Day two was generally a cracker for our Kiwi sportswomen at the Olympics, especially in and on the water and the artificial turf in Tokyo. LockerRoom's daily update on our women athletes continues.
Performances of the day
New Zealand's youngest Olympian, schoolgirl Erika Fairweather, made a colossal splash in the Tokyo Aquatic pool on Sunday night - smashing a national record and comfortably making the final of the 400m freestyle.
Fairweather, just 17, finished second in her heat behind world No.1 Australian Ariarne Titmus. But the teenager's time of 4m 02.28s shaved more than four seconds off her personal best time, and broke Lauren Boyle's national record of 4m 03.63s, set at the 2012 London Olympics.
The Y13 student at Dunedin's Kavanagh College looked stunned as she cast her eyes up to the electronic board and saw her time. It makes her the fourth fastest qualifier for Monday afternoon's final.
No wonder she's already being touted as a future athlete to watch.
Living on the outside of the Olympic Village, Holly Pearson was pulled into the Black Sticks women's side on Sunday and made a huge impression - scoring her first goal in international hockey and sealing New Zealand's 3-0 upset over world No. 3 Argentina.
The 22-year-old from Taranaki wasn't initially included in the Black Sticks squad of 16 for Tokyo, but a late rule change allowed teams to extend to 18. And with captain Stacey Michelsen recovering from tearing her hamstring in a test against Australia on the way to Tokyo, and vice captain Sam Charlton suffering a hip injury, Pearson and Tessa Jopp - the other late call-up - were brought into the team for the first game of their Olympic campaign.
Together, the two ring-ins created the third goal of the match in the final quarter - Jopp perfectly placing the ball into the circle and Pearson drilling it on the turn into the back of the goal.
While scoring was "pretty cool," Pearson said afterwards, she was happier with the win. "I think we did really well. They have a lot of aggression, Argentina, and I think we dealt with it pretty well. Especially round the back - our defenders were pretty calm under the pressure which helped today.
"It gives us a little bit of momentum, hopefully, going into the rest of the week, and over a tough side is pretty good for us."
The sixth-ranked Black Sticks, who've twice come oh-so-close to an Olympic medal, did well to hold the marauding Las Leonas (The Lionesses) scoreless through the first half, but really came alive with a goal off their first penalty corner of the match early in the third quarter. Kelsey Smith deftly juggled the ball over the prone Argentinian keeper (see images of the day, below). Moments later, they took it to 2-0 when Hope Ralph deflected Megan Hull's drag flick off a second corner.
Black Sticks goalie Grace O'Hanlon made some outstanding saves, one with her hand behind her body right on the goal line, to deny the favourites. New Zealand are straight on to their next match against Japan on Monday night.
Rio silver medallist Luuka Jones made a great recovery in her second run to go into the semifinals of the canoe slalom ranked third. Jones wasn't thrilled with her first run, where she touched two gates and with a 4s penalty found herself 10th fastest.
But with a quick, clear run in the second round, Jones had the fastest time of the day, only bettered by Australian Jessica Fox and German Ricarda Funk. The top 24 paddlers go through to Tuesday's semis, including Tauranga doctor Jane Nicholas, who's representing the Cook Islands.
Quote of the day
"It's been a bit mixed for me. I'm actually staying outside the village because I'm the 18th player and I'm staying with Georgia our [reserve] goal keeper. We're staying at The Conrad, and it's very nice." - Black Sticks goal scorer Hope Pearson on her unexpected Olympic experience so far.
Images of the day
The good news
Most of our rowing women are well on their way in their march to the medal podium. Double sculls duo Brook Donoghue and Hannah Osborne and the New Zealand eight are through to their finals, while four-time Olympian Emma Twigg is in the single sculls semis after another compelling performance on the Sea Forest Waterway.
"I'm really proud of us and what we've achieved so far," Donoghue, the two-time world champion in the double scull, said. "I think we have more to give so I'm excited to put it out there."
Twigg won her quarterfinal convincingly, by over 7s from Switzerland's Jeannine Gmelin, to be one of the clear favourites in Wednesday's semifinals.
Both the eight and the pair of Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler had fantastic rows on Saturday, winning their heats. Prendergast and Gowler, who gave massive performances in both boats, will race again in their semi on Tuesday afternoon. The world champion eight had to battle from behind to take the only automatic ticket to Friday's final.
An ecstatic Ella Williams stamped her mark on history, surfing straight through to the top 16 in the sport's Olympic debut at Tsurigasaki Beach.
The former world junior champion from Whangamata wasn't afraid to say how proud she was finishing second behind young American phenom, Caroline Marks. Williams had a ding-dong battle, switching places on the leaderboard with Costa Rica's Leilani McGonagle, but finally snatched the points she needed for direct qualifying to the third round.
"It was definitely the moment of do-or-die. You know, you really just have to think on your feet, thinking smart and really be in tune with your surfing and make sure you are on those best waves," she said. "The conditions are changing so much you really have to be adaptable and take whatever comes with you."
The not-so-good-news
The women's rowing quad - Olivia Loe, Eve Macfarlane, Georgia Nugent-O'Leary and Ruby Tew - will race in the B final after failing to qualify through their repechage. The Kiwis were fourth with 500m to go, and managed to climb to third at the finish line, but only the top two boats went through to the A final.
The Football Ferns will be playing for pride in their final game against Sweden on Tuesday night, after losing their second game in the Pool of Death – a 6-1 drubbing from world champions the United States. The New Zealanders were hanging in there at 3-1 with 10 minutes to go, but their energy petered out. The Ferns scored three in the goal fest - but sadly two of them were own goals.
Skeet shooter Chloe Tipple had a disappointing day on the range, sitting in 28th of 28 after three qualifying rounds. Her score of 62 is well below the two leaders from Italy and China with a perfect total of 75. Tipple faces another 50 targets tomorrow before the shoot-off for medals later in the day.
Another of our female swimmers to make her Olympic debut, Ali Galyer didn't progress past her heat in the 100m backstroke. But Galyer still has her favoured event, the 200m backstroke, later in the week.
What the?!
Twelve-year-old Hend Zaza became one of the youngest athletes to ever compete at an Olympics, when the table tennis player from war-torn Syria played in the opening round of the women's competition.
Zaza, who carried the Syrian flag in Friday's opening ceremony, was just 11 when she qualified for the Games at the West Asian qualifier, beating a Lebanon player nearly four times her age. But in Tokyo, where she's easily the youngest athlete at these Games, she has to pack her bags already after losing her preliminary round match to Austrian 39-year-old Liu Jia – who has a 10-year-old daughter.
The youngest female competitor at a summer Olympics was Italian gymnast Luigina Giavotti, who competed in 1928 aged 11 years 301 days.
And even the mighty have fallen in the first round - a wobbly tennis top seed Ash Barty was upset by 48th-ranked Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo, 6-4 6-3, just a fortnight after winning at Wimbledon. The Australian, however, lives on in the doubles.
Rikki's pick
Ella Williams is Sky Sport presenter Rikki Swannell's one to watch on Monday.
"After a great first-up performance surfer Ella Williams is back in action again. She's now in the round of 16, with quarterfinals and semifinals also today. Ella looks like she's having the time of her life - and surfing like it too!"
Who's up on Monday
SURFING: Ella Williams, 3rd round, 10am.
SHOOTING: Chloe Tipple, skeet qualifier and medal round, noon.
SWIMMING: Erika Fairweather, 400m freestyle final, 2.20pm; 200m freestyle heat, 10pm; Hayley McIntosh and Eve Thomas, 1500m freestyle heat, 11pm.
HOCKEY: Black Sticks v Japan, 11.45pm
