Australia rockets up the medal tally thanks to Pearson and Meares
If you’ve been feeling the Olympic doom and gloom and indulging in the Blame Games of late, then it’s time to wake up and smell the shiny gold coloured coffee. Because while you were sleeping, two Aussie women sent us rocketing back up the medal tally, overtaking the New Zealanders (phew!) and chasing a top 10 spot.
Sally Pearson did us proud, living up to a ridiculously large semi-trailer’s worth of pressure and winning gold in the 100m hurdles.
Pearson has to wait a whole minute or so before the final result was posted on the big screens because she won by the smallest of margins, beating Dawn Harper of the US by just 0.02 seconds.
Earlier in the day, cyclist Anna Meares won gold beating British favourite and long term rival Victoria Pendleton in the sprint. Meares said after the race that “this is the sweetest and most incredible victory of my career.”
And in a show of some good sportswomanship – especially given the long rivalry between the pair, Pendleton paid tribute to Meares’ win.
Pendleton held Meares’ arm aloft as the arch-rivals rode around the velodrome, but then completely dissolved in tears.
“I’m glad that it got to that stage. I think she’s the best rider in the field and it’s the way that it should have been,” Pendleton said.
“Everything turned out right with Anna and myself in the final.”
“She’s a fantastic competitor. We’ve met many a time, and I wish her all the best, but I’m very glad to be saying that’s the last time I have to go through that.”
In other Olympic news, gymnast Lauren Mitchell narrowly missed out on a medal due to a tiny landing error in the women’s floor final.
Australia is on track to medal in the men’s regatta, with Malcolm Page and Mat Belcher building a strong points margin overnight.
Lauren Jackson’s phenomenal point scoring run continues in the basketball, as Australia’s women’s team advances into the semi-finals.