Australians will be contesting 11 sports on Friday, Day 14, with medals guaranteed and other chances right across Tokyo.
- Beach Volleyball gold medal match with Australia vs the undefeated USA
- Three Aussies in the women’s javelin final and two in the 1500m final, with solid medal prospects.
- Australians also contesting the 50km walk and women’s 20km walk in Sapporo to start the day
- Annette Edmondson and Georgia Baker race for a medal in the Olympic debut of the Women's Madison.
- Harry Garside in boxing semi-final bout. A minimum of a bronze medal is assured if he doesn’t make the final
- Karate makes Olympic debut
- Start of Rhythmic Gymnastics
- Women’s Modern Pentathlon medals decided. This is the first Games where all five disciplines will be contested in the one venue. The Tokyo Stadium has been transformed and this is the last day Chloe Esposito will be the current Olympic Champion.
Artistic Swimming
The Australians are back in the water for the artistic swimming team event at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre. On Friday, the team of eight will take to the pool in their first of two routines, the technical. The technical routine lasting no longer than two-minutes and 50-seconds will include a set of five designates movements. The Aussies will be scored on synchronisation, difficulty, technique and choreography. 10 teams will be in competition on Friday at 8:00pm AEST.
Athletics
Sapporo will be where the athletics action starts on Friday morning with the 50km walk from 6.30am AEST. Rhydian Cowley at his second Games will be walking for Australia. The 30-year-old, who was 22nd in the 20km in Rio, takes on a big field of 59. At 5.30pm there will be a trio of Aussie women in the 20km walk. Commonwealth Games Champion Gemima Montag, 20-year-old Rebecca Henderson and 21-year-old Katie Hayward will be looking to continue Australia’s strong tradition in the event.
At the Tokyo Olympic Stadium on Friday night, five Australian women will contest finals. From 9.50pm AEST, Kelsey-Lee Barber, Kathryn Mitchell and Mackenzie Little will be chasing medals in the javelin. World Champion Barber and Australian Record Holder Mitchell are capable of making the podium, and Little will look to build on her personal best from qualifying to go deep into the final.
At 10.50pm Linden Hall and Jessica Hull will race the 1500m. They are the two fastest Australians of all-time. Hull got the Australian record back from Hall in the semi-final but fast times will be a bonus. The top placings are what Hall and Hull are chasing. The best result by an Australian at the Olympics was Margaret Crowley’s fifth in 1996.
Beach Volleyball
Mariafa Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy are in the gold medal match against April Ross and Alix Klineman of the United States. Fresh off their semi-final win over Latvia, the Aussies will look to secure the first gold medal for the green and gold since Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst in 2000. The undefeated United States will attempt to continue the American golden legacy in the event where they have picked up three of the past four gold medals. Action gets underway at Shiokaze Park at 12:30pm AEST.
Boxing
Australia will hold its collective breadth when 24-year-old Victorian lightweight boxer Harry Garside steps into the ring against Cuba’s two-time world champion Andy Cruz in a bid to reach the Olympic final. A win will provide the platform for Garside to do what no Australian has done, win Olympic boxing gold. No one will be more nervous than dad Sean and mum Kate who will be watching from lockdown. If Garside can’t win the semi-final he is guaranteed the bronze. Garside meets Cruz at 3:45pm AEST.
Canoe Sprint
After the exceptional performance of the Australians at Sea Forrest Waterway on Thursday, highlighted by the gold medal winning performance of the Men’s Kayak Double 1000m, the Aussie boats are back on the water. Australia will be racing in the heats and semi-finals of the Women’s K4 500m, Men’s K4 500m, and women’s C2 500m. Racing gets underway at 10:30pm AEST.
Cycling Track
Day five of racing at the track on Friday features Annette Edmondson and Georgia Baker in the Olympic debut of the Women's Madison. Kaarle McCulloch is back on track for the Women’s Sprint Qualifier. The high intensity racing at the Izu Velodrome commences at 4:30pm AEST.
Diving
Two Olympic debutants will dive into action in the Men’s 10m Platform preliminary, an event which has a sustained Australian legacy of success at the Olympic Games. Sam Fricker and Cassiel Rousseau will each perform a six-dive list in the effort to make the 18-athlete semi-final. In the event, Australia has two Olympic medals, a silver in 2004 from Mathew Helm and a gold in 2008 from Matthew Mitcham, the latter of which included the highest scoring dive in Olympic history. The 29-diver preliminary gets underway at 4:00pm AEST.
Golf
The Australian golfers tee off for the third round of the women’s tournament on Friday with Australians in the thick of their field. Hannah Green is sitting in eighth six under par with Minjee Lee chasing the lading pack in tied 24th three under par. The gold medal favourite Nelly Korda is currently in poll position 13 under par. Tee off is set for 8:30am AEST. Due to looming weather they may complete 36 holes (third and fourth rounds) on the same day or reduce the competition by one round.
Karate
In its Olympic debut, one Australian will take part in Karate on Day 14 of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Tsuneari Yahiro, Australia’s first ever Karate Olympian, will take part in four Pool B fights in the Men’s Kumite –75kg. Yahiro will face opponents from Kazakhstan, Italy, Azerbaijan and Germany in the attempt to secure his position in the semi-final. Action at the Nippon Budokan, the same venue for the Judo events, will begin at 6:00pm AEST.
Modern Pentathlon
Marina Carrier will contest the Women’s Individual event from 3.30pm AEST. After a strong showing in the fencing ranking round on Thursday, Carrier is off to a good start at her Olympic debut. Competition commences with swimming (200m), then the fencing bonus round, the show jumping (equestrian) and the medals will be decided in the Laser-Run event. A new Olympic champion will be crowned to replace Australia’s Chloe Esposito who won Australia’s first medal at Rio 2016.
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Australian Lidiia Lakovleva will be debuting in her first Olympic Games in the Individual All-Around event. Lakovleva will perform in all four apparatus - ball, hoop, ribbon and clubs - showcasing a technical routine in each rotation. The scores will then be added together for an overall score and the top 10 ranked athletes qualify for the final. The stunning action will kick off at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre at 11:00am AEST.
Matthew Barnard & Andrew Reid
