The Australian Olympic Team is off to a flying start at Tokyo 2020 with fantastic results in multiple sports and a swag of medals in the pool, on the rowing course and road cycling. On Day 6 there will be another 12 sports where the green and gold are in action. And medals will be decided in three sports that Australians are competing in - Canoe Slalom, Shooting and Swimming - with so much to look forward to across the board.
Highlights include
- Jess Fox looking for a medal in the first Women’s C1 Canoe Slalom event at the Olympic Games
- Swimmers are in all five finals including defending champion Kyle Chalmers in the 100m Freestyle, fastest qualifier Izaac Stubblety-Cook in the 200m Breaststroke and Australia are clear favourites in the Women’s 4x200m Relay
- BMX Racing competition to start with three Australians
- Two Aussies in the first round of the Men’s Golf
- Women’s Rugby Sevens team start their Olympic title defence
- Plus the Hockeyroos and Sharks will look to continue their strong form in their pool games
More details on all 12 sports below
Archery
All four Australian archers will be in action in the Men’s and Women’s Individual events. The match-play pairings are based off the ranking round, before the Opening Ceremony, where the Aussies didn’t excel but all are capable of progressing deep into the draw. Australian action starts from 9.40am AEST
Canoe-Slalom
Following on from her bronze in the K1 Jess Fox was comfortable in the C1 qualification runs. Fox will contest the semi-final at 3.30pm AEST. The top 10 then progress to the Final at 5pm. The Australian is ranked no.1 coming into the Games and is looking for the gold in this next Olympic eventto complete the set (x1 Silver & x2 Bronze).
Cycling -BMX
The BMX racing commences on Day 6 with the three Australian riders having high hopes of progressing. Each rider competes against the same riders over three races. The top 4 on points from the six riders will progress to the semi-finals on Day 6.
Two-time Olympian and Rio finalist Anthony Dean is drawn in heat 4, with Saya Sakakibara and Lauren Reynolds drawn in heat 3 for the women. Sakakibara is making her Olympic debut while Reynolds is racing in her third Games. Action starts from 11am AEST.
Golf
Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith begin their Olympic campaigns at Kasumigaseki Country Club in northern Tokyo with the first of the four rounds of stroke play for the Tokyo 2020 Golf Tournament. Australian action starts from 9.40am AEST.
Hockey
The Hockeyroos are out to avenge their quarter final defeat by Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand at the Rio Olympics. And being beaten in the final of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games when they face off in their fourth Pool match in Tokyo on Thursday night.
The Australians have won all of their three matches so far in the Tournament. New Zealand have two wins and a shock loss to Spain. The action starts at 10.15pm AEST.
Rowing
There are four A finals but Australian crews will not be racing for the medals on Day 6. Sam Hardy and Joshua Hicks will be the first Australian crew on the water at Sea Forest Waterway in the Men’s Pair B Final. Jessica Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre will then race the Women’s Pair B Final. These crews will be aiming to win these races to finish the Games in 7th place overall. Australian action starts from 9.30am AEST.
Rugby Sevens
The Australian Women’s Sevens Team start their Olympic title defence with their opening Pool A match against host nation Japan, and then their second match is against China. These two matches on Day 6 shouldn’t cause a problem for the Aussies but they will be looking to build good form ahead of their final pool game against USA and the quarter finals on Day 6. The Aussies’ first game is at 11.30am AEST and the second at 6.30pm.
Sailing
After four days of racing many of the Australian boats are in strong podium positions. After six races, with four remaining and two on day 4, Matt Wearn is a close second in the Laser class. Two races await Mathew Belcher and Will Ryan in the 470 event on Day 6, where the Australians have the lead. Phillips brothers, Sam and Will, are third as they prepare to sail in races five and six in the 49er class. Australia is also competing in the women’s 470 and Nacra 17 Foiling class on Thursday. Sailing action commences at 1.00pm AEST.
Shooting
Australia has a proud history in the Trap event and Thursday is when we hope to feature in the Finals for Men and Women at Tokyo 2020.
After 75 qualification shots were completed on Day 4, competitors will get a further 50 (25x2) qualification shots to determine the top 6 to progress to the Final later in the day. Rio Olympian Laetisha Scanlan is in 5th place with 73 from 75 shots, while teammate Penny Smith is 6th with 72/75. In the men’s event James Willett is 15th with 72/75 and Thomas Grice is 24th (71/75). The men will need to shoot perfect rounds to push for the top 6.
Elena Galiabovitch will compete in the 25m Pistol (Rapid and Precision) Qualification. The top 8 athletes after the three rounds will shoot for the medals later on Day 5.
Qualification action starts for the Australians in both women’s events from 10.00am AEST.
Swimming
Australia will be represented in all of the five swimming finals on Day 6, with expectations high that more medals can be won. First up will be 400m silver medallist Jack McLoughlin in the 800m freestyle. The 26-year-old was sixth fastest into the final but could push for another medal, as the first medals in this event at the Olympic Games are decided.
Izaac Stubblety-Cook, 22, is the fastest qualifier in to the 200m Breaststroke final. Brianna Throssel looks set to improve on her 8th place from Rio when she races in the 200m Butterfly final here in Tokyo. Kyle Chalmers will then try to defending his 100m Freestyle title. We know it will be super quick and close. Can the Aussie upstage the world’s best again? The finals session will then conclude with the 4x200m Freestyle Relay. Australia easily qualified fastest and all heat swimmers are set to be replaced with the likes of Ariarne Titmus, Emma McKeon, Madi Wilson and potentially Cate Campbell all set to be added. Final action starts from 11.30am AEST.
And in the evening heats session the Mixed Medley Relay will be held for the first time at an Olympic Games.
Tennis
At the Ariake Tennis Centre Ash Barty and John Peers will play the quarter-final of the Mixed Doubles against the Greek no.2 seeds Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas. This match is third on Court 2, with the first match commencing at 4pm AEST.
Water Polo
After their superb win over Croatia to get their first win of Tokyo 2020 (following a loss to Montenegro) the Aussie Sharks will now take on Serbia. The reigning Olympic champions lost to Spain by one and had a big win over Kazakhstan from their games to date. Aussie Sharks action from 8.50pm AEST.
Andrew Reid
