SILVER: The Paris Dossier – Day 12

New Zealand this morning won a spirited second silver medal in women’s track cycling, for our team pursuit four who were edged by the United States from start to finish of the 4km final.
Eliza McCartney competed deep into the women’s pole vault competition, one of the nine women to clear the third height of 4.70m, with her two compatriots, Olivia McTaggart and Imogen Ayris, bowing out at that level. But the 2016 Olympic bronze medallist couldn’t make the next height of 4.80m, exiting with her trademark smile.
The New Zealand track cycling pursuit team of Ally Wollaston, Bryony Botha, Emily Shearman and Nicole Shields entered the final against the US in great form, but were held out from the start by a formidable American line-up who pushed out to a 1.6s lead before holding to win by 0.6s.
The fastest qualifiers on Tuesday, New Zealand met fourth-fastest team, Italy, in their heat early this morning. Polished and powerful, they extended their lead over the Italians across the 4000m to win by over 2s, and set up their race for gold.
After the final defeat to the US, Wollaston told Sky Sport: “At the end of the day we always wanted to go out and win, but that ride is something we can be really proud of as a team. To get to this point with these girls, I’m really proud to be part of this team and we should be really happy with that ride.”  
Wollaston missed the Tokyo Olympics through injury and bounced back from knee surgery earlier this year to ride in Paris. “It definitely hasn’t been the smoothest sailing, but it hasn’t been for any of us. And I think that’s what makes us so robust as a team – all of our journeys have been really different and we’ve gone through a lot together.”
Pole vaulter Imogen Ayris had a career highlight, bettering her personal best of 4.57m in making it as far as 4.60m in the final – finishing 12th overall – and her more favoured compatriot, Olivia McTaggart, could not make the next step either, and was 13th.
“It was amazing,” Ayris told Sky Sport. “I’ve known there’s been a big bar there for a while and to do it on the biggest stage in the world was just like, oh my god, incredible. I came in ranked last, I came in ranked 32 and I finished 12th, so I’m over the moon.”
Eliza McCartney was successful at 4.70m, but failed her three attempts at 4.80m and couldn’t join the top five who carried on in the competition. The top Kiwi vaulter ended her second Olympic campaign in sixth overall, with Australian Nina Kennedy winning gold after a marathon three-and-a-half-hour competition, the only athlete to clear 4.90m.
It was still a huge achievement for McCartney, who has battled through injury after injury to return to the sport in time for these Games.
“Honestly, [it means] so much. I didn’t know if I’d be able to ever do this again,” she told Sky Sport. “And here I am… I’m stoked.
“Given how the last few months have gone, I think we made good decisions and we did the best with the cards I was dealt. And that’s all you can do.”
Highly ranked Kiwi paddlers Dame Lisa Carrington and Aimee Fisher both commandingly won their qualifying races in the K1-500 to progress to the semifinals and a likely match-off on Saturday in the final. Carrington, the defending Olympic champion from Tokyo and a five-time gold medallist crossed the finish line in 1m 48.51s and Fisher in 1m 49.16s.
A focused Fisher told Sky Sport after her race she’d been building for eight years (since her previous Olympic appearance in the K4 at Rio de Janeiro) for Saturday’s final.
Asked about the rivalry with Carrington, Fisher said: “It’s a privilege to be part of it. She is the GOAT [greatest of all time] in our sport, a phenomenal athlete. We all owe her a lot for the influence she’s had.”
Fisher said she was a lot more settled than when she appeared at Rio. “I was 21, a newcomer and it was all a bit of a circus and I was just trying to take it all in. I learned that competing at the Olympics is a whole different level.”

“The girls of Afghanistan will never surrender. Whatever pressure you put on an Afghan girl – restrict her, or even imprison her – she’ll definitely find a way out and will definitely achieve her goals. We fight and we will win”
– Afghanistan’s first female breaker, Manizha Talash, will compete for the Refugee Olympic Team having overcome injury, a change in identity, abduction of her father, a near suicide bombing and migration from Kabul to Madrid after the return of the Taliban which forbids female sport. 
The split second Poland’s “Spiderwoman”, Aleksandra Miroslaw, became speed climbing’s first Olympic champion – the world recordholder beating China’s Deng Lijuan by 0.08s on her 6.10s run.
Tokyo silver medallist Ellesse Andrews rode an almost flawless race in the first round of the keirin, strategically sitting on the wheel of French leader Mathilde Gros before outsprinting her on the final straight. The win earned Andrews, the reigning world champ, automatic entry to the quarterfinals.
“I got the dub [win] in the end just on the line,” she told Sky Sport. “So at this time it’s just about good execution, relaxing, taking nice deep breaths and making sure you get through to the next round.”
Rebecca Petch – who won silver with Andrews this week in the team sprint – bravely took the lead early in her heat but was swamped just before the line. She was just as aggressive in the repechage, finishing second, to join her team-mate in the quarters.
Golfer Lydia Ko, who has Olympic silver and bronze medals already, shot an even par 72 last night (NZT) to be tied for 13th in a field of 60 after the first round.

Boardsailing GOAT Barbara Kendall has been made an Olympian for Life at a special ceremony in Paris – along with four other Olympic legends, including the late Jesse Owens.
The recognition from the World Olympians Association is reserved for athletes who’ve drawn on their Olympic experiences to “make the world a better place by promoting the Olympic values at every stage of their lives.”
Kendall – who won gold, silver and bronze boardsailing across five Olympics – has since been an IOC member, a coach and ambassador, and created the Athletes Commission tool kit for Oceania adopted by the IOC.
She was at the Olympic surfing competition in Tahiti last week as vice president of International Surfing for the last 10 years. “It’s been a whirlwind,” Kendall told LockerRoom. “The best part was receiving the award in front of so many of the athletes from around the world who I’ve led on Athlete Commissions or trained as trainers in self-leadership.”
In her Olympic debut, Tori Peeters – “the little girl with a dream from Gore” – fell short of qualifying for the javelin final.
Peeters, who missed Olympic selection three years ago, found it tough going with a tricky wind in the Stade de France – producing a couple of throws in the mid-50 metres, before her best effort of 59.78m in her third throw. But it wasn’t far enough to make the top 12 qualifiers. “I feel like I fought hard to the very last throw, and it was nice to see something close to 60,” Peeters, who’s PB is 63.26m, told Sky Sport.
Two-time Olympic diver Lizzie Roussel, 26, finished 26th of 28 in the preliminary 3m springboard competition. Only the top 18 divers advanced to the semifinals.
After a day waiting in the blistering sun, the wind never arrived in time for multihull sailors Erica Dawson and Micah Wilkinson to compete in their medal race. They will try again tonight.
Crushed kite foiler Justina Kitchen didn’t get to finish her campaign on the water after officials decided to abruptly end her competition after only seven of the 16 scheduled races. She ends her first Olympics in 17th.
American wrestler Amit Elor might be the most dominant athlete at the Olympics. When the 20-year-old from Walnut Creek, California, crushed Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan in the 68kg weight class final, she extended her winning run to five years and 41 consecutive matches.
Over four Olympic matches, Elor outscored her opponents 31-2. In her first two bouts, against reigning world champion Buse Tosun, of Turkey, and Wiktoria Choluj of Poland, she scored as many points (18) as opponents have scored against her, in total, since her most recent loss in 2019.
Elor’s mother, Elana – who left Israel for the US in the 1980s – tried to talk her daughter out of the “violent” sport of wrestling at the age of four, and into dancing, cheerleading, tennis or swimming. Now she’s happy it didn’t work.
Meanwhile, Cuban wrestler Mijaín López has achieved an unprecedented feat at the Olympic Games, becoming the first athlete (male or female) in history to win five consecutive gold medals in the same event. On Tuesday, just shy of his 42nd birthday, López clinched the championship in the 130 kg category of Greco-Roman wrestling by defeating Chilean-born Cuban Yasmani Acosta 6-0, with whom he previously trained.
“New Zealand’s K4 500 crew of Dame Lisa Carrington, Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan, are back on the water tonight and on song to make the medal podium,” says LockerRoom writer and 2012 Olympic heptathlete Sarah Cowley-Ross from Paris.
“Three years ago, Carrington and Hoskin were in the Kiwi boat that were narrowly denied a medal, finishing fourth. But since then, they’ve been crowned world champions in 2023 and looked strong and in sync in their heat.
“I’ll also have an eye on our Olympic track debutant Maia Ramsden in the 1500m semifinal. Her blistering sprint finish in the heats didn’t surprise me, because she’s a performer at major championships – and it’s great to see her at her best when it really matters.”
“Trying not to cry” after a stuttering start (with two no jumps at 2.20m), world indoor champion Hamish Kerr has progressed to the men’s high jump final. In fact, he ended up topping his group with a successful first attempt at 2.27m.
“I had to dig deep for that one. I’m so grateful I had my coach and my team there, and they knew what was needed at that moment,” Kerr said.
Runner James Preston was eighth in his 800m heat and will now race in the repechage. And at another track, Sam Dakin (partner of Nicole Shields) set a NZ record in cycling’s sprint qualifying, in 9.470s – going through to the knockout round with the 14th fastest ride.
Thomas Saunders finished seventh overall in the men’s dinghy, crossing the line fifth in the medal race. And Eliza McCartney’s partner Lukas Walton-Keim ended up 15th in the men’s kite foiling.
Golf – Lydia Ko, round 2, 8.10pm
Athletics – Maddi Wesche, shot put qualifying, 8:25 pm; Maia Ramsden, 1500m semifinal, 5:35am
Sailing – Erica Dawson and Micah Wilkinson, Nacra medal race, 12.45am.
Canoe/Kayak – Dame Lisa Carrington, Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan, K4 500m final, 11:40pm
Cycling – Ellesse Andrews, keirin quarterfinal, 3.20am; Andrews and Rebecca Petch, keirin team semifinal, 4:15am, final, 5:10am
To see the full schedule of when New Zealand athletes are competing on Sky Sport, go to https://www.sky.co.nz/discover/sky-sport/olympics#schedule