Pinned post from 10.54am on Aug 1, 2024
Go to latestHere’s what made headlines overnight and early this morning
By Daniel Lo Surdo
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This was published 1 year ago
As it happened: Zhanle world record turns heads as Chalmers charges to silver, heartbreak for Matildas and O’Callaghan
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Signing off
By James Polson
And that’s a wrap on a dramatic day five from Paris.
But the action doesn’t stop for long. Our day six blog is already live, and here’s what to look out for later on.
3.30pm: The athletics action gets under way with the men’s 20km race walk, followed by the women at 5.20pm. Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jemima Montag is a genuine medal hope in the latter.
5pm: Jason Day will make his Olympic debut when the golf program kicks off. He’s playing with Min Woo Lee, whose sister Minjee will be in action next week alongside Hannah Green.
A performance so good the swimming world is in shock
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Former Olympian and leading swim coach Brett Hawke has expressed sheer disbelief after Pan Zhanle’s commanding victory in the 100-metre freestyle, saying it was “not humanly possible” for him to prevail over the rest of the field by a body length.
Pan’s time of 46.40 seconds was a staggering 0.4 second improvement on his own world record, which he set at the world championships in February, and ensured that not even a ferocious final lap by Kyle Chalmers would deny him the gold medal.
But Hawke, who swam for Australia at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and has spent most of his coaching career at Auburn University in the United States, said he was angered by the race.
“I’m angry for a number of reasons,” he said in an Instagram post.
Attention switches to the track
By James Polson
Well, somewhat.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jemima Montag is Australia’s first big hope in the athletics events. She’ll compete in the 20km race walk on Thursday afternoon (AEST). The women’s event begins at 5.20pm, following the men’s at 3.30pm.
Besides Montag, local eyes will be on Nina Kennedy in the pole vault, emerging star Jessica Hull in the 1500m and Peter Bol in the 800m.
Read Michael Gleeson’s guide to the events to watch here.
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Pinned post from 10.54am on Aug 1, 2024
Here’s what made headlines overnight and early this morning
By Daniel Lo Surdo
Say cheese: Italian gymnast’s Parmesan sponsor
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When you think of athletic sponsors it’s typically the big names that come to mind – Nike, Adidas, New Balance.
But (in my opinion) Italian gymnast and Olympic silver medallist Giorgia Villa has the greatest sponsor of all ... Parmigiano Reggiano.
Now, I needed to check I wasn’t just being duped by X (formerly Twitter), but on closer inspection, she really is sponsored by cheese.
It wouldn’t be the first time an athlete was sponsored by a food brand – grand slam champion Coco Gauff is sponsored by pasta maker Barilla – but this definitely takes the (cheese) cake.
Breaking news: Chinese swimmer accuses Chalmers of poolside snub
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Chinese swimmer and new Olympic champion Pan Zhanle has accused Australian Kyle Chalmers of a poolside snub and an American rival of splashing water on one of his coaches after breaking the men’s 100m freestyle world record in Paris.
Chalmers was excellent but no match for Pan, whose time of 46.4 seconds was a remarkable 0.4 second improvement on the world record he set at the world championships in February.
Minutes after his victory, Pan took part in an interview on Chinese television, which this masthead has obtained, and said he was motivated to beat Chalmers after what happened following the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay on the opening night of competition last week.
“On the first day, at the 4x100 relay, after we finished swimming I greeted Chalmers. He didn’t pay me any attention at all,” Pan told China Central Television.
“Including [Jack] Alexy from the American team – when we were training and our coaches were on the sides, the movements he made seemed like he was deliberately splashing water on the coaches. It just felt like he looked down on us. Can I say this?”
Read the full story from Tom Decent here.
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Follow the Dogg: Snoop susses out beach volleyball
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Djokovic hunting elusive gold medal
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With Paris heading off to sleep, now’s a good time to catch you up on some more non-Aussie news.
In the tennis, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic reached the Olympic singles quarter-finals for a record fourth time by beating Germany’s Dominic Koepfer 7-5, 6-3.
For all his 24 grand slam titles and countless other accolades, Djokovic has never managed to win an Olympic gold medal, with a bronze from the 2008 Games in Beijing the only Olympic souvenir he has.
Paris is most likely the last opportunity for the 37-year-old to fill the only unoccupied space in his bulging trophy cabinet and so far, everything is going to plan – he’s yet to drop a set in three matches.
Djokovic is due to face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next round. The Greek star beat Argentina’s Sebastian Baez on Wednesday.
Reuters
Marta sent off in match against Spain
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Marta was sent off after being red carded in Brazil’s Olympic group finale against Spain on Wednesday.
The legendary Brazilian captain walked off the field in Bordeaux in tears after she was shown the straight red for a tackle on Spain’s Olga Carmona in first-half stoppage time.
Marta, a six-time women’s world player of the year, is playing in her sixth Olympics. The 38-year-old star has said this will be her last major tournament with the national women’s soccer team.
Brazil advanced to the quarter-finals despite the 2-0 loss to Spain, and will play France in Nantes on Saturday.
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Who gets to be a millionaire?
By James Polson
What’s a gold medal worth in Paris? Beyond eternal glory, of course.
Our good mates at Forbes have run the numbers, and it’s Hong Kong in front by the length of the Sha Tin straight, offering an eye-watering US $768,000 ($1.17m) per gold medal.
Fencers Cheung Ka Long and Vivian Kong have cashed in on that to date. Jess Fox and Mollie O’Callaghan’s double gold hauls are worth $26,000 apiece; the AOC’s $13,000 cheque at the bottom of the 33 federations confirmed to be handing out cash bonuses in Paris.
The US offers $37,500, while rounding out the podium with Hong Kong are Israel ($275,000) and Serbia ($218,000) ... that would be the smallest payday Novak Djokovic has had in a while (if he wins).
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