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What to watch out for on day eight
Painting the town … Saya
In the hours before her gold medal-winning race in the BMX, 17,000 kilometres from Paris, Saya Sakakibara was being immortalised on the side of a pet food store south of Sydney.
“It’s 1.20am … seven degrees, I can’t feel my fingers,” artist Sarah Rowan said as she put the finishing touches on the mural in Sakakibara’s hometown of Helensburgh. “I’m going to go to bed and watch her win gold in the morning.”
Sakakibara did just that, landing Australia’s first BMX racing gold medal three years after a crash in Tokyo as her family, including brother Kai who switched to rowing following his own BMX injury, watched on in the stands.
Read more about the Helensburgh tribute to its golden hero here.
The fans’ fashion stakes
We’ve heard all about the celebrities swanning about at the Games, led in force by American rapper Snoop Dogg who is absolutely everywhere.
While all eyes are on the pool, the pitches, the courts, the track, the roads and more as the athletes give their all, we thought we’d pay tribute to the fans, sweating under the Parisian sun and giving just as much in supporting their heroes. They’ve paid thousands of dollars and flown thousands of kilometres to bring their A-game.
And boy, are they doing it in style, as you can see in our photo gallery below.
Does this new world record holder inspire fear?
If you thought Australia’s women high jumpers Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson are intimidated about taking on the new world record holder, Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh in the final, then think again.
Bulgarian Stefka Kostadinova’s mark of 2.09 metres had stood for 37 long years – making it one of the oldest marks in the track and field – until Mahuchikh bettered it by one centimetre last month at the Paris Diamond League.
The Olympic final is on Sunday evening (early Monday AEST).
AAP
Will this big gamble pay off?
An ambitious move to stack Australia’s rowing men’s eight with three Olympic champions in the hope of finally securing an elusive gold medal in the blue riband event faces its judgment day on Saturday after the much-hyped team scraped through to the final.
The bold decision by rowing selectors earlier this year, opting to shift Tokyo gold medallists Spencer Turrin, Jack Hargreaves and Alex Purnell from the four to chase gold in the eights in Paris, has already come at a heavy price. Australia’s long-time success in the former ended after they missed a podium for the first time in 16 years on Thursday.
Alex Purnell (centre) in action in the men’s eight in Paris.Credit: Getty Images
Starting with the “Oarsome Foursome” in Barcelona in 1992, Australia had only missed medals once. In the event, the crew finished dead last in the final at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium course on Thursday.
Alex Hill, the only remaining member of the Tokyo team who was also part of the silver medal-winning crew in Rio, played down any suggestions the selection had backfired after his own disappointing finish. Read Rob Harris’ full story here.
‘My anxiety was so bad, I was shaking’
Watch: Why living in the athletes’ village stressed out Simone Biles
The American is the most successful gymnast of all time, and her global profile is huge. But the village cafeteria proved overwhelming.
Tough path ahead for the Kookaburras
The Kookaburras′ path to Olympic gold now runs through European hockey powerhouses the Netherlands and Belgium after their frustrating 3-2 loss to India on Friday night.
India’s win – in Australian flagbearer Eddie Ockenden’s 450th Test – pushed them ahead of Colin Batch’s side into second place, with Australia finishing third and drawing the second-seeded Dutch on Sunday in a replay of the 2004 gold medal game won by the Kookaburras.
India’s Abhishek Abhishek (right) battles for the ball with Australia’s Eddie Ockenden (centre) and Aran Zalewski.Credit: AP
“That was a pretty tough match,” Ockenden said. “Maybe we were not quite there, but there were a lot of good things. Every opposition’s tough here.”
India, who won bronze in Tokyo, will play Great Britain while Belgium meet Spain and Argentina will battle Germany for the remaining semi-final spot.
The winner of the Belgium-Spain clash will face the victor of Australia’s quarter-final. The Belgians beat the Kookaburras in a shootout to win Tokyo gold.
AAP
We’ve posted today’s highlights, but here’s the full schedule
Earlier, we posted some of the highlights coming up on day eight.
But for those of you who like to plan your viewing down to the minute, or want to browse some of the other sports, here’s the full schedule so that you can dive into the full offerings from Paris on Saturday.
Poll: How are you coping with the timezone?
More than a week into the world’s biggest sporting event, how are you all holding up with the time difference?
What to watch out for on day eight
The boxing battle still raging outside the ring
Australian boxing world champion Skye Nicolson has labelled the post-fight tears of Italian fighter Angela Carini a “publicity stunt”, leaping to the defence of the Algerian and Taiwanese boxers who have found themselves at the centre of a global storm at the Olympics.
Read the full report here.
Skye Nicolson fighting Lucy Wildheart last year for the WBC featherweight title.Credit: Sportsfile via Getty Images
