The 2024 Games started with a riverside spectacle – which saw boats carrying our South Aussie athletes down the River Seine, a laser light experience, dancers dangling from high poles, drag queens on bridges and the Olympic rings lighting up the Eiffel Tower. Over 300,000 people watched from under unrelenting, torrential rain as a dance show, live music and acrobatics unfolded along more than 6km of river from the Pont d’Austerlitz to the Eiffel Tower.
South Australian names dominated Olympic leaderboards in the first week of the Paris games, find out how your favourite local athletes did.
Swimming
Starting the games off with a big splash, the 4x100m Freestyle Relays saw South Australian’s Meg Harris and Kyle Chalmers enjoy time on the podium – winning Gold and Silver respectively.
The women’s team took home Gold finishing with a time of three minutes and 28.92 seconds and setting a new Olympic record! The men claimed second with a time of three minutes and 10.35 seconds.
SA’s Kyle Chalmers claimed silver in the Men’s 100m Freestyle with a time of 47.48 seconds after winning his heat.
Zac Incerti and his 4x200m Freestyle relay team took home bronze in seven minutes and 1.98 seconds.
Marion Swimming Club’s Matt Temple placed seventh in the Men’s 200m Butterfly Heats and didn’t progress to the semi-finals.
Basketball
The Australian Boomers and their SA-born Small Forward, Joe Ingles saw a successful start to their Olympics campaign with a 92 to 80 win against Spain. The Tokyo bronze medallists then lost to Canada, 93 to 83. The Boomers will play the winless Greece on Friday night.
The Aussie Opals with their SA-studded team of Tess Madgen, Cayla George, Steph Talbot and Isobel Borlase lost their first Olympic clash to Nigeria 75 to 62. But came back swinging in their clash against Canada, securing a 70 to 65 point win.
The 3×3 Women’s Basketball Squad – with SA’s Lauren Mansfield and Alex (Ally) Wilson – have had an intense start to their Olympic mission with their first game a loss to Canada 22 to 14 but then triumphantly returning after Wilson sunk a tie-breaking and match-sealing shot from distance to secure a 21-19 win against germany.
On Friday night the Gangurrus will play a double header against China at 4:30pm (ADL time) and then the USA at 8:30pm. Both teams were bronze and gold medallists respectively at the last Olympic Games.
Hockey
The Hockeyroo’s Women – with Adelaide Fire Midfielder, Jane Claxton and defender Hattie Shand – have been enjoying win after win after win so far this Olympic season, taking down South Africa two to one, England five nil and America three nil.
The men have secured their place in the semi-finals after a rocky start to the campaign. Starting with a one nil win over Argentina and then a two to one win over Ireland, the Kookaburras faced a big loss to Belgium – six to two. In their chance to redeem themselves, SA’s Tom Wickham scored the opening goal for Kookaburras. Their decisive five nil victory over New Zealand brought the squad up to second place on the Pool B points table.
Athletes/Running
Two South Australians took to the track this week, Sophie Linn showed her paces in the Women’s Individual Triathlon, placing 21st, with a time of one hour, 58 minutes and 52 seconds. Olivia Sandery did not finish the 20km Race Walk.
Rowing
South Aussie, Alex Hill placed sixth in the Rowing Men’s Four A Finals in a fast-paced competition on the Seine with a time of six minutes and 0.35 seconds. He flew through the heats, placing second with a time of six minutes and 6.84 seconds.
SA’s Molly Goodman and Olympia Aldersey got a second chance at finals after placing fifth in her Women’s Four heat with a swift time of six minutes and 59.86 seconds. Placing 3rd in the B Finals (9th overall), she finished with a time of six minutes and 39.28 seconds. In the repechage, Molly and Olympia placed fifth with a time of six minutes and 43.70 seconds.
South Aussie Angus Dawson placed second in the Rowing Men’s Eight Heats with an impressive five minutes and 42.07 seconds. In a second chance to progress, he placed fourth and qualified for the finals with a time of five minutes and 31.50 seconds.
Beach Volleyball
The men took to the beach courts in Pool A and C of the Olympic competition. Mark Nicolaidis and Izac Carracher from the southern state have only had losses so far this season, going down to Sweden two nil, Italy two nil and Qatar two nil.
South Aussies, Zachery Schubert and Thomas Hodges are continuing their Pool C campaign, so far losing two nil to Poland and going down two to one against Germany.
Gymnastics
Proud South Australian Gymnast Jesse Moore placed 21st in the Artistic Gymnastics Men’s All-Around Finals after placing 15th in the qualification round.
Boxing
South Australia’s only boxer and one of the first Indigenous athletes to qualify for the Australian team, Callum Peters went down three to two against Kazakhstan’s Nurbek Oralbay in the Men’s 80kg Prelims Round of 16.
Shooting
The shooters from SA, Jack Rossiter and Dane Sampson faced tough competition in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle and Men’s 50m Rifle [three positions] and did not progress past the qualification round. Jack landed 16th place in the 10m Air Rifle while Dane took home 30th. In the 50m Rifle 3 Pos. Jack came 27th and Dane came 34th.
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