Australia beats New Zealand for historic rugby gold medal
In the history making match, Australia claimed victory after a four-tries-to-three effort against its trans-Tasman rivals.
Were they spurred on by the comments made by New Zealand coach, Sean Horan, who labelled the Aussie side partial to aggression when given the ball? Who knows, but despite being held back initially by New Zealand’s excellent defence in the first half, the sevens crossed the line securing a gold medal to add to the tally.
Coach Sean Horan couldn’t be more proud of the New Zealand team:
“We always talked about it and it came down a couple of defining moments and opportunities, and Aussie took their opportunities. There were some defining calls that swung the game a little bit.
“We started off really well and showed the physical side and it was one of those things. We just ran out of time. I’m really proud of the girls.”
If Michael Phelps was a country …
If Michael Phelps was a country, where would he stand on the all-time Olympic gold-medal table?
The most decorated athlete in Games history now has 19 gold medals.
The USA leads the table with 977 golds, ahead of the Soviet Union (395 before it disintegrated) and Great Britain (236). Australia is 11th (139) and New Zealand 28th (42).
Phelps would clock in at 40th – that’s ahead of sporting powerhouses like Argentina, Jamaica and Austria.
This is Phelps’s fifth and final Games. On form five more golds are in reach.
Leo, are you in Rio?
Brady Ellison, one of the world’s top-ranked archers, helped the US men’s team take home a silver medal. But he’s become hot for another reason.
Social media has declared he’s a dead-ringer for Leo DiCaprio, or even the actor’s long lost brother.
The 27-year-old from Arizona is a three-time Olympian. Leo is one of the most celebrated actors around but he’s never played an archer.
Mother of all gymnasts
Uzbekistan gymnast Oksana Chusovitina has become the oldest woman to compete at the Games – in her seventh Olympics, another record, at the age of 41.
She has a 17-year-old son, the same age of many of her competitors.
Most of her rivals were not born when she was a member of the Unified Team, representing former Soviet republics, in 1992, and won her first Olympic gold.
Chusovitina has competed under the Soviet Union, Unified Team, German and Uzbek flags during her career.
Red flag
Rio organisers are scrambling to come up with a new Chinese flag after the version used at the opening ceremony and in medal presentations contained a whopping mistake.
The flag features four gold stars angled towards a larger one on the top left hand corner, representing the four social classes of people supporting the Communist party. The version used for two days features the four smaller stars at the wrong angle.
Organisers are now rushing to get the incorrect versions replaced.
Not so hot shot
The Chicago Tribune newspaper has come under fire for not even mentioning a gold-medal winning American shooter’s name in its tweet recording her win, calling her the “Wife of a [Chicago] Bears’ lineman” on Twitter.
Corey Cogdell-Unrein, who is married to NFL player Mitch Unrein, won a bronze medal in trap shooting, following a gold at the London Games.
Twitter responses included: “Perhaps one day too I will be allowed to be a man’s wife and also be able to win something too” and “Wife of Bears’ lineman? Hillary Clinton’s presidency is going to be awfully rough for you bros.”
