An outpouring of raw emotion – both happiness and sadness – prevailed across several venues at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games on Wednesday morning.
At a jam-packed Stade de France, Australia’s women’s rugby sevens team left the field heartbroken, after being defeated 14-12 by the US in the bronze medal match.
Still stung from their 21-12 semifinal defeat against Canada a few hours earlier, the Australians looked to have done enough, following a try to Maddison Levi with less than 90 seconds left to play.
Needing to travel 85m to tie the game, US jet Alex Sedrick broke a tackle in the shadows of her own goalposts and raced clear to cross under the posts at the other end as time expired.
While the Australians players fell to the turf and pondered the agony of defeat, the American players and their coach Emilie Bydwell – the only female rugby sevens coach at the tournament – came to terms with the fact following Sedrick’s converted try that they had achieved something which no other US women’s rugby sevens team had ever done previously.
Meanwhile at the at the Paris La Defense Arena, swimming success continued for Australia and several prominent European nations.
In the women’s 100m backstroke final, 23-year-old Kaylee McKeown stormed home in the final 25 metres to win gold for Australia, outlasting American duo Regan Smith and Katharine Berkoff and setting a new Olympic record, 57.33 seconds, in the process.
While her speed played an integral part, McKeown’s lunge for the wall to grab victory was equally significant, given how close her rivals were.
Winning bronze was also clearly a special moment for Berkoff, also 23, given her father David is a four-time Olympic swimming medalist.
Team Ireland also has a new hero, with Daniel Wiffen claiming gold in the men’s 800 metre final.
In doing so, Wiffen, who has also represented Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games, became the first male Irish swimmer to win a medal of any colour at an Olympic Games.
From the outset, this final was absorbing.
Australia’s Elijah Winnington set the pace early from lane six – although by the halfway mark, it appeared to be a race of three between Wiffen, Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri and US talent Bobby Finke.
With Paltrinieri in his sights at the home turn, Wiffen lifted his intensity in the dying seconds to not only win but also set a new Olympic record of 7min:38sec.19.
Mollie O’Callaghan also continued her good form, qualifying for the women’s 100m freestyle final on Thursday morning, around 2.30am WST, in lane three alongside compatriot Shayna Jack.
Other Australian swimmers to keep an eye on are Zac Stubblety-Cook and Joshua Yong, who will both participate in the men’s 200m breastroke final, which is scheduled around 4.30am.
In the 4x200m men’s freestyle relay final, Australian quartet Flynn Southam, Thomas Neill, Max Giuliani and Elijah Winnington finished with bronze behind Great Britain and the US.
American gymnast Simone Biles also added to her incredible legacy, after securing her eighth medal at an Olympic Games.
Biles acquired her fifth gold medal after playing an integral part in the US claiming victory in the women’s team gymnastics final.
Overall Medal tally (Wednesday, 6am WST)
Japan (seven gold, two silver and four bronze) leads the medal table, with China in second.
Australia is in third – with six gold, four silver and one bronze.
Basketball
Australia will need to defeat Greece on Friday evening at 7.30pm WST in order to push for a spot in the men’s quarter finals, after falling 93-83 to Canada on Tuesday night.
Football
All men’s pool matches were completed, with the biggest upset in Pool C, with Egypt upsetting Spain 2-1.
The following quarter final match ups have been confirmed and will be held over Friday night and Saturday morning at various famous football venues across France: Morocco v US, Japan v Spain, Egypt v Paraguay and France v Argentina.
Hockey
It was a tough outing for Australia’s men’s team, the Kookaburras, who fell 6-2 to tournament favourites Belgium at Yves du Manoir Stadium.
Tom Boon scored a hattrick for the victors, who are aiming to defend their Tokyo 2020 title.
The loss means the Kookaburras sit third in Pool B, with added importance now in terms of their next clash against New Zealand on Thursday.
Rugby Sevens
Although they withstood an incredible defensive display from Canada in the women’s rugby sevens gold medal match, ultimately New Zealand’s class once again rose to the surface.
Leading by two points with only a few minutes left and camped in Canadian territory, the ‘Black Ferns Sevens’ were inspired by co-captain Sarah Hirini, who broke through Canada’s defensive rearguard.
This attack eventually resulted in the pacy Stacey Waaka being fed a teasing pass out wide – with her try ensuring the team could conduct a celebratory post-game haka.
Shooting
Nathan Hales took out the men’s trap shooting final for Great Britain and also set a new Olympic record, hitting 48 shots out of 50.
Qi Ying finished with silver for China, while Australia’s James Willett came sixth.
