It was well predicted that the Australians would have a strong Saturday in the pool in the opening day of the swimming competition at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, and they delivered in a big way.
Just how big? Well, Bronte Campbell, Meg Harris, Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell swam to a world record time of 3:29.69 in winning gold in the women’s 4x100m medley relay. Australia’s previous world record was 3:30.05 at the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast.
Meanwhile, Australia earned two more medals in swimming, Jack McLoughlin won a silver medal in the men’s 400m free, while Brendon Smith won a bronze medal in the men’s 400 IM.
In field hockey, the Australian men and women both won. The women beat Spain 3-1 in their opening game of the tournament, while the men improved to 2-0 with a commanding 7-1 win over India. Blake Govers led the Aussies with two goals.
In other team sports, beach volleyball players Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar, the reigning World Championship bronze medalists, won their opening game of the Olympic tournament, as they won 21-15, 21-14 over Lidy Echevarria and Leila Martinez over Cuba. In men’s basketball, Australia won in convincing fashion as they defeated Nigeria 84-65. Patty Mills led the Aussies with 25 points and six assists.
A big story also happened in tennis on Saturday. Andy Murray, the reigning Olympic gold medalist was supposed to play Felix Auger-Aliassime in the first round, but pulled out due to a thigh injury. Max Purcell of Sydney entered the draw as Murray’s replacement and beat the young Canadian 6-4, 7-6. Other Aussies who won Saturday in tennis were James Duckworth and Alja Tomljanovic in men’s and women’s singles respectively, as well as Ellen Perez and Sam Stosur in women’s doubles, and Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus in men’s doubles.
