In the final days of the Tokyo Olympics, our paddlers, a cyclist and a golfer made moves towards medals. Our daily wrap, looking at the fortunes of our NZ sportswomen, continues.
Performances of the day
She's got the Olympic rings and silver fern tattoo, as well as the silver medal from Rio (somewhere, she's not entirely sure of its whereabouts). So can Lydia Ko bring home gold from Tokyo this time round?
The Kiwi No.1 was looking promising after the opening nine holes at the Kasumigaseki Country Club on Wednesday, when Ko was two under par and sitting in third equal.
But a double bogey on the 11th set her back to even par, which she says "killed the gas on the momentum" - pushing the world No.10 back down the leaderboard, fluctuating between positions in the twenties, in a field of 60 women.
She finished the first round with a one-under par 70, and is in equal 16th place. That's four shots off the leader, Madalene Sagstrom of Sweden.
Afterwards Ko admitted there were some good and not-so-good periods during her round.
"But I think when I was out of position, for most parts I was able to recover really well," she said. "Hopefully I'll tidy up my game a little bit overall and just give myself more opportunities for the next two days."
Ko teed off with Rio’s gold medallist, Inbee Park from South Korea and the bronze medal winner, Shanshan Feng from China. Both Park and Ko are former world number ones, the now 24-year-old was the youngest to reach the international height when she was just 17.
Even though the golfers are experiencing temperatures around the mid-30 degree Celsius, Ko doesn't believe it's an advantage for those teeing off earlier in the day. She prefers to tee off later and is trying to focus more on her play.
"I'm just trying to stay cool, hydrated and I think that really connects to being focused. It's a really important part of the technical step," said Ko, who used ice packs in between her shots.
Despite her "clumsy mistakes" on the back nine, it will be Ko's ability to stay patient and play smart that will help her in the remaining rounds.
"But at the same time in the back of my mind I'm trying to play aggressive because there's only three people who are going to medal at the end of the week and you're hoping that you are one of them."
She may play around the world for a living but representing New Zealand is still a proud achievement at an Olympic Games. "Representing New Zealand in 2016 was one of the biggest highlights of my life, not [only] as a golfer but as a person as well, so I cherish those moments," said Ko.
"I even got the Olympic rings with the fern tattooed [on me] so I think New Zealand is always there. Even though I don't get to go home a lot, people always support me and I feel the love so I'm just trying to hopefully do everyone back home, all the Kiwis proud."
Ko was also proud to see New Zealand's increased medal tally, after yesterday's successes across codes, before she teed off.
"It's pretty amazing and it's all different types of sports from boxing to water sport and athletics, it's just really cool to be part of a group of talented athletes," she said. "And you know we're all just trying to do New Zealand proud so I feel like it's a whole big family when were out here playing."
She will be aiming for a stronger finish in the second round of stroke play on Thursday.
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Don’t write off Caitlin Regal.
The newly-minted Olympic champion paddler will line up in the semifinals of the K1 500m on Thursday, but she’s not happy with the “messy, scrappy” way she got there.
And she’s calling on inspiration from the New Zealand men’s rowing eight gold medallists to help her through to the final.
Lisa Carrington, Regal’s partner in K2 500 gold on Tuesday, had no problem booking her place in the semifinals. As is her trademark, she powered out to the lead out of the start blocks, easing across the finishline in first. She looked no worse for wear in her third event of four at these Olympics, two golds already back in her hotel room.
But Regal - who just scraped in with automatic entry to the semis, leapfrogging the quarterfinals - knew she was capable of much more.
She admitted that after the exertion and exhilaration of winning gold less than 24 hours before, she’d struggled to get her head back in the game.
“I’m happy I’m through to the semis, but I didn’t put what I needed to in the water. It just wasn’t good enough,” she said afterwards. “I’m capable of better than that.
“There’s the challenge of getting your head back in the game. I really did feel I’d done the work to get there, but it takes a lot more energy than you think. The physical is there, it just needs to be there up top.”
Regal, a force to be reckoned with in the K1 500m before Covid put the breaks on international competition, went out rapidly from the startline taking the lead, but petered out in the last half of the race to finish third, in 1m 50.297s, just 0.2s ahead of a fast-closing Slovenian paddler.
“It’s back to base, back to do some work and get my head in the right place to put down a better performance tomorrow,” said Regal, who’s previous Olympic experience five years ago was in the K4 boat.
“We’ve seen the men’s eight turn it around, and I just know that I can do the same.”
The men’s eight, who raced on the same body of water five days ago, had to battle through the ‘second chance’ repechage on their way to gold.
New Zealand coach Gordon Walker has no doubt both Kiwi women will do well in Wednesday afternoon’s semifinals (they’ve been drawn in different races).
“They are surprisingly really grounded. They know this is the big one for them – the K1 500. It’s something they’ve both been working towards for such a long time,” he said. “They’ve both got the capability to paddle a 500m in a single boat very, very well.”
Carrington made the most of a “nice side tailwind” back out on the course. Her time was third fastest qualifier, at 1m 48.463s, but she won’t be terribly fussed about that.
“It’s a bit different to the [K1] 200, and different to being in a K2. So it was really good to get out there and practice what I want to do tomorrow,” she said.
“For me it’s just putting one foot in front of the other, taking each race as it comes. These girls are all here to win, so I’ve got to step up with that.”
They’ll all be gunning to deny her a third gold medal in Tokyo – and her fifth Olympic gold, a New Zealand record. Among her rivals, fastest qualifier Swede Linnea Stensils, and world record holder and five-time gold medallist, Danuta Kozak of Hungary.
Despite Carrington and Regal’s intense schedule, racing six days in a row, the team allowed a “little celebration” in their hotel on Tuesday night to celebrate their two gold medals and “acknowledge the day for the sport, for the nation”, Walker said.
Quote of the Day
"The hardest thing about the Olympics is dealing with the pressure and doing 'your ordinary'. So I'm pretty confident if they do their ordinary - which is pretty extraordinary - that they will both have a good race" - Gordon Walker, Canoe Sport NZ coach on Lisa Carrington and Caitlin Regal going into the K1 500m semifinals on Sea Forest Waterway.
Images of the day
The good news
Cyclist Ellesse Andrews is through to the quarterfinals of the Keirin, the track race behind a motorbike. But the 2017 junior world champion had to work for it.
She crossed the line fourth after her first ride of six laps around the Izu Velodrome, forcing her into the repechage. The 21-year-old from Christchurch made the most of her second chance, winning her ace and booking a place in the next stage on Thursday.
Forget the sprinters. The great athletics duels of these Olympics have been in the women's and men's 400m hurdles.
American hurdlers Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad finished one and two - with a whisker between them in the women's final on Wednesday, and both went under the world record in the process. Twenty-one-year-old McLaughlin, the first woman to ever break 52s back in June, came from behind over the final hurdle to win gold and keep hold of her world record with a sizzling new time of 51.46s.
Muhammad, 31 and the defending Olympic champion, made an extraordinary comeback to line up in Tokyo, after a hamstring injury and falling ill with Covid-19 - twice.
The not-so-good-news
It's nearly all over. This delayed Covid-19 Tokyo Olympic Games is coming to an end on Sunday. And the events featuring Kiwi sportswomen are tapering off. There's still canoeing, cycling, golf and karate to keep you entertained on the home stretch.
What the?!
The artistic swimming (formerly known as synchronised swimming) duo of Svetlana Kolesnichenko and Svetlana Romashina, from the Russian Olympic Committee, have crawled into the judges' good books, winning the duet technical routine, and weaving their way into the final.
Their spider-inspired performance was both scary and silky, and their skills were undeniable. It comes as no surprise as the Russians have completely dominated the sport, winning gold at the last five Olympics. Romashina already has five gold medals but she wants to add two more from Tokyo.
Continuing the theme of fear-inducing creatures, the Chinese swimmers finished second with a snake routine.
Rikki's pick
"As the games head towards their conclusion, there are only a small number of Kiwi athletes left to compete. While we will again have eyes on Lisa Carrington and Caitlin Regal in the K1 500 semis and finals, Andrea Anacan will become our latest Olympian," says Rikki Swannell.
She’s had to wait until the 13th day of the Olympics to make history as our first ever Karate athlete, with the sport introduced to the Games in Tokyo. Anacan will compete in the Kata discipline, with the competition held over elimination, ranking and medal rounds."
Who's up on Thursday
GOLF: Lydia Ko, stroke play round two, 10.30am
CANOE SPRINT: Lisa Carrington, Caitlin Regal, K1 500m sprint, semifinal, 1pm; final 3pm.
KARATE: Andrea Anacan, individual first kata, elimination round, 1pm; second kata, 1.40pm; ranking round 2.25pm; final, 10.50pm.
CYCLING: (potential) Ellesse Andrews, keirin, quarterfinals 7pm.
