Australia's Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar guaranteed themselves a medal finish in women's beach volleyball on day 13 of Tokyo 2020 - Aus Olympic Team/Twitter
Though it was a day of mixed results for our squad, a pair of gold medals saw Australia equal its greatest ever performance at an Olympic games. From nose grinds to ten-metre dives and all points in between, here is your daily Australian recap. Keep up to date with all the happenings at Tokyo 2020 through The Inner Sanctum’s Olympic hub and Olympic Central.
Beach Volleyballers net guaranteed medal
Dynamic duo Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar furthered their place in the imagination of the Australian public with a straight-sets victory in the women’s beach volleyball semi-final.
After a back and forth first set which was decided by just two points, the Australians ran away from their Latvian opponents in the second to book a place in the gold medal match.
The major talking point from the match was the influence of Clancy’s all-around performance. On numerous plays, she rose above both the net and the occasion to block opposition shots to score multiple times for her side.
Coupled with this was a strong service game and an overall imposition of dominance from the 29-year-old.
The pair will meet Team USA’s April Ross and Alix Klineman in the gold medal match at 12:30 pm AEST on Friday, August 6.
Matildas’ maiden medal hopes dashed
The goals from captain Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord and Emily Gielnik were not enough to take the Australian women’s football team to their first-ever Olympic medal placement.
A pair of braces to superstars Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd was enough to ensure a 4-3 victory and the bronze medal for the Americans.
Trailing 4-2 for much of the second half, the 90th-minute goal to Gielnik gave the Matilda’s hope of a miracle, but the USA defence held up under stoppage time fire.
For a full match recap, click here.
Canoe Sprinters leave opponents in Oar
The theme of the Tokyo 2020 games from an Australian perspective has been glory on the water and this continued on day 13.
In the men’s 1000m K-2 canoe sprint, Jean van der Westhuyzen and Thomas Green ended their day with an Olympic record and a gold medal to their names.
Starting in the heats, the pairing crossed the line at 3:08.773 to break the record set in Atlanta in 1996. The run of form continued through the semi-final (3:17.077) and into the final.
The time of 3:15.28 was enough to beat teams from Germany and Czech Republic for a golden finish.
Earlier in the day, fellow Australian pairing Riley Fitzsimmons and Jordan Wood were eliminated from medal contention in the semi-final of the same event.
In the women’s 1500m K-1 canoe sprint final, Alyce Wood placed eighth.
Kookaburras fall to Belgian brilliance
Goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch simultaneously wrote his name into the record books and broke Australian hearts with a composed performance in the men’s hockey final.
A hungry Belgium side opened the scoring in the third quarter before a Tom Wickham goal in the fourth levelled at 1-1 to send the match to penalties.
With everything to play for, Vanasch saved three Australian penalty shots to secure his country’s first-ever hockey gold medal.
For a full match recap, click here.
Palmer grinds way to skateboarding glory
Australian teenage sensation Keegan Palmer has made history by becoming the first-ever gold medallist in the Olympic park skateboarding event.
In the first run of the final, the 18-year-old set an incredible benchmark score of 94.04. The total was not eclipsed until the final round of competition when Palmer surpassed his own previous mark with an almost flawless 95.83.
What made the performance all the more special is the fact that he finished a near ten points clear of rivals Pedro Barros of Brazil (86.14) and Cory Juneau from the USA (84.13).
With a strong second run score of 82.04, fellow Australian Kieran Woolley finished fifth in the event.
The gold medal win was Australia’s 17th at the Tokyo Games, equalling our record as a nation at any Olympic Games.
Magnificent Moloney brings home bronze
Ash Moloney has become Australia’s first-ever decathlon medallist, displaying an incredible amount of endurance to finish third.
Moloney closed on 8649 points behind Canada’s Damian Warner (9018) and Frenchman Kevin Mayer (8726).
The medal placing was set up by top three performances in the 110m hurdle, discuss throw, pole vault and javelin throw on day two.
In the final event, the 21-year-old from Brisbane ran a time of 4:39.19 across 1500m to secure enough points to maintain third place ahead of American Garrett Scantling.
Fellow Australian Cedric Dubler finished in 20th place but did not hold back his jubilation at seeing his teammate win bronze.
Boomers fall short against Team USA
Despite leading for a majority of the first half and by three points at halftime, Australia was overrun by a rampaging Team USA 97-78 in the men’s basketball semi-finals.
A Kevin Durant masterclass in the third quarter turned the tide of the contest, ensuring yet another gold medal match for the basketball powerhouse.
For a full match recap, click here.
Splash made by veteran diver Wu
In her fourth trip to an Olympic games, 10m platform diver Melissa Wu secured the individual medal that had alluded her for much of her career.
Taking bronze behind Chinese pair Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi, Wu had to stave off multiple contenders to ensure a podium finish.
Qualifying with a fifth-place finish in the morning’s semi-finals, the 29-year-old took her performance to another level in the final against a highly competitive field.
Heading into the final round, Gabriella Agundez (Mexico) and Delaney Schnell (USA) were a chance to catch Wu, but a score of 81.60 was sufficient enough to put the Australian out of reach.
The medal is symbolic of the hard work that the veteran Olympian has put in, in terms of both longevity and overcoming well documented personal problems during her career.
Hoare and McSweyn qualify for 1500m final
Middle-distance running pair Oli Hoare and Stewart McSweyn will both contest the final of the men’s 1500m after solid performances on day 13.
Hoare finished fourth in the first semi-final at a time of 3:34.35, while McSweyn came fifth in semi-final two at a similar pace of 3:32.54.
The final will take place on Saturday, August 7 at 9:40 pm AEST.
For a comprehensive recap of all athletics action, click here.
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