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Everyone wants a piece of them: Joseph Sullivan and Nathan Cohen with ONE News rowing reporter Craig Stanaway - Source: ONE Sport -
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All the action from day six of the London Games.
11:20am
And that concludes our live coverage of a thrilling day for NZ but join us again tonight where Hamish Bond and Eric Murray, who have never been beaten in nearly four years of competition, and Mahe Drysdale will hopefully continue the gold rush. Bye for now! (CM)
10:52am
A new Olympic record has been set in the most one sided game of the London 2012 Olympic Games. 156 points for the United States has set a new bench mark for Olympic basketball as they put on a crowd pleaser against Nigeria who ended up with 73. (SM)
10:45am
145 - 68. The US have now got 3 minutes to continue increasing their all-time Olympic record with a little more than 3 minutes left on the clock as they take a time out. They've dethroned Brazil who has held the record since the Seoul games in 1988. What more than the gold medal favourites contribute before full time. Start of the 4th and the US are about to break the aoll time record for most points scored in a game. They're on 124 points doubling the Nigerian team on 62. Paul gets a break away and stops to take a shot from downtown and nails it. (SM)
10:27am
USA and Carmello Anthony are all over the Africans from Nigeria
102-56. Calls from the commentary box are talking about what
records the US stars can break, giving an indication of just what
kind of game we're having. They're 19/29 from behind the arc as the
Carmello show continues with the Knicks super-star on 37 points
half way through the 3rd quarter. The Olympics record for
total points in a half has been set by James, Kobe, Anthony and the
team today, totalling 78 points. They're about to break another
record the OR for all time points in a game which is currently
132. (SM)
9:41am
And the fast-finishing Black Sticks are unable to snatch
a late draw, losing 2-1. It was a gallant effort from the
girls but they were unable to make the most of their chances. They
next play the US on Sunday morning at 5:30am (NZT) where a win is
almost certainly needed. Read the
report here
. (CM)
9:34am
The Black Sticks have scored through Charlotte Harrison with just
eight minutes to go to keep their hopes alive of salvaging a draw.
Gemma Flynn's beautiful turn and pass across goal found the older
Harrison sister to tap home. The Black Sticks are definitely
finishing strong here and look fit and eager. (CM)
9:24am
The USA have begun with Durant, Bryant, Chandler, James and Paul taking centre stage against last qualifiers Nigeria in the mens basketball competition from Basketball Arena for London 2012. Durant opened the scoring, sinking the first shot of the game and the first three of many for what could be a very big score line. They've continued to power on in the first seven minutes 20-8.
9:16am
The Black Sticks have fallen 0-2 down after blowing a chance to
equalise just moments before. Captain Kayla Sharland misfired in
front of goal badly before the Argentines pounced on the
counterattack for Carla Rebbecchi to tap in from close range.
Massive ask for the Black Sticks now. (CM)
9:03am
The Black Sticks are still down 0-1 at halftime but they
haven't been without hope. They have forced four penalty corners to
three and have shown good variety in attack. A loss won't be
terminal here but if they can somehow salvage a draw they will go
to the top of Group B with seven points, just ahead of Australia
and Germany who are both on six points. (CM)
8:25am
And the Black Sticks have fallen behind 1-0 just after
three minutes. After surviving two early penalty corners, Carla
Rebbecchi fired a shot from outside the box to take the early
advantage. It is now past 9pm London time and you have to wonder if
the late start is affecting the New Zealanders after their previous
two matches were early in the morning. (CM)
8:15am
Another game with NBA stars filling the roster as medal hops Spain have a lead against Great Britain in the men's Group B's preliminary round. Spain are looking to leave this one 2-0 while GB are looking for their first win at the London Games. Brothers Pau and Marc Gasol, who feature for the LA Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves respectivley are on form for Spain as well as Serge Ibaka (OKC Thunder), while Chicago Bull small forward Luol Deng is stepping up for the host nation. (SM)
7:57am
Just 20 minutes until the red-hot Black Sticks take on
world number two Argentina in their crucial pool match. The Kiwi
girls will take a massive step towards qualifying for the
semi-finals if they can claim their third consecutive win but will
be wary of a South American side who were shocked in their last
match by the US. Charlotte Harrison scored a goal on her 23
birthday against South Africa on Wednesday night but her sister Sam
has yet to hit the score sheet at the Olympics. But who is the real
weakest link? Check out this
video of their sibling rivalry
while you wait for the match to begin.
7:30am
Michael Phelps has won his 20th Olympic medal and his third
successive gold medal in the 200metre individual medley. He is the
first athlete to ever win the same event three times in a row.
Kudos to you Mr Phelps and Team USA now has 18 golds, the same as
China. (CM)
6:58am
Team USA are closing in on China on the medal table. Rebecca Soni
broke the world record for the second time in 24 hours to win the
women's 200 metres breaststroke gold while Tyler Clary shocked Ryan
Lochte to win the 200m backstroke. America now has 17 golds, just
one behind China, which is a little bit disconcerting for my
sweepstake hopes. Incidentally New Zealand is now 19th on the
medal table
. (CM)
6:20am
Referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazov from Turkmenistan has been expelled
from the London Olympics. Meretnyyazov failed to stop a men's
bantamweight bout despite fighter Magomed Abdulhamidov being
knocked down six times in the final round. The referee was expelled
with immediate effect and AIBA said he was on his way home.
(Reuters)
6:02am
Final thought for the day/night: Wherever he is, Vangelis has to be creaming royalties from these Olympics. His Chariots of Fire theme can be heard during every medal ceremony, so you could get sick of hearing in over the next 10 days. (GC)
5:38am
High drama at the velodrome, where the Chinese have also fallen foul of the TMO and been stripped of their gold medals in the women's team sprint. They were still celebrating their victory seconds after the announcement was made, until the decision was translated. Suddenly, the Germans, happy enough with their silver medals, found they had been upgraded. The Kiwi men were eliminated by eventual finalists France, but settled for fifth in a new best time, while the pursuit team clocked the third-fastest time to book a first-round meeting with second-ranked Australia. (GC)
5:33am
Drunk and dazed after a night spent commiserating his dashed
Olympic dream, Australian rower Joshua Booth allegedly smashed
windows at two English businesses, apparently thinking he was
breaking into his own home.
The Olympic debutant, 21, from Melbourne, must now answer to
British police after being arrested for alleged criminal damage in
Egham, southwest of London. The men's eight crew member will also
have to face the Australian Olympic Committee, whose officials had
warned them to "behave appropriately". (AAP) The lack of
medals seems to have clearly have gone to the Aussies heads.
(CM)
5:09am
Stanners is making a habit of this isn't he? We may just have to
make Craig his own photo gallery soon! But in all seriousness, the
man is working hard and he sent back a full interview with golden
boys Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan that we will post ASAP.
(CM)
4:11am
Controversy at the track as the TMO (or cycling's equivalent) is called in to sort out some irregularity and disqualies the home team from the women's team sprint. The riders and coaches aren't happy, and the crowd makes its disgust known. Tough break for the British girls, who had been talking it up with their Aussie rivals heading into the Games. Interestingly, both teams have had to take a back seat so far to the unheralded Chinese team, which have set world records in their two rides tonight. (GC)
3:49am
Track cycling has officially begun in London and the first Kiwis
in action are the men's sprint team. They were well beaten by
Russia in their qualifying run, but their time of 44.175s was fast
enough to qualify them seventh for the first round. The fastest two
teams from there will ride off for the gold medal and the next two
for bronze, so a lot of work to be done if a medal is to be won.
(GC)
3:45am
Before our lads
won gold overnight,
Statistics
New Zealand skewed some stats to make us feel better about
ourselves. Our two bronze medals as of yesterday made us the
third best country/capita at the
Olympics
. Well, thank goodness for that! We really
needed that boost to our insignificant egos. English-born radio
host Miles Davis, however, wasn't impressed.
"Please, please, please NZ Media grow up and stop propagating this
insecure bollocks. New Zealand is a magnificent country. It's
people are generally caring, intelligent individuals (Mark Watson
aside). New Zealanders are worthy individuals (Mark Watson aside).
New Zealanders are worthy individuals and do not need approbation
and constant ego boosting to make themselves feel better. Enjoy it
when you a medal. Enjoy a gusty performance but please dont try and
twist statistics to make you feel more legitimate. You are
already."
Unfortunately Statistics NZ only ranks the top 10 nations, so there
was no information on where Great Britain was ranked. Sorry Miles.
(CM)
2:56am
If you thought Mark Todd's Olympic longevity was impressive, how about this dude? 71 year old Hiroshi Hoketsu has just competed in the dressage 48 years after his first games in Tokyo. When asked if he was going to have another crack in Rio in four years time he said he wants to, but his horse will be too old! Classic! Interesting to note he also outscored New Zealand's Louisa Hill with his 68.73 to sit 17th after the first day. (ACR)
2:11am
Hill's score of 65.365 is better than just two other riders so far today - Moroccan Yassine Rahmoudi and our unfortunate friend from Canada - so she'll struggle to go further. There are still two more riders today and another 25 tomorrow, so we won't know until then. (GC)
2:01am
Kiwi Louisa Hill entering the dressage arena. Pretty confusing qualifying criteria for this event - the top seven teams go through to the next round, plus the best 11 individuals not already progressing in teams. Think I'll wait for the officials to sort that one out. (GC)
1:25am
Kiwi canoe slalom racer Luuka Jones has competed in her semi-final. She had the best score of 121.41 when she finished, however that was inevitable as she was the first one off. Since then four others have been and she now sits fifth. It looks as though she will be very lucky to make the final. (ACR)
1:22am
The Olympics are full of proud parents, none moreso than
swimming sensation Ryan Lochte's Mum. Ike Lochte proudly
told USA Today of her son's sexual
promiscuity
saying: "He goes out on one-night stands,
he's not able to give fully to a relationship because he's always
on the go." Stay classy Ike and Ryan! (ACR)
1:04am
Over at Wimbledon, locals will be warmed by the news that Andy Murray is through to the semifinals after defeating Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-4 6-1. In contrast to the pressure on Murray during his run at the same venue last month, he is flying largely under the radar this time, as others bear the brunt of public expectation. He'll face either Serbian Novak Djokovic or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France. (GC)
12:57am
Congratulations to the Aussie Boomers for their first victory at London, defeating China 81-61. Quite a few Kiwi connections in this team - NZ Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis is an assistant for the Boomers, centre Aron Baynes was born in Gisborne and head coach Brett Brown began his coaching career in charge of an unsuccessful Auckland NBL team in the late 1980s. They need at least another win to make the quarterfinals, and probably need to beat both Great Britain and Russia if they're to avoid the United States in the next round. (GC)
12:52am
And then Canadian David Marcus is powerless as his horse, Capital, completely loses the plot in the arena and is eliminated. Now I'm kinda regretting the field-mouse crack :-/ (GC)
12:38am
Right on queue, there's a torrential downpour at the dressage and competition continues. Makes you wonder again about that rain delay that robbed Andrew Nicholson of a medal in the eventing. Not that we're bitter or anything, (GC)
12:30am
A lull in proceedings - equestrian dressage just needs something to make it interesting (and I know I'm going to suffer for saying that). Maybe if someone released a pack of field mice in the arena? What is the collective noun for field mice anyway? (GC)
12:18am
Great story and especially the pic of Badley Wiggins celebrating his cycling gold medal yesterday. It's such a fine line between being drunk and disorderly, and letting your hair down to celebrate what has been an incredibly successful month for the Brit. I hope no-one deprives him that opportunity, but no doubt someone will take offence and make a fuss. Wowsers! (GC)
11:26pm
The lads receive their gold medal and we get to hear God
Defend New Zealand for the first time. A couple of patriotic souls
are getting a bit emotional here in the newsroom. Really lovely to
see, great stuff. (ACR)
11:00pm
We have our first Kiwi gold!
Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan win the
double sculls!
As they have throughout the regatta,
the New Zealanders left their charge until late, in fourth position
with 500 metres to go, they sprinted hard to overtake the second
placed Italians in the dying moments of the race. (ACR)
10:53pm
Conflicting information coming out of the NZ camp about the men's lightweight double sculls crew apparently missing their final, despite finishing second in their semifinal. Every other indication is that they're safely through, so stand by for a developing situation. By the way, Lauren Boyle through to the women's 800m freestyle final. (GC)
10:28pm
Another New Zealand rowing final as Emma Twigg finishes
third in her semi-final. Again it was a Dane who crossed the line
first with the Chinese sculler and Twigg not too far behind. Twigg
made a bit of a push to win at the end, but really left it too late
and will be pleased to have advanced safely to the medal
race.
9:56pm
Some better news for New Zealand as the Lightweight
double scullers advance to the finals after finishing second.
Denmark were comfortable winners, but the New Zealand and German
crews were well ahead of the rest of the field, not wasting too
much energy as they went through?
9:38pm
Another missed final for New Zealand as double scullers
Louise Ayling and Julia Edward finish way off the pace in fifth in
their semi-final. The lightweight double of Storm Uru and Peter
Taylor are nect to go in their semi-final for New Zealand.
9:32pm
The first New Zealand rowing crew to go today, the men's four,
have missed out on the final after finishing fourth in their
semi-final.
9:19pm
Hot tip from ONE News' Craig Stanaway at Eton Dorney. He
reckons the wind is blowing a bit and that the New Zealand double
are in a good position to take advantage. Get on them for
gold!
9:05pm
It's a bit of a later start for our Kiwis tonight, so
while you're waiting, why not check out what some of the athletes
have been up to outside their events with our
behind the scenes photogallery.
8:30pm
A New Zealand cyclist took off on Twitter during last
night's time trial after realising he shares a name with the
protagonist in American spy drama
24
. Here are some of the better tweets on Jack Bauer
from last night.
:JACK BAUER is in the Olympics time trials?! I heard there were terrorist threats, but isn't that a tad extreme?" (@stuartsharpe)
"Wiggo is on the road. Repeat. WIGGO IS ON THE ROAD. Patch his co-ordinates & schematics through to my PDA, Chloe. DAMMIT!" - Jack Bauer, NZ" (@michaelhogan)
"It will take Jack Bauer less that 24 hours to complete this
time trial. Watch his progress & of Bradley Wiggins LIVE"
(@BBCSport)
7:30pm
Another New Zealand medal chance at Eton Dorney today when Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan take to the water in the double sculls final. They've made a habit of giving me a fright in the early races as they hang back for the first 1500m before making an almighty push to win over the final quarter of the race. Let's hope they can do it again today.
There's also a raft of other New Zealand crews in action in semi-finals before Cohen and Sullivan at 10:50pm our time.
Also of note over night is the start of the track cycling programme where the men's sprint team will push for a medal and the men's pursuiters have their qualifying ride. The Black Sticks also face their toughest test so far when they take on Argentina where a win could virtually seal their semi-final spot.