Good evening!

You made it. It’s Friday.

If you’re planning on watching some sport this weekend I have no doubt you’ll have your hands full - and if you’re not, it’s fine, I’ll give you the rundown on Monday.

Paris ‘24: Medal tally

Paris ‘24: Tonight’s top moments

Friday 30th August (All times are in AEST)

🔫 5:00pm: Shooting Para Sport, women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 (Qualification)
Natalie Smith is the sole Aussie competing in this event. Paris is her fourth Paralympics.

🏹 5:51pm: Para Archery, Women’s Individual Compound (Elimination)
Aussie Ameera Lee will shoot to stay in the competition at 5:51pm. Melissa-Anne Tanner will do the same at 6:42pm.

🚣 6:10pm: Para Rowing (Heats)
Erik Horrie will race in the heat of the PR1 men’s single sculls at 6:10pm, followed by Jed Altschwager and Nikki Ayers in the PR3 mixed double sculls heat at 7:30pm. Finally, Australia’s PR3 mixed coxed four crew will race their heat at 8:10pm.

🏊‍♂️ 6:54pm: Para Swimming (Heats)
Keira Stephens races in the heats of the women’s 100m breaststroke SB9 at 6:54pm. At 7.10pm, it’s Tim Hodge in the heats of the men’s 100m breaststroke SB8.  Then, Australia races in the Mixed 4x50m Freestyle Relay 20 points heat at 7:27pm.

🏃‍♂️ 6:58pm: Para Athletics (Rounds and Finals 🥇)
Sam McIntosh will race in round one of the Men’s 400m T52 at 6:58pm. An hour later, flag-bearer Madison de Rozario will race in round one of the Women’s 5000m T54 (7:50pm). Corey Anderson will go for gold in the men’s javelin F38 final at 8:09pm.

🚴‍♀️ 7:30pm: Para Track Cycling (Qualifying)
Korey Boddington races in the men’s C4-5 1000m time trial at 7:30pm.
Meg Lemon and Emily Petricola will race in the women’s C4 3000m individual pursuit at 8:15pm. Darren Hicks will race in the men’s c2 3000m individual pursuit at 8:54pm. Jessica Gallagher will race in the women’s B 1000m time trial at 9:58pm.

🎾 8:00pm: Wheelchair Tennis, Men’s Singles (First Round)
Aussie Anderson Parker takes on Argentina’s Ezequiel Casco. The following match will see Australian Ben Weekes play Brazil’s Daniel Rodrigues.

🏀 8:45pm: Men’s Wheelchair Basketball, Australia v Spain (Group Game)
The Rollers are looking for a win here, after losing their first game against the Netherlands.

🏓 9:00pm: Para Table Tennis, Women’s Doubles WD20 (Quarter-final)
Li Na Lei and Qian Yang are playing China in the quarter-final.

🏐 10:00pm: Boccia, Women’s Individual BC3 (Preliminary Round) 
Jamieson Leeson is up against Great Britain’s Sally Kidson. Leeson is looking for a win after losing her first-round match-up.

🏹11:30pm: Para Archery, Men’s Individual Compound (Ranking Round)
Jonathan Milne and Patrick French are the two Aussies who will shoot in the 1/16 elimination round. French is at 11:30pm and Milne is at 1:46am.

Saturday 31st August

🏊‍♂️ 1:30am: Para-Swimming, (Finals 🥇)
Depending on how the Aussies go in the morning session, this will be an opportunity for the para-swimming team to build on their strong performance on Day One.

🏃‍♂️ 2:00am: Para Athletics (Rounds and Finals 🥇)
Rosemary Little and Sarah Clifton-Bligh will go for gold in the women’s club throw F32 final from 2:00am, and Samuel Rizzo will race in round one of the men’s 5000m T54 at 5:02am.

🏉 3:30am: Wheelchair Rugby, Australia v France (Group Game)
After losing their first group match to Great Britain, the Steelers are looking to bounce back against France. 

🏐 5:40am: Boccia, Men’s Individual BC3 (Preliminary Round)
Daniel Michel won his first round 10-2 and is looking to maintain a winning record. Michel is the current world champion and a great shot at a medal. 

Paris ‘24: The headlines

In case you missed it…

🏉 The Steelers (Australia’s wheelchair rugby team) lost their opening match to defending Paralympic champions Great Britain. Australia, who won the 2023 Wheelchair Rugby World Cup, now need to win their two remaining group games against France and Denmark to stay in the hunt for a medal.

🏀 The Rollers (Australia’s men’s wheelchair basketball team) also lost their opening match, going down to the Netherlands 66-55. Mendel op den Orth starred for the Dutch, scoring 26 of the team’s total points. Australia’s high scorer was Bill Latham who had 16 points. Their next match is against Spain tonight.

🥋 Zakia Khudadadi made history as the first-ever medal-winner for the Paralympic Refugee team. Khudadadi won a bronze medal in para--taekwondo. The 25-year-old said: “This medal is for all the women of Afghanistan and all the refugees of the world. I hope that one day there will be peace in my country.”

Paris ‘24: What we’re talking about

Para-swimmers lead the charge for Australia on Day One in Paris

Australia is back to winning medals inside Paris’ La Défense Arena. The Australian Paralympic team started their Paris 2024 campaign with four medals in para-swimming events on Day One.

In the men’s 50m freestyle S10, Thomas Gallagher swam 23.40 seconds to win gold, with fellow countryman Rowan Crothers winning a bronze medal close behind him. Gallagher’s victory was especially sweet given he had a severe bout of pancreatitis at the last Paralympics which put his life in jeopardy.

Lakeisha Patterson won silver in the women’s 400m freestyle S9. Patterson led for most of the race but was beaten to the wall by Zsófia Konkoly of Hungary. Now at her third Paralympics, she has won a medal in the event at all three Games. 

In the first swimming final of the afternoon, one of Australia’s paralympic flag bearers Brenden Hall won bronze in the men’s 400m freestyle S9. It marked Hall’s seventh Paralympic medal at his fifth Games after he missed out on the podium in Tokyo.

The four medals left Australia in sixth place on the medal tally after Day One.

What they said:

Hall said: "I was after a little bit of redemption, and I just wanted to come back with a medal this time. I didn't care what colour it was and so to be able to do it in front of people who mean the most to me, that's what made me feel it the most."

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Anything but Paris ‘24

🏉 The ninth season of the AFLW kicks off tonight with a double-header. The Sydney Swans will play Collingwood at North Sydney Oval and West Coast will play Richmond at Lathlain Park in Perth. The regular season is ten weeks long before finals are played in November. 

🎾 Australia had another bumper day at the U.S. Open, with three Aussie men advancing to join Alexei Popyrin in the third round. Jordan Thompson was especially impressive with a stunning straight-sets victory over seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz (7-6, 6-1, 7-5). Alex de Minaur and Chris O’Connell also recorded wins. De Minaur beat Finland's Otto Virtanen (7-5, 6-1, 7-6) and will play Dan Evans of Great Britain on Sunday. O’Connell overcame Mattia Bellucci in four sets (6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3) but his next Italian opponent, world no.1 Jannik Sinner, is unlikely to be as forgiving. Tristan Schoolkate and Thanasi Kokkinakis both lost their second-round matches, while Max Purcell quit in the third set against Tommy Paul for unknown reasons.

🏉 Harry Wilson will become the fourth player to captain the Wallabies under coach Joe Schmidt when the side takes on Argentina this weekend. Following two losses to South Africa, Schmidt has made five changes for the first of two games against Argentina. Centre Hamish Stewart will make his Test debut. Kick-off is at 8am on Sunday (AEST).

🚴‍♀️ 23-year-old Spanish cyclist Pablo Castrillo won Stage 12 of La Vuelta. Ben O’Connor has retained the leader’s jersey, with the gap between him and Slovenian rival Primož Roglič remaining at 3 minutes and 16 seconds.

A message from our sponsor

In Conversation with Deakin University Elite Athlete, Becky Webster:

Rebecca (Becky) Webster is a professional football player with the Geelong Cats in the AFLW. Becky is also studying a Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science/Bachelor of Business (Sport Management) at Deakin University.

What’s your schedule like?

Alongside my training and study, I am also gaining some professional experience working at the club in the Media and Digital team. This involves setting up press conferences to give the media opportunities for insights into the team. I also produce (and star in) the ‘Yeah the Girls’ podcast which has entered its second season.

When does Season 9 start?

The 2024 AFLW season starts on the 30th of August so we are still in preseason. This means we have been working super hard in the gym and on the field on our strength and conditioning and skills. It has also been great to be amongst the group again.

What appealed to you most about the Deakin Elite Athlete Program and how has it helped you?

I love the balance of being able to be a professional athlete and pursue a career I’m passionate about. This couldn’t be done without the support of Deakin throughout my studies.

Watch more.

Think beyond the field. Study sport at Deakin.

Looking forward…(All times are AEST)

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