A stellar final leg from Ariarne Titmus ensured Australia set a new Olympic record in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay on Friday morning at a buzzing Paris La Defense Arena.
Australia’s victory in 7min:38.08 snapped China’s recent run of dominance in the event, which claimed bronze behind a Kate Ledeky-inspired US.
With only American teenager Erin Gemmell for company, the 23-year-old sprinted clear in the final 100m of her swim.
While Titmus surged home in style, her relay teammates Mollie O’Callaghan, Lani Pallister and Brianna Throssell also delivered on the biggest stage of all.
The win would likely have been satisfying for 22-year-old Pallister, who earlier in the week elected to withdraw from the women’s 1500m freestyle after testing positive for COVID-19.
Instead of pushing through the pain barrier, Pallister returned to the Olympic village and self-isolated at the athletes’ village in a bid to freshen up for this morning’s showpiece event.
Prior to another unforgettable evening in the pool, the world’s gaze was firmly locked on American gymnastics sensation Simone Biles, who once again showcased the full range of her talent.
Biles won the artistic gymnastics all-round final, becoming the first American gymnast to win the discipline twice.
The 27-year-old has now won nine Olympic gold medals throughout her career to date.
Overall Medal tally (Friday, 6am WST)
China (11 gold, seven silver and six bronze) leads the medal table, with the US (nine gold, 15 silver and 13 bronze) in second.
Australia is in fourth – with eight gold, six silver and four bronze.
Athletics – Jemima Montag became only the second Australian female racewalker to secure a medal in the women’s 20km walk, after securing bronze on Thursday evening.
Such was the stifling heat, officials elected to delay the start of the event.
A Victorian, Montag, who entered the race with plenty of momentum following four years of sustained success at international level, joined Yang Jiayu (gold) and Spain’s Maria Perez (silver) on the podium post-race.
Basketball – Stung from their 75-62 opening loss against Nigeria earlier this week, Australia got their women’s basketball campaign back on track against Canada on Thursday night.
The Opals held off the fast-finishing Canadians 70-65 in Lille, with Sami Whitcomb (19 points, 5/7 field goals, 2/3 from beyond the arc, five rebounds, 10 assists) leading from the front for her side.
Whitcomb, who has been playing for the Rockingham Flames at NBL1 West level during winter, provided plenty of hustle at both ends of the floor – with her maturity and experience invaluable during the second half when the Opals began to break the game open.
Another player to shine was forward Cayla George, who made the most of her 19 minutes off the bench.
On a night where both sides struggled with outside shooting, George nailed three of her four attempts from three-point land, finishing with 11 points before fouling out.
Overall, the Opals played a positive brand of basketball.
They forced the Canadians into tough offensive looks, with this defensive pressure translating into a tough night for their rivals inside the paint, shooting 14/45 (31 per cent) overall.
The Opals play France on Monday morning at 3am, which is their final match in Group B. Should they win this game, a spot in the quarter finals will likely await.
3x3 Basketball – Australia’s women’s team, dubbed the ‘Gangurrus’, are riding high with three wins from their opening four games – including scalps on Thursday night against China 21-15 and the US, 17-15.
The Gangurrus are on top of the standings, while the Americans are on the bottom, with a 1-3 record.
Fencing – The US (comprised of Lee Kiefer, Lauren Scruggs, Jacquelin Dubrovich and Maia Mei) won gold in the women’s team foil event at the Grand Palais, after edging out Italy 45-39. Japan won bronze, pipping Canada 33-32.
Hockey – Australia has advanced to the men’s quarter finals, after the Kookaburras defeated New Zealand 5-0 on Thursday night.
In-form marksman Blake Govers scored a hattrick against the ‘Black Sticks’, while Tom Wickham also impressed.
Early risers got more than they bargained for during the Hockeyroos-Argentina clash at the Yves du Manoir Stadium, with Mariah Williams snatching a dramatic equaliser in the 3-all draw, after Australia initially fell 2-0 down inside the opening 10 minutes.
The Hockeyroos play their final Pool B match against Spain on Saturday.
Swimming – Hungary won its first men’s Olympic 200m backstroke final in 44 years, following a scintillating effort by Hubert Kos.
Apostolos Christou, who won silver, also secured Greece’s inaugural Olympic swimming medal.
Records were also set in the women’s 200m butterfly final, with 17-year-old Summer McIntosh announcing herself to the world.
The Canadian, who settled into a groove during the middle part of the race, not only set a new Olympic record of 2:03.03, but in doing so, also set a new world junior Olympic mark.
Australia’s Elizabeth Dekkers fought hard throughout, finishing fourth.
Heading into the women’s 200m breastroke final, it appeared to be a race of three between South Africa’s Tatyana Smith, Kate Douglass of the US and Tes Schouten from the Netherlands.
Sure enough, all three were separated by less than half a second with less than 75m left in the race.
Douglass found an extra gear in her final lap and appeared to be cruising to victory, before Smith surged home to give her an almighty fright.
Despite the late pressure, Douglass’ time of 2min:19.24 is a new American record.
Schouten came home in third.
Looking ahead to Saturday morning, Australia’s Kaylee McKeown has qualified second overall for the women’s 200m backstroke final, while Cameron McEvoy and Great Britain’s Ben Proud tied as top qualifiers for the men’s 50m freestyle final.
Tennis – Serbian ace Novak Djokovic is one step closer to something which has eluded him throughout his career so far – an Olympic gold medal.
Djokovic, 37, shrugged off a nagging problem in his right knee, defeating Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6 (3).
