TEAM: Day one of the London 2012 Olympic Games will see Australian athletes competing across 16 disciplines. The countdown is over and it is time to take on the best athletes in the world over 16 days of intense competition as London hosts the Games for a record third time.
TEAM: Day one of the London 2012 Olympic Games will see Australian athletes competing across 16 disciplines. The countdown is over and it is time to take on the best athletes in the world over 16 days of intense competition as London hosts the Games for a record third time.
For Australia to reach the target of top five of total and gold medals the Team is likely to need at least 45 medals and getting off to a good start will set the tone for the entire campaign.
Swimming
In the pool Stephanie Rice in the 400m individual medley and the women’s 4x 100m freestyle relay hold the biggest hopes and pressure on day one from the four finals.
Head coach Leigh Nugent knows Rice ‘will fight to the death’ to defend her Beijing title and her incredible ability to lift in big races will hopefully be enough after an injury affected preparation. She is fourth fastest in the world in 2012 and won bronze at the world championships in 2011.
Melanie Schlanger, Cate Campbell and Alicia Coutts are expected to swim the final of the relay with Trickett hoping another four months of hard training since the trials will see her impress in the heats over Yolane Kukla and Britany Elmslie. They will need someone to provide the X-factor to match the fancied Dutch and US Teams.
Nugent believes youngster Thomas Fraser-Holmes is a "smokey" for the bronze medal in the 400m individual medley behind US superstars Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte.
Coutts will begin her campaign in the 100m butterfly heats and semis, with Brenton Rickard and Christian Sprenger beginning their campaign in the 100m breaststroke.
Cycling – Road: The men’s cycling road race starting and finishing at The Mall in Central London will be a 250km test to see if Cadel Evans, Stuart O’Grady, Matt Goss, Michael Rogers and Simon Gerrans have the legs and team tactics to match the highly fancied British riders including Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggin and sprint sensation Mark Cavendish.
This could be the first head-to-head clash in the Olympic Ashes contest with a sprint finish between Goss and Cavendish a real possibility. But with 144 riders and the nature of the sport it is super hard to predict. Preview>>>
Rowing: At Eton Dorney nine Australian crews will race their rowing heats with another opportunity to get the Team off to a solid start with the powerful British crews looking to do the same. Preview>>>
Equestrian – Eventing: The Australian eventing team has had a horror week with injured horses ruling out Shane Rose and then Megan Jones. On Saturday at Greenwich the first of two dressage days get underway. Preview>>>
Shooting: The first Olympic Champion of London 2012 will be known by lunchtime on Saturday in the 10m air pistol shooting event. Beijing Olympian Robyn Van Nus returns and teenage star Alethea Sedgman. Three-time Olympian Daniel Repacholi will also be looking for an upset in the men’s event later on Saturday. Preview>>>
Gymnastics – Artistic: Josh Jefferis on his Olympic debut will contest the All-Around qualification targeting clean routines and qualification for the 24-man final later in the week. Preview>>>
Basketball: Late in the evening on Saturday, flagbearer Lauren Jackson will get down to business against Great Britain. The Opals will like to finish the day for Australia with a solid win over their rivals coached by former Australian head coach Tom Maher. Preview>>>
Beach Volleyball: At 11pm at Horse Guards Parade Natalie Cook and Tamsin Hinchley have their first pool game against the defending champions from 2004 and 2008 Misty May-Trenoar and Kerri Walsh. Preview>>>
Australians will also be in action for Badminton (Preview>>>), Boxing (Preview>>>), Judo, Table Tennis (Preview>>>) and Tennis (Preview>>>).
Hopes are high for a strong start to the Games from the 2012 Australian Olympic Team.
Andrew Reid in London
olympics.com.au