DAY 5 PREVIEW
JULY 31 - AUGUST 1
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Olympics Daily hosted by Tara Rushton - Now Streaming
Paris Preview hosted by Adam Peacock - Now Streaming
Experts: Stephanie Rice, Casey Dellacqua, Morgan Turinui, Michael Hooper, Mark Bosnich, Alicia Lucas, Heath Thorpe, Nick Green, Shane Heal and Craig Miller.
Highlights & expert opinions from today's shows:
Stephanie Rice on Kaylee McKeown becoming the second woman ever to defend an Olympic title in the 100m Backstroke:
"She is one of those athletes that rises to the big meets, the big occasions. She is always the one you can put your money on and know she is going to step up when it counts."
"I was so impressed by her. What her skill is in this race, you can see the turn, sensational underwater from her and the last 15 metres was where she surged through with incredible stamina."
Stephanie Rice looks ahead to the Women's 100m Freestyle Final with Shayna Jack and Mollie O'Callaghan and the Men's 100m Final with powerhouse Kyle Chalmers:
"Such a great redemption story for [Shayna Jack] to have gone through all that chaos and heartbreak and to then come back better than before. I think she really nailed her race plan in the Semi-Final. We know she’s got front-end speed, she’s a 50m specialist that steps up into the 100m whereas Mollie is a 200m who steps down into the 100m event, so we definitely expect to see Shayna taking it out quick in the first 50m of the Final. She should be ahead of Mollie coming in that first lap, but her strategy will be, go out hard and hold on. Mollie’s will be pace it out and come home like a steam train in the last 50."
"I was impressed with Mollie’s heat and semi swims in the 100m Freestyle. She just did enough to get through to the final and put herself in a good lane. She’ll be feeling fresh come tomorrow morning for this and she’ll also have that wave of momentum and confidence from winning the 200m the night earlier. If she can do the double it would be incredible."
"Kyle is in top form. He won this event in 2016. To be at the top of the world over an eight year period is incredible. He came second in Tokyo, so he will be looking to come back and defend. What is so unique about Kyle is that fighting spirit. He is such a great racer. Give him the big stage, give him the crowd, give him the cameras and he just lights up. I’m really impressed by his semi-final swim; he’s got such great back-end speed. You look for him to come through the crowd and take the lead. It gives me anxiety to watch him race as you see him at the turn and you’re like, what’s happened, where are you and then he comes out of the turn with such power, and you see him lift to a whole new level."
Stephanie Rice on Tokyo Gold Medallist Zac Stubblety-Cook's head-to-head clash with French favourite Leon Marchand in the Men's 200m Breaststroke Final:
"Zac looks confident. I am liking the way he is racing. He has such a strong back-end of the 200m Breast. Leon Marchand is going to go out hard in the first 100m. Zac was about two seconds behind him at the 100m mark on time in the semi-final so we will expect to see Leon out in front and then Zac really come home in the last 100m. Everyone can go out hard but who can hold on is the test of endurance. Zac definitely has that. He knows how to handle the pressure, the crowds, he’s done it before in Tokyo so really hoping he can defend his title."
Stephanie Rice discusses her former Gold Medal winning event, the 400IM and the dominance of Canadian Teen Summer McIntosh:
(Clip here)
"She is amazing. I am so impressed by Summer. She is only 17 and this is her second Olympics. This is the race I was most excited about it. She is so much more dominant than the rest of the field. There are really mixed emotions for me because there is so much admiration for Summer – she doesn’t have a weakness. In medley swimming there is typically always a stroke that you’re not quite as good at whereas she could compete in every individual stroke at an Olympic level."
"Her World Record is six seconds faster than I ever went and it’s just insane to me to process but as much there is this huge admiration for her the rest of the field was pretty average. I think that was disappointing to see at an Olympic level. Our final in Beijing – we would have had about four people who would have placed faster than second place in Paris. Kaylee McKeown has the second fastest time in the world, but she pulled out of the race to focus on the 100m Backstroke and I am so glad that paid off for her."
Morgan Turinui on where it went wrong for the Australian Women's Rugby Sevens team in their semi-final and Bronze medal match against Canada and USA:
(Clip here)
"This is where we see the volatility of Sevens and we saw that show in both of Australia’s games. The USA were very physical and played the right kind of match against Australia to put them under pressure. They were looking at the score, looking at the clock and fatigue and pressure makes things hard."
"In two seven-minute halves, the clock starts to be your enemy and it’s looking down on you. [Canada] held the ball for five seconds, and that’s how teams have troubled Australia in the last couple of years - USA, France normally – maintaining possession. Canada have been excellent on Day Three, they’ve come from nowhere to play a brand of rugby we probably didn’t think they could.”
Alicia Lucas on Australia's heartbreaking loss in the Rugby Sevens and New Zealand soaring through the semi-finals and final to secure back-to-back Gold:
(Clip here)
"New Zealand were absolutely clinical in their performances today. The pressure of them going back-to-back, no one has done that in the history of [Women’s Sevens] in the Olympics. What they have achieved and what they have emulated for their country is incredible and shouldn’t be underestimated. They didn’t have the right to win it – they were pushed, and they were pressed, and they took the opportunities Australia missed out on. The game was there for the taking and the experience of NZ…and the moments that they had, they embraced it."
"This Olympics is like nothing I have seen before for Sevens. And not just the Women’s game - both Men and Women. France’s win in the Men, what that has done for the game here but the victory of the USA women over Australia, and their Bronze Medal...it was broadcast in the USA, they’ve finally got their heads out of the sand and seen how incredible the sport is. Michelle Kang, a US businesswoman came down into the team’s box after and announced that she is going to invest $4 Million into Team USA into the lead up to LA28. Wow. They’re hoping now to change that Bronze Medal into an Olympic Gold."
Australian Champion Gymnast, Heath Thorpe on Simone Biles leading Team USA to Gold in the Women's Team Final:
"I haven’t seen such a dominant performance for them since 2016. It was their first Olympic Gold Medal since Rio after coming second to the ROC in 2020 so it was great to see them back on top. It was such a prolific episode at Tokyo 2020 with her [Simone] twisties so just to see her back in full force and as dominant as she is, is so wonderful. She is a veteran in this position. She’s been in the team finals so many times and she’s one that doesn’t crack under pressure. I find it really hard to explain to non-gymnastics fans how great she is. She really is above and beyond and a once in a generation athlete."
Nick Green on the Australian Rowing Team's Paris 2024 campaign thus far:
"Mixed results for Australia after Day Four. I still think [we'll get] three medals but different crews than I originally thought. I think some of the Aussie crews have been caught out by tactics, but some are excelling. The Women’s Single Scull, Tara Rigby today in her quarter-finals, she was brilliant. She’s won both her races by a comfortable margin; she’s looking very good and she’s posting some fast times. And the Men’s Four, we talk about the Men’s Four – while I didn’t think they were on medal pace in the heats, they were very close, so I think they’re racing well. The semi-finals and finals will be the tough ones for them."
"Our Women’s Double Sculls have been racing superbly all season however they got into a semi-final and there were four crews battling it out and the Aussies allowed themselves to one of the four and missed out by 0.02 of a second for the final. It’s a really tough learning environment but that’s Olympic racing."
Two-time Olympian Craig Miller on the Men's Water Polo Team's thumping win over two-time defending Gold medallists Serbia:
"I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself but that was a huge effort. The Serbians are one of the greatest teams in the world and for the boys to go out in the way that they did it was very emphatic in the fact that it was an 8 – 3 result, and they kept the Serbians to three goals. I know that Coach Tim Hamill has been working with these boys in the last 18 months on their defence and what really stood out today was Nathan Porter in goal was outstanding and the blocking the boys were doing is something they have been working on."
"Lachlan Edwards always plays on the edge. I love him for it. It’s fantastic to have a big centre forward going as hard as they possibly can. Sometimes he goes a little far. You take the good with the bad. I wasn’t very happy with the red card when I was watching the game and hopefully, they will review it and he’s back for France which is going to be an enormous game for the Australians."
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DAY 5: JULY 31 - AUGUST 1
Triathlon
4:00pm AEST - Women's Individual Triathlon
- Aussies to watch: Sophie Linn & Natalie Van Coevorden
4:45pm AEST - Men's Individual Triathlon (rescheduled from yesterday)
- Aussies to watch: Matt Hauser & Luke Willian
Diving
7:00pm AEST - Women's 10M Synchro Final
BMX Freestyle
9:10pm AEST - Women's Park Final
10:44pm AEST- Men's Park Final
- Aussies to watch: Natalya Diehm & Logan Martin
Canoe Slalom
1:25am AEST - Women's Canoe Single Final
- Aussies to watch: Jess Fox
Swimming - LIVE in 4K
4:30am AEST - Women's 100m Freestyle Final
- Aussies to watch: Shayna Jack & Mollie O'Callaghan
4:36am AEST - Men's 200m Butterfly Final
5:07am AEST - Women's 1500m Freestyle Final
- Stars to watch: Moesha Johnson (AUS) & Katie Ledecky (USA)
6:15am AEST - Men's 200m Breaststroke Final
- Stars to watch: Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS) & Leon Marchand (FRA)
6:22am AEST - Men's 100m Freestyle Final
- Stars to watch: Kyle Chalmers (AUS) & Caleb Dressel (USA)
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DAY 5: JULY 31 - August 1
Tennis - LIVE in 4K
8:00pm AEST - Women's Singles Quarter-Finals
8:00pm AEST - Men's Doubles Semi-Finals
8:00pm AEST - Women's Doubles Quarter-Finals
Hockey
9:15pm AEST - Women's Preliminary Game: Australia v USA
Water Polo
10:00pm AEST - Women's Preliminary Game: Australia v Netherlands
Basketball
1:30am AEST - 3 x 3 Women's Pool Round: Australia v Germany
5:00am AEST - Men's Group Match: USA v South Sudan
Football - LIVE in 4K
3:00am AEST - Women's Group Match: Australia v USA
Swimming - LIVE in 4K
4:43am AEST - Women's 200m Butterfly Semi-Finals
5:37am AEST - Men's 200m Backstroke Semi-Finals
5:51am AEST - Women's 200m Breaststroke Semi-Finals
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July 31, 2024