Australia qualified nine boats for Paris 2024 rowing competition and Minjee Lee has returned to the winner’s circle on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour to highlight the weekend in Olympic sports.
Rowing - World Champs outing qualifies nine boats for Paris 2024
The Australian rowing team's big focus now becomes the Olympic year after nine boats achieved Paris 2024 Olympic qualifying standards at the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia which wrapped up on Sunday.
Seventeen Aussie women were all part of securing Olympic quotas in the single sculls, coxless pair, double sculls, quad sculls, women's four and women's eight - led by Annabelle McIntyre & Jessica Morrison winning silver in the coxless pair.
The pair had been undefeated in every race in Europe this season but in the A Final, Annabelle and Jess were beaten by Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester (NED). The Dutch victory came in 7:20.52 and Australia was second in 7:22.90.
“We didn't come away with what we wanted; but that shows how strong the field is,” Annabelle said.
“It makes us really excited, really hungry for [next] season. We will step away, dissect the race and commit to some things we want to build on for next season. The elements are there. We just need to really refine them.”
Tara Rigney repeated her bronze medal feat from the 2022 world championships in the single sculls. Finishing in a time of 7:21.07, she was only behind defending world champion Karolien Florijn (NED - 7:14.35) and Olympic champion Emma Twigg (NZL - 7:19.43).
Both the women’s and men’s eight crews raced to bronze to round out the medal achievements by Aussies competing in Olympic events and earned Olympic quotas.
Also securing an Australian entry into the Paris 2024 Olympics were the men's coxless four (5th in A Final) and the men's coxless pair (2nd in B Final, 8th overall).
Golf – Minjee Lee breaks LPGA title drought in Cincinnati
Tokyo 2020 Olympian Minjee Lee is a LPGA Tour event victor once again after overcoming a stirring playoff test against England's Charley Hull at the Queen City Championship in the USA.
Minjee's poise was put under the microscope in the final round, as Hull chased down the Aussie's five-shot at the 12th hole to force a tie-breaker.
The pair played the 18th three times before Minjee Lee's birdie secured her first win on the LPGA Tour since the 2022 US Open.
The nine-time LPGA event winner now heads back into the world's top 10, with the tour heading to Andalucia, Spain for the next event between 22-24 September.
Surfing – WSL Finals caps high-achieving Aussie season
The World Surf League Finals have brought the 2023 Championship Tour to a close, capping off a strong season for Australian surfers.
The Aussies were the best represented nation at the WSL Finals in California, USA with four of the world’s 10 best surfers coming from Australia.
Ethan Ewing, one month removed from breaking his back, returned to competition and defeated world no.4 Joao Chianca (BRA) and world no.2 Griffin Colapinto (USA) to earn a world champion title shot against world no.1 Filipe Toledo (BRA).
Toledo won the best of three title match after taking the first round 17.97-17.23 and the second round 14.27-12.37.
World no.2 Tyler Wright faced a big challenge against world no.3 Caroline Marks (USA), which ended Tyler's season with a 17.40-13.70 defeat.
World no.4 Molly Picklum and world no.5 Jack Robinson also missed out on a win at the WSL Finals, losing to world no.5 Caitlin Summers (USA) and world no.4 Joao Chianca (BRA) respectively.
Athletics – 17-year-old Oceania record broken in Brussels
Toyko 2020 Olympic finalist Stewart McSweyn has broken a 17-year-old Oceania record in the 2000m race at the Brussels Diamond League. Stewart managed to slice 1.99 seconds off the previous record, crossing the finish line in 4:48.77 to finish third.
“I’m very happy with the race tonight. I put myself in a good spot and fought hard against a world class field in the last few laps. To break any national record is a huge honour so I’m very happy with tonight’s result and it gives me a lot of confidence leading into the Diamond League final next week in Eugene (USA),” Stewart said.
Over in the field, dual Olympian, Eleanor Patterson backed up her successful 2023 high jump season with another bronze medal, clearing 1.94m.
Weightlifting – Aussies begin World Championships campaign
Darcy Kay and Brenna Kean have begun the Australian campaign at the Weightlifting World Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Darcy finished 16th in the 64kg class, totalling 196kg with 86kg snatch and 110kg clean and jerk, while Brenna finished 34th in the 59kg division, totalling 185kg with 81kg snatch and 104kg clean and jerk.
Tennis - Matt Ebden runner up in US Open doubles final
Matt Ebden and his Indian doubles partner Rohan Bopanna have come away from the US Open with the runner’s up silverware after a tight 2-6 6-3 6-4 loss to Rajeev Ram (USA) and Joe Salisbury (GBR) in the men’s doubles final on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Having only teamed up with Bopanna for the first time in January this year, the duo have proved they are major contenders, after also reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2023.
Taekwondo - Athletes clean up at the Polish Open
Aussie Taekwondo athletes had a successful campaign in Warsaw at the Polish Open, coming away with one gold, one silver and two bronze medals.
Saffron Tambyrajah (women’s -53kg) swept her category, taking home the gold medal against Spain’s Alma Perez Parrado. Tokyo 2020 Olympians Stacey Hymer (women’s -57kg) and Reba Stewart (women’s +73kg) took home silver and bronze, respectively whilst Leon Sejranovic (men’s -80kg) also came away with a bronze medal.
Table Tennis - Medals galore at Oceania Senior and Youth Championships
Australia have dominated the Oceania Senior and Youth Championships in Townsville, finishing with 24 gold, 18 silver and 27 bronze medals across all age groups – including winning all Open events.
The results come just days after Australia secured the maximum continental team quota spots for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Oceania Qualifying Tournament.
Badminton - semi-finals for mixed doubles pair at International Challenge
Gronya Somerville and Kenneth Choo took on the Guatemala International Challenge mixed doubles, reaching the final four of the 32 team tournament.
They started with a tight 21-18 21-17 win in the second round against Americans Presley Smith and Allison Lee, then backed it up with another straight-sets victory against Canada's Jon Bing Tsan Lai and Catherine Choi 24-22 21-16.
In the semi-finals it was another Canadian pair standing in their way, Kevin Lee and Eliana Zhang, who edged out Gronya and Kenneth 21-19 21-18.
Basketball - Josh Giddey wins FIBA rising star award
After an impressive FIBA World Cup debut, Josh Giddey has been awarded the first ever FIBA Rising Star Award.
Throughout the competition, Josh led the Boomers in points and assists per game, averaging 19.4 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.
With many young rising stars in contention for the award, Josh proved himself the brightest of the best prospects at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Artistic Gymnastics - Jesse Moore into the World Challenge Cup parallel bars final
A week after competing in Mersin, Turkey the World Challenge Cup progressed to Szombathely, Hungary for Australia's men's artistic gymnasts.
Despite some early challenges, Jesse Moore moved into the finals on the parallel bars with the final set for Sunday (Monday AEST).
Sport Climbing – Campbell Harrison climbs to World Cup semi-finals
Campbell Harrison made the semi-finals at the Lead World Cup event in Koper, Slovenia.
Finishing in 26th overall, Campbell said he was proud to reach his second World Cup semi-final of the season.
Cycling - Mountain Bike – Bec McConnell 8th at World Cup
Triple Olympian Bec McConnell chalked up a top 10 finish at the Mountain Bike World Cup event in Les Portes du Soleil in France.
Coming through a difficult few months of racing, Bec finished 8th in 1 hour 17 minutes and 51 seconds.
Cycling - Road - Top 10 stage finishes for Aussies in La Vuelta
Australian riders continued their assault on the Vuelta Espana grand tour, as the three-week race climbed through tough stages in the Pyrenees.
Michael Storer finished fifth in Saturday’s 156km 14th stage, with Christopher Hamilton 8th on Sunday’s 15th stage.
Aussie Kaden Groves remains a clear cut leader in the sprinter’s green jersey classification, sitting on 208 points with a 73 point buffer to Belgian Remco Evenepoel in second.
The riders will finish the 21-stage, 3153km event on Sunday 17 September, finishing in central Madrid.
Article cover photo credit: World Rowing
