Paris Olympics day six: Women continue to bring in the medals for Australia - MASHAHER

It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that the women’s teams are carrying the load for Australia at the Paris Olympics.

The majority of Australia’s medals have been won by female athletes, including all of the gold in the tally so far.

The sixth day of the Olympic Games may not have seen a great number of medals added to the Australian total (just two), but it did generate promise for more success in the coming days.

Australia’s group sports athletes enjoyed wins across the board, seeing them through to the next rounds of their competitions.

Australia remains fourth in the Paris Olympics table, standing only behind China, the USA, and hosts France. The green and gold currently have 18, with eight gold, six silver and four bronze.

Women’s 4×200 team shines brightly

The team of Mollie O’Callaghan, Ariarne Titmus, Lani Pallister and Brianna Throssell have done it again — and in spectacular fashion — edging out their nearest opponents, the USA, by a whole 2.78 seconds to claim yet another gold medal.

At times, it appeared the Aussie swimmers were only competing with themselves, attempting to break their own world record.

In the end, they weren’t able to achieve that, but Australian sports fans should be more than willing to forgive them for it.

The success comes on the back of multiple other medals won by the Australian swim team, including a gold in the women’s 100m backstroke and a silver in the men’s 100m freestyle.

Jemima Montag marches on in the sun

Despite the blistering heat baking the streets of Paris, the 26-year-old from Victoria was able to dig deep and make it through the 20km race walk to finish in third.

The event was pushed back by almost half an hour, eventually starting at 9.50am (local time), with racers forced to compete under extreme circumstances.

A female athlete in green and gold running attire poses with Australian flag.

Jemima Montag won bronze in the 20km race walk, an improvement on her sixth-place finish at the Tokyo Games. Source: Getty / Image Photo Agency

At times things seemed hopeless for the Australian athlete, with China’s Yang Jiayu and Spain’s Maria Perez breaking away from the rest of the group early on, but she found what she needed to bounce back and claim her first Olympic medal.

The Victorian said there were many times throughout the course of the event that she thought she wouldn’t even be able to complete the race, much less win a medal.

Wins across the board for Aussie teams

It was a day of dominance for the Australian teams at the Paris Olympics.

In women’s basketball, the Opals bounced back after their opening day loss to Nigeria, beating Canada 70-65, led by an impressive Sami Whitcomb who was on double figures (19 points, 10 assists.)

Sandy Brondello’s team will now face a tough challenge in their final match in the group by hosts France, but even a loss might see them through to the quarterfinals.

In 3×3 basketball, the opening day results of one win and one loss by the Gangurrus could not have foretold what followed today.

They started off by beating China 21-15, then went on to take out Tokyo gold-medallists USA, 17-15. They are now set to face the hosts, but after these performances, it’s hard to imagine anything being too difficult for them.

A woman in a bright yellow Australian basketball uniform looks joyous inside a basketball stadium.

Cayla George boosted the score for Australia during the match against Canada. Source: AP / Michael Conroy

The Kookaburras also had a good day, bouncing back from their loss against Belgium by beating New Zealand 5-0. The win seals Australia’s place in the hockey quarter-finals, while the neighbours across the Tasman were sadly eliminated.

The Hockeyroos also did well, despite not winning their match against Tokyo silver medallists Argentina.

Katrina Powell’s team held off for a 3-3 draw, despite falling behind, and remain at the top of their pool with the Latin Americans, but with a better goal difference.

What else is happening?

Australian teams were also successful in the men’s water polo (9-8 against France) and in the women’s beach volleyball (2-0 against Canada).

In the men’s K1 canoe slalom, Timothy Anderson was unable to repeat the feats of Jess Fox, finishing in seventh place, while Tyler Wright made it through to the quarter-finals of the women’s surfing event.

Source Agencies