Rugby 7s – Men’s team book ticket to Tokyo

The Aussie 7s men’s team has qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, defeating Samoa 19-12 in the Olympic Qualification Final of the Oceania Sevens Championship in Suva Fiji on Saturday.

Australia came back from a 12-0 deficit to score three unanswered tries, including a charge-down try by Captain Lewis Holland in the dying minutes to secure the win. The Aussie men then went on to defeat Fiji in a thrilling final, taking out the overall championship 22-7 and ensuring both Australian teams went undefeated at this year's Oceania Sevens Championship.

Earlier in the evening the Women’s Sevens defeated Fiji 24-12 to win the overall Oceania Women Sevens Championship and cap off a remarkable undefeated tournament. Find out more HERE

Shooting – 11 Tokyo quota spots for Aussies at Oceania Champs

Australian shooters were on target at the 2019 Oceania Championships in Sydney, locking up 11 quota spots for Tokyo. Siblings Jack and Tori Rossiter, Beijing and London Olympian Dina Aspandiyarova and 2018 Buenos Aires Youth Olympian Alex Hoberg all claimed quota spots for Australia.

The 11 quota spots take the total shooting quota spots earned for Australia to 15, with results at 2019 World Championships and World Cup events already securing spots for Tokyo 2020. Find out more HERE

BMX Freestyle – Aussie World Championships 1-2

Brandon Loupos claimed the rainbow jersey, Logan Martin took silver, while Natalya Diehm moved Australia a step closer to Olympic qualification in a dominant display by Australia in the BMX Freestyle finals at the 2019 Urban Cycling World Championships in China on Sunday.

With BMX Freestyle making its Olympic debut in Tokyo, the Australians showed they are a force to be reckoned with in 2020.

Loupos was lost for words after claiming the rainbow jersey, calling it a dream come true. “It (the rainbow jersey) has been my phone background for 365 days, now it is on my chest, I can’t believe it. I am absolutely speechless,” the 2018 World Championship bronze medallist said.

Despite crashing on a backflip attempt in his first run in the final, Loupos put together a stunning second run to shoot to the top of the leaderboard with a double backflip, flair whip, a 1080, a 720 into a double whip transfer and cash roll, before ending with a five flair scoring 93.20 points. Find out more HERE

Canoe Slalom – Jess Fox named to Tokyo 2020 Olympic Team

Multiple world champion canoeist Jess Fox was officially selected to the Tokyo 2020 Australian Olympic Team, making her third Games after silver and bronze at London 2012 and Rio 2016. Fox will compete in both the K1 and C1, with C1 making its Olympic debut for women.

Catch up on all the latest on Fox’s selection HERE

Swimming – Cate Campbell takes 2019 FINA World Cup crown

Cate Campbell won the 2019 World Cup title by 45 points over Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, finishing the year on 357 points after a strong World Cup meet in Doha. With points awarded based on results across seven two-day World Cup meets, Campbell went into the final Doha meet with a lead of 24 points.

Winning gold in the 100m freestyle and 50m freestyle and silver in the 50m butterfly ensured she extended her lead to claim the crown. Emily Seebohm and Kaylee McKeown made it an Aussie 1-2 in the 200m backstroke, while Bronte Campbell secured silver and bronze in the 100m and 50m freestyle respectively.

Tennis – Fed Cup heartbreak as France win thriller

Australia’s Fed Cup team have fallen just short of a first title in 46 years, going down 3-2 to France in Perth. Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic combined to beat Ash Barty and Sam Stosur to win the deciding doubles rubber 6-4 6-3, after Ajla Tomljanovic’s singles victory locked the final up at 2-2. It is France’s first Fed Cup title since 2003, while Australia’s wait for a trophy in the team competition extends to a 46th year.

Find out more HERE.

Baseball – Aussies through to Super Round at Premier 12

Australia kept its Premier 12 and Tokyo 2020 qualification hopes alive with a 3-1 victory over Canada in the Premier 12 tournament in Korea. With the top two teams from each pool progressing, Australia’s win and Korea’s victory over Cuba meant Australia went through to the six-team super round, holding the tiebreaker in a three-way tie with Cuba and Canada.

With a Tokyo 2020 quota spot on the line for the top-finishing Asian team, Australia’s progression to the super round keeps qualification to baseball’s Olympic return on the cards in Korea. The team will open their super round matches against Japan tonight, before taking on Mexico, the US and Chinese Taipei.

Find out more HERE

Golf – Minjee Lee takes third in Japan Classic

Minjee Lee notched a brilliant final-round 68 to finish in the top three at the Toto Japan Classic today. It was the second consecutive top-three finish for the Western Australian after her runner-up finish in Taiwan last week, in great form leading up to the season finale championship. After a week’s break, the top 70 players on the tour head to Florida for the year-ending LPGA Tour Championship, with the Australian charge led by fourth-ranked Lee and 21st ranked Hannah Green.

Cycling – Madison magic for Aussies in Glasgow World Cup

Annette Edmondson and Georgia Baker took World Cup gold in Glasgow in the Madison, just hours after Edmondson took individual bronze in the four-event omnium.

The Australian pair dominated the 120-lap Madison from the outset, winning five of the first eight sprints held every ten laps, while figuring in two others, to set up a commanding lead.

Despite a crash by Baker inside the final 15 laps, the pair kept calm and rode away with the win on 40 points ahead of Great Britain (31pts) and the Netherlands (19pts).

“We are so happy to take the gold medal and it shows all the hard work back home in Adelaide is paying off,” Edmondson said. The men’s Madison team of Leigh Howard and Sam Welsford also tasted podium success, winning bronze despite being caught up in a mid-race crash.

You can find out more HERE.

Cycling – Glaetzer reveals cancer battle

World champion sprinter Matt Glaetzer revealed Sunday he has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The dual world champion underwent surgery early last week and has been advised to allow the wound in his neck to heal and to keep his heart rate and blood pressure under control before resuming normal training in a few weeks. “You never want to hear that you’ve got cancer, it’s got such an ominous connotation to it, and it’s pretty heavy,” Glaetzer said.

“But I anticipated this throughout the process, I was preparing myself for the worst-case scenario. I figured there's nothing I can do about it, at this point worrying about it wasn’t going to make it better.

“I am thankful for the type of cancer that I do have and that it is treatable. I am grateful for the fact that my medical team caught it when they did, that they went through the steps, that they were very diligent in checking my sore neck that has then led to catching this.”

Glaetzer said he is resolved not to let this stop his pursuit of a third Australian Olympic Team selection for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. “So it is now about what’s the plan from here, how can I minimise its impact on myself as an athlete. Because I don't want to stop being an athlete anytime soon, I love what I do.

“I’m not going to stop chasing the Olympics and trying to be the best in the world, it’s what I love to do. It puts everything into perspective, but I’m not going to let this stop me. If I’m able to, and it's safe to, I'm not going to let this have power over what I want to do.”

Read Matt's story HERE.

Football – Matildas in record-setting win against Chile

The Matildas beat Chile 2-1 in Sydney in front of 20 029 fans, setting a record attendance for a Matildas game on home soil. Captain Sam Kerr bagged two goals taking her tally to 40 goals from 40 games across all competitions, with the Matildas, Chicago Red Stars
and Perth Glory.

Kerr’s double also took her Matilda’s career goalscoring tally to 38, equalling legend Cheryl Salisbury to move into third on the all-time Matildas scoring list. Find out more and check out the players’ reactions to the game HERE.

Diving – Aussie dive into medals at Gold Coast Grand Prix

Australian divers medalled in every event they contested in windy conditions at the FINA Diving Grand Prix on the Gold Coast. In the 3m springboard dual Olympian Annabelle Smith won silver with young gun Kiarra Milligan claiming her first World Cup medal in bronze.

Shixin Lin won bronze in the men’s 3m before pairing with Matthew Carter to take another bronze in the 3m synchro. The 10m platform saw Nikita Haynes win bronze in the women’s with Sam Fricker taking silver on the men’s side.