Australia’s bid to reach the women’s soccer quarter finals at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games is over, following Canada’s gritty 1-0 win over Colombia in Nice on Thursday morning.
The Matildas, who were defeated 2-1 by the US a few hours earlier in Marseille, finished third in Group B, with a goal difference of -3.
Aside from the top two across all three groups advancing to the business end of the tournament, two of the highest ranking third-placed teams also qualify for the knockout stage.
Unfortunately for Tony Gustavsson’s Matildas, conceding 10 goals in three games ultimately came back to haunt them, with both Colombia (Group A) and Brazil (Group C) leapfrogging them.
The Americans looked formidable from the opening, with their crisp first touch and pacy moves down the flanks posing a series of headaches for Matildas defenders.
Emma Hayes’ side were eventually rewarded in the 43rd minute, with Trinity Rodman firing home from four yards out.
A superb inswinging corner was headed towards the near post by Sophia Smith – and momentarily, it looked as though the ball would sail out of play.
Rodman had other ideas and managed to control and blast her shot into the bottom right hand corner, despite mild protests from the Matildas ‘keeper Mackenzie Arnold that she was offside.
With only one shot on target to show for their efforts inside the first 75 minutes, the Matildas fell further behind a short time later, when Korbin Albert scored her first ever international goal.
After the 20-year-old received a pass on the edge of the 18-yard-box, she moved slightly to her right without hesitation and launched a tremendous strike which sailed effortlessly into the top left-hand corner of the net.
Arnold, to her credit, did get some fingertips to it, however the power in the shot proved too much.
The Matildas pulled a goal back in the first minute of injury time courtesy of defender Alanna Kennedy, in a similar manner to Rodman’s effort in the first half.
Although this provided some momentum for the remainder of the game, the US remained confident while in possession and closed the game out.
Overall Medal tally (Thursday, 6am WST)
China (nine gold, seven silver and three bronze) leads the medal table, with France and Japan rounding out the top three.
Australia is in fourth – with seven gold, six silver and three bronze.
Basketball
During the men’s warm up games, South Sudan nearly caused a massive upset against Team USA, falling 101-100 after leading by double digits for lengthy passages of play.
LeBron James and his American teammates provided a lesson this morning that there is a massive difference between the warm up and pool games, claiming their Group C clash 103-86 in Lille.
Steve Kerr’s side led 55-36 at the half, were shooting well and only committed five turnovers.
Despite facing greater resistance in the second half – particularly at both ends of the glass – the US players managed to still dictate play when they needed to.
Also in Group C, Serbia brushed past Puerto Rico 107-66.
BMX
Queenslander Natalya Diehm turned heads in the BMX Freestyle, taking home bronze. China’s Yawen Deng and US ace Perris Benegas claimed gold and silver respectively.
It was a memorable performance from the 26-year-old, who had initially qualified in eighth.
Canoeing
Jess Fox added another remarkable chapter to her impressive career after winning gold in the C1 canoe slalom.
Aside from it being her second gold medal in Paris, the Australian has now officially become the most successful canoe slalom Olympian in history, having accrued six medals.
Football
Germany advanced to the quarter finals of the women’s soccer tournament after easily seeing off Group B rivals Zambia 4-1 at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard in Saint Etienne.
Doing the bulk of the damage for ‘Team Deutschland’ were impressive duo Lea Schüller, who finished with a brace, along with Klara Bühle, who wasn't shy in supplying her teammates from the middle of the park.
Host nation France also topped Group A, defeating New Zealand 2-1.
Hockey
The Hockeyroos’ push for Olympic gold continued, defeating the US 3-0 on Wednesday evening.
Goals to Renee Taylor, Alice Arnott and Maddison Brooks ensured they have a spot in the quarter finals. Defensively, they’ve only conceded one goal in three games.
Swimming
In yet another remarkable night at the Paris La Defense Arena, individual brilliance and unbridled passion was everywhere you looked.
Compelling viewing from the second proceedings got under way, a number of athletes are unlikely to forget their night in Paris anytime soon.
Leading the charge was French swimming sensation Leon Marchand, who set a new Olympic record in his men’s 200m breastroke gold-winning swim.
In doing so, the 22-year-old won his third gold medal in less than a week, after also being victorious in the men’s 400m individual medley and men’s 200m butterfly.
Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook finished with silver and fought hard, but Marchand never seriously looked like being beaten.
A new world record was also set in the men’s 100m freestyle final, with Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle motoring home from lane four in 46.40 seconds, edging the previous 46.80 mark.
Australia’s Kyle Chalmers finished a second behind him to grab silver.
Earlier, American women’s swimming star Katie Ledecky faced limited resistance in the women’s 1500m freestyle final, and in the process, walked away with her eighth career gold medal.
For a few moments, it also appeared as though Mollie O’Callaghan would add another gold to her collection in the women’s 100m freestyle final – however Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström came from the clouds in the dying seconds from lane seven to secure an unforgettable win.
O'Callaghan came home in fourth, while her Australian teammate Shayna Jack finished fifth.
Triathlon
Great Britain’s Alex Yee narrowly held off New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde to grab gold in the individual men’s triathlon – which had been rescheduled from the previous day due to pollution level concerns in the River Seine.
Australian duo Matthew Hauser and Luke Willian finished seventh and 46th respectively.
Shooting
Penny Smith helped Australia record its first shooting medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, after securing bronze in the women’s trap final.
