Cate Campbell captured in 'cruel' moment in crowd after devastating Aussie scenes at Olympics

Australia enjoyed its most successful opening day in Olympics history on Saturday, winning three golds to surge to the top of the medal table. But amidst the ecstasy there was also some absolute agony as the men's rugby sevens team and divers Anabelle Smith and Maddison Keeney missed out on medals in devastating fashion.

And there was also heartbreaking scenes involving Cate Campbell, who was captured in tears in the crowd at the swimming. Australia won four medals in a stunning night in the pool in Paris, with Ariarne Titmus and the women's 4x100m relay team taking out gold.

The women's relay team made it four-straight gold medals in the event at the Olympics - dating back to the 2012 Games in London. On Saturday night it was Emma McKeon, Shayna Jack, Mollie O'Callaghan and Meg Harris who got the job done in the final, while Campbell's sister Bronte also walks away with a gold medal after swimming in the heats.

Channel 9 captured Cate Campbell in tears in the crowd after the race, in what one social media user described as 'beyond cruel'. The retired Aussie champion was undoubtedly feeling pride for her sister and former teammates, but she would have been feeling some sadness as well that she wasn't part of it.

Saturday night's triumph was the first of the four in which Cate hasn't featured. She was part of the relay teams in 2012, 2016 and 2021 that won gold - in London, Rio and Tokyo respectively. Some viewers watching in Australia felt it was in poor taste to show Campbell on the screen considering what she would have been feeling.

Cate Campbell admits to mixed feelings after shedding tears

Speaking to Channel 9 afterwards, Campbell admitted she had mixed emotions. The 32-year-old had been hoping to make the Aussie team for the Paris Games, but fell short in her bid to qualify at the selection trials.

In a poignant example of her standing in the Aussie team, her fellow competitors embraced her and she wept in the pool after failing to qualify late last month. And the relay team's triumph on Saturday night would have been a painful reminder for Campbell, who has since retired from professional swimming.

“I got emotional, not after the race, but watching the flag go up and the national anthem,” she said. “I’m not resentful to any of them. I love them, I know every single one of them because I’ve grown up with them.

“But just six weeks ago, I hoped that would be me standing on that (podium). But I’m so, so proud of the legacy that I am able to leave and the fact that these girls have now done something that no Australian relay has done before. We’ve got four in a row. That is phenomenal.

“It’s a testament to the fact that we have been able to knowledge-share within the Australian swim team, that we haven’t hoarded knowledge. We have consistently put emphasis on our relays and those girls are incredible. Every single one of them I know personally and I know the struggles and the stories they’ve had to overcome.

“There was this kinship there, because it was only a couple of weeks ago that I was racing against them. I want to be really clear that I don’t want this moment to be about me. I don’t want to take away from those girls in the water. I want to celebrate them because they deserve it.”

Anabelle Smith and Maddison Keeney botch final dive in awful scenes

Campbell's tears came after Smith and Keeney were also left shattered to miss out on a medal in the diving, while plenty of the men's rugby sevens team broke down as well. Smith produced an unfortunate blunder on her final dive that cost her and partner Keeney a medal in the synchronised 3m springboard event.

Smith and Keeney were in the silver medal position heading into their final dive, and appeared to have at least a bronze wrapped up. But Smith mis-stepped on the board and got way out of time with Keeney, and the pair made a hash of their last dive to fall to fifth.

Smith was absolutely distraught and wept into her partner's arms on the pool deck. "Yeah, pretty brutal. I can't change it now, so no point dwelling on it," she said afterwards. "Really, that stuff happens. It happens to the best of the best, and unfortunately it was my day today. So got to not let that define me, though. We've done some pretty amazing things across our 10 years."

Asked as if her heart had sunk as soon as she took off awkwardly, Smith smiled ruefully: "I screamed underwater - I was hoping the under-water cam wasn't on. It's just disappointing, very disappointing."

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Aussie men's rugby sevens team miss out on medal

There was also heartbreak in the rugby sevens, with the Aussie men losing their semi-final and then going down in the bronze medal match as well. Australia led Fiji 7-0 in the semi-final before half-time, but were overrun in the second stanza in a 31-7 loss.

They then had captain Nick Malouf sent off in the bronze medal match against South Africa, but somehow managed to come back from 19-7 down to level the score at 19-19. But South Africa scored after the siren for a 26-19 victory to leave the Aussies shattered.

"We fought so hard to get back in the game," Aussie coach John Manenti said. "A couple of calls were pretty tough ... that knock-on, that's a big play. A big turning point and we know people will make mistakes but you don't like to see them at this level. But we can't change it ... the guys played their hearts out."

Antoine Dupont then inspired France to gold in the final. Two-time defending champions Fiji tasted their first loss in Olympic competition in a pulsating final, with Dupont scoring twice and setting up another in a 28-7 triumph.

with AAP