Olympics 2021: 5 unmissable Day 4 events and when to watch
Our Aussie women take centre stage today as we eye more medals on Day 4 of the Tokyo Olympics.
Our biggest gold medal hopes are in and on the water, while a couple of our women’s teams face crucial matches.
'OH MY GOD': Coach loses his mind after Ariarne Titmus' gold
'NEVER SEEN THAT': Triathlon rocked by 'horrendous' drama
Here are five events to watch on Day 4 in Tokyo.
Women’s 100 Backstroke final, 11.51am
Talk about fierce competition. Kaylee McKeown broke the world record at the Olympic trials, and after Kylie Masse and then Regan Smith broke the Olympic record in successive heats on Sunday night, the Aussie went out and broke it herself.
The 20-year-old Queenslander qualified third fastest in yesterday’s semi-finals after Smith again broke the Olympic record.
She’ll have Emily Seebohm, at her fourth Olympics, also in the final with her, but McKeown is our big hope for another gold in the pool.
Women’s Cycling Mountain Bike, 4pm
Australia is a chance to win its first ever medal in mountain bike cross-country with Bec McConnell this afternoon.
The 29-year-old from Canberra has won bronze medals at the world championships the past two years and is a shot to finally give us our first podium finish at an Olympics over the 24.4km race today.
Our previous best was at the Sydney Olympics, where Mary Grigson finished sixth and future Tour de France champion Cadel Evans finished seventh.
This is McConnell’s third Olympics, having finished 25th at London 2012 and being forced to withdraw through injury mid-race in Rio.
Women’s Kayak final, 5.15pm AEST
Can Jess Fox complete the set? The 27-year-old is desperate to add a gold medal in the K1 slalom to the silver she won in London as an 18-year-old and the bronze she took home from Rio.
She has gone from strength to strength since then, including a truly dominant 2018 when she was the first person ever to take out the ‘triple double’, winning the C1 and K1 titles across three World Cups.
She’s qualified fastest in the heats in Tokyo to throw down the gauntlet to her rivals. The semis are from 2.50pm and then she’ll be competing for gold.
USA v Australia, Women’s Football, 6pm AEST
There’s football on the menu for dinner as the Matildas face their last chance to guarantee a spot in the quarter-finals.
A 2-1 win over New Zealand was followed by an epic 4-2 loss to Sweden on Saturday, when superstar Sam Kerr had a penalty kick to level the game at 3-3.
There’s no tougher challenge in women’s football than the Americans, the No.1 ranked team in the world and winner of the past two World Cups.
Even in defeat there’s a chance the Matildas can progress, as the two best third-placed teams from the three groups make it through, but we certainly can’t afford a big loss here.
Australia v Belgium, Women’s Basketball, 6.20pm AEST
The Opals kick off their Olympic campaign after the controversial exit of superstar Liz Cambage just before the start of the Games.
It makes life a little tougher but Australia should still progress through the group stages with its opponent tonight, Belgium. This first game will give us a good gauge of
what’s to come this tournament.
The Opals were dumped from the competition in the quarter-finals stage in Rio, the first time they
had not won a medal since 1992. Australia has three silvers and two bronzes from its women’s team
at the Olympics, and winning that ever elusive gold will again be a difficult assignment in Tokyo.
Watch 'Mind Games', the new series from Yahoo Sport Australia exploring the often brutal mental toil elite athletes go through in pursuit of greatness:
Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.
