Kai Edwards books ticket to Tokyo in qualifying event in Portugal

Kai Edwards of the TSS Aquatics Swim Club on the Gold Coast has achieved the Olympic qualifying standard after a fifth place finish at the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier event in Portugal over the weekend. The Sado River in Setubal hosted a 10km open water swim for a field 50 men and women, 

The twenty-two year old finished with a time of 2:02:17.30, battling rough waves to qualify for his first Olympic Games, where he will compete at the 10km open water course at Odaiba Marine Park, 10 minutes from the Athlete's Village. 

The Men's Marathon Swimming Final will take place on Day 13 of the Games, where it will be held for the fourth time since it's introduction to the programme at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.Edwards’ fellow Dolphins teammate Kareena Lee was selected for the women’s marathon swimming spot back in Octboer 2019. 

Aussies break record and qualify for Tokyo

Mid-distance runner Jeff Riseley has qualified for his fourth Olympic Games after crossing the finish line at the end of the 800m race with a lightning 1:44.85. 

He was well under the Olympic qualifying time of 1:44.20, where he clinched a seventh place finish at the European Athletics Team Championships in Chorzow, Poland. 

Catriona Bisset also stunned in Poland, setting a new national record in the 800m event. Bisset, who has already been selected on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Team back in April, shaved a massive 0.69 seconds off the Australian record. She finished second in the race with a time of 1:58.09, which now sits as the fourth fastest time this year. 

The 26 year old will make her debut at the Olympics where she will race at the newly rebuilt Olympic Stadium, which will also host the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the Games, as well as athletics and soccer matches.

Victorian-born high jumper Eleanor Patterson also had a fairytale weekend in Chorzow, producing a second personal best after coming back from injury. Patterson, twenty-five, jumped 1.96m, her second best results, behind her PB jump from New Zealand 16 months prior.

Her performance pre-COVID-19 lockdowns produced a PB 1.99m, a new Australia and Oceania Record in Wellington, which has since been bettered by one-centimetre by her teammate Nicola McDermott at the Australian Nationals in March. Patterson achieved the qualifying requirements last year at a competition in Canberra. The Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Rio 2016 Olympian searches for a second Olympic appearance in Tokyo next month. 

Jye Edwards, who trains under Dick Telford in Canberra remains unbeaten, posting a time of 3:34.31 in the 1500m event at Decines-Charpieu, France. Team mate Rorey Hunter also ran a strong race, finishing in third with a personal best time of 3:36.42.

Townsville Festival of Athletics

Townsville hosted the Festival of Athletics over the weekend, with athletes taking to the track and field to make their last bids for a highly-coveted spot on the Australian Olympic Team.

High jumper Nicola McDermott secured another Olympic qualifier, clearing 1.98m to pass the Olympic qualifying height of 1.96m. McDermott has already been named to the Olympic Team for Tokyo.

Sprinter Riley Day clocked a lightning quick time of 23.11 seconds in the 200m event as she prepares to make her Olympic debut in the Japanese capital.

Decathletes Daniel Golubovic and Alec Diamond posted scores of 8223 and 8000. They now sit at 56 and 78 in the World Athletics Men’s Decathlon rankings, and fifth and ninth in the list of top ten Australians all-time in Decathlon.

Gold for Fox in Germany

Two-time Olympian Jessica Fox has strengthened her slalom campaign coming into Tokyo, taking out gold in the women's K1 on the second day of the 2021 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup #2, held in Markkleeberg, Germany. Fox was penalised for a gate touch at the start of the race, but that didn't stop her in her hunt for gold, as she performed flawlessly in the rest of her navigation on the water.

This win comes off another red-hot weekend, where she won the C1 and took out bronze in the K1 at the World Cup in Prague last weekend. She is in strong form as she prepares for her third Olympic appearance next month. 

Australian men into final of the AVC Continental Cup

The Australian Men’s Beach Volleyball teams have progressed through to the final of the AVC Continental Cup in Thailand over the weekend. Decisive wins over the Philippines and Japan will see the teams advance to the finals, to be held on June 24-27, with Tokyo 2020 qualifying spots up for grabs. This is the first Continental Cup to be held since lockdowns, with the last being held just weeks before the world went into lockdown.

Australia is represented by pairs Damien Schumann and Chris McHugh who brought home Commonwealth Gold in 2018, as well as Zac Schubert and Maximilian Ghuehrer. TheAussie teams were the only ones to have not dropped a match throughout the tournament. 

Olympic debutants take on the Surf Ranch Pro

WSL-circuit veterans and selected Tokyo 2020 athletes Owen Wright and Sally Fitzgibbons were in action over the weekend at the WSL Surf Ranch Pro in Lemoore, California. The event is unique from other tour events, with surfers taking on a mechanically engineered wave that provides competitors the same working base. 

Owen Wright faced tough competitors, producing a strong performance that was just shy of qualification for the semifinal. He finished in 10th place overall. Australia had better luck on the women's side, with Sally Fitzgibbons powering through to the semifinals, where she finished with a score of 15.33, unable to advance to the final. 

Fitzgibbons and Wright are amongst a team of four surfers selected to represent Australia at the Tokyo Olympics at the inaugural surfing event. They will take on the waves at Tsurigasaki Beach, an hour and a half east of the host city.