We need to address this head-on. The mascot for the Paris Games is really weird. 

I did some digging to work out what this puzzling triangle-esque red blob with two eyelashes actually is - it turns out it’s called ‘Phryge’ (pronounced Fri-jee-uh), named after the Phrygian cap, a style of hat worn in the French Revolution as a sign of freedom. There are two ‘Phryges’ - one for the Olympics and one for the Paralympics. Some say it looks like the poo emoji, others say the Eiffel Tower. No one really knows. 

My big question: If you buy an Olympic souvenir with the Phryge on it, are you wearing a hat of a hat? Are we ok with that? 

Anyway, back to the sport.

🏃🏽 3:30pm, Men’s 20km Race Walk (Medal Event 🥇)
Australians Declan Tingay, Kyle Swan and Rhydian Cowley will line up in the first race of the Paris Athletics schedule. 

🏀 5:00pm, Women’s 3x3 Basketball: Australia v China, Australia v U.S. (Group Games)
Despite going down to Canada in their first game, Australia rebounded against Germany. They’ll be looking to back up their win against China, then against the U.S. at 9:00pm.

🏐 5:00pm, Men’s Beach Volleyball: Australia v Germany, Australia v Qatar (Group Games)
The men’s duos will be in action at 5:00pm (against Germany) and 6:00pm (against Qatar). Australia has two sets of pairs in the competition. Neither duo has won a game in Paris so far. 

⛳ 5:00pm, Men’s Golf: Individual Stroke Play (Opening Round)
Aussie golfers Jason Day and Min Woo Lee tee off in the first round of the Olympic tournament, aiming to get off to a strong start on the challenging Le Golf National course.

🏃‍♀️ 5:20pm, Women’s 20km Race Walk (Medal Event 🥇)
Jemima Montag, Olivia Sandery and Rebecca Henderson will be hitting the streets of Paris in search of a medal. Keep an eye on Montag — she set a new Australian record in the event in February.  

🏑 6:30pm, Men’s Hockey: Australia v New Zealand
The Kookaburras lost 6-2 to Belgium in their first game in Paris, a rematch of the gold medal match in Tokyo. However, they’ll go into this game with confidence, having beaten NZ at the Tokyo Games. 

🚣‍♀️ 7:18pm, Women’s Rowing: Double Sculls Final B
The Australian duo of Amanda Bateman and Tara Rigney will be competing in ‘Final B’ to finish between 7th and 12th in their event.

🚣‍♀️ 7:50pm, Women’s Rowing: Four Final B
Australia's women's four crew, featuring Lucy Stephan, Rosie Popa, Annabelle McIntyre and Jessica Morrison, will face Ireland and Denmark to compete for 7-10th position. 

🚣‍♂️ 8:10pm, Men’s Rowing: Four Final A (Medal Event 🥇)
Alexander Hill, Fergus Hamilton, Jack Robertson and Tim Masters will compete for a medal. Hill was part of the team that won gold in Tokyo, and silver in Rio, and will be looking to build on the team’s strong showing in their heat. 

🏀 9:30pm, Women’s Basketball: Australia v Canada (Group Game)
After going down to Nigeria 75-62 in their first match, things won’t get much easier against fifth-ranked Canada for the Opals. It’s a must-win game for the side. 

🤽‍♂️ 11:00pm, Men’s Water Polo: Australia v France (Group Game)
The Aussie Sharks face a tough test against the host nation after shocking the water polo world by beating Serbia, the winners of the last two Olympic titles, earlier this week. Australia’s men’s team have never won a medal in the event.

🏐 12:00am, Women’s Beach Volleyball: Australia v Canada (Group Game)
One win against China, one loss against the U.S. - that’s how things are placed for Australian duo Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar. Their Canadian opponents are yet to win a game in Paris. 

🤸  2:15am, Women’s Gymnastics: All-Around Final (Medal Event 🥇)
Simone Biles will be looking to win her ninth Olympic medal after being the top qualifier for this individual event. The sole Australian representative is 17-year-old Australian Ruby Pass, competing in her first Olympics.

🏑  4:15am, Women’s Hockey: Australia v Argentina (Group Game)
The Hockeyroos take on their long-time rivals Argentina in a crucial early morning group stage match that could have significant implications for quarter-final seedings. It’s been an excellent tournament so far for the women’s side, beating Great Britain 4-0, the U.S. 3-0, and South Africa 2-1. 

🏊‍♀️ 4:30am, Women’s 200m Butterfly (Final 🥇)
All eyes will be on Elizabeth Dekkers and Abbey Lee Connor as both aim to add to Australia's rich history in this event, following in the footsteps of Olympic champions Susie O'Neill and Jessicah Schipper. They’ll have to beat Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh and Chinese Olympic record-holder Zhang Yufei in the process.

🥇 Australian athlete Jessica Fox has secured her second gold medal at the Paris Olympics, successfully defending her Canoe Slalom C1 title. Fox finished in a time of 101.06 seconds, 2.48 seconds ahead of silver medalist Elena Lilik from Germany. This victory marks Fox's sixth individual Olympic medal, establishing her as Australia's most successful individual Olympic medalist and overtaking Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones. Fox's Olympics achievements now include gold medals in both the C1 and K1 events. She’s not done yet — Fox will continue her Olympic campaign in the Women's Kayak Cross Time Trial qualifying event alongside her sister, Noémie.

⚽ The Matildas are out of the Paris Games after going down 2-1 to the U.S. in their final group match. The team needed Colombia to draw or beat Canada to keep their hopes alive, but the Canadians prevailed 1-0, knocking out Australia. It’s the earliest exit for the Matildas since they first competed in the Olympics in 2000. Head Coach Tony Gustavsson will part ways with the side after four years, after reaching a “mutual agreement” with Football Australia. The next major tournament for the team will be the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup, set to be hosted in Australia.

🏊‍♀️ Mollie O’Callaghan and Shayna Jack have both missed out on medals in the 100m Freestyle Final, with Swedish veteran Sarah Sjöström taking out gold. O’Callaghan missed out on a podium spot by just 0.01 seconds, while Jack came fifth. Sjöström, who did not originally plan to enter the event, went within half a second of beating the world record in the event she set in 2017. 

🚲 Natalya Diehm has won Australia’s first-ever women’s Olympic BMX medal after claiming bronze in the women’s BMX Freestyle final. The 26-year-old has had to overcome five serious knee injuries to compete in Paris, where she delivered a strong run to take the last spot on the podium behind China’s Deng Yawen and American Perris Benegas. Meanwhile, defending men’s champion Logan Martin finished in ninth position in the corresponding event after falling in both of his runs.  

🏃🏽 Australian triathletes Sophie Linn and Natalie Van Coevorden (in the women’s) and Matt Hauser and Luke Willian (men’s) navigated challenging weather conditions to finish their respective triathlons, which were both delayed because of unsatisfactory water quality in the Seine. Hauser finished in seventh place in the men’s event despite a nasty fall towards the end of the cycling leg; Willian came in 42nd. Linn finished 21st and Van Coevorden finished 42nd in the women’s race. All will now turn their attention to the Mixed Relay event.

🏊‍♀️ French swimming sensation Léon Marchard has pulled off an incredible double gold medal performance at his home Games, with the 22-year-old winning both the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke within two hours, setting new Olympic records in both events. It takes his gold medal tally in Paris to three, earning him comparisons to Michael Phelps’ breakout performance in the 2004 Athens Olympics. 

🏐 Australia’s women’s water polo team beat the Netherlands in a thrilling 15-14 penalty shootout. A crucial save from substitute goalkeeper Genevieve Longman in the final moments proved to be the difference between the sides. Because a side gets two points for winning a match via penalties (compared to just one point if they win in regular time), it means Australia move to second in their group behind the Netherlands. They play Canada tomorrow night at 10pm AEST.

Despite high expectations for record-breaking performances in the Paris pool, only one world record has been set after the first five nights of competition. Now, athletes, officials, and commentators are questioning whether architecture, scheduling, or COVID-19 is to blame. Here’s what you need to know.

In Tokyo, six world records were set in the swimming program. In Rio, it was eight, in London it was nine, and in Beijing it was a whopping 25. While there are still a few nights on the swimming program in Paris, questions have begun to be asked as to why the number of world records looks to be so drastically different in 2024. 

In Paris, the pool is 2.15m deep, shallower than the depth recommended by World Aquatics of 2.5m. Most competition pools are even deeper than that — the pool that hosted the U.S. trials is 2.8m deep. In the Beijing Games, swimmers competed in a 3m deep pool. 

The pool in Paris has been built in a stadium (recently the venue of Taylor Swift’s Paris concerts) to accommodate the most spectators. When architectural plans were approved in 2019, it passed World Aquatics' guidelines. 

Here’s the theory behind water depth: The shallower the pool, the more turbulence swimmers create when they’re racing. The movement in the water they create rebounds off the bottom, which is closer to the surface in a shallower pool. This turbulence can make them go marginally slower, especially around the turns where they may have to swim against small waves.

It’s not just pool depth to blame for the lack of record breaking. Coaches and athletes have also said the three years between Games instead of the usual four, since the Tokyo Games were delayed because COVID-19), were disruptive to strict preparation schedules, and fewer world-class competition opportunities arose between Olympics. 

Others - including Australian silver medallist Kyle Chalmers - said the increased crowd of 15,000 may mean some athletes feel greater performance pressure than they would in smaller venues.

Speaking on the lack of world records, Chalmers told AAP: "It doesn't matter about times… it's about getting your hand on the wall first and winning the race. The times are never really all that remembered”. Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh also dismissed the issue, telling media: “It’s an Olympic pool. I don’t think any Olympic pool should really be called slow. No matter what, everybody’s racing in the same pool.”

Torin Koos, a spokesperson for World Aquatics, pushed back on criticism of the Paris facility, pointing to the nine Olympic records (not world records) set in the first 20 events at the Games. 

Enjoying the newsletter?

This sport newsletter is a new addition to TDA’s content offering, and we need your help getting the word out there.

If you want your friends to get their sport news from us, send them this:
https://sport.thedailyaus.com.au/?utm_campaign=sport-newsletter&utm_source=referral&utm_medium=email

🏉 Collingwood veteran Scott Pendlebury will become just the sixth AFL player to play 400 games after being named in his side’s team to face Carlton on Saturday night. The milestone has been overshadowed by allegations of racism filed by a former Collingwood employee, Mark Cleaver, on Monday. Today, the Herald Sun has reported that Collingwood sacked Cleaver after finding out he planned to go public with his allegations. Collingwood said they will defend all allegations in court. Pendlebury refused to comment on the allegations at the press conference marking his milestone. 

🏉 Former Australian NRLW player Sam Bremner has been named in the Sydney Roosters team for this weekend’s match against the Brisbane Broncos, completing a shock return to the NRLW after retiring in 2022. Bremner will return to her former side, who’ve lost a number of players to season-ending injuries, after spending the first half of the year as an assistant coach for the NSW Women’s State of Origin side. 

🏐 The Super Netball Grand Final between the Adelaide Thunderbirds and Melbourne Vixens has officially sold out, according to officials. In a statement, the league said over 9,000 tickets have been sold for the match at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. We’ll have a full preview of the Grand Final in tomorrow’s edition. 

Boosting Athletic Performance with AI: Insights from Deakin’s Dr. Lyndell Bruce

Dr. Lyndell Bruce, a Sport Scientist at Deakin University, is all about using the latest tech and data to boost athletic performance.

Take Artificial Intelligence, for instance. Last year, Mitch Aarons, a School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences PhD student, designed and created a decision support system (DSS) for coaches to use to assist in their match-day decision-making.

The system compares data from historic match outcomes and in-game team metrics with the current performance characteristics of two teams during a match to provide real-time feedback on a team's chances of winning and how their chances might be improved

Dr. Bruce shares that one of the most exciting aspects of this system is how it combines the strengths of AI with the insights of a coach or analyst, enhancing team performance.

So, where is the biggest opportunity in sports tech right now? Dr. Bruce believes it's in harnessing data and ensuring processes and systems are set up to distil it into meaningful and useful information. With performance departments across all sports using various formats and sources, there's a huge opportunity for a user-friendly data management system.

Think beyond the field. Study sport at Deakin.