22/08/2008 12:24 AM
There were going to be 20 medal finals on Day 14 but now there’ll be 21, with the BMX semi-finals and finals, which were postponed on Thursday due to heavy rain, rescheduled, pushing women’s mountain bike over to Day 15.
So Aussies Jared Graves, Kamakazi, Tanya Bailey and Nicole Callisto will have to get themselves fired up a second time for their shot at the first Olympic medals in BMX.
Seven of the 21 gold medals will be awarded in athletics and six in canoe/kayak, where Ken Wallace is one of the favourites for gold in the K1 1000 metres while the women’s K4 is in the 500m final.
At the Bird’s Nest, Luke Adams, Adam Rutter and 20 km bronze medallist Jared Tallent lead things off early (7.30am local time, 9.30 am AEST) in the men’s 50 km walk.
Steve Hooker is also through to the final of the pole vault while our 4 x 400 metre relay team - Dylan Grant, Clinton Hill, Joel Milburn, Mark Ormrod, John Steffensen and Sean Wroe – will try to progress from the heats.
At the diving, Mathew Helm and Matthew Mitcham will be looking to advance from the preliminary stage of the 10 metre platform while Angie Derby, who had to defend her selection for the Olympics at the Court of Arbitration for Sport after a challenge by the Greeks, finally gets to compete in Modern Pentathlon.
There are also a couple of classification matches, with the Hockeyroos playing Great Britain in the battle for fifth and sixth in women’s hockey and the Sharks taking on Italy as they try to figure out who fills which position between seven and 10 in men’s water polo.