Paris Olympics 2024 Day 13: Team USA survive Serbia fight and launch massive comeback to win semifinal
Day 12 was a historic day in Paris as Australia surged to their best ever gold medal haul at an Olympics, is there more joy to come today?
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Silver linings
Australia fell agonisingly short of taking home gold in the men’s kayak four but a hard-earned silver is a sweet consolation prize.
“We left it out there all the way to the line, we can’t be upset with what we put down there,” Pierre van der Westhuyzen said after the race.
“Very, very happy with the result.”
Fine margins
Gold for Germany in a time of 1min19.80sec and silver for Australia in 1:19.84.
Four-hundreths of a second was all that separated the two countries in the men’s kayak four final.
Australia were the fastest boat on the water in the closing stages but left their run too late.
Men’s K4 pipped on the line
Australia secured their first men’s kayak four 500m medal since 2012 with a silver but they fell just short of grabbing gold.
After a false start, Australia powered home from the halfway mark but finished just short of Germany in a photo finish.
Gold chance
The men’s kayak four 500m final is about to get under way.
After breaking an Olympic record earlier in the Games, Australia will start as the favourites from lane five.
No gold in kayak four
Australia missed out on the medal places in the in the 500m women’s kayak four, coming in eighth.
Starting from lane eight, Australia started slow and could not haul in New Zealand, who edged out Germany in a thrilling finish.
Serene Seine
The cleanliness of the Seine has been one of the talking points of Paris but it didn’t bother Australian Moesha Johnson as she won the marathon swimming 10km silver medal.
“The water? I’ve tasted worse, to be honest,” she said.
Johnson said she had no doubts the river was safe but she would take antibiotics as a precaution.
Agony and ecstasy
Australia’s 4x100m relay team experienced all the highs and lows in the same heat.
Their time of 38.12sec was good enough to smash the national record, but left them just five-hundreths of a second short of qualifying for the final.
They finished sixth in a lightning-fast heat.
Still struggling
Australia’s golfers are still finding the going tough on day two at Le Golf National.
Minjee Lee has shot three over par today to drop outside the top 10 into a tie for 27th, while Hannah Green is on par through five holes after her five-over effort yesterday.
Jenneke’s brave battle
Speaking to Channel Nine following her exit from the 100m hurdles, Michelle Jenneke has revealed she ran the race with a ruptured hamstring tendon.
The sprinter fell during her heat yesterday before getting up and finishing the race to ensure she would get a chance in the repechage.
However, Jenneke says she knew before she took to the starting line today the fall had caused severe damage, and lining up was about enjoying one last run, regardless of the result.
This may be the 31 year-old’s last Olympics, and if that is the case, she can be proud of her final effort on the big stage.
The WA influence on Australia’s cycling gold
Australia won their first gold medal in the velodrome overnight in the men’s team pursuit - and it was a medal made in WA.
Sam Welsford completed his set of Olympic medals as he added to the silver and bronze already in his collection.
Conor Leahy and Oliver Bleddyn meanwhile, realised a dream which began for both of them at Peel District Cycling Club.
