Australia will send its second-largest team of 433 athletes to an overseas Olympics for next month’s Beijing Games, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said yesterday.
Only the 482-member team that represented it at the 2004 Athens Games ranks larger, while the country’s biggest team was assembled for the home 2000 Sydney Games with 632 athletes, the AOC said.
Australia is aiming to finish among the top five nations on the medals standings after finishing fourth in Sydney and Athens.
AOC director of sport Fiona de Jong said a top-five finish was achievable.
“It’s going to be tough ... [but] our athletes will do us proud in Beijing,” de Jong said.
De Jong said the main challenges would be medical problems and dealing with the heat and humidity in the Chinese capital.
“But we are used to operating in challenging conditions,” she said.
Australia will also send a 75-strong medical contingent.
Bookmakers are favoring Australia to win between 13 and 15 gold medals and 41 to 50 medals in all.
Australia achieved its best Olympic Games gold medal haul in Athens with 17 in 2004, while the country’s best overall tally of medals was 58 at the 2000 Sydney Games.
Three of the athletes have competed at previous Olympics for other countries — Lalita Yauhleuskaya (shooting) for Russia, Maria Pekli (judo) for Hungary and Semir Pepic (judo) for the Slovak Republic.
A total of 43 athletes competing for Australia next month were born outside the country.
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
RSS