A staggering hour of athletics at the Stade de France was sealed by a smile and tears of joy from Busselton-born pole vaulter Nina Kennedy.
A staggering hour of athletics at the Stade de France was sealed by a smile and tears of joy from Busselton-born pole vaulter Nina Kennedy.
Kennedy won gold in the women’s pole vault final, setting a season best mark of 4.90m.
Her victory and celebrations all were but assured following American Katie Moon’s second unsuccessful attempt at 4.95m, in a bid to leapfrog her.
The only blots on her copybook throughout the entire final was an initial attempt of 4.70m and a shot at 4.95m, which would have set a new Australian record. Aside from this, she was flawless.
With victory, the 27-year-old ensured Australia created history, winning an 18th gold medal at an Olympic Games for the first time.
This was coupled by four gold and two bronze medals, which is the country’s most successful day to date at Olympic level.
Although born in Busselton, Kennedy moved to Perth at an early age. Earlier this year, she was recognised as South West sports star of the year in Bunbury.
In the men’s discus final, two new Olympic records were set in as many minutes.
With his second throw, Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna produced a stunning 69.97m effort, as his father Virgilijus looked on from above in the grandstand.
What made this even more significant was that the Olympic mark Alekna broke, 69.89m, was set by his dad at Athens 2004, when Alekna was a toddler.
A short time later, Jamaica’s Roje Stona left everyone looking on in awe, throwing 70m with his fourth attempt, which ensured he took home gold ahead of the Lithuanian.
Austalia’s Matthew Denny secured bronze courtesy of his 69.31m throw early in the competition.
There was also high drama and a touch of sadness in the men’s 3000m steeplechase final, which was won by champion Moroccan, Soufiane El Bakkali.
El Bakkali, 28, became the first male athlete since 1932 to successfully defend a men’s 3000m steeplechase title.
It was anything but easy for the Moroccan, who at times appeared under pressure due to the congested field.
As the field got the ball, El Bakkali exited the moving line and peeled out wide, hot on the heels of American Kenneth Rooks, who shocked everyone by bursting clear towards the back straight.
Another man in the thick of the action was Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girma, the world record holder, who was desperate to snap a frustrating run of silver-placed finishes at both Olympic and world championship level.
Midway down the back straight, El Bakkali and Girma broke clear of Rooks and engaged in a fearsome sprint, as a barrier loomed in the distance.
Cruelly for the 23-year-old Ethiopian, his knee appeared to get caught on the barrier mid-jump.
He subsequently stumbled, fell, hit the track hard and appeared unconscious for several minutes, before being carried off on a stretcher.
In the dying seconds, El Bakkali lifted and saw off a spirited Rooks in 8min:06sec.05, while Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot ran third.
Overall Medal tally (Thursday, 6am WST)
The US (27 gold, 35 silver and 32 bronze) leads the medal tally, with China (25 gold, 23 silver and 17 bronze) in second. Australia (18 gold, 12 silver and 11 bronze) is in third.
Athletics – Fast-finishing American Quincy Hall won the men’s 400m final, after ambushing Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith with less than 30m left.
It was a phenomenal effort from the 26-year-old, who appeared to be out on his feet halfway down the home straight.
Elsewhere, Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser qualified fastest for the women’s 400m final, while Australian Connor Murphy also made the cut for the men’s triple jump final.
Basketball – The Opals will take on the all-conquering US in one of two women’s semifinals, after easily beating Serbia 85-67 on Wednesday night at the Bercy Arena in Paris.
Aside from making the most of their opportunities offensively, the Opals sunk 22 of their 25 attempts (88 per cent) from the free-throw line.
Alanna Smith (22 points – 7/12 from the field, 0/1 from beyond the arc, 8/9 from the free throw line, 13 rebounds) finished with a double-double, while Jade Melbourne and Steph Talbot also impressed.
The US, which shot 28/40 (70 per cent) inside the paint, didn’t have things entirely their own way during their 88-74 quarter final triumph over Nigeria – a team which has been one of the tournament’s feel-good stories.
Australia takes on the US, unbeaten since 1992, at 11.30pm WST on Friday night.
In the other women’s semifinal, scheduled for Saturday morning at 3am WST, France entertains Belgium.
Cycling – The Australian quartet of Conor Leahy, Kelland O’Brien, Oliver Bleddyn and Sam Welsford won gold in the men’s team pursuit, edging out Great Britain in a thrilling finale. Their winning time was 3min:42.067.
Hockey – Despite dropping three pool matches in the women’s competition and narrowly reaching the quarter finals, China has proved once again that once the business end of a sporting tournament begins, anything is possible.
At a packed Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, the Chinese defeated Belgium 3-2 in a shoot-out, after the match had finished 1-all after regulation.
On Saturday at 2am, the Chinese will now dare to dream that women’s hockey gold could be potentially theirs.
The Netherlands predictably sailed through comfortably in the other semifinal, defeating Argentina 3-0, with all three goals inside the opening 35 minutes.
Sailing – Perth's Matt Wearn claimed line honours in the men’s dinghy medal race, while Pavlos Kontides of Cyprus and Peru’s Stefano Peschiera finished with silver and bronze respectively.
Skateboarding – Keegan Palmer’s remarkable run at the Olympics, with the 21-year-old now a two-time gold medalist.
Palmer, who was born in the US but spent his childhood on the Gold Coast, scored 93.11 in his first run during the men’s park final, which was enough to keep American Tom Shaar (92.23) and Brazil’s Augusto Akio (91.85) at bay.
Water polo – Marko Vavic broke green and gold hearts, with his penalty shot ensuring the US defeated Australia 11-10 in their men’s quarter final, after the match ended 7-all at the end of normal time.
Australian duo Milos Maksimovic and Chaz Poot had their penalty shots saved by American goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg.
