Olympic Afternoon preview

AAP General News (Australia)
08-19-2008
Olympic Afternoon preview

There's 20 gold medals waiting to be won today .. and while Australia's not expecting
a swagfull .. we do have some good prospects lining up.

Our best bet for a podium place is in the men's triathlon which starts at midday (AEST)
.. but if our hot prospect BRAD KAHLEFELDT is to take the gold he faces the monumental
challenge of trying to turn the tables on hot favourite JAVIER GOMEZ of Spain .. who's
been dominant in 2008.





SALLY MCLELLAN will take a new goal .. and plenty of self-belief .. into tonight's
100m hurdles final.

MCLELLAN has reached the final on her Games debut .. finishing fourth in last night's semi.

American LOLO JONES confirmed her gold medal favouritism by clocking 12.43 .. the fastest
time in the world this year .. but after her the event looks wide open and the feisty
21-year-old Queenslander says she has no idea what she can achieve.

Meanwhile .. a repeat of his scintillating heat run from yesterday will almost certainly
book JOEL MILBURN a place in the men's 400m final .. and fellow Australian SEAN WROE also
ran his quickest time ever to ease into tonight's semis.





In diving .. Veteran ROBERT NEWBERY and young teammate MATTHEW MITCHAM will be aiming
to secure a spot in tonight's three metre springboard final.

They're competing in the semi-final .. with the top 12 progressing to the medal-deciding
round with China's HE CHONG and QIN KAI the men to beat.





Today's sailing events get under way at 3:00 o'clock (AEST) with SARAH BLANCK hoping
to bury some personal demons .. and extend Australia's medal tally in the Laser Radial
race.

Competing in the now-defunct Europe solo dinghy class at Athens 2004 .. BLANCK missed
out on a bronze medal by a single point .. and is determined to make up for the disappointment.

But she still faces a big task to overhaul the 10-point gap separating her from the
bronze medal position going into today's decider .. and will be hoping Lithuanian GINTARE
VOLUNGEVICIUTE and China's LIJIA XU .. sitting in second and third respectively .. slip
up.

There's less to worry about for Australia's world champion Tornado team .. with DARREN
BUNDOCK and GLENN ASHBY comfortably keeping pace with Spanish rivals FERNANDO ECHAVARRI
and ANTON PAZ.

The reigning world No.1 crew have just three races to go before Thursday's scheduled
medal race .. and will look to open the gap with the third-placed Greek crew.





Our women's water polo team takes on the gun USA team today .. for a place in Thursday's final.

Australia and the USA head into the match with undefeated records at the tournament
.. with their worst results being draws against Hungary and Italy respectively.

The match starts at 4.20pm (AEST) with the winner meeting the victor of today's other
semi-final between Hungary and the Netherlands.





And the Opals are ready for the business end of the basketball comp .. starting with
today's quarter-final clash with the Czech Republic.

Australia came to China as the team expected to provide the biggest resistance to the
United States' quest for a fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal.

The Opals lost the past two Games finals to the Americans .. but their undefeated run
through the 2006 world championships has raised expectations they might finally have the
depth and the experience to take the final step.

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KEYWORD: OLY08 PREVIEW (SYDNEY)

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