-
Quentin Rew helped after finish of Olympic walk - Source: Getty Images -
View Photos
-
Related
Keep up with the news and views of Day 15 at the London Olympics:
10:06am
And with confirmation that Italy's Carlo Molfetta has won taekwondo gold in the +80kg category the Olympics Day 15 draws to a close. Not many events left to go now, but the basketball final and the marathon are both worth a look, see you back here tonight. (JM)
9:49am
It's almost all over for another incredible day of Olympic action from London. Just the gold medal match of the men's 80kg+ taekwondo to go now.
The Ukraine's Oleksadr Usyk has just taken out gold in the men's heavyweight boxing final. A late flurry of left and right hands seems to have secured him the win after being pretty much tied with Italy's Clemente Russo for much of the fight.
He celebrates with some russian-style dancing, and what I can olnly presume are some of his own special moves, in the ring. I reckon he might have a good night after that! (JM)
8:58am
A nail biting end to the diving as world champion, China's Bo Qiu, steps up for his final dive. If he nails it, he wins, but it is going to take a near perfect dive. Two and a half twists and a two and a half somersaults, but his landing is a little off. All eyes turn to the scoreboard, he gets 100.80, an incredible score, but two points off what David Boudia had managed with his final dive.
Britain's Tom Daley jumps in the pool to celebrate his bronze, David Boudia can hardly believe he's won gold, buy Qiu is devastated and heads to the showers. (JM)
8:54am
The Brits are going crazy in the aquatic centre after homeboy Tom Daley nails his final dive of the competition. Their cheers are shortlived though after the USA's David Boudia also nails a more difficult dive to steal gold.
Earlier there were grimaces all round after Germany's Martin Wolfram seemed to dislocate his shouler as he entered the water. Ouch. (JM)
8:41am
Here's one that get atheltics fans talking... who would win a 400m race between 100/200m champion Usian Bolt and 800m champion David Rudisha?
Seb Coe reckons Rudisha would have the edge: "Physiologically it's a bigger step for Bolt than Rudisha and you always go for the guy who's not going to be spooked by the distance," Coe said.
But, onenews.co.nz's Chris Matthews is backing Bolt, "he'd be faster in the final sprint."
Rudisha has said he is actually keen for the race to happen, and corrected Bolt when he declared himself the greatest athlete ever, saying he was the "greatest sprinter". (JM)
8:12am
Bolt and the Jamaican team are lapping it up here, women are throwing themsleves at them Jamaican flags are draped over their backs, it's their moment in the spotlight and they are not shying away!
A picture of you and Usain Bolt would surely be the most prized Facebook snap at the moment. (JM)
8:08am
Jamaican joy is mixed with Canadian despair here as the team that finished third have been disqualified, gifting their bronze medals to Trinidad and Tobago. It looks like they ran outside of the lane line.
8:02am
Wow, they absolutely smashed it! New world record of 36.84 seconds. Bolt runs the final leg and both he and Ryan Bailey from the US receive the baton at the same time, but Bolt stretches his legs and effortlessly pulls away.
It was a fast race, the US ran 37.04s which was the previous world record before the Jamaicans upped the ante again.
Bolt wants to keep the baton, presumably as a souvenir, but an official takes it off him - maybe they need it for the next race? (JM)
7:59am
Big cheers for the Jamaican team as they are introduced to the crowd but the US has its share of stars too, Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin will not be making this easy for the favourites. Usain Bolt is posing halfway around the track... now the starters take their positions.
7:53am
Universally acknowledged as The Man, Usain Bolt has entered the arena with his Jamaican team mates looking for his third gold medal of the Games in the sprint relays. The crowd is likely to erupt if they do it. (JM)
7:45am
The American women have done what their men just failed to do yesterday, and have won the 4x400m relay in very comfortable fashion. Not a world record but their time of 3minutes 16.87 was almost four seconds faster than Russia in second place. The stadium is now getting excited ahead of the 4x100m relay finals coming very soon.
Meanwhile in the aquatic centre there's a splash of controversy in the men's 10m diving final. Britain's golden hope, Tom Daley, who has been built up to an almost unprecedented level in the past four years, has been complaining about people using their flashes on their cameras. He brought it up with the judge and managed to get a re-dive, which he duly went on and nailed.
A bit of home favouritism? It could leave a bitter taste in the mouth of his competitors if he goes on to win you'd expect. (JM)
7:10am
So with Team NZ all done for another four years, the question I know you'll be asking is "where did we finish on that 'medals per capita' table ?'". Well you may remember earlier in the Games, NZ was leading the list which ranks nations by using the number of medals they win against their population.
Since the track events have started though we've moved down to third with Grenada's one medal enough to seal the top spot, with Jamaica coming in second. The Bahamas' win in the 4x400 relay yesterday puts them in fourth. (JM)
7:06am
Well, no such luck for Semenya this time The race is won by Mariya Savinova from Russia clocking a season's best time for her of one minute 56.19 seconds. Semenya did storm down the final straight though overtaking two rivals to claim silver. It seems the South African may have left her surge too late and by the time she kicked on Savinova was already too far ahead.
7:04am
All eyes are on Caster Semenya of South Africa now as the final of the women's 800m gets underway. She won this event in Beijing four years ago, you may remember, but faced questions over her gender.
7am
Farquhar stepped up and threw 80.22m to momentarily move into
eighth position with his final throw. But just when it seemed like
he would get three more throws, German Tino Haber took the final
place in the group of eight with a throw of 81.21m. Heart-breaking
stuff for Farquhar and the expression on his face says it all. He
will finish ninth at the Olympics and that is NZ done and dusted
for four more years. (CM)
6:53am
With one throw to go, Farquhar is in his last position with a best
throw of 76.80m. His second throw was 76.64m. He will
need to beat Dean Roderick Genki of Japan's throw of 79.95 if he is
to progress to the final group. (CM)
6:50am
British hero Mo Farah has set the 85,000 strong crowd into a frenzy
after winning the 5,000m in dramatic fashion. The 10,000m winner
made his move with three laps to go, alah Murray Halberg in 1960,
and held his lead despite the best efforts from a determined field
to overhaul him. One of the great moments of the track for sure.
(CM)
6:37am
Stuart Farquhar's first throw of 76.80 metres has him in eighth
position in windy conditions at the Olympic Stadium. It may very
well come down to the luck of the draw here. A gust of wind
at the right time may very well decide the medal winners. The top
eight after the first three throws will progress to the final
group. (CM)
6:10am
The last Kiwi competing at the Olympic Games, Stuart Farquhar,
is about to kick-off his bid for New Zealand's 13th and final medal
in the men's javelin. In the final group, his personal best of
86.31m is the fifth best in the field of 12. If he can better that
you would have to say he is a genuine shot of winning a medal at
his third Olympic Games. But in the sport of javelin it is all
about temperament. Can he handle the pressure? Stay
tuned. (CM)
5:59am
The top five painful moments of the Games below doesn't include
animals but if it did surely South Korea's Jung Jinhwa riding Foot
Perfect during the riding event of the men's modern pentathlon
would be a late nominee. (CM)
5:35am
A total of 302 gold medals will be handed out by the time this
doozy wraps up. That's 302 winners - an exclusive club which will
be revered forever. But even more select is a group of athletes who
will be remembered for making the whole world feel a little
queasy. Check out the
top five painful moments of the Games
here
. (CM)
5:28am
Another Kiwi gunning for a gold medal today is wearing US colours - volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon, in charge of the American women's taking on Brazil in the final just starting. He's already enjoyed Olympic success with the US men in Beijing, so this would be a nice double for him. (GC)
4:35am
New Zealand has climbed up to 14th on the medal table following
Lisa Carrington's golden sprint at Eton
Dorney.
Which is great but - in true trans-Tasman
spirit - why don't we combine the Kiwis' medal tally with
Australia's like the Daily Telegraph did a week or so ago. Aus
Zealand or New Stralia (I prefer the latter) would in fact
be sixth on the medal with 12 golds, 19 silvers and 15
bronzes. That would place us above Germany and just below Korea. A
top six finish would be a first for us and would also nearly
meet Australia's ambitious pre-Olympic goal. #winning.
(CM)
4:21am
And as the Olympics wind down, it's great to see our friends from across the Tasman finding a new adversary on the sporting landscape . I wonder what Olympic event this guy might excel at - wrestling perhaps? (GC)
3:48am
Brazil have answered with time virtually up - the commentators are beside themselves, because their favourite player, Hulk, has pulled one back. But it's all over and Mexico have again deprived Brazil the gold at Wembley in front of 86,000 fans - the biggest crowd to attend an Olympic event. (GC)
3:32am
OK, this time the Mexicans keep themselves on side and Peralta heads home a cross for 2-0. Brazil really seem to be jinxed when it comes to Olympic football, the one title to have eluded them over the years. (GC)
3:26am
GOOOOOOOOOAL! Oh, sorry - false alarm. Peralta seems to have extended Mexico's lead, but he's offsidde. Twenty minutes to go. (GC)
3:21am
Others just need a holiday from things Olympic. (GC)
3:12am
The real shame is that no amount of cropping can show you what this guy is wearing from the waist down :-/ (GC)
2:56am
Stil searching for a photo of Quentin Rew - getting "Urewera", "farewell", "andrew", "crew". Sheesh, the guy spends almost four hours competing - probably more than all the rowing crews combined - and not one pic! #invisibleman (GC)
2:46am
Good new for all of you disappointed that the brave Black Sticks missed out on a medal - @HarrisonSisters tweets: "Thanks for all your messages. We are all pretty gutted with our last game! But the sun actually came up this morning :)". Yes, there is life after Olympics. (GC)
2:30am
Just ducked across the road for a latte and carrot cake, and saw a chick dressed as Wonder Woman . Gonna miss these overnight shifts and the party freaks around town at this hour. (GC)
2:27am
Still in first half of the men's football final and Mexico are 1-0 up over Brazil, thanks to a goal in the first minute by Peralta. Sounds like a pretty average game. (GC)
1:08am
Kiwi Karen Hanlen has just finished the mountain bike race in 18th place, clocking 1h 37m 54s, some seven minutes behind winner Bresset. (GC)
12:56am
Wow, just watched a replay of that 4x100 WR - they broke it by half a second! That's huge! That's what happenes when you sleep all day - you miss stuff like that :-/ (GC)
12:43am
Hanlen's slipped to 19th through 22km, but she's still ahead of the top Aussie, Rebecca Henderson (24th). (GC)
12:36am
Hanlen in 16th through 19.6km, 3m 34s behind Bresset. (GC)
12:27am
Just reflecting on today's 4x100m world record (40.82s) for women on the track - according to the Athletics NZ website, our national men's team is only marginally faster (40.74s), although the opportunities for them to compete are quite rare. (GC)
12:25am
Hanlen has moved up a couple of spots on the mountain bike - she's now in 17th, about three minutes down on leader Julie Bresset of France.
12:07am
Meanwhile, out on the mountain bike course, the riders are almost halfway through the journey, with Kiwi Karen Hanlen sitting 19th at 12.4km, about two minutes behind the leaders. This is another gruelling event, with plenty of thrills and spills. (GC)
11:51pm
Here comes our boy now. Like most race walkers, Rew is an interesting character - when he won his first track title, he was actually disqualified for doing a celebratory forward roll over the finish line. As if race walking doesn't already have a PR problem, some knit-picking official decided this was unsportsmanlike. Rew's reaction? He knew he had won and everyone else in the stadium knew he was the best walker there - point proven, no big deal. Walking does have a bad rep and slow-motion replays clearly show most competitors cheat by leaving the ground, when the rules say they should keep one foot down at all times. But no-one can question that this is perhaps the most gruelling event on the Olympic programme - remember Craig Barrett's meltdown at the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games - so let's give them their due. Rew's crossed the line (on his feet) in 3h 55m 03 - a PB by nearly four minutes and second only to Barrett (3h 48m 05s) among Kiwis ever. A very intelligent performance. (GC)
11:35pm
Rew grabs another couple of spots up to 36th and through 45km in 3h 31m - last 5km, still 23m 28s. Great performance, if he can hold on over the last 5km. Russian Sergey Kirdyapkin has just crossed the finish in 3h 35m 59s, with Aussie Jared Tallent 54s behind. (GC)
11:06pm
OK, the walk leaders have now gone through the 40km in 2h 54m - if you've ever run a marathon, that's worth just over three hours for the 42.195km distance. Rew is through the checkpoint in 3h 08m and is now in 38th, still on PB pace. (GC)
10:50pm
Rew is through 35km in 2h 44m 45s and has picked up a couple more places to 43rd. There are athletes tiring now and the Kiwi seems to be maintaining a steady pace of about 23m 30s each 5km. (GC)
10:25pm
In the walk, Kiwi Quentin Rew is now in 45th place through the 30km mark in 2h 21m 18s - that's 3h 55m pace, which would be a personal best. Rew walked 3h 58m to qualify in March. (GC)
10.03pm
Lisa Carrington stands proudly at centrestage as 'God Defend New Zealand' plays out during the medal ceremony. The New Zealand flag flies high as the 23-year-old Olympic champion poses for photographs with her gold medal. (DS)
9.21pm
Lisa Carrington has won a gold
medal.
for New Zealand in the K1 200m final. She
finished with a time of 44.635 seconds. Ukraine's Inna
Osypenko-Radomska won silver and Hungary's Natasa Douchev-Janics
won bronze. (DS)
9.18pm
The K1 200m final is about to kick off with Kiwi Lisa Carrington
in lane five. She's up against favourite Hungarian Natasa
Douchev-Janics. (DS)
9.07pm
OK so just over an hour into the men's 50km walk and the
competitors have already sped through 15km's with a Russian heading
two Aussies in the top three spots. (DS)
It's a battle of the mind out there between these premier
athletes who are keeping the onlooking crowd of cheering fans
thrilled to bits - no doubt absolutely wrapped they managed to
take in some of the London Olympics. I'm sure many of you out there
are asking 'why am I not there to see this?' Pencil in Rio 2016 for
your next chance to catch some of this electric atmosphere live and
in the flesh. (DS)
8.59pm
Ukrainian Yuri Cheban came first with 42.291s, Lithuania's Jevgenij Shuklin second with 42.792s and Russian Ivan Shtyl third with 42.853s. (DS)
8.56pm
The men's A final of the C1 200m canoe sprint is about to begin... (DS)
8.36pm
Back to the walk and there are three Austrlaians in the lead
group which is currently headed by two Russian competitors. No sign
nor mention of Quenten Rew from the foreign commentators but I
understand he is currently in the middle field. (DS)
In the hockey, South Africa have eased ahead to a 2-1 lead over
India.
8.31pm
Denmark's Kasper Bleibach came in first with a time of 37.802,
Lituania's Egdijus Balciunas second with 37.995, and Momotaro
Matshshita third with 38.040. (DS)
8.25pm
The men's B final of the K1 200m kayak is underway... (DS)
8.03pm
The 50km walk is underway folks. Conditions are warm and sunny
with the competitors off to a strong start in the 18-degree
temperature. The course is a 2km loop with 25 laps ahead of
the walkers. A great crowd has lined the London streets to view the
race. (DS)
7.45pm
Welcome to onenews.co.nz's live updates of all the action from day 15 of the London Olympics.
From a New Zealand point of view the evening begins with Quentin Rew taking part in the men's 50km walk which gets underway shortly.
Just after 9pm Lisa Carrington will race in the canoeing K1 200 final.
Carrington took three seconds off the old world best mark in the semi final and heads into the medal race as the fastest qualifier.
Later on we'll cover Karen Hanlen's efforts in the women's cross-country and early tomorrow morning Stuart Farquhar competes in the men's javelin.
Right now there is some Hockey action with South Africa and India's men's teams locked at 1-1 early in their classification 11-12th match.
Hope you're geared up and ready for another night of Olympic action!