SportsHounds Senior Correspondent Mike Osborne previews the key medal events for the Australians on the final Day 16 at the Paris Olympics.
Possible Australian medals = 2 | Cycling keirin | Basketball women |
Two medal chances for Australia on the last day of the Paris Olympics before we head to the closing ceremony and turn our attention to Los Angeles 2028.
We start with sprint cyclists Matt Richardson and Matt Glaetzer at the velodrome in the far south west near Versailles where Richardson is chasing his third medal in the keirin.
Then the focus switches to the Bercy Arena in the south east of Paris where the Opals are chasing another Olympic medal after the inspirational return of 43 year old Lauren Jackson.
Afterwards all the attention will be on the Stade de France for the 21:00-23:15 (03:00-05:15 AEST) closing ceremony which will signal the official end of the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad.
11:00-14:15 (19:00-22:15 AEST) Cycling track men’s keirin – Matt Richardson
Matt Richardson, 25, is chasing his third medal at these Games in the keirin after a silver in the individual sprint and a bronze in the team sprint with Matt Glaetzer and Leigh Hoffman. Glaetzer is chasing a second medal in Paris. Richardson admits this one can be very tricky because it’s not always the fastest rider who wins the keirin. Instead it often comes down to who gets the lucky breaks. “You can get stuck or boxed in and yes it’s your fault if you let that happen, but you just can’t control the entire race,” he says. “While I’ve been super lucky in some keirins, I’ve had others where I’ve had a really good ride and it hasn’t paid off because the luck hasn’t gone my way.” But it will be a special moment for Richardson if he wins because his first experience with track cycling was as an eight-year-old watching his hero Chris Hoy, the British six-time Olympic champion, win the keirin in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. “That moment has never left my head. And now I’m going to my second Olympics and I might be riding the keirin final and there might be an eight-year-old kid watching me who might be inspired.”
11:30-13:30 (19:30-21:30 AEST) – Basketball women’s bronze medal match
The return of 43-year-old legend Lauren Jackson helped put the world No3 Opals back in the frame at these Paris Games. After winning silver or bronze medals at five consecutive Olympics from Atlanta 1996 to London 2012, the Opals were beaten in the quarter-finals at the past two Games in Rio and Tokyo. But Jackson did not play in those two Olympics, retiring after four Games from Sydney 2000 to London 2012. Jackson’s selection for Paris marks an incredible return to the Olympic arena 12 years after last playing at London where she was also the Australian Flag Bearer. Opals captain Tess Madgen described the team as more like a sisterhood. “We have the absolute best team of athletes, we are much more than a team, we are a sisterhood and we carry with us all the Opals from the past and we draw on their strength.” The Opals started in Pool B and initially lost to Nigeria before beating Canada and host-nation France before defeating Serbia in the quarter-finals. But the Opals came up against the mighty Americans in the semis and went down 64-85. They now take on Belgium in the battle for bronze.
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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