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Last night was a big one for team Australia, with the pageantry and symbolism of the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium. Even though just 63 members of Australia’s 480-odd delegation formally marched, the rest gathered around their televisions in the athletes’ village or their team hotels (for those out of Tokyo).
There might be a few sleepy heads this morning. It was an emotional night for the Aussies, with Patty Mills becoming the first Indigenous Australian to fly the flag in an opening ceremony. Mills has been a major force for Australian basketball, with Tokyo 2020 his fourth Olympics and he is widely-admired by his peers for his sporting success and social justice activism.
But this morning attention turns to the action on the pitch/pool/field. Australia do not have high medal hopes on day one, but there are plenty of important preliminary encounters around the venues. The Kookaburras face Japan in the hockey, Richie Porte, Lucas Hamilton and Luke Durbridge are all in action in the road race and Jian Fang Lay will make her sixth Olympic appearance in the table tennis. Tonight, all eyes will be on the heats at the Aquatics Centre, with Emma McKeon expected to shine in the 100m butterfly, Elijah Winnington and Jack McLoughlin jostling for lane position in the 400m freestyle and the women’s 100m freestyle relay closing out the night.
We asked earlier which new sports you’d like to see at the Olympics. Brucie Morris wants to see lacrosse:
“It’s a sport that hasn’t appeared since 1948, and 1908 was the last time it was a medal sport (Canada beating GB 14-10). The international federation, World Lacrosse has just been awarded full IOC member status, and the big aim is to be invited to the LA 2028 Summer Games due to the popularity in North America.
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July 24, 2021 at 01:27AM
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