The Opals lock up Olympic qualification, Matildas move closer to Tokyo, track and field athletes claim national titles and Deer Valley delight for Aussie skiers headline this weekend in Aussie Olympic sport.
Basketball: Opals locked in for Tokyo
The Opals booked their place in Tokyo with a resounding 86-72 win over Brazil in their final game of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Bourges, France. After a 72-63 loss to France in Game 1 and 100-74 bounceback over Puerto Rico in Game 2, the team knew a victory against Brazil would guarantee a top-three pool finish and a Tokyo quota spot.
Liz Cambage led the way with 29 points, 7 rebounds and 5 blocks, with Leilani Mitchell adding 19 and Bec Allen 16. France and Puerto Rico join Australia to progress from this pool, with Brazil missing out on Tokyo 2020.
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Football: Matildas move closer to Tokyo
The Matildas opened their three-game Olympic Qualifying Tournament pool stage with a thumping 7-0 win over Chinese Taipei at Campbelltown on Friday.
The wet weather was no barrier to the high-scoring Matildas, with Caitlin Foord netting a hat-trick in the first half and Steph Catley, Hayley Raso, Sam Kerr and Katrina Gorry all finding the back of the net.
The Matildas take on Thailand Monday evening and China on Thursday, with the top two from this pool facing off against the top two from Pool A in March for a place at Tokyo 2020.
Find out more HERE
Winter Sport: Full podium set for Aussie winter athletes
Australian winter athletes had a successful weekend, with Scotty James securing snowboard gold in the Dew Tour in Copper Mountain, Jakara Anthony claiming moguls silver in Deer Valley and Abbey Willcox winning her first-ever World Cup medal, taking bronze in the aerials at Deer Valley.
James continued his unbeaten season, stretching it to 5 wins on the trot this season and an unbelievable 11 straight wins since 2018.
The Deer Valley World Cup under lights saw 21-year-old PyeongChang Olympian Jakara Anthony win her first FIS World Cup medal of the season, just 0.84 behind winner Justine Dufour-Lapointe of Canada.
23-year-old Abbey Willcox lay-full double back somersault in her first-ever super final to win her first World Cup medal and move her into sixth on the aerials season rankings.
Find out more HERE.
BMX Cycling: Olympic community thoughts with Kai Sakakibara
Aspiring Tokyo 2020 BMX hopeful Kai Sakakibara suffered an injury after a crash at the Bathurst UCI event on Saturday.
Kai fell on the second corner of the opening round at the Bathurst track and was treated onsite before being airlifted to Canberra Hospital by NSW Ambulance in a critical but stable condition.
"The hearts and minds of the Australian Olympic community are with Kai and his family," said Australian Olympic Team Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman.
Racing for the weekend was called off after the first round.
Athletics: Hull, McSweyn, Bird-Smith and Montag secure auto-nomination
Australia’s race walkers and middle-distance runners were vying for national championships in Adelaide and Melbourne respectively, with four athletes securing auto-nomination for Tokyo under Athletics Australia’s nomination policy.
Under the nomination criteria, athletes who have achieved the Tokyo 2020 qualifying standard and win the national championship will be auto-nominated for Tokyo selection.
At Thursday’s Melbourne Track Classic, Jessica Hull blitzed a loaded field to win the 5000m in 15.06.12 ahead of Rio Olympian Genevieve Gregson.
On the men’s side, Stewart McSweyn won in 13.38.77, securing the national title to go with his Tokyo 2020 qualifying time achieved in London in 2019.
Rio 2016 bronze medallist Dane Bird-Smith and Jemima Montag took out the men’s and women’s Oceania and Australian 20km Race Walking Championships in Adelaide.
With both Bird-Smith and Montag already achieving Tokyo 2020 qualifying times in 2019, the national titles has earned them auto-nomination.
Read about the 5000m championships HERE
Golf: Day in top five at Pebble Beach while Aussie trio tie for sixth in Vic Open
A trio of Australians finished tied at sixth in the Vic Open in Barwon Heads, with Minjee Lee, Su Oh and Robyn Choi finishing two shots off the lead. Lee, a former winner of the Vic Open, was on hand to see her brother Min Woo Lee take the men’s crown.
Jason Day finished fourth in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, his first top-five since the 2019 Masters.
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