Paris Olympics day seven: Australia adds three more gold medals to the tally

In an authentic gold rush this Friday, Australia saw three first place medals land in just 77 minutes.

Cameron McEvoy holding a gold medal, Saya Sakakibara lifting the Australian flag, and Kaylee McKeown with a gold medal on her chest.

Cameron McEvoy, Saya Sakakibara and Kaylee McKeown gave Australia three more gold medals this Friday. Source: EPA, AP / Mast Irham / Dan Himbrechts / Natacha Pisarenko

With three gold medals in 77 minutes, Australia has moved into third place in the Paris Olympics medal on Friday, trailing only China and host nation France.

Kaylee McKeown and Cameron McEvoy upheld Australia's swimming supremacy, while Saya Sakakibara celebrated a spectacular victory in BMX racing.

In rowing, Jess Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre secured a bronze medal, bringing Australia's total medal count to 22: 11 gold, six silver, and five bronze.
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Saya Sakakibara roars to glorious BMX race triumph

Three years after being taken away from the track on a stretcher following a horrific crash at the Tokyo Games, 24-year-old Saya Sakakibara won gold in women's BMX racing in spectacular style.

Watched by her family, including brother Kai who suffered a life-changing brain injury after another crash in a World Cup race in Bathurst in 2020, Sakakibara delivered the race of her life in the final to become the first Australian BMX racer to win Olympic gold.
A group of seven BMX cyclists, with Saya Sakakibara leading.
Saya Sakakibara won gold after completing the 400m course in 34.231 seconds. Source: AP / Thibault Camus
Sakakibara roared away at the start to reach the first tight corner first for her seventh consecutive race.

From there, no-one was going to catch her as she blitzed away on the 400m course to win in 34.231 seconds, way clear of all of her seven rivals, with Dutch racer Manon Veenstra finishing a distant runner up in 34.954 with Zoe Claessens taking the bronze.

Kaylee McKewon makes historic win

Backstroke queen Kaylee McKeown won gold in the 200m race, becoming the first Australian to win four individual Olympic gold medals.

She is also the first swimmer to successfully defend 100m and 200m backstroke titles in Olympic history.

She kept her 200m backstroke title in stunning style, clocking an Olympic record time of two minutes 03.73 seconds, some 0.59 seconds shy of her world record set last year in Sydney.
Kaylee McKeown diving into a swimming pool.
McKeown is also the first swimmer to successfully defend 100m and 200m backstroke titles in Olympic history. Source: AP / Natacha Pisarenko
McKeown was third after at the midpoint and second at the final turn before powering to victory ahead of American Regan Smith (2:04.26) and Canada's Kylie Masse (2:05.57).

She now has five golds in her Olympic career, with a women's 4x100m medley victory at the Tokyo Games three years ago also in her collection.

"Not in a million years ... I couldn't ask for much more," she said of her medal haul.

On Saturday night, the 23-year-old is hunting more gold in the 200m individual medley - she qualified for that final just one hour after her historic 200m backstroke triumph.

Cameron McEvoy's 'splash and dash' triumph

Cameron McEvoy won the men's 50m freestyle competition, in the first gold by an Australian man at the Paris Games after the star-studded women had done almost all of the early heavy lifting.

McEvoy triumphed in 21.35 seconds in the one-lap dash ahead of Great Britain's Ben Proud (21.30) and Frenchman Florent Manaudou (21.56).
Cameron McEvoy's in a swimming pool lifting his fist in the air.
McEvoy's Friday night victory in the 50m freestyle is his first Olympic gold. Source: AAP / Dave Hunt
The victory helps erase his lingering disappointment from the Rio Games eight years ago when he entered the 100m freestyle medal race as hot favourite but finished seventh in a final won by compatriot Kyle Chalmers.

"It's hard to explain the two-year process that it took to get here and the route I took," he said.

Bronze in rowing for Jess Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre

Jess Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre made bronze as a pair in rowing, giving Australia its first rowing medal in this sport at the Paris Games.

The pair had a solid start but were soon outperformed by the crew from the Netherlands, and left in third place after a fast finish from Romania.
Jess Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre sitting on their boat and waving.
Morrison McIntyre claimed bronze after finishing the race in a time of 7:03.54. Source: AP / Ebrahim Noroozi
This is the second Olympic podium for the Morrison-McIntyre partnership, who were part of the gold medal-winning four crew in Tokyo.

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4 min read
Published 3 August 2024 8:37am
Updated 3 August 2024 3:08pm
Source: AAP



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