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Sydney 2000 Relived: Day 12, 27 September 2000

 

Sydney 2000 Relived: Day 12, 27 September 2000

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Lauren Burns

In the 1960’s, pop singer Ronnie Burns was a household name and his hit song “Smiley” surged to number two on the Australia music charts.

At these Games, his daughter Lauren entered the pantheon of Australian Olympic greats and was all smiles herself after winning the first ever women’s under 49kg taekwondo gold medal.


In a stunning display, Burns defeated world champion Shun-Ju Chi of Taiwan in the second round of competition, when awarded the bout on superiority after the scores were 3-all at the end of the match. She then powered on to eclipse Denmark’s junior world champion, Hanne Hoegh Poulsen, 1-0 in the semi-final.

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WATCH / Lauren Burns wins gold at Sydney 2000

In the gold medal match against Cuba’s Urbia Melendez Rodriguez, and with Prime Minister John Howard and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger watching, Burns led 1-0 early but trailed 2-1 before rallying to score a decisive 4-2 victory.

Lauren Burns of Australia and Urbia Melendez Rodriguez of Cuba in action during the Women's 49kg Taekwondo Final
IMAGE / Lauren Burns of Australia and Urbia Melendez Rodriguez of Cuba in action during the Women's 49kg Taekwondo Final

“Every fight I had was hard, but I loved it out there. The first couple were a bit closer than the last one, but I just had it in my heart to go out there with everything that I had,” said Burns.

“The crowd really helped lift me up. The size and energy really helped me throughout the entire contest,” she added.

The gold medal was a dream come true for Burns who was part of the Australian taekwondo team that participated as a demonstration event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Lauren Burns of Australia celebrates gold in the Womens 49kg Taekwondo
IMAGE / Lauren Burns of Australia celebrates gold in the Womens 49kg Taekwondo

While it was a fairy tale gold medal for Burns, there was no such fairy tale end to a glorious tennis doubles career for the “Woodies”, Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge, when they were unable to successfully defend their Olympic doubles gold medal.

Playing the gold medal match against Canada’s Daniel Nestor and Sebastien Lareau, the Woodies lost in four sets 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 and left the sport with the silver medal having won 11 Grand Slam and 61 doubles titles in a career spanning just over 10 years.

Tennis Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge of Australia
IMAGE / Tennis Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge of Australia

“I’m a little numb at the moment because this is a big moment for both of us,” said Woodforde. “It’s hard to keep up with the young guys because all they want to do is kick your butt.”

Woodbridge said; “We didn’t win the last one that we wanted, but to be at the court today with our home crowd, that was what I really wanted. I didn’t want us to finish in a little tournament in some small city around the world.”

Tennis Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge of Australia
IMAGE / Tennis Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge of Australia

Elsewhere, great medal progress was made with the women’s basketball team and in the men’s K2 500 kayak heats.

The women’s basketball team qualified for the semi-finals with a comprehensive 76-48 quarter final win over Poland with Lauren Jackson (17 points) and Jenny Whittle (16) dominating the scoring.

Basketball Michelle Timms
IMAGE / Basketball Michelle Timms

At Penrith, Andrew Trim and Daniel Collins paddled to second place in the K2 500 heats to qualify for the semi-finals.

In equestrian, the dressage team finished sixth – Australia’s best-ever event result, behind gold medallist, Germany.

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