Paris Olympics 2024: Australia’s Opals face powerhouse United States, WA’s Matthew Richardson races for gold
WA’s Maddison Keeney has claimed a silver medal in the women’s diving 3m springboard final, producing her best dive under immense pressure to secure a second-placed finish.
Follow all the action from our record-breaking Games with our live blog.
Work to do for Opals and Sharks
The Opals showed some spirit in the second term after a slow start but were unable to appreciably cut their defecit, heading for the main break trailing the United States 45-27.
In the water polo, the Sharks are trailing Greece 3-1 at quarter-time of their classification match.
Not quite for Richo
Matthew Richardson pressed the Netherlands’ Harrie Lavreysen all the way in their opening heat but fell just short of a win.
In his customary position stalking from behind, the Australian settled on his opponents back wheel but the Dutch legend held him off, showing all the qualities which have made him the defending gold medallist and a five-time world champion.
Richardson will not be disheartened by his showing but he now must win the remaining two heats to claim a gold medal.
Plenty going on
A couple of big events are about to heat up.
Going for gold, Matthew Richardson is set to go in the first heat of the men’s individual sprint at the velodrome, while our Aussie Sharks are in the pool ahead of their classification match with Greece.
Time out needed
Give Team USA an inch and they will take a mile.
They have opened the second term with a defence-fuelled 10-0 run, blowing the margin back out to 14 points.
Opals coach Sandy Brondello has called for time with her side yet to score in the quarter.
Legendary Lauren checks in
Having received some DNP’s in the tournament so far, the legendary Lauren Jackson is getting some early minutes for the Opals.
Her presence looks to have inspired her side, who have turned up the defensive intensity to cut their gap at the first break back to four points, trailing 20-16.
Slow start
An enormous task has gotten bigger for the Opals, who have fallen in an early 18-9 hole.
It could have even been worse — they have turned the ball over seven times and three of their shots blocked.
We’re off
The United States have started fast, jumping out to an 8-2 lead.
The Opals have already turned the ball over twice cannot afford to be careless if they want to pull off an upset win.
Underdog Opals about to get going
Introductions are under way for the Opals as they prepare to take on the mighty Team USA.
Tip-off is about five minutes away.
We can do something special: Whitcomb
The USA have won the last seven women’s basketball Olympics gold medals but Sami Whitcomb says the Opals will come into their semifinal date with no fear.
Whitcomb is one of several veterans who is likely at her last Games, alongside 43-year-old legend Lauren Jackson, Tess Madgen and Cayla Geroge.
“There is definitely a feeling with that core older group that this is a moment where we do something really special,” she told News Corp.
What’s to come
Don’t go to bed just yet — there’s still plenty to come from day 14 in Paris.
With a gold medal on the line, Matthew Richardson will be back in the velodrome in around an hour’s time, taking on legendary Dutch rider Harrie Lavreysen in the first heat of the individual sprint final.
A semifinal basketball clash between our Opals and the all-conquering USA is just under half an hour away, while in the water polo, our Aussie Sharks will play a classification game against Germany in about 50 minutes time.
