Australia’s Olympic team yesterday returned home to a rapturous welcome, even as the country urgently began seeking ways of boosting its flagging medals ranking at the 2012 Games in London.
The team, led by triple gold medalist swimmer Stephanie Rice, were greeted by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and a crowd of about 500 well-wishers and media as they stepped off two chartered Qantas jets from Beijing just after dawn.
“Welcome home to Australia,” Rudd told the 435 athletes. “Every Australian is proud of you. Every man, woman and child in this nation is proud of each and every one of you.”
PHOTO: AP
“On behalf of the Australian nation, well done,” he said, exhorting the team to start preparing for the 2012 Olympics in London, where Australia hopes to do better than it did in Beijing.
Australia won sixth place in the medals stakes in Beijing, down from fourth in Athens in 2004 and Sydney in 2000, while Britain — Australia’s traditional sporting rival — rose from 10th place in Athens to fourth.
While the country of just 21 million people prides itself on punching above its weight in the Olympic medal stakes, top sports officials say more funding is urgently needed to curb Australia’s slide on the medals table.
More galling yet for many Australians is Britain’s best Olympic performance in decades after pouring millions into sport through its national lottery.
The Australian government has promised to review sports funding, and Rudd confirmed it would be boosted ahead of the London Games.
“When it comes to sports funding, it’s not either or — either community sport or elite sport — we’ll be doing both,” he told Nine Network television. “The kids who are engaging in community sport, a lot of them want to have the hope in their eyes that they can rise to elite representational levels as well.”
Rudd said Sports Minister Kate Ellis would consider whether Australia should adopt the British model of using lottery revenue to fund elite sport.
“We want to have another look at it because it’s a positive, constructive idea, let’s see if it works,” he said.
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
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
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