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The road to Beijing |
The half way mark to the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games has been crossed and it is now time for Australia to secure its representation in as many sports as possible and for individual athletes to start preparing for team selection processes.
The Australian Women's Softball Team is the first one off the bat (excuse the pun) to secure a position at the Games after claiming a bronze medal at the ISF World Championships recently in Beijing. Sandra Allen (QAS/AIS), Marissa Carpadios (QAS/AIS), Kylie Cronk (QAS/AIS), Amanda Doman (QAS/AIS), Kellie Hardie (QAS/AIS), Tanya Harding (QAS/AIS), Tracey Mosley (QAS/AIS) and Danielle Stewart (QAS/AIS) were members of the Aussie Spirit team. Previous to securing this position, the team picked up a gold medal at the Canada World Cup.
The Australian Women's Water Polo team have proved that they are on track for Beijing after a disappointing fourth placing at the Athens Olympic Games. Although sporting a fairly young team, with the average age of 22, they recently won the World Cup in Tianjin, China defeating Olympic Champions Italy in the final.
The Hockeyroos and the Kookaburras have completed a successful World Cup series after both finishing with silver medals. Australia is now ranked the number one hockey nation in the world. The QAS had seven members on the Hockeyroos team and eight on the Kookaburras team.
QAS athletes have performed exceptionally well in a number of World Championship events since the last newsletter with podium finishes in rowing, open water, triathlon, cycling, diving and canoeing .
Duncan Free picked up a gold medal in the M2 whilst Sally Kehoe (QAS/AIS) took bronze in the W4x at the Rowing World Championships whilst Matt Bolster and Darryn Purcell picked up a bronze medal in the quad scull at the Under-23 World Rowing Championships.
In the water, Josh Santacaterina was the first QAS athlete to take a gold medal at an Open Water Swimming Championships in the 25km.
Emma Snowsill proved her dominance in her sport taking out the Triathlon elite World Championship title for the third time (2003,2005 & 2006). Felicity Abram, who was a late inclusion into the squad, defended her position on the team bringing home bronze whilst Emma Moffatt finished with silver in the under-23 team. In the men's under-23 event, Nathan Campbell and Dan Wilson finished second and third respectively.
Darren Thrupp picked up two gold medals at the IPC World Athletics Championships in the long jump F37 and as a member of the men's T35-38 100m team.
In junior events, Melissa Wu dived to a gold medal in the platform B final at the FINA World Junior Diving Championships and Byron Davis finished with a silver in the sprint team at the World Junior Track Cycling Championships. Larni Belcher picked up a silver medal in the junior K1 event at the Canoe Marathon World Championships.
As the countdown to the Beijing Olympic Games continues, the QAS will bring you updated results on its athletes' performances on the international stage through its website at www.qasport.qld.gov.au and through the QAS Action newsletter.
In the meantime, if you would like to hear about Australian Olympic Committee news updates in the lead up to the Games, please sign up for the free Beijing Bound electronic newsletter at http://www.olympics.com.au/index.cfm?p=9