29 Jul 2021

It’s been short of one week since we became hermits and couch potatoes, watching the Olympics back-to-back. Yes, couch potatoes yelling at athletes to do better - like we can talk, ey?

Well, as of today we stand fifth on the Olympic medal tally board. So what better time to talk about the Olympic gold wins our red hot Aussie athletes have achieved, as well as the ones we might’ve missed and the ones we saw fab memes of?

Sunday 25 July

On the second day of the Olympics, we had our women’s freestyle relay team smash it out of the park, setting a new world record. The Campbell sisters Bronte and Cate, Emma McKeon and Meg Harris finished the 4x100m race in a time of 3:29.69, shaving 0.36 seconds off the previous world record Australia set in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The quartet killed it and it was an amazing first win to start off our golds!

 

Monday 26 July

Ariarne Titmus is a force to be reckoned with, winning gold in the 400m freestyle final against the world number one, Katie Ledecky. Surging ahead in the last 100m of the race, she paid tribute to Ledecky for setting the standard in women’s swimming.

And yes, this was also the time Titmus’ coach, Dean Boxall went absolutely bonkers in his post-race celebration (we love a supportive coach celebrating women and their wins)!
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by 7Olympics (@7olympics)

Tuesday 27 July

Geez I tell ya what, our Aussie athletes must’ve trained like mermaids and seamen for this year's Olympics.

On Tuesday, we were jumping out of our seats with Kaylee McKeown’s women’s 100m backstroke win. Competing in her first Olympics, she admitted to feeling the nerves leading up to her big moment but the encouragement and support from her fellow athletes helped calm her down and claim the win.

Kaylee paid tribute to her late father who passed away last year: "I hope you're proud, and I keep doing you proud."

And yes, this was the time Kaylee said, in iconic Australian celebration style:

Wednesday 28 July

This was the biggest day of wins so far, as Australia equalled it’s most successful day for gold medal wins, last happening on Day 10 of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Again to no surprise, they were all water sports - we’re bloody sweeping ‘em up like a game of rob the nest.

25 years since the OG Oarsome Foursome Australian team swept up a win in rowing, not one but TWO rowing teams claimed their win on Wednesday. The women’s team of Rosemary Popa, Lucy Stephan, Annabelle McIntyre and Jessica Morrison won gold with a time of 6:15.37 - an Olympic record! Shortly after, Jack Hargreaves, Alex Hill, Alex Purnell and Spencer Turrin won gold in the men’s rowing with a time of 5:42.76.

 

After a quarter of a century trying to reclaim the gold, our Australian teams suddenly got two wins within minutes of each other? Killinnngggg it.

Ariarne Titmus claimed her second gold win in the women’s 200m freestyle, joining swimming legends Shane Gould and Ian Thorpe as the only Australian’s to win both the 200m and 400m at the Olympic Games.

Thursday 29 July

On Thursday, Jessica Fox won gold in the women’s C1 canoe slalom after receiving bronze in the K1 canoe slalom on Tuesday. Marking her first gold, she made her father, a former canoe champion proud - mustering up a “wow” on his Channel 7 commentary as he witnessed the win.

@jessfoxcanoe

💛🥇😭 when a dream comes true. The medals are beautiful & made from recycled electronics! #gold #canoeslalom #tokyo2020 #tokyoolympics #fyp

♬ Golden - Harry Styles

Last week she posted a TikTok on repairing her kayak with carbon mixture and an Olympic Village condom - giving us the cheeky Olympic content we froth over.

We also had Izaac Stubblety-Cook win gold in the men’s 200m breaststroke final. Coming third until his final turn where he was mustering speed to win, the 22-year-old believed he was in the right spot for a perfect fast finish.

Friday 30 July

Literally as of twenty minutes ago, Emma McKeon won gold in the women's 100m freestyle! Aaaaahhh she's bloody killing it 🥇

Honorable mentions

  • In surfing's debut appearance at the Olympics, Owen Wright became Australia’s first ever Olympic surfing medallist! 
  • Keen to chase down gold, Jack McLoughlin snapped up silver in the men’s 400m freestyle, along with Kyle Chalmers in the men’s 100m freestyle on the same day.
  • 21-year-old Brendon Smith won the first medal for Australia in the men’s 400m individual medley.
  • Emma McKeon adds a bronze to her gold in the women’s 100m butterfly, coming up to four medals in total!

It’s an end to week one and what an amazing few days for sport it's been! There is only more to come from our legendary Aussie athletes, so see you guys at the end of next week for the ultimate wrap up 🤙