The Australian Women’s Rugby Sevens Team was ruthless on their way to defending their Dubai title and divers achieved a clean sweep at the Oceania Championships to highlight the weekend in Olympic sports.
Rugby 7s – Women win fourth-straight Dubai 7s, men finish 7th
The Australian women’s rugby 7s side won the season opener event in Dubai over the weekend, claiming the victory for the fourth year in a row to mark an incredible start their Paris 2024 campaign.
The women's side proved unbeatable, kicking off the weekend with a 39-0 win over Brazil, before a 66-0 win against Japan (the largest win in women’s World Rugby 7s history) and a 33-5 win against Ireland in the group stage.
At the HT buzzer of the @Dubai7s Final 🌪️#Aussie7s #Dubai7s #HSBCSVNS pic.twitter.com/CLlHB2UPL3
— AU 7s (@Aussie7s) December 3, 2023
They went on to defeat USA 32-5 and France 21-14 to secure their spot in the final against New Zealand, where they claimed the title with a 26-19 win.
Meanwhile the men's side had a slower start to the season, beaten 19-12 by Ireland and 31-14 by Argentina in the group stage. Despite the early losses, the team advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating Spain 25-7 in their final group match.
Unfortunately, after being defeated 24-7 in the quarter-finals by South Africa the Aussie men were eliminated from contention, but finished the event with a confidence boosting 26-12 win over the USA to place seventh.
Diving – Springboard and platform divers get closer to Paris 2024
Australia achieved four out of a maximum four Paris 2024 Olympic quotas at the 2023 Oceania Championships, with four Oceania champions crowned in Brisbane on Thursday and Friday.
In the women's 3m springboard final Queenslander Georgia Sheehan's 318.00 made her the top performer in her home pool, with Brittany O'Brien second on 303.60.
“I felt more nervous for the prelim than the final. I think I needed to shake off a few jitters,” Georgia said.
“Competition was quite tight, there was a very equal chance for all of the girls who dove today to take out the top spot, so I was definitely nervous going up against such strong competitors.”
A tighter contest in the men's 10m platform event saw Tokyo 2020 Olympian Sam Fricker (406.25) edge out fellow Aussie Jaxon Bowshire (405.60).
“It was my first competition of the season and every competition when we come back from a training block can be a bit of a stab in the dark, so to have had the performances we did today is great,” Sam said.
“Really happy for Jackson [Bowshire], he performed some incredible dives and put up a great fight. It was reassuring to see he was going great during the competition to know Australia was in a good spot.”
Shixin Li made the men’s 3m springboard event his own, posting a dominant 456.65 to secure the gold medal, with Kurtis Mathews also continuing his form to take home silver with a score of 416.60.
“I’m very happy to have achieved the win,” Shixin said. “I have been training hard in the lead up to the competition and also coming back from an injury so I am pleased.
Nikita Hains stood out in the women's 3m platform final, scoring 314.90 for victory with Milly Puckeridge coming second on 263.05.
Australia’s divers are stragiht back into competition, as they compete in the Diving Australia trials to select the team at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Qatar, Dubai next February.
Athletics – Four Olympic marathon qualifying times achieved
Four Aussie women have run Olympic qualifying times in the marathon over the weekend in Valencia, Spain.
Genevieve Gregson finished her second marathon in a personal best time of 2:23:08 to place eighth and become the third fastest female Australian marathoner of all time.
Isobel Batt-Doyle also achieved a personal best time at the event running a 2:23:27 to place fifth, while Lisa Weightman and Eloise Wellings followed closely behind finishing in times of 2:24:18 and 2:25:47 respectively.
Over in Fukuoka, Japan Olympian Brett Robinson ran his second fastest marathon time, 2:08:29.
Back on home soil, Jack Rayner and Lauren Ryan claimed the 10,000m title on Saturday night in Melbourne.
Boxing – Boxers dozen with 12 Paris Olympic quotas won
Australia qualified 12 boxers for the Paris 2024 Olympics at the Pacific Games on Friday and Saturday afternoon in Solomon Islands.
Monique Suraci, Tina Rahimi, Yusuf Chothia, Shannan Davey and Teremoana Teremoana all won in convincing fashion on Saturday, with Harry Garside’s Fijian opponent withdrawing from the final due to injury giving him the victory by walkover.
It backed up the highly encouraging wins Tiana Echegaray, Tyla McDonald, Marissa Williamson Pohlman, Caitlin Parker, Charlie Senior and Callum Peters delivered on Friday against tough opposition.
Caitlin, a Tokyo 2020 Olympian, becomes the first Australian female boxer to qualify for two Olympic Games, while Marissa is the first Indigenous woman to qualify for the Olympics in Boxing.
The 12 qualified athletes will be nominated to the Australian Olympic Committee for selection in line with Boxing Australia’s nomination criteria, expected in early 2024, with official Team selection taking place then.
Paris 2024 is set to eclipse London 2012 (11 boxers) as Australia’s largest boxing contingent at an Olympic Games.
Golf – Aussie siblings top-three in men’s and women’s Aus Open
Minjee Lee and Min Woo Lee were the best Australian performers at this year’s Australian Open in Sydney, both registering top-three placings at their home event.
The 27-year-old Minjee Lee had an opportunity to lift the Patricia Bridges Bowl right up until the last hole, going head-to-head with South Africa's Ashleigh Buhai.
Minjee Lee is making a charge for the lead! 🙌
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) December 3, 2023
⛳ #AusOpenGolf | Free on Channel 9 & 9Now#9WWOS #Golf pic.twitter.com/zqCyz9HDiU
With Buhai leading by one shot, both golfers made a par 5 on the 18th. It ended a strong day in difficult conditions for Minjee, who posted a 3-under 69 in the final round compared to Buhai’s 3-over 75.
After winning last week’s Australian PGA in Queensland, Min Woo Lee (12-under) brought his form to Sydney and finished within two strokes of the top two, Joaquin Niemann (CHI) and Rikuya Hoshino (JPN), who both finished 14-under and battled it out over two playoff holes.
Niemann got the win on the second playoff hole. The next best finishing Australian was Adam Scott, in a tie for fouth and one shot back of Min Woo at 11-under.
For the second year in a row, both the men’s and women’s tournaments were played at the same time, at two separate venues – The Australian Golf Course and The Lakes Golf Course. The final two rounds were all played at The Australian Golf Course.
