On Day 13 of Tokyo 2020 we have four of our team sports in knockout action as they all compete for a medal of some sort.
Headlining the day, the Kookaburras go for gold against European powerhouse Belgium. The two sides are ranked one and two in the world respectively. In Basketball, the Boomers take on Team USA in the highly anticipated matchup, and the prize is a place in the gold medal match. Also against Team USA, the Matildas play for a bronze medal and completing the team sport action for the day, Beach Volleyball duo Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy take on Latvia for a place in the final.
In Diving, Melissa Wu dives for gold at her fourth Olympics, our kayakers race for gold at Sea Forrest Waterway and Modern Pentathlon gets underway with Marina Carrier and Ed Fernon in the Fencing Ranking Round.
Highlights
- Boomers vs. the Dream Team
- Mellissa Wu dives for gold
- Kookaburras in gold medal match
- Kayaks race for gold at Sea Forrest Waterway
- Matildas play the USA for the bronze
- Plenty of athletics action. Ash Moloney starts the final day of decathlon in second, medals decided in men’s 20km walk, 1500m men’s semis and women’s high jump qualifying
- Australia in semi-final beach volleyball clash
- Modern Pentathlon gets underway with Marina Carrier and Ed Fernon in the Fencing Ranking Round
Athletics
The premier Olympic sport turns it up a notch on Thursday 5 August, with race walking competition starting in Sapporo and the track and field action gets even hotter at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. There will be 12 Aussies in action, including the women’s 4x400m relay team.
The Australians are in the thick of the action for the final day of the decathlon, with the youngest man in the field Ash Moloney sitting second after the first five events. The decathlon continues Thursday at 10:00am AEST. Watch for Australia’s two greatest women in high jump history compete for a spot in the final during the morning session. Two young 20km walkers on debut race from 4.30pm AEST and in the evening session from 8.15pm two Aussie men will battle out the 1500m semis chasing a coveted spot in the final on Saturday, and the women’s 4x400m relay team contest their heats.
Basketball
The Boomers take on the Dream Team. It’s a grudge match for Australia on Thursday afternoon as they meet the United States at Saitama Super Arena for the chance to play in the gold medal game. The United States have defeated the Australians in each of the eight matchups in Olympic history, most recently 88-98 in Rio. However, in a Las Vegas exhibition game in July, the Aussies downed the red, white, and blue 91-83. If they can recapture that form, they will join the Soviet Union and Argentina as one of only three nations to deny the United States an Olympic gold medal. Action begins at 2:15pm AEST, you won’t want to miss this.
Beach Volleyball
Our Aussies are set for their semi-final clash with Latvia on Thursday for a potential berth through to the gold medal match. The pair are the first Australian volleyballers to reach an Olympic semi-final since both women's and men's pairs of Nat Cook and Nicole Sanderson and Julien Prosser and Mark Williams finished fourth in Athens 2004. Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar will aim to become the first Australian medallists since Cook and Kerri Pottharst's iconic Sydney 2000 victory. The match begins a 11am AEST.
Canoe Sprint
The Australians will be shooting for gold at Sea Forest Waterway on Thursday across two events in Canoe Sprint. Alyce Wood and Alyssa Bull will be lining up in the Women’s Kayak Single 500m for a spot in the A final, but here’s the catch, they are both in the same semi-final and only the top two will progress. It’s a similar story in the Men’s Kayak Double 1000m with two Australian duos in action in the same semi-final. The top four teams in that race will progress to the gold medal race. Action beings for the Australians at 11:15am AEST.
Cycling Track
Another thrilling day of action in the heat of the Izu Velodrome saw the Men’s Team Pursuit quartet earn a hard-fought bronze medal, in a race against time. Thursday will see two Australian athletes across two events on the track. Sam Welsford will battle it out in the Men’s Omnium from approximately 1630 AEST and Kaarle McCulloch will headline in the Women’s Keirin from approximately 1706 AEST.
Diving
Melissa Wu dives into action in the Women’s 10m Platform semi-final looking to book her ticket in the final on Thursday afternoon. The Australian was fourth in the preliminary closely behind divers from the United States and China. Wu will be fighting for an elusive individual medal in the event where she has placed sixth, fourth, and fifth at the previous three Olympic Games. The Women’s 10m Platform semi-final is scheduled for 11:00am AEST with the final following at 4:00pm.
Football
The Matildas are into the bronze medal game and face a familiar foe from the Tokyo 2020 tournament, the United States. The Australians faced the former world champions in their third game of Group play where after a tense 90 minutes neither team was able to capitalise and score a goal. The Australians most recently fell to Sweden 1-0 on Monday night with the Americans fresh off a loss to rivals Canada. Kick-off is scheduled for 6:00pm AEST.
Golf
Our golfers step up for the second round of the Women’s tournament at Kasumigaseki Country Club. The Australians Minjee Lee and Hannah Green are both sitting tied for 23rd on equal par after the first round on Wednesday. Leading the field with five under par is Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden followed by the United States’ Nelly Korda and India’s Aditi Ashok both on four under. Tee off is set for 8:30pm AEST.
Hockey
The Kookaburras face Belgium for a position at the top of the Olympic podium in the gold medal match. Australia and Belgium have met 42 times previously with the Kookaburras notching 30 wins, seven draws and five losses. The Kookaburras will need to be at their best at both ends of the pitch if they are to prevail. They go into the Olympic Final with every reason to believe they can. The gold medal match is set for an 8:00pm AEST start.
Marathon Swimming
After qualifying just a few months ago, Kai Edwards will contest the men’s 10km marathon swimming event. Australia’s sole competitor, Edwards will be looking to mirror and potentially better Kareena Lee’s bronze medal performance in the women’s event yesterday. The 2021 Australian Open Water champion will put it all on the line, pushing through gruelling pain and warm water conditions as he battles Rio Olympic champion Ferry Weertman (Netherlands) and current world champion Florian Wellbrock (Germany) who hopes to become the first marathon swimmer to win an Olympic medal as world champion. The racing starts bright and early at 7:30am AEST.
Modern Pentathlon
Marina Carrier on Olympic debut and Ed Fernon at his second Games, get their Tokyo 2020 campaigns underway on Thursday at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza with the Fencing Ranking Round. The Women’s event commences at 2pm AEST and the Men at 5.30pm.
Each athlete will have a one-touch fencing bout against their 35 competitors, their points and ranking through to their main competition day where all five disciplines are contested. The Women’s Individual competition will be held on Friday and the Men on Saturday.
This is the first international competition for the Australian athletes since the qualification event in Wuhan, China in November 2019.
Skateboarding
Keegan Palmer and Kieran Woolley will lead Australia’s charge in the men’s Park skateboarding competition, which makes its Olympics debut at Ariake Urban Sports Park on Thursday. Woolley has been drawn in Heat 3 while Palmer, ranked in the top 10 in the world, has been drawn in Heat 4. The men’s preliminary heats start at 10am AEST with the top eight qualifiers progressing to the Final starting at 1.30pm AEST.
Water Polo
Following their 9-8 loss to the Russian Olympic Committee, the Stingers are no longer vying for medals. Nevertheless, the Australians will be back in the water looking to climb the overall rankings from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. At 9:20pm AEST, the Australians clash with Canada in an effort to punch their ticket to the 5th place classification game. Australia has already faced Canada in the Group stage coming out on top 8-5. The winner of this game will take on either China or the Netherlands on Saturday.
Matthew Barnard & Andrew Reid
