Wednesday will go down as one of the greatest days in Australia’s Olympics history, as Matt Wearn, Keegan Palmer, the men’s track cycling pursuit team and Nina Kennedy all won gold. The six-medal haul – easily Australia’s best for a single Olympic day – took the team to a total of 18 gold medals (with 12 silvers and 11 bronze for a total of 41) – the best return in the country’s history at the Games.
Athletics
Where to start? Perhaps at the end. Under the lights at the Stade de France, world champions Nina Kennedy completed the golden day with a stunning victory in the women’s pole vault final. She cleared 4.90m to stave off her nearest rivals and become the first Australian woman to win gold in the discipline. In a hectic finale to the day’s action, Matt Denny added a bronze to the tally in the men’s discus final, while marathon race walkers Jemima Montag and Rhydian Cowley also claimed bronze earlier in the day. Read Kieran Pender’s report
Skateboard
Just as Arisa Trew had done 24 hours earlier in the shadow of the obelisk at Place de la Concorde, Keegan Palmer claimed gold for Australia in the skateboard park event. Under the watchful eye of skating great Tony Hawk and other VIPs including the ubiquitous Snoop Dogg, the defending champion from the Tokyo Games was unbeatable as the 93.11 in his first run of the evening proved the winning score. Afterwards, he described himself and Trew as “the king and queen of skateboarding park right now”. Read Jack Snape’s report
Track cycling
Australia were supposed to be the underdogs heading into the Games in Paris, but when the men’s pursuit team broke the world record in qualifying 24 hours previously, everything changed. In Wednesday’s final against Great Britain, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy, Kelland O’Brien and Oliver Bleddyn flew around the track to take gold and put Australian cycling back on top of the world after a lengthy absence. Read Jeremy Whittle’s report
Sailing
After an interminable wait which saw competition stalled on several occasions due to a light winds in Marseille, Matt Wearn finally secured his second Olympic gold medal in the dinghy class. Remarkably, his victory means Australia has now won gold at the past four Games, a run which began with Tom Slingsby in London, and continued with Tom Burton in Rio and then Wearn in Tokyo. “It’s something no one’s done before, going back to back in the ILCA [dinghy] – or the laser as it was before,” he said. “That was a massive goal and I’ve made it happen so it’s pretty special.” Read Kieran Pender’s report
Basketball
They’re not quite there yet, but the Opals have moved back into medal contention after a shaky start to their basketball campaign with a big win over Serbia. In their first game in Paris, after the competition moved from Lille, Australia’s women’s team were out front from the start before winning at a canter 85-67 to set up a semi-final meeting with old rivals the USA. Read Kieran Pender’s report
Hockey
Amid all the joy was the sight of a contrite Tom Craig towards the end of the day, facing the media outside the police station where he spent the previous night. The experienced Kookaburras midfielder was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly trying to buy cocaine on the streets of the French capital. He was released with a warning and without a fine or record. “I made a terrible mistake, and I take full responsibility for my actions,” he said. Read Jack Snape’s report
Other bits
Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified hours before her gold medal match for exceeding the 50kg restriction by 100 grams despite even cutting off her hair in an attempt to fight for gold. Read Ewan Murray’s report
The Paris Olympics promised to be the most eco-friendly Games in history, but the French public is pointing a finger at Coca-Cola over the amount of plastic waste at the Games. Read Angelique Chrisafis’s report
