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‘Power of TV’: Australia loses it over Olympian’s ‘beautiful’ live act

Riley Morgan
·Sports Reporter
·5-min read
Riley Day (pictured left) excited after her 200m race at the Tokyo Olympics and (pictured right) sharing a laugh during an interview on the track.
Riley Day (pictured left) ran a personal best in the Tokyo Olympics semi-final and delivered a brilliant interview (pictured right) after the race. (Image: Getty Images/Channel 7)

Aussie athletes in Tokyo have delivered a number of memorable interviews at the Olympics and 21-year-old running sensation Riley Day may have just topped the lot after her Instagram blew up overnight.

The Queensland Woolworths worker moved on to the semi-finals of the 200m in a blistering time of 22.94 seconds on Monday.

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She then went one better in the semi-final after recording a personal best time of 22.56 from lane 8.

Despite her personal best, and the eighth best run of all-time for an Australian, she ran in fourth place and just missed out on finals qualification.

But, the rollercoaster didn't end there.

Day was visibly exhausted when she readied herself for an interview.

And she channelled some 'Kaylee Mckeown' vibes when finding out her time.

“Holy s**t,” an exhausted Day said on Channel Seven.

“That was a much better race than this morning. I’ve got my groove. Now I hope it’s the fastest heat so I can get in the final. Because that is a massive PB. That’s awesome.

"I want to be the best and nothing is going to stop me from being the best."

Riley Day's Instagram plug goes bonkers at Olympics

But the best was yet to come.

Day works at Woolworths in the produce section and entered the Olympics without a sponsor.

And the humble Australian took the opportunity on the world stage to thank her fans and even give herself a plug.

"I mean, if you do want to follow my story, my Instagram is _rileyday, that is where I post most of my stuff," she said.

"So, if you want to follow along, that is where it is."

And her self-promotion did the job.

Fans couldn't help but follow the hilarious Aussie and also point out the enormous climb in her Instagram following.

Before her interview, Day was hovering around 21,000 followers.

But after a matter of minutes, the Aussie had surpassed 45,000.

By Tuesday, she had reached more than 56,000 followers and it was still climbing.

Commentators stunned at Riley Day's 'illness'

The 21-year-old stunned the nation after qualifying for the 200m Olympics semi-final, despite leaving the commentators concerned for her welfare.

Day recorded a time of 22.94 seconds and promised more the races to come.

This was despite the concern of Channel 7 commentator Bruce McAvaney, who suggested Day appeared 'physically ill' after her taxing heat in the heavy Tokyo sun.

Watch 'Mind Games', the new series from Yahoo Sport Australia exploring the often brutal mental toil elite athletes go through in pursuit of greatness:

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