sixth in men’s pole vault final with a clearance of 5.85m, well behind world champion Swede Armand Duplantis who won gold in a world record 6.25m.
World champion Nina Kennedy qualified for the women’s pole vault at 4.55m along with most of the other medal contenders.
Diamond League champion Matt Denny comfortably qualified for the men’s discus final throwing the required 66m with a heave of 66.83 on his second attempt.
“I was nervous because I wanted to give qualification the respect it deserves, but at the same time save my energy for the final,” Kennedy said. “I feel good and I’m feeling really confident.”
Elsewhere a brave Rose Davies was 12th in the women’s 5000m final and Alanah Yukich qualified for the semifinals of the women’s 400m hurdles through the repechage with a personal best 55.11s.
Torrie Lewis was run out in the semi finals of the women’s 200m semi final after earlier qualifying by winning her repechage. Teammate Mia Gross failed to progress from the repechage.
Ellie Beer will head to the repechage in the women’s 400m after finishing fifth in her heat in a personal best 51.47s, as will Caleb Law in the men’s 200m.
Run out in the heats were Matthew Clarke and Ben Buckingham in the 3000m steeplechase.
Australia was back up to third on the medal table after day 10.
Paris Olympic Medal Table
| Rank | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USA | 40 | 44 | 42 | 126 |
| 2 | China | 40 | 27 | 24 | 91 |
| 3 | Japan | 20 | 12 | 13 | 45 |
| 4 | Australia | 18 | 19 | 16 | 53 |
| 5 | France | 16 | 26 | 22 | 63 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 15 | 7 | 12 | 34 |
| 7 | Great Britain | 14 | 22 | 29 | 65 |
| 8 | Korea | 13 | 9 | 10 | 32 |
| 9 | Italy | 12 | 13 | 15 | 40 |
| 10 | Germany | 12 | 13 | 8 | 33 |
| 11 | New Zealand | 10 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
The Australian action from other sports in Paris today:
CYCLING
The Australian men’s team pursuit qualified fastest for the semifinals where they will face Italy who set the world record while winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
The team of Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O’Brien were marginally behind the second fastest team from Great Britain after two laps but stormed home over the final two laps to finish 3min42.958 after GB had clocked 3min43.241.
Australia, who won bronze in this event in Tokyo, needs to beat Italy tomorrow if they are to ride for the gold medal on Wednesday.
“The track is so good. We had a lot more to give at the end of that race,” Welsford said.
Meanwhile the men’s team sprint qualified third behind the Dutch favourites who set an Olympic record time of 41.279 seconds and Great Britain who clocked 41.862.
The Australian team of Leigh Hoffman, Matt Glaetzer and Matthew Richardson clocked 42.072 and will race China in their heat tomorrow.
They must clock the fastest or second fastest time in the heat to ride for the gold medal.
SAILING
Defending Olympic dinghy champion Matt Wearn is assured of at least a silver medal and will sail for gold on the waters off Marseille tomorrow.
Wearn leads the dinghy competition after eight races with a 14-point break over Cypriot Pavlos Kontides and a 24-point lead over Peru’s Stefano Peschiera heading into the double-points Medal Race.
The Peruvian cannot catch Wearn, which means the world champion just has to stop the Cypriot from finishing seven places ahead of him to win a consecutive gold medal.
“Anytime you’re leading the fleet is always a good feeling, so I’ve sailed well I think. I just need to finish the job now,” Wearn said.
“I can’t do worse than silver so that’s nice, but I came here for one medal, and to defend my title from Tokyo, so that’s what I want to do.”
There were supposed to be 10 lead-up races before the final but flukey winds in Marseille caused the cancellation of the final two races today.
DIVING
Five-time Olympian Melissa Wu and teammate Ellie Cole have both qualified for the women’s 10m platform final.
Cole finished the better of the two in the semi final qualifying sixth while Tokyo bronze medallist Wu slipped into the top 12 in 11th place. Typically the top two qualifiers were from China.
“There was a little bit of room for improvement, but to be at a fifth Games and make the final, I’m pretty stoked about that,” Wu said.
“I had a bit of an uphill battle with injuries. I think it proves I can keep pushing through. I’ve done a lot of mindset work, I’m proud of the journey I’ve had to get to this final.”
Cole praised her teammate for helping to inspire her Olympic performance.
“Mel’s been such an inspiration throughout everything that I’ve achieved so far. Being in an Olympic final with her, it’s really exciting,” Cole said.
“This was my goal, to make the final. It’s pretty special.”
Wu has never finished outside the top six at her other Olympics – fishing sixth on debut in Beijing 2008, fourth in London 2012 and fifth at Rio 2016.
Wu has also won a silver medal in the 10m platform synchronised event with Briony Cole at her first Olympics in Beijing 2008 when she was just 16.
WATER POLO
The Australian men’s water polo team lost their final pool game against Japan 13-14 but will still comfortably qualify for the quarter finals after finishing second in their group.
After three straight wins against powerhouses Serbia, France and Hungary the loss to lowly Japan was a surprise after the Australians had led 7-6 at half time.
Australia’s other loss was against top placed Spain in their opening match of the Olympics.
“We made a lot of mistakes,” said Milos Maksimovic who scored three goals.
“Japan are very unusual opponents with the way they play but we knew that, and it’s our responsibility. We didn’t perform well. It’s as simple as that.
“We rushed a lot in attack. In defence we didn’t have that high level of blocks like in the last few games.
“We can’t play the game and concede 14 goals and try to win. That’s impossible. We have to play a much more aggressive defence and try to get a lot more blocks.”
HOCKEY
The Hockeyroos are out of the Paris Olympics after losing 3-2 to China in their quarter final.
The Australians grabbed the first goal from a penalty corner through Alice Arnott after 10 minutes but the Chinese equalised a minute later and then went ahead in the 20th minute to lead 1-2 at half time.
China, coached by former Australian great Alyson Annan, stretched the lead to 1-3 five minutes into the third quarter before Tatum Stewart converted another penalty corner on three-quarter time.
The score remained at 3-2 throughout the final quarter despite constant Australian attacks that could not find the net thanks to the Chinese goalkeeper who saved four of the Australians shots on goal during the match.
“In the second half we definitely were on top of them,” said midfielder Jane Claxton. “We could see that we were breaking down their defence, but not putting the ball in the back of the net, unfortunately.”
Australian Medallists at the Paris Olympics
| Athlete | Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mollie O’Callaghan | Swimming | W 200 freestyle W 4×100 freestyle relay W 4×200 freestyle relay | W 4×100 medley relay | Mxd 4×100 medley relay |
| Kaylee McKeown | Swimming | W 100 backstroke W 200 backstroke | W 4×100 medley relay | W 200 ind medley Mxd 4×100 medley relay |
| Ariarne Titmus | Swimming | 400 freestyle w 4×200 freestyle relay | W 200 freestyle W 800 freestyle | |
| Jess Fox | Canoe/kayak | Kayak Slalom Canoe Slalom | ||
| Emma McKeon | Swimming | W 4×100 freestyle relay | W 4×100 medley relay | |
| Meg Harris | Swimming | W 4×100 freestyle relay | W 50 freestyle | |
| Grace Brown | Cycling | W Time Trial | ||
| Shayna Jack | Swimming | W 4×100 freestyle relay | ||
| Lani Pallister | Swimming | W 4×200 freestyle relay | ||
| Brianna Throssell | Swimming | W 4×200 freestyle relay | ||
| Cam McEvoy | Swimming | M 50 freestyle | ||
| Saya Sakakibara | Cycling | W BMX racing | ||
| Matt Ebden | Tennis | M Doubles | ||
| John Peers | Tennis | M Doubles | ||
| Noemie Fox | Canoe/Kayak | W Kayak Cross | ||
| Arisa Trew | Skateboard | W Skateboard Park | ||
| Matt Wearn | Sailing | M Laser Dinghy | ||
| Keegan Palmer | Skateboard | M Park | ||
| Oliver Bleddyn | Cycling | M Team Pursuit | ||
| Kelland O’Brien | Cycling | M Team Pursuit | ||
| Sam Welsford | Cycling | M Team Pursuit | ||
| Conor Leahy | Cycling | M Team Pursuit | ||
| Nina Kennedy | Athletics | W Pole Vault | ||
| Matt Richardson | Cycling | M Individual Sprint M Keirin | M Team Sprint | |
| Kyle Chalmers | Swimming | M 100 freestyle M 4×100 freestyle relay | ||
| Elijah Winnington | Swimming | 400 freestyle | M 4×200 freestyle relay | |
| Flynn Southam | Swimming | M 4×100 freestyle relay | M 4×200 freestyle relay | |
| Zac Stubblety-Cook | Swimming | M 200 breaststroke | ||
| Jack Cart Wright | Swimming | M 4×100 freestyle relay | ||
| Kai Taylor | Swimming | M 4×100 freestyle relay | ||
| Jenna Strauch | Swimming | W 4×100 medley relay | ||
| Chris Burton | Equestrian | Individual Eventing | ||
| Grae Morris | Sailing | M Windsurfing | ||
| Nicola Olyslagers | Athletics | W High Jump | ||
| Jack Robinson | Surfing | M Surfing | ||
| Moesha Johnson | Swimming | W 10km Swim | ||
| Riley Fitzsimmons | Canoe/Kayak | M K4 500m | ||
| Jackson Collins | Canoe/Kayak | M K4 500m | ||
| Noah Harvard | Canoe/Kayak | M K4 500m | ||
| Pierre van der Westhuyzen | Canoe/Kayak | M K4 500m | ||
| Maddison Keeney | Diving | W 3m Springboard | ||
| Stingers | Water Polo | W Water Polo | ||
| Jessica Hull | Athletics | W 1500m | ||
| Matt Glaetzer | Cycling | M Team Sprint M Keirin |
||
| Max Giuliani | Swimming | M 4×200 freestyle relay | ||
| Tommy Neill | Swimming | M 4×200 freestyle relay | ||
| Josh Young | Swimming | Mxd 4×100 medley relay | ||
| Matt Temple | Swimming | Mxd 4×100 medley relay | ||
| Natalya Diehm | BMX Cycling | BMX Freestyle | ||
| Penny Smith | Shooting | W Trap | ||
| Jemima Montag | Athletics | W 20km walk Marathon Relay Walk |
||
| Jessica Morrison | Rowing | W Pair | ||
| Annabelle McIntyre | Rowing | W Pair | ||
| Eleanor Patterson | Athletics | W High Jump | ||
| Leigh Hoffman | Cycling | M Team Sprint | ||
| Rhydian Cowley | Athletics | Marathon relay walk | ||
| Matt Denny | Athletics | M Discus | ||
| Caitlin Parker | Boxing | W 75kg | ||
| Charlie Senior | Boxing | M 57 Kg | ||
| Tom Green | Canoe/Kayak | M K2 500m | ||
| Jean van der Westhuyzen | Canoe/Kayak | M K2 500m | ||
| Opals | Basketball | W Basketball |
Michael Osborne has been a journalist for more than four decades including 35 years with the national news agency Australian Associated Press, rising from junior reporter to Editor.
He was AAP Editor for 11 years and served four years as Head of Sport and Racing. He was also posted to London and Beijing as AAP’s Bureau Chief and Foreign Correspondent.
He has worked at six Olympics and five Commonwealth Games, covered tennis grand slams, golf majors, international cricket, rugby world cups and numerous sporting world championships. He also co-ordinated and managed AAP’s teams and coverage at three Olympic Games in Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
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