Day 10 - Snowsill Buries Demons

Major Highlight - Women's Triathlon

Australia's triathlon curse is over! Long dominant in the sport, Australia had failed to take Olympic gold in the event since its inception in Sydney. But that drought ended Monday when Emma Snowsill proved her world champion qualities with victory in the Women's triathlon. The win helped Snowsill bury her demons from the past. In 2002 her then boyfriend Luke Harrop, brother of Athens silver medallist Lorreta, was killed in training when he was hit by a car while riding. In 2004 Snowsill, then world champion, had to miss the Athens games when she missed the selection race with stress fractures. The event was a double celebration for Australia with Emma Moffatt taking bronze. World number 1 Vanessa Fernandes (Portugal) split the Aussies to take the bronze. A group of 20 or so riders had ended the bike leg together before Snowsill broke away from the field in the first kilometre of the 10km run. It turned to be the winning move as neither Fernandes nor Moffatt could catch her over the remaining 9 km's.

Gold - Emma Snowsill (Australia)
Silver - Vanessa Fernandes (Portugal)
Bronze - Emma Moffatt (Australia)

Sailing
Australia's charge up the medal tally continued after the Men's and Women's 470 class both took gold in their respective classes. Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson cruised home in 9th in the last race which was more than enough to take the gold overall, while the Men's team of Nathan Wilmot and Malcom Page went out in style, winning their last race, which they did not even have to start. There lead from previous legs was so big that they would have won gold anyway!

Cycling
Track cycling has a new powerhouse - Great Britain! The Brits produced the greatest display of pursuiting ever seen, when their Men took the Team Pursuit gold by defeating Denmark. They smashed their own world record in the process to be the first team to break 3 minutes 54 seconds for the 4 kilometres. In the antipodean battle for the bronze New Zealand easily defeated Australia after another poor performance from Graeme Brown who barely lasted 2.5 kilometres of the event. In the day's other final, world champion and number 1 ranked road race Marianne Vos (Netherlands) took gold in the women's points race by being the only rider to take a lap. Australia's Katie Bates finished 6th. Australia's Anna Meares is into the medal rounds of the Women's sprint after she won her quarter-final 2 heats to 0.

Athletics
Australia has a second finalist in a track event! Sally Mclellan finished 4th in her semi-final to become the first Aussie woman to advance to the 100m hurdles final since Los Angeles (1984). She has qualified sixth fastest, but was only 8/100ths of a second off the second fastest time so a surprise medal is not out of the question. Australia's Youcef Abdi produced his best ever performance to finish 6th in the Men's 3000m steeplechase behind Kenyan Brimin Kiprop Kipruto. And in arguably the most predictable result of these games, Russian superstar Elena Isinbaeva took the gold in the Women's pole vault, breaking her own world record in the process. But perhaps the biggest shock of the day was when Chinese great hope Liu Xiang failed to even start his heat of the Men's 110m Hurdles, in the biggest last-minute withdrawal since Big Philou (or perhaps Wayne Carey?). Liu looked in severe discomfort throughout the warm up and when Marcel van der Westen (Netherlands) false started, he was unable to re-take his position on the blocks. He limped out of the stadium leaving a nation, and an Olympics in shock.

Hockey
The Hockeyroos have failed to make it to the medal rounds for a second straight Olympics after failing to get full points over host nation China. A 2-2 draw means that it is the hosts who will progress to the semi-finals and a shot at the medals.

Basketball
The Boomers have seemingly done the impossible. All but down and out after losing their first 2 group games, the Aussie's made it three wins in a row yesterday with a 106-75 thumping of Lithuania. The prize? A quarter-final match up with the redeem team from the United States. It will take an upset of miracle on ice type proportions to see them progress any further.

Water Polo
The Australian Men's Water Polo team will miss the medal rounds after a heart-breaking 5-5 draw with Montenegro in their last pool game. The Aussies were denied by a dying-second save from the Montenegrin keeper with the Aussies on the power play.

Medal Tally after Day 10:

1 - China - 39-14-14 (67)
2 - United States - 22-24-26 (72)
3 - Great Britain - 12-7-8 (27)

4 - Australia - 11-10-12 (33)