Big opening day for Australia at Paris Games
THE AUSTRALIAN TEAM HAS MADE A FLYING START TO THE PARIS OLYMPICS, SITTING PROUDLY ATOP THE MEDALS TABLE AFTER DAY ONE
AUSTRALIAN MEDALLISTS
Gold
* Ariarne Titmus (swimming – women’s 400m freestyle) – The Terminator left great rivals Summer McIntosh and Katie Ledecky in her wake in a commanding title defence.
* Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay – The team of Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Emma McKeon and Meg Harris clinched Australia’s fourth-straight Olympic title in the event, winning in Games record time.
* Grace Brown (cycling – women’s time trial) – The 32-year-old Brown will head into retirement later this year with a gold medal draped around her neck after dominating the competition on the rain-sodden streets of central Paris.
Silver
Elijah Winnington (swimming – men’s 400m freestyle) – Germany’s Lukas Martens was a deserving winner, but no-one got as close to him as the fast-finishing Winnington.
Men’s 4x100m freestyle relay – A flying Kyle Chalmers hoisted the men’s squad also including Jack Cartwright, Flynn Southam and Kai Taylor to silver behind Team USA.
OTHER HEADLINE GOLD MEDALLISTS
* France (men’s rugby sevens) – Cheered on by a packed house at the Stade de France, Les Bleus became the first team ever to beat two-time defending champions Fiji at Olympic level.
* The honour of being the first gold medallists of the 2024 Games went to teenaged Chinese shooters Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao, who saluted in the mixed 10m air rifle.
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED
* With three gold medals and two silver, Australia finished day one on top of the medal table courtesy of the pool haul.
* Chris Burton, on board Shadow Man, is in the bronze medal position after the dressage section of the three-day event at Versailles with his Australian team lying eighth overall.
* Blake Govers scored the only goal on the stroke of halftime as the Kookaburras won their opener 1-0 over Argentina.
* The Stingers overcame a COVID-disrupted preparation to post a hard-fought 7-5 women’s water polo victory over China.
WHO SAID WHAT
* “I screamed underwater – I was hoping the under-water cam wasn’t on.” – Aussie synchro diver Anabelle Smith after butchering her final dive, ending the medal hopes for her and partner Maddison Keeney.
* “It’s a bit insane – these are Aussie legends … it’s hard to get your head around other people viewing little old me in the same way.” – Grace Brown on joining the elite Olympic champions’ club.
MEDALS TABLE (after day 1)
G S B Tot
1. Australia 3 2 0 5
2. China 2 0 1 3
3. United States 1 2 2 5
4. France 1 2 1 4
5. South Korea 1 1 1 3
GOLD MEDALS DECIDED ON DAY 1: 13
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