At first glance based on Thursday’s remarkable achievements of athletic excellence from the Australian Olympic team, you could make the argument that Australia is having a successful 2020 Olympic Games outside their primary sport of swimming. On Day 13, Australia won five medals in the sports of diving, decathlon, skateboarding, canoeing and field hockey.
In canoeing, Thomas Green of Queensland and Jean van der Westhuyzen won the gold medal in the men’s K2 1000 metres for their first major international medal together. The Aussie canoers had a gold medal winning time of 3:15.280, to beat the German canoe team by .o34 seconds. The Czech Republic won bronze.
Australia’s other gold medal on Thursday came in the new sport of skateboarding, specifically, the men’s park. With two marvelous performances, 18-year-old Keegan Palmer of Queensland, was the only skateboarder to have runs over 90 points. He had 94.04 points in his first run, and 95.83 points with his third run. Pedro Barros of Brazil won silver and Cory Juneau of the United States won bronze.
In field hockey, Australia lost a heart-breaker to Belgium in the gold medal game. The Belgians beat the Australians 3-2 on a penalty shootout, after the game was tied at one goal apiece. This was Belgium’s first ever gold medal in men’s field hockey at the Olympic Games.
In women’s 10-metre platform diving, Melissa Wu of Sydney captured bronze for her first major individual diving medal. In a competition where the two Chinese divers displayed remarkable excellence (gold medalist Quan Hongchan had three dives with scores of perfect tens), Wu was able to do just enough to beat out Gabriela Agundez of Mexico for a podium spot.
Finally in the decathlon, there is a ton to be excited about 21-year-old Ashley Moloney of Brisbane. Considered as the future star of the sport, Moloney came through by winning a bronze medal in the most gruelling athletics event at the Olympics. His 8649 total points were 38 more points than fourth-place finisher Garret Scantling of the United States.
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