Australian athletics star Peter Bol will be out to once again capture the hearts of the nation and improve on his Tokyo fourth place when the heats of the men’s 800m take place tonight.
Bol became a household name in Australia three years ago due to his deeds at the Tokyo Games, as he set a new Australian record over the 800m with a dazzling semi-final run before just missing out on the podium in the final.
He didn’t die wondering that night, leading up the field and giving a good sight before tiring late into fourth. While he didn’t win or even place, he was arguably the most popular Australian Olympian in Tokyo.
Unfortunately, Bol endured a nightmare 2023 when in January of that year, he was provisionally suspended after being told an ‘A’ sample from an out-of-competition urine test tested positive for EPO (Erythropoietin).
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Even though such findings aren’t meant to be made public, Bol’s result somehow reached the media and in turn the general public.
Bol protested his innocence and a month later, the ban was lifted when the ‘B’ sample was an atypical result.
He wasn’t in the clear yet though – that would come in August when the original ‘A’ sample was found to be negative, meaning Bol had his name and reputation dragged through the mud for a faulty test reading.
The ordeal did little to help his confidence, and it has been a less than ideal lead up for Paris.
However, Bol has qualified and that has to count to something. Is he in the same form as he was entering Tokyo? Probably not, but his bold frontrunning style means he’ll at least give himself every hope.
Bol will line up in the fourth heat, expected to get underway at 8:19pm (AEST).
Fellow Aussies Joseph Deng (Heat 3) and Peyton Craig (Heat 1) will also take their place in the 800m heats.
Australia got day 12 off to the perfect start with a bronze medal in the first Olympic marathon race walk relay mixed event, which sees a man and a woman teaming up to complete the marathon distance (42.195km) in four stages.
Women’s race walk bronze medallist Jemima Montag pulled her team with Rhydian Cowley (12th in the men’s race walk) into the lead after the completion of the second leg, with Cowley then moving into fourth spot. Montag took over for the final leg 20 seconds behind the Italian team in third, and was within five seconds a few kilometres later.
With six kilometres left Montag surged past Italy’s Antonella Palmisano (the 2020 gold medallist) to clinch another medal, but couldn’t quite close the gap on the Ecuadorian team who were one loss of contact foul away from a penalty.
Montag is the first Aussie to win multiple athletics medals in one Games since Raelene Boyle in 1972.
Expect fireworks when Round 1 of the women’s 100m hurdles get underway. Celeste Mucci, Michelle Jenneke and Liz Clay are the Aussie hopes but it must be said that they are outside chances of making the final.
Linden Hall will hope to qualify for the 1500m semis via the Repechage round. To do so, she’ll need to finish in the top three (from 12).
Staying on the track, and Stewart McSweyn and Morgan McDonald will contest the 5000m heats early on Day 12.
Turning to the field events, and Nina Kennedy is the raging favourite to take out the women’s pole vault final and back up her gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. That will get underway around 2:15am Thursday morning (AEST).
Discus thrower Matt Denny will be out for a maiden Olympic medal when his final starts around 4:25am (AEST). Denny just missed out on a spot on the podium in Tokyo, finishing fourth.
In tonight’s heats Mackenzie Little and Kelsey-Lee Barber are both big chances in the women’s javelin throw (from 6:25pm AEST).
Across to the velodrome, and there will be plenty of Aussies in action in the track cycling on Day 12, headlined by the men’s team pursuit quartet of Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy, Kelland O’Brien, who will race Great Britain for the gold medal at around 2:33am (AEST).
The Aussies broke the world record during the first round, recording the fastest time and hence qualifying for the gold medal race.
Meanwhile, the women’s golf gets underway at 5pm (AEST) with Hannah Green (5:44pm tee time) and Minjee Lee (7:44pm) representing Australia.
The Opals will take on Serbia in the quarterfinals (7pm AEST), aiming to atone for the Boomers’ heartbreaking quarterfinal loss.
In the pool, the in-form Sharks clash against the Americans in a men’s water polo quarterfinal (3am AEST). The Sharks emerged second from a tough Group B, winning three straight games to progress to the last eight.
Staying in the water, and sailor Matt Wearn is our best chance for gold on Day 12.
Wearn has been forced to wait to defend his Olympic title in the men’s dinghy, with conditions postponing the gold medal race until tonight (9:13pm AEST).
The 28-year-old, who won gold in Tokyo three years ago, will be declared champion if he places seventh or better in the final race (it also depends on the result for his lone challenger, Cyprus’ Pavlos Kontides) while his worst possible outcome is a silver medal.
In addition, we’ll have Aussies flying the flag in diving, artistic swimming, taekwondo, race walking and plenty more.
AUSSIES IN ACTION – DAY 12 HIGHLIGHTS
All times AEST
3:30pm – Athletics: Marathon Race Walk Mixed Relay (Rhydian Cowley/Jemima Montag) & (Declan Tingay/Rebecca Henderson)
5pm – Golf: Women’s Round 1 (Hannah Green, Minjee Lee)
5:30pm – Canoe Sprint: Women’s Kayak Single 500m Heats (Alyce Wood)
6pm – Diving: Men’s 3m Springboard Semifinal (Kurtis Mathews)
6pm – Men’s Sport Climbing: Boulder and Lead, Semifinal Lead (Campbell Harrison)
6:05pm – Athletics: Men’s High Jump Qualification (Brandon Starc, Joel Baden, Yual Reath)
6:15pm – Athletics: Women’s 100m Hurdles Round 1 (Celeste Mucci, Michelle Jenneke, Liz Clay)
6:25pm – Athletics: Women’s Javelin Throw Qualification Group A (Mackenzie Little, Kathryn Mitchell)
6:35pm – Taekwondo: Men’s 58kg Round of 16 Australia vs Niger (Bailey Lewis)
6:40pm – Canoe Sprint: Men’s Kayak Single 1000m Heats (Tom Green)
7pm – Basketball: Women’s Quarterfinal, Australia vs Serbia (Opals)
7:10pm – Athletics: Men’s 5000m Round 1 (Morgan McDonald, Stewart McSweyn)
7:50pm – Athletics: Women’s Javelin Throw Qualification Group B (Kelsey-Lee Barber)
7:55pm – Athletics: Men’s 800m Round 1 (Peter Bol, Peyton Craig, Joseph Deng)
8:03pm – Sailing: Women’s Kite (Breiana Whitehead)
8:30pm – Skateboarding: Men’s Park Prelims (Keegan Palmer, Keefer Wilson, Kieran Woolley)
8:45pm – Athletics: Women’s 1500m Repechage Round (Linden Hall)
8:45pm – Cycling Track: Men’s Sprint, Qualifying (Leigh Hoffman, Matthew Richardson)
9:13pm – Sailing: Men’s Dinghy Medal Race (Matt Wearn)
9:26pm – Cycling Track: Women’s Keirin First Round (Chloe Moran, Kristina Clonan)
9:52pm – Cycling Track: Women’s Team Pursuit, First Round (Chloe Moran, Georgia Baker, Maeve Plouffe, Sophie Edwards)
11pm – Diving: Women’s 3m Springboard Preliminary (Maddison Keeney, Alysha Koloi)
11:43pm – Sailing: Mixed Dinghy Medal Race (Nia Jerwood/Conor Nicholas)
2:15am – Athletics: Women’s Pole Vault Final (Nina Kennedy)
2:33am – Cycling Track: Men’s Team Pursuit Gold Medal Race (Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy, Kelland O’Brien)
2:42am – Men’s Sprint, Last 16 Repechages (Leigh Hoffman, Matthew Richardson)
2:57am – Cycling Track: Women’s Team Pursuit, Finals (Chloe Moran, Georgia Baker, Maeve Plouffe, Sophie Edwards)
3am – Water Polo: Men’s Quarterfinal, Australia vs USA (Sharks)
3:15am – Athletics: Men’s Triple Jump Qualification (Connor Murphy)
3:30am – Artistic Swimming: Team Acrobatic Routine Final
3:38am – Cycling Track: Men’s Sprint, Quarterfinals (Leigh Hoffman, Matthew Richardson)
4:25am – Athletics: Men’s Discus Throw Final (Matt Denny)
