SportsHounds Senior Correspondent Mike Osborne previews the key medal events for the Australians on Day 12 of 16 at the Paris Olympics.
Wednesday August 7 – possible Australian medals = 6 | Athletics x3 | Cycling | Skateboard | Sailing |
Australia has two Olympic champions, a world champion, a Commonwealth champion and an Olympic bronze medallist in action today.
Defending skateboard park champion Keegan Palmer hopes he can bump, jump and trick his way to a second gold medal at Place de la Concorde.
Another Olympic champion Matt Wearn was made to wait a day to defend his title in the dinghy due to flukey winds in Marseille. He’s assured of at least the silver medal but says he wants the gold.
World champion pole vaulter Nina Kennedy will jump for gold with confidence having beaten her main competitors just two weeks ago. Also at the Stade de France the Diamond league and Commonwealth shot put champion Matt Denny will be chasing his first Olympic medal.
And the Australian 35km mixed relay walk team hope that individual bronze medallist Jemima Montag can inspire them to the podium.
07:30-10:45 (15:30-18:45 AEST) Athletics – Mixed team 35km Marathon walk – Aust team – Rebecca Henderson, Jemima Montag, Kyle Swan, Rhydian Cowley
The team’s medal hopes will rely heavily on world No3 Jemima Montag, who won bronze in the women’s 20km walk six days ago, improving from sixth at the Tokyo Olympics. Victoria’s Montag, 26, credits her Holocaust survivor grandparents for her work ethic and resilience which helped her win world championship silver in the 20km walk last year in Budapest. “When a training session or race feels tough, the feeling of Nana’s bracelet around my wrist reminds me that stoicism and resilience are in my blood,” she said.
11:00-19:00 (19:00-03:00 AEST) Sailing men’s Laser Dinghy – Matt Wearn
Matt Wearn, 28, is the Olympic and dual world laser champion who has learned how to bend the wind and the will of a warring fleet. He has survived eight races held over six days of Olympic competition and faces a double-point medal race at the end. The Olympic venue is the west-facing Marseille Marina on the Mediterranean 750km south of Paris where the flukey winds have meant Wearn has had to wait an extra day for his final race where he assured of at least the silver medal. He created history at the Tokyo Olympics winning the third consecutive gold for Australia following the success of fellow green and gold sailors Tom Slingsby in London 2012 and Tom Burton in Rio 2016. He’s confident of creating more history by winning back-to-back Olympic gold. “There will be a lot of pressure and stress but I’m looking forward to that.”
17:00-19:00 (01:00-03:00 AEST) Skateboard – Men’s Park Skating – Keegan Palmer
Keegan Palmer, 21, won the men’s park gold medal when skateboarding made its debut at the Tokyo Games and hopes to double up in Paris. He’ll be competing in the historic Place de la Concorde in the centre of Paris between Avenue des Champs-Élysées and the Tuileries Gardens. Only eight skaters will make the final where they perform three 45‑second runs. On a course in a concrete bowl with ramps, quarter-pipes and bumps. “Being a two time Olympian for skateboarding … that’s wild,” Palmer says, adding he’s “got a few things hidden up my sleeve”.
17:30-19:50 (02:30-03:50 AEST) – Cycling track
18:25 (02:25 AEST) Men’s Team Pursuit – Kelland O’Brien, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy, Oliver Beddyn
Australia has a proud Olympic tradition in the men’s team pursuit, almost always featuring among the medals after taking gold at the 1984 LA Games. The pedigree heading into Paris is bronze in Tokyo, and silver at both the Rio 2016 and London 2012 Olympics. Sam Welsford is the most experienced rider in the team having been at both the Rio and Tokyo.
19:00-22:00 (03:00-06:00 AEST) Athletics
19:00 (03:00 AEST) – women’s pole vault – Nina Kennedy
Nina Kennedy, 27, is the reigning World and Commonwealth champion in the pole vault who heads into Paris ranked No2 in the world after clearing 4.88m at the Monaco Diamond League event, beating her main competitors for Paris. That height was down on her personal best of 4.91m and the 4.90m she cleared at the Budapest 2023 World Championships to grab a share of the gold medal with American Katie Moon, the Tokyo Olympic champion who’s best this year is 4.85m. They are both trailing Britain’s Molly Caudery who has the best jump of the year to date with 4.92m. “Obviously I want to win the gold medal,” says Kennedy.
20:25 (04:25 AEST) men’s discus throw Matt Denny
Matt Denny, 27, competes in an event that’s as old as the ancient Olympics and has been famously celebrated down the ages by a bronze statue titled The Discus Thrower which dates back to 450BC. Standing just shy of two-metres tall and weighing-in at 120kg, Denny is an intimidating athlete in an event dominated by hulks. The Diamond League and Commonwealth discus champion who finished fourth at the Budapest 2023 world championships is close to throwing 70m – a distance that should carry him to the Paris podium .“For me it’s not about medalling, it’s about winning,” Denny said. “That’s what we are here to do. There is no try – there is only do. And our focus is to win the Olympics.”
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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