Australia enjoys historic Olympic success at Paris 2024

Australia bagged four gold medals on Day 12 of the Paris 2024 Olympics, taking their total medal haul to a whopping 41.

This stellar performance pushed their gold tally to 18, surpassing their entire Tokyo haul with four days of competition still to come.

The Aussies also boast an impressive 12 silvers and 11 bronzes after the day’s events came to an end.

Kennedy shines in pole vault

Nina Kennedy stepped under the Stade de France lights as the clear favourite to win the pole vault gold at $1.60, but history was not on her side.

No Australian athlete had won gold in the discipline before, so she faced an uphill challenge to live up to the bookies’ odds.

The world champion held her nerve, however, as she cleared 4.9 metres to beat her closest opponent and bag the gold.

Palmer defends skateboard gold

After teenage sensation Arisa Trew delivered a stunning performance to win the gold, Keegan Palmer successfully defended his Tokyo Olympics crown with another stellar display.

Palmer set the tone with a dominant first run that put an impressive 93.11 on the board, which ultimately proved to be the difference-maker.

Tate Carew — the top-ranked park skater in the world right now — was a slender favourite at $3 with online bookmakers, but even his remarkable second run of 91.17 was not enough to stop Palmer ($3.05) from claiming gold again.

Surprising track cycling success

Dismissed as outsiders before the Games, Australia’s men’s track cycling team defied expectations with a jaw-dropping world record in qualifying.

Their fairytale journey culminated in a breathtaking final against Great Britain where Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy, Kelland O’Brien and Oliver Bleddyn delivered a masterclass to end Australia’s long wait for cycling gold.

The race was too close to call, and the hairline advantage Australia had entering the last kilometre proved to be vital.

Sailing run continues

After a frustrating delay caused by fickle winds in Marseille, Matt Wearn finally secured his second Olympic title in the dinghy class.

This result extends Australia’s dominance in the event to an unprecedented four consecutive Games, following triumphs for Tom Slingsby, Tom Burton and Wearn himself.

Wearn’s consistency across the eight qualifying races gave him a formidable 14-point advantage over Cyprus’ Pavlos Kontides.

With such a substantial cushion, Wearn was guaranteed at least silver heading into the final day of competition on the Marseille waters.

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