Birmingham Update – Day 8
Plenty of action across Birmingham on Day 8 of competition. The Aussies have added two silver and six bronze to the tally, sitting on top of the table with 140 medals.
News
Should over-65s be allowed to go back to work with jobs galore available?
Unemployment is at a near 50-year low of 3.5 per cent. Yet only three per cent of Australia’s pensioners work, compared with 25 per cent in New Zealand, where they are not charged with penalties beyond income tax. Rebekah Sharkie, the Federal Independent MP for Mayo near Adelaide since 2016, and Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart, believe over-65s should be able to work more without losing their benefits. She wants an opt-in scheme that would either increase or remove the income-test threshold for pensioners with limited savings, and will now have the issue discussed at next month’s Skills Summit in Canberra ahead of the next the Federal Budget in October.
AUSSIES ADVANCE TO COMMONWEALTH GAMES SEMI FINALS
Both Australian beach volleyball teams have earnt their spots in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games semi finals.“They came out well, and served short, which makes it difficult to run our offense,” McHugh said. “But once we got the nerves out of the way, we were able to build our way into the match. “We’re just really happy to get through to the next round, and focused on our semi tomorrow,” he said.
DOLPHINS CLOSE BIRMINGHAM 2022 CAMPAIGN
Australia have wrapped up their Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games campaign after another strong night in the pool at Sandwell Aquatic Centre.The final medal tally for the Australians includes 65 medals: 25 gold, 21 silver and 19 bronze.
CHALMERS PLUNGED BACK INTO SPOTLIGHT
The intense scrutiny on Kyle Chalmers continued right to his final wall touch in Birmingham as host nation England pipped Australia for gold in the men’s 4x100m medley relay Chalmers said. “It would have been nice standing on top of the podium, but it’s a good way to finish the week.” It ended a turbulent past few days for the 24-year-old , who claimed three gold medals and a silver.
Birmingham Update – Day 7
Australia’s medal tally sits at 132 after four golds, four silvers and a bronze were added on Day 7 of competition at the Commonwealth Games.
QUARTERFINALS SET FOR CLANCY AND ARTACHO DEL SOLAR
Clancy said it feels great to be taking the steps towards where they want to be, the gold medal match. “I’m feeling good about the quarters, we’re going to enjoy this moment that’s for sure,” Clancy said. “We’re going to take some time to recover tonight and be ready to go again tomorrow,” she said. Artacho del Solar admitted while it is exciting to have progressed, it’s still about taking it one game at a time.
MOLLIE THE GIANT SLAYER TAKES DOWN ANOTHER BIG-NAME SCALP 50M BACKSTROKE
THE big-name slayer in the pool Mollie O’Callaghan collected yet another Olympic star’s scalp in her final individual swim at the Commonwealth Games. This time O’Callaghan muscled in on Australia’s double Olympic champion backstroke guru Kaylee McKeown, who had been in form, having won the Games 100m-200m double here. O’Callaghan, the 18-year-old Queenslander, stormed home in the 50m backstroke final, finishing just 11 hundredths of a second behind Commonwealth record-holder Kylie Masse, of Canada, but out-touching the more fancied McKeown by 11 hundredths of a second. But for Australian team relay success, O’Callaghan’s versatility will give selectors options to experiment.
AWESOME FOURSOME
Dominant Titmus caps triumphant week in pool She’s no stranger to success , but Ariarne Titmus has now achieved something no other female swimhas in more than half a century. But the final gold was the one that clearly meant the most. “The 400m is my baby,” Titmus , also the Olympic champion and world-record holder at the distance , said. She beat Canada’s flying 15-year-old Summer McIntosh, who is looming as a major threat at the 2024 Paris Olympics , with fellow Australian Kiah Melverton securing bronze. “I’m excited to get the job done personally but also for the country,” said Titmus, who skipped June’s World Championships in Budapest to target the Commonwealth Games after overcoming COVID. “I think that, back home, Australia really prides itself on success in the pool at the Comm Games.
Sam makes Short shift of longest pool race
“Amazing, it feels very good,” Short said. “It’s what I’ve been training for, for a long time and then I finally put the race together properly and ticked the box. “I would have preferred a good time over the gold but to get both is amazing. “When I was younger, I had a tendency to gas myself early and now I try to build the race and be smarter. “I mean, it’s tricky. I think the trick is count once and get it right. My race plan was like building the hundreds. Mentally I was focused. I had someone with me the whole time so I didn’t have room to switch off and I just focused.”
Pool party after Arnie terminates teen dream
It’s a couple of hours after the Commonwealth Games swimming meet. The Australian team converges on a back pavilion to hoot and holler and hand out a few gongs in an in-house presentation ceremony. The late-night silence is broken by the old refrain of Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi oi. It sounds less grating when athletes do it. Of the 52 finals at Birmingham’s Sandwell Aquatics Centre, Australia won 25, grabbing 20 silver and 20 bronze for good measure. On closing night Mollie O’Callaghan finished her evolution from rising star to shooting star by grabbing her fifth gold in the medley relay. “Pretty epic,” the 18-year-old said. “We all crushed it this week.”
ON GOLDEN POND AUSSIES WIN SIX MORE MEDALS AND EMMA CLAIMS NO.13
AUSTRALIA’S champion swimmers have turned the Birmingham Aquatic Centre into their own golden pond. Just when you thought the Dolphins couldn’t do any better than their five-gold medal haul from Tuesday morning – they went one better and picked up six more on Wednesday morning – capped by a stunning win in the mixed medley relay. Ian Thorpe, commentating for Channel 7, was gushing with praise for McKeon’s latest achievement, saying she was a bona fide legend. “So many events, so many great performances, so many great memories for Emma McKeon and for all of us,” he said.
