As Australia heads into Day Three of the Paris Games at second place on the medal tally with four golds and two silvers, let’s look at the most memorable moments for the women athletes across the board, starting with our Aussie swimmers.
Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus took home Australia’s first swimming gold medal, winning the 400m freestyle and securing her third ever Olympic gold.
“I was really relaxed today, which was nice,” she said after her win. “I wanted to come out and have fun … I did my best, I will forever be back-to-back Olympian champion, which is really cool.”
Emma Mckeon, Meg Harris, Shayna Jack and Mollie O’Callaghan took home the gold medal in the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay — a fourth consecutive 4x100m freestyle title. Mckeon is now the country’s most decorated Olympian, having secured six gold medals in her career.
Cyclist Grace Brown won Australia’s first gold medal in the women’s road cycling time trial, coming in at 39 minutes, 38 seconds — a whopping 91 seconds in front of the silver medal winner.
“I really think I did (have the perfect race),” she said after the race. “It’s still sinking in. It’s so surreal. It’s something I dreamt of but now it’s real. I knew that I was capable to ride for a gold medal but I think every athlete has doubts right up until the start line. You don’t know how you’re going to feel on the day. I had a plan to pace the race to win gold and I was able to execute my plan pretty much to perfection, if not better.”
Jess Fox claimed gold in the canoe slalom K-1 finals, saying she was “so proud to be able to put together a really good run when it mattered.”
“I was really struggling to hold it together at the end,” she said.
The Matildas kept their medal chances alive after an outstanding come-back in the second group game against Zambia. The Aussie team were trailing 2-4 at half-time, before scoring four goals in the second half to beat the African nation, 6-5.
Aussie Captain Steph Catley said the match was “very eventful.”
“We obviously wouldn’t want it to go exactly how it did, but I think the way the game ended says so much about the heart and spirit of this team,” she said.
“We were 5-2 down around the 55th minute and didn’t drop our heads once. We knew we could get back into it. We knew we could score goals. Obviously we didn’t want to concede all of [those], but I think Zambia are an incredible team.”
“At the end of the day, we needed a win. And we did.”
In a heartbreaking turn of events in the women’s three-metre synchronised springboard final, diver Anabelle Smith slipped on the board as she launched, catapulting her off centre as she leaped into the pool.
“I screamed underwater,” Smith told reporters after her dive. “I just had a bad hurdle and landed on the side of the board, which obviously affects the rest of the dive. So, yeah, just unfortunate.”
“It’s obviously it’s gonna hit me a bit after this, but I don’t wanna, you know … I’m not dying, so I’m alright. But yeah, I think it’ll take some time to sink in. I just feel bad for letting the team down. I’m fine with myself, but you don’t want to let someone down in the process.”
The pair missed out on a bronze medal, which went to Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen of Britain. The US took home silver, while China’s Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen took home gold.
Meanwhile, Japan has been dominating the medals tally, with four golds, two silvers and one bronze.
Japanese judoka Natsumi Tsunoda delivered her country’s first gold medal at the Paris Games, beating reigning world champion, Mongolia’s Baasankhuu Bavuudorj to win in the Women’s 48kg event.
“It hasn’t hit home yet, but my face hurts,” Tsunoda said after her win. “I was happy that my coach was happy because I had really been aiming for this tournament for a long time.”
“During the competition, it was hard for me to get my moves going, and I thought I was being taken advantage of, but I tried to believe in myself until the very end. It was different from the usual competitions, and I had a lot of pressure and anxiety, but I think I was able to grow as a person.”
“I had turned away from my goal [of winning gold] for a long time, but I am glad that it became a reality.”
At just 31 years old (she is turning 32 on August 6), Tsunoda is the oldest female judoka to compete for Japan at the Games.
Tsunoda had a scare in her semi finals against 18-year old Swedish judoka Tara Babulfath, where the pair were each hit with two penalties before the Swede earned the decisive third violation. Babulfath ended up taking home a bronze medal — Sweden’s first medal at the Games. Babulfath also takes home her country’s first ever Olympic medal in judo.
Uzbekistan’s Diyora Keldiyorova also made history for her country, winning the Women’s 52kg and becoming both the first Olympic judo champion for Uzbekistan and the first Uzbekistan female medallist in the sport.
After her historic win, Keldiyorova said, “To change the life of women in Uzbekistan is my mission.”
“It’s an amazing feeling — the first gold medal for Uzbekistan, and also from a woman. I’m so happy. I don’t know, maybe it’s my day today … nobody knows that it’s my day and then I’m an Olympic champion.”
Over at the Skateboarding events, the women’s street skateboard finals was dominated by teenagers, with 14-year-old Japanese skater Coco Yoshizawa taking home the gold.
The silver medal went to Liz Akama, 15, while Brazilian Rayssa Leal, 16, collected bronze.
The South Korean women’s archery team won their tenth consecutive gold medal, beating China in a nail-biting shoot-off. Mexico took home bronze. The South Korean women’s archery team have won every single gold medal since the women’s team archery event was introduced at the Olympics in 1988.
This year’s team consisted of Lim Si hyeon, Jeon Hun young, and Nam Su hyeon. After their win, Lim Si hyeon said: “I’m very happy about keeping this place in Korean archery history. Even though other countries have progressed, we’ll try to keep our place.”
American fencer Lee Kiefer, 30, won the gold medal in the women’s individual foil, securing her second straight Olympic gold medal, and becoming only the second American fencer to win gold in the same event twice. She beat the silver medal winner Lauren Scruggs, 21, who is the first Black American fencer to win an individual fencing medal.
“No matter how much I tried to prepare, there’s still so much pressure I put on myself to just fence well and stay present,” Kiefer said afterward her win. “Each day was a rollercoaster, but here we are at the top.”
“I think I’ve grown my skills over the past few years and it becomes just a mental game every day trying to stay positive, trying to keep working at the details. There’s a lot of pressure that I placed on myself, so it was hard, but all the more beautiful because of that.”
Scruggs, who began fencing at 7, told the Washington Post she hopes her win will inspire other young women.
“Fencing has largely certainly been a non-Black sport,” she said. “I hope that people who look like me, girls who look like me, feel they have a place in this sport.”
“From a young age, I really had to prove myself to get respect. It’s the little things. Maybe no one’s cheering for you, things like that.”
In the women’s Épée individual finals, fencer Vivian Kong secured Hong Kong’s first gold at the Paris Games and its third-ever Olympic gold medal. After her win, Kong said: “I didn’t want to lose so badly and not be able to fence with ‘Hong Kong spirit’, I just tried to think about what an honour it is to be able to fence here, it has always been my dream, so I wanted to do well for you guys and not let down my coach and team.”