Let's Go Tokyo Podcast: Recent Episodes
The West Australian
From The West Australian, Let's Go Tokyo, hosted by Mark Readings and Ben O'Shea is a podcast dedicated to bringing you the latest on the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.
As well as daily recaps and analysis, Mark and Ben will interview competing Olympians and former greats to give you an inside look into the athlete's village, and what goes through the mind of an Olympian before an event.
Hear from greats such as swimming champions Eamon Sullivan and Todd Pearson, former Hockeyroo Sally Carbon, Pole Vaulter Emma George and Basketball superstar Andrew Vlahov.
Well, that’s it. It’s all over. We’ve seen elite athletes compete over the last 2 weeks, cheered them on and watched on with their nervous families back home in Aus.
Our Aussie athletes did us proud with a total of 80 Paralympic medals - 21 of them gold.
We finished 8th on the medal tally, with China GB and USA taking out the top 3 spots.
In this final episode of Let's Go Tokyo, we speak with Madison de Rozario's mum abut her incredible marathon feat, and her struggle over the last 5 years to make it to Tokyo.
What a ride it’s been… as we’ve brought you all the action from the Olympics and the Paralympics.
Tokyo has done the Games proud in an incredibly difficult set of circumstances… And our Aussie athletes have done US proud.
Thanks for joining us… We’ll catch you in three years.
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Wasn’t the first week of the games exciting to watch?
Australia took home 6 gold in ONE day, saw records smashed, have seen Aussie legends in the making, and it seems our Aussie’s knack for post-event comments has continued in the Paralympics!
Lakeisha Patterson started it all off when she said she was “more fried than a chook from KFC” after winning her 400m final but it's this quote from fellow swimmer Grant "Scooter" Patterson (no relation), that will go down in the history books.
Scooter and Ahmed Kelly took out bronze and silver respectively - their first Paralympic medals - in Saturday’s 150m individual medley, and while they were overjoyed to be on the podium together, their fierce rivalry still runs deep into every aspect of their lives.
With Scooter saying: “We even had a race to the toilet this afternoon to see who could poo first”
By day 6, Australia is sitting eighth on the ladder with 8 gold, 16 silver and 13 bronze. But way out in front is China with 47 gold! And 106 medals in total, followed by team GB and USA
And one of those medals went to one of our very own, WA man Ben Popham, who you might also recognise as one of the Telethon stars in 2011.
And we were so lucky to talk to his mum Jennifer on the podcast.
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As Paralympic tennis star Dylan Alcott put it, the warmup is officially over. It’s time for the big show now.
Tonight, we’ll see Danni DiToro, wheelchair tennis and wheelchair table tennis star, and Riley Batts, 5 time Paralympian in the wheelchair rugby, be the flag bearers in the opening ceremony.
The themes this year are ‘moving forward’ and ‘we have wings’ - which encourages athletes to spread their wings, no matter which way the wind is blowing.
Over the next two weeks, more than 4400 athletes will compete for Paralympic glory, and the 179 athletes from Australia will be looking to have another year in the top five on the medal tally.
In this special preview episode of Let's Go Tokyo, Ben and Mark speak to swimming legend and medal of the Order of Australia recipient Priya Cooper ahead of the games, who to watch, and who she'll be paying attention to, in and out of the water.
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In this episode, we speak to Paralympian Robyn Lambird, who will be representing Australia in Tokyo in wheelchair racing.
She talks us through her preparation, and why representation for people with disabilities is so important.
She'll definitely be one to watch.
Stay tuned in a couple of weeks when Let's Go Tokyo covers the Paralympics.
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Sailing has always been in Matt Wearn's blood. And taking out gold in Tokyo has been the icing on a pretty challenging cake.
I’ll tell you what, one of our favourite moments of the Olympics was speaking to sailing Gold medallist Tessa Parkinson, who was talking about this up and comer sailor named Matt Wearn, who will be one to watch - then the next day he wins gold.
He took us on his journey through Tokyo, and what it's like to call himself an Olympic Gold medallist.
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Well, what an Olympic Games it was!
Australia finished up 6th, after sitting in 4th spot for most of the games - GB and ROC had a late surge of medals.
In this final episode - for the Tokyo Olympics, Ben and Mark speak to GOLD medallist Matt Wearn, who took us on his journey through Tokyo, and what it's like to call himself an Olympic Gold medallist.
Plus, we speak to Paralympian Robyn Lambird, who will be representing Australia in Tokyo in wheelchair racing. She talks us through her preparation, and why representation for people with disabilities is so important.
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TONIGHT WHAT’S COMING UP
- BOXING - Harry Garside V Andy Cruz - plug chat with Danny green in yesterday’s pod to get insight into the fight - he’s guaranteed a bronze, but is eyeing off the gold 1.47pm
- JAVELIN - 3 Australians in the women’s javelin throw final - Kathryn Mitchell, Mackenzie Little, Kelsey-Lee Barber at 7.50pm
- 1500M - Linden Hall and Jessica Hull in the final - 8.50pm
- RACE WALK - 3 Australians in the women’s 20km race walk 3.30pm - Katie Hayward, Rebecca Henderson, Jemima Montag
TOMORROW
- WOMEN’S MARATHON run - 3 Australians in the final starting at 6am - Sinead Diver, Ellie Pashley, Lisa Jane Weightman
- WATER POLO - Australian stingers V Netherlands for 5th and 6th place 10am - womens
- HIGH JUMP - women’s final - 2 Australians in the final - Nicola McDermott and Eleanor Patterson 6.35pm
- MEN’S PENTATHLON starts - Australian Ed Fernon competing starting at 1.30pm
For those who don’t know what’s in the pentathlon, it’s fencing, 200m freestyle swimming, show jumping, and a final combined event of pistol shooting and a 3200m cross-country run.
- Boomers V Slovenia BRONZE MEDAL MATCH - 7pm
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In a shock in the athletics, the US men’s 4x100m relay team didn't the final, and track legend Carl Lewis put a rocket up them.
In other Tokyo action, the unofficial strongest man in the world was crowned -Georgia's Lasha Talakhadze lifted a new landmark 223 kilograms in the snatch and 265kg in the clean and jerk for a total 488kg.
And sport climbing's first gold medalist may as well change his name to Spiderman, winning the title by climbing a 15m wall in 6.42 seconds!
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As written in the west today - “Move over Russell Crowe, Australia has a new gladiator"
In the toughest event in track and field, Queensland’s Ash Moloney has created history by winning an Olympic bronze medal in possible the toughest event at the games, the decathlon.
But in this, a true show of sportsmanship emerged, with his teammate, Cedric Dubler running beside Ashley Moloney and yelling encouraging words in the last few hundred metres of the 1500m final run.
Ashley was falling behind, so Dubler ran beside him, setting the pace and yelling at him to keep going to ensure he remained in touch with American Garrett Scantling.
And he found something extra to close the gap to his closest rival, ensuring the bronze medal was his.
“Fk yeah,’ the 21-year-old screamed on learning he won the bronze.**
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Let's Go Tokyo's special guest knows too well the frustration of just missing out on bronze.
The Australian men's basketball team have never won a medal at the Olympics, but have at least three times come agonisingly close in 4th place.
Basketball legend and four-time Olympian Andrew Vlahov tells Ben and Mark about his Olympic journey, what he thinks of our Aussie team, and what it was like facing THE REAL USA Dream Team.
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It’s August 6, Day 14 of the games, and Australia’s lucky day 13 started out strong, but ended with disappointment with reigning champions the Kookaburras going down to Belgium last night.
Did Skeet jinx it?
And the Matildas miss out on Bronze, going down 4-3 to USA
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A missed Gold chance for our Kookaburras and beach volleyball stars - but there's always a silver lining.
We've got a few gold medal hopefuls still to come, including the boxing champ who is defying stereotypes, and who Danny Green reckons could go all the way. Regardless, he's guaranteed a bronze.
Meanwhile, the Boomers will be in a battle for bronze when they take on Slovenia. If they win, it'll be the best Australian basketball finish ever.
And today's guest knows too well the frustration of just missing out on bronze.
Basketball legend and four-time Olympian Andrew Vlahov tells Ben and Mark what he thinks of our Aussie team, and what it was like facing THE REAL USA Dream Team.
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TONIGHT WHAT’S COMING UP
- SOCCER - Matildas V USA 4pm - bronze medal match
- Men’s 1500m semi final - Oliver Hoare at 7pm and Stewart McSweyn at 7.10pm
- RACE WALK -20km Kyle Swan and Declan Tingay in the final 3.30pm
- HOCKEY - Kookaburras V Belgium 6pm - GOLD MEDAL MATCH
TOMORROW
- RACE WALK - Rhydian Cowley in the final of the men’s 50km race walk starting at 4.30am tomorrow
- BEACH VOLLEYBALL - Aus (Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy) V USA - GOLD MEDAL MATCH - 10.30am
- BASKETBALL women's - USA V Serbia GOLD MEDAL MATCH 12.40pm
- RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS - 17yo Lidiia Iakovleva - qualifying round 9.20am
- WOMEN’S 1500m Jessica Hull and Linden Hall in the final - 8.50pm
- FOOTBALL women’s - Sweden V Canada GOLD MEDAL MATCH 10am
- ARTISTIC SWIMMING - Australia in - women’s team event - 6.30pm tomorrow
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Get this for an eye watering payday - 13-year-old skateboarder Sky Brown, who became Britain’s youngest ever Olympic medallist when she took bronze, is now worth an around $5 million, which could rise by millions more after her Olympic performance.
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So many records have been smashed at this Olympics, and there's no exception in the beach volleyball.
For the first time in 21 YEARS, Australia will be in the final!
Our Aussies in Action are still going strong in the diving and decathlon, but heartbreak for Genevieve Gregson in the 3000m steeplechase, rupturing her achilles in the final.
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Harry Garside is Australia's hopeful for a gold medal in the boxing tomorrow night.
He's already guaranteed bronze - nothing to turn your nose at - but boxing legend and former Olympian Danny Green reckons he's got a good chance at defeating the world champion tomorrow night, because he's had a break.
If he can do that, the gold is his, according to Green.
He talks to Ben and Mark about his Olympic journey and explains why our Aussie boxer Skye Nicholson's heartbreaking reaction isn't as bad as it seems.
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This week, WA boxing legend Danny Green's Instagram was taken over with pictures of running superstar and now-legend Peter Bol.
The boxing legend tells Ben and Mark it's because he's been following his journey and finds him inspiring.
Green also gives us an insight into his Olympic experience too.
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While day 13 might be unlucky for some, like the Boomers, but it’s proven to be Australia’s day, with two more gold medals to add to our tally
another gold for Australia in the men’s 1000m doubles canoe sprint - congratulations to Tom Green and Jean Van der Westhuyzen!
And 18yo Keegan Palmer gave Australia its 17th gold medal in the skateboarding final.
But in terms of inspiring events, the whole of Australia is bursting with pride for Peter Bol!
So much so, more than 3.05 million people tuned in to watch his race - to put that in perspective, that’s 329% more than the people who watched the same event at the Rio Olympics
He may have come 4th, but I think as Aussies, we like to champion all of our athletes, and for Peter, it’s no different.
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The Olympic gold is officially out of reach for Australian basketball, with the Boomers going down to the Dream Team.
We Were going so well in the first half, but USA came back strong to take the game 97 - 78
But while day 13 might be unlucky for some, like the Boomers, but it’s proven to be Australia’s day, with two more gold medals to add to our tally
another gold for Australia in the men’s 1000m doubles canoe sprint - congratulations to Tom Green and Jean Van der Westhuyzen!
And 18yo Keegan Palmer gave Australia its 17th gold medal in the skateboarding final.
But in terms of inspiring events, the whole of Australia is bursting with pride for Peter Bol!
So much so, more than 3.05 million people tuned in to watch his race - to put that in perspective, that’s 329% more than the people who watched the same event at the Rio Olympics
He may have come 4th, but I think as Aussies, we like to champion all of our athletes, and for Peter, it’s no different.
Join special guest, WA boxing champion Danny Green as he tells us why he thinks Australia can take gold in the boxing.
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Sprint cyclist Matthew Glaetzer has pulled out of the cycling sprint because he's unwell. It's a devastating blow for the Aussie, who's overcome so much and is yet to win an Olympic medal.
Speaking to former Olympic cyclist and colleague Josie Tomic before he pulled out, she talks with Ben and Mark about his inspiring achievement, and how Australia's performance has been.
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- After losing to ROC last night, Australian Stingers will play Canada in water polo for 5th to 8th place
- Can Australia’s Kai Edwards get another medal for Australia in the men’s 10km swim final? The race starts at 5.30am
- Australia V Latvia in the beach volleyball semi final at 9am
- Matildas V USA for bronze tomorrow at 4pm
- Boomers V USA in semi final 12.15
- And the BIG ONE - be watching from 6pm tomorrow for the gold medal match between the Kookaburras and Belgium
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American swimming superstar Katie Ledecky has shown her appreciation for Australian sensation Ariarne Titmus — as well as several other international rivals — in a heartwarming post on Twitter, posting four photos with athletes from other countries, saying, “Embrace the world”, and the hashtag #StrongerTogether.
The photo with Ariarne Titmus was showed them embracing.
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There was more drama than a TV soap in the cycling. We saw crashes, cheating allegations, snap retirements, records shattered, a 13-year reign toppled.
A first round clash between Britain and Denmark – ended with a bizarre crash between Frederik Madsen and Charlie Tanfield.
The crash came shortly before Denmark was accused of cheating.
And all of this happened in just one day - just a few days before we saw another bizarre crash of Australian rider Alex Porter - when his handles just snapped off.
There’s now an investigation into how it happened.
Special guest, former Olympic cyclist Josie Tomic joins us to explain, and how the Aussies are going on the track.
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All Aussie sailors Mathew Belcher and Will Ryan had to do was show up! And that's what they did. They've notched another gold for Australia.
Plus bronze for Australia in the marathon swimming - despite starting last AND getting hit in the face by a fish!
All that and more on our Aussies in Action on day 12.
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Another gold is on the horizon for the Australian team, and for sailors Mathew Belcher and Will Ryan, all they have to do is show up to win the gold!
Plus, can the Kookaburras hold off Belgium for the gold? we'll find out tomorrow.
As we get to the pointy end of the Olympics, rising stars are starting to emerge - and not just for their athleticism.
For all your Olympic news, head to thewest.com.au
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Get ready to see the Kookaburras try and keep Australia's hockey medal hopes alive, plus, can Peter Bol soar to 800m gold?
And as our Aussie sailors chase down gold in the ocean, in the pool, the Australian women's waterpolo team will be hoping for a spot in the semis - or even final.
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Blowing off steam, or general disrespect?
Athletes from Australia’s rugby and rowing teams have been reprimanded for drunken antics and trashing rooms inside the Olympic Village at the weekend.
While athletes have to go home 48 hours after their events finish, Ben and Mark reckon, they're still human, and they've just competed in probably one of the biggest events of their lives - yes, trashing rooms goes too far, but this is the type of stuff we've seen at every other Olympics anyway.
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*and a lot of people aren't mad about it.
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Day 10 was filled with controversy - a controversial call to disallow a goal made by Sam Kerr, and a controversial late call to delay the pole vaulting events because of the weather MINUTES AFTER Aussie athlete Liz Parnov was forced to complete her jumps and failed.
I'm sure there's a lot of angry Aussie fans out there today.
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He's got sport running through his veins, has played with some of the best water polo teams in the world and represented Australia in Rio 2016.
Joel Swift knows a bit about how the Australian water polo team would be feeling right now. in 2016, they bowed out at around the same part of the competition - except for the Aussies this time, despite winning their last game, they won't continue to the quarter finals. Confused? Yeah, us too. So Joel is here to help explain.
He also tells Ben and Mark about his time in Rio, the antics that happen after your competition is over, and why Perth has the best water polo pool in the world.
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Drunken antics, athletes and teams 'robbed', upsets, heartbreak, freak injuries and surprise celebrations, the Olympics has really seen it all in the 24 hours.
From a controversial disallowed goal, an Australian athlete disqualified right before the event was delayed because of weather - I'm sure behind closed doors and at home there was a lot of swearing after the Matilda's game.
And despite a win for the Australian water polo team over Kazakhstan, they were still knocked out of the competition. Confused? Yeah, we were too. Luckily our special guest in this episode of Let's Go Tokyo is former Olympic water polo player Joel Swift.
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All eyes will be on the Matildas when they take on reigning silver medallists, Sweden tonight. Plus, can the Kookaburras keep Australia's hockey hopes alive after the Hockeyroos loss?
And the artistic swimming starts. To learn more about the sport, head to the trailer of Let's Go Tokyo to hear Tokyo Olympian Amie Thompson explain her sport, and who are the ones to watch.
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Golf, 3x3 basketball, soccer, should they be in the Olympics?
One former athlete has a unique perspective as to why they probably shouldn't be:
"The Olympic Games should be the epitome of any sport, so if there's other sporting competitions that are even more powerful than the Olympic ones, I'd probably push them out," Former Hockeyroo Sally Carbon said.
And Skeet agreed to an extent - if other competitions take 'the best of the best' away from the Olympics, then it's not the epitome.
Plus, the added sports getting kids interested in the Olympics again.
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The Tokyo Olympics has seen a lot of records broken, but this is one most people probably wouldn't have picked - the high jump has seen top spot taken by TWO PEOPLE.
The dual gold medalists were crowned for the high jump after officials couldn’t separate the two jumps, bothMutaz Essa Barshim from Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberiat from Italy cleared 2.37m, they both tried to clear 2.39m, but didn't make it.
They could have competed in a 'jump off', but Mutaz Essa Barshim asked if they could have two gold, and the official said yes.
Their reaction afterwards was priceless. Both of them virtually jumped on each other and were left crying tears of joy on the track.
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It's not often you get to watch an Olympic hockey game with a legend of the sport, but today, Ben and Mark were lucky enough to do just that.
Listen to their chat with Sally, as she opens up about her career, winning gold, and the pressure of being number one at the next meeting.
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Let’s talk about one of the superstars to emerge from this games - Emma McKeon
She now joins Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones as Australia’s most successful Olympians with 5 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze to her name.
She now has a total of11 Olympic medals, five of which are gold - those five gold match Ian Thorpe’s - the most in Australian history.
She won seven medals in Tokyo alone - the only other woman in any sport to match that was Russian gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya in 1952.
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Athletes like Emma McKeon and Matt Wearne who've won gold for Australia will take home around $20,000 for their efforts.
That's compared to other countries like Singapore, who offer $1million for their gold medallists and the US, who give the equivalent of $50,000.
Gold medallist and former Hockeyroo Sally Carbon said the biggest message isn't about are these athletes getting paid, it's that Australia isn't putting enough effort into high performance sport - especially WA, and she has a message for Premier Mark McGowan - "We really need to pick up our game on high performance sport"
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As our special guest on Let's Go Tokyo today, it's fair to say that gold-medallist and former Hockeyroo Sally Carbon was a little bit distracted - as we recorded right through Australia's knockout game with India.
We let her watch the last 30 seconds, as Skeet talks us through the stress levels in the room, which must have been 100 times worse in the arena in Tokyo.
Still gracious in disappointment, Sally was congratulatory of India, but said her heart went out to Australia's hockey players, who were visibly distraught.
Watch the video at thewest.com.au
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After a weekend paved in gold for Australia, day 10 saw a morning of disappointment, especially for our special guest, former Hockeyroo and gold medallist Sally Carbon, who watched with bated breath as her beloved team went down to India 1-0
Hear her reaction with Ben and Mark, as it happened in this episode of Let's Go Tokyo, along with the highlights of our gold medal performances, as well as some moments of pure sportsmanship, a unique dual gold medal and the sprinter who can win, even after tripping and falling.
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As the pool events come to an end, we start watching the athletes on the track.
As the second week of the Olympics begins, follow out Aussie athletes in the triathlon mixed teams final, Aussie favourite Ash Barty joins forces with John Peers in the mixed doubles semi final and can our womens rugby team go two-for-two gold?
Tune in as Ben and Skeet bring you the events to watch this weekend.
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If you haven't been keeping tabs on Matt Wearne, maybe you should, because according to sailing gold medalist Tessa Parkinson, he's set to bring Australia more gold.
The Perth man is out in the difficult conditions in the ocean off Japan competing solo in the laser event.
There's just something about WA sailors - we just seem to dominate on the water. Ben and Mark chat with Tessa Parkinson about why WA sailors come out on top.
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Australian big man Aron Baynes has been ruled out of the rest of the Olympic Games after sustaining a neck injury in a locker room accident during the Boomers’ win over Italy two days ago.
Baynes sustained the damage from a freak fall, it's understood he was injured in the bathroom after falling and slipping on a wet floor during a locker room visit at the start of the fourth quarter.
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Aussie BMX racer Saya Sakakibara's inspiring Olympic journey has come to a devastating end, after a crash during the semi final she was leading saw her lose her chance at getting into the final.
She was stretchered off, but was ok.
In a devastating interview she said she fely like she had 'let everyone down, especially her brother'.
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Athletes have embraced sharing their life within the village after the IOC changed its rules around social media use, and millions of us mere mortals have tuned in to watch the demi gods in their element.
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Another day of sensational highs and agonising lows - we celebrated with Jess Fox, who took home the coveted gold she'd been desperately chasing as her dad watched on silently from the commentary box.
While we commiserated with Saya Sakakibara, who was injured in a nasty crash in the semi finals and forced her out of finals contention. She said she felt like she'd 'disappointed everyone'.
Join Ben and Skeet as they wrap up day 7 of the games, and hear from Olympic gold medal-winning sailor Tessa Parkinson.
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It's the race that gave him a gold medal - the 4x200m freestyle relay, so it's safe to say Todd Pearson knows a thing or two about the race, but even he was sure the Australians were a shoe-in to win gold at the final on Thursday.
The Australian women still broke their own world record, but ultimately came in thrid after China dominated, and the USA's Katie Ledecky came back strong in the last leg to secure silver.
Listen as Ben, Mark and Todd react to the race.
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Five years ago in Rio, the Netherlands' Annemiek van Vleuten suffered one of the more horrific crashes you'll ever see in a bike race. All alone in first place with less than 12km remaining in the women's road race, Van Vleuten's tires locked up around a tight turn and she flipped over the handlebars, fracturing her back in three places.
She was back to competitive racing within a month of the injury—how?—but these Games were the chance at redemption for the now-38-year-old.
Van Vleuten thought she got that redemption in the women's road race earlier this week, celebrating at the end of the 137km race as though she had won gold. But Austria's Anna Kiesenhofer had pulled so far ahead of the pack that everyone forgot about her. She won gold by 75 seconds, and Van Vleuten had to settle for silver.
She finally got her gold medal in the Day 5 women's road time trial.
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There was a bit of heartbreak for some of our Aussie athletes yesterday - from the inspirational story of BMX rider Saya Sakakibara, whose brother was supposed to race at the Olympics along side her, but suffered a brain injury in a traumatic accident. She came 6th in the quarter finals and didn't progress, to swimmer Brianna Throssel coming last in the 200m butterfly final and Australian boxer Skye Nicolson who was left in floods of tears after her quarter final loss.
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He's someone who knows a thing or two about winning gold.
He and his Aussie teammates - Ian Thorpe, Michael Klim and Bill Kirby captured Australia’s collective hearts when they set a new world record and beat the USA to take gold in the 4x200m Freestyle relay in Sydney 2000.
Todd Pearson opens up about his own Olympic experience, and gives Ben and Mark some insight into why our Aussie swimmers are so great at the moment.
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It's just the fifth time Australia has ever claimed three gold medals on a single Olympic day. Three of those came in consecutive Olympics: 2000, 2004, 2008; the other was all the way back in 1956.
In Rio, Australia finished with eight gold medals. After just five days in Tokyo, we already have six golds.
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Heartbreak and elation sums up Day 6 of the Tokyo games.
Gold for Izaac Stubblety-Cook in the pool, but a shock bronze for gold favourites, the women's 4x200m relay teams.
But as special guest Todd Pearson put it, welcome to the Olympics.
Join Ben, Mark and Todd as they unpack Day 6, and talk swimming, gold and what it's really like in the Athlete's Village.
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Can the Matildas redeem themselves after copping flack for their draw against the USA?
The Sharks take on Serbia, and how will our male swimmers go as we get to the pointy end of the pool events.
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She's probably the world's best gymnast at the moment, but even being on top doesn't make you immune to the pressures of expectation and mental health.
The gymnast from USA made a shock exit half way through the gymnastics team final on Tuesday, which has been met with both praise and criticism.
Plus, a boxer pulls a Mike Tyson, why one Judo competitor was being slapped BEFORE the competition started, and the spotted skin mystery solved.
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It was hard to watch the clear disappointment on Jess Fox's face when she finished her final in the canoe slalom. She was the gold medal favourite, but came away with a bronze.
But for surfer Owen Wright, bronze in surfing's first ever Olympic appearance meant the world.
All that, plus out Aussies in Action on July 28.
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Alexandra Hagan has had a career of highlights, but she said today, watching the Australian men and women win gold within half an hour of each other, was definitely one of them.
Watching from Victoria, the former rower, now coach said she rode that race with her best friends, and was with them all the way.
In her chat with Ben and Mark, she opens up about her own experience - being the youngest rower for Australia in 2012, then having just 10 days to train for the 2016 Olympics, and how those challenges made her stronger.
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What else can we say other than how great are Aussies?!
Three gold in one morning! You bloody rippa!
Plus the Bronze in the rowing makes it 5 medals in an hour
First, can we talk about how great the Terminator, Ariarine Titmus is?? Her second Gold, defeating the previously unbeaten Katie Ledecky for the second time.
Just this morning she took Gold in the 200m Freestyle final.
And around the same time, on the water rather than in it, Jess Morrison, Annabelle McIntyre, Rosie Popa & Lucy Stephan took out the gold in the women’s coxless fours with a new Olympic record too
They gave a pretty emotional interview afterwards, and the vision of the supporters at home cheering our Aussies on.
AND THEN just half an hour later, our Aussie "Oarsome foursome", Alex Hill, Alex Purnell, Spencer Turrin and Jack Hargreaves put the cherry on top, taking gold in the men’s coxless fours too - the first gold since 1996.
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What else can we say other than how great are Aussies?!
Three gold in one morning! You bloody rippa!
5 medals won by Australia in an hour!!
First, can we talk about how great the Terminator, Ariarine Titmus is?? Her second Gold, defeating the previously unbeaten Katie Ledecky for the second time.
Just this morning she took out the 200m Freestyle final.
And around the same time, out of the pool but still in the water, Jess Morrison, Annabelle McIntyre, Rosie Popa & Lucy Stephan took out the gold in the women’s coxless fours with a new Olympic record too
They gave a pretty emotional interview afterwards, and the vision of the supporters at home cheering our Aussies on.
AND THEN justhalf an hour later, our Aussie "Oarsome Foursome", Alex Hill, Alex Purnell, Spencer Turrin and Jack Hargreaves put the cherry on top, taking gold in the men’s coxless fours too - the first gold since 1996.
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He's a former swimming champion, with three Olympics and three medals under his belt, but Eamon Sullivan doesn't really like swimming for fun.
The 2008 dual silver medalist opens up to Ben and Mark about the challenge of expectations, overcoming them, and the lessons learned from previous Olympics.
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The Aussies have a lot of hurdles to face tomorrow, with Jess Fox vying for gold in the canoe, the Matildas taking on USA, and more swimming finals.
Ben and Mark take you through Day 5 events.
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We saw the youngest ever podium yesterday - three teenagers all taking home medals, two of them, just 13 years old.
Japan's Momeeji Nisheeya might not be the youngest ever gold medalist, but when it comes to skateboarding, she's showing the older kids who's on top.
And you might think that a fractured achilles tendon would rule you out of the Olympics, let alone medal contention, but Nikita Nagornyy from the Russian Olympic Committee was pivotal in helping the men's gymnastics team take home gold for the artistic team event.
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An amazing effort by the Kookaburras in men's hockey, a bronze medal change for Aussie surfer Owen Wright and Australia's squandered lead in the Rugby Sevens.
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Could Kaylee McKeown be any more Aussie? Her fantastic gold medal effort, coming from behind Canadian Kylie Masse in the last 50m left Australia cheering, and the Olympian with nothing else to say, but "F*** yeah!"
And we're right with you, Kaylee!
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We may as well just call the Aussie athletes in the pool fish at this point, absolutely dominating!
With the amazing GOLD medal 100m backstroke swim by Kaylee McKeown this morning adding to our incredible record in the pool - it comes as another come-from-behind win, she overtook Canadian Kylie Masse in the last 50m.
When asked what she would like to say to her family, in typical Aussie style, she drops the f-bomb.
All that, plus a chat with an Australian Olympic legend, our medal hopes for out of the pool and Tokyo's Top Moments.
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Aussie champion surfer Claire Bevilacqua may have just missed out on qualifying for the Olympic Games, but that hasn't stopped her following the sport all the way.
Surfing has made its debut at the Olympic Games this year, and already we've seen some upsets and less than ideal conditions. Funnily enough, a storm might hamper other sports, but it might just make for the perfect challenge for the surfers.
She opened up to Ben and Skeet about her journey, how her heart is in two camps, and the pros and cons of having the surfing in the ocean.
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It was all about the swimmers this opening weekend.
We can't go past Ariarne Titmus taking out the 400m Freestyle gold, and the world record breaking relay team which took out the 4x100m relay.
Ben and Skeet also look at the soccer, an almost fairytale-like comeback from out rugby team and the triathlete who got kicked in the face and suffered a broken nose, but still complete the race.
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Ben and Skeet unpack their top moments from countries other than Australia in the opening weekend, including France defeating the 'Dream Team' USA basketball, the road race where the racer who took out third in the Tour de France got his revenge on the Olympic arena and just how good is USA gymnast Simone Biles?
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There's no doubt Australia was celebrating when Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus took out gold in a nail biting battle against rival Katie Ledecky from the USA.
But no one was celebrating harder than her coach Dean Boxall, who's reaction has captured the nation's collective hearts.
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What an opening weekend.
Ben and Skeet unpack Australia's Golds, our swimming champions and shock exits from some favourites.
Plus, hear their chat with surfing champion Claire Bevilacqua, as she takes us through the surfing landscape and the hits and misses from the first Olympic appearance of the sport.
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Ben and Skeet discuss what could be expected from tonight's Opening Ceremony, the latest COVID-19 news from Tokyo, and Australia's winning start to the games.
Plus, the boys are joined by champion former pole vaulter, Emma George, who opens up about how she feels athletes will be going with no spectators, her Olympic experience and the injury setback which saw her retire.
For extensive coverage of Tokyo 2020, head to thewest.com.au
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What do you do when you love sport, but can't choose which one to focus on?
Do what Jaz Hedgeland did and choose a sport that's three-in-one. Not content with simply excelling in one area, the 26-year-old has chosen to combine swimming, cycling and running to become one of the toughest athletes in Australia.
So much so, she's qualified for her first ever Olympics.
Listen to her excitement as she talks to Ben and Mark about how she made it, injury setbacks and why she chooses to punish herself.
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Raw, honest and brave.
Hockeyroo Georgia Wilson speaks openly about crying on her bathroom floor and during training after missing out on selection - another blow after several injury setbacks.
The 25-year-old has opened up to Ben and Mark about her mental health struggles both before and after her Olympic dream was seemingly dashed when she didn't get selected for the Tokyo squad. But an 11th-hour call-up has seen her packing her bags to join her teammates at the Olympics.
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From growing up around Olympians at his local pool in Bicton Baths, Aaron Younger's talent and determination has seen him soar to captain of Australia's Olympic water polo team.
While the 29-year-old has been playing in Europe for the last 10 years, he started off as a footy player, but in his words he 'wasn't fast on land'.
The Aussie Shark told Ben and Mark, while the European leagues tend to dominate - because they're fully professional players - he works well with his Aussie teammates, and this year, the Aussies are hungry for a win.
All that, plus why he wants to see more support for his sport.
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Ben and Mark speak to two-time Olympian, tennis player John Peers, who's had an uncertain week after his doubles partner Alex de Minaur tested positive to COVID-19 and was forced to withdraw from the Olympics.
In his chat with Let's Go Tokyo, recorded before the news broke about Alex de Minaur, John speaks about his passion for sport, being a ball boy to tennis greats, then playing along side them, and what it's like going to represent Australia.
Stay tuned this week to hear from excited West Aussies heading to the games, before our coverage of the games starting Friday July 23.
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This week ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Let's Go Tokyo will be speaking to talented West Aussie athletes who will be representing Australia.
In Today's episode, hosts Ben O'Shea and Mark Readings speak to the soccer superstar, West Aussie legend and backflip-loving Matildas Captain Sam Kerr.
Hear the Chelsea FC forward open up about having to be adaptable during COVID, how the team prepared for Tokyo’s humidity, not having her family in Japan, as well as playing in an empty stadium.
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From The West Australian, Let's Go Tokyo, hosted by Mark Readings and Ben O'Shea is a podcast dedicated to bringing you the latest on the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.
As well as daily recaps and analysis, Mark and Ben will interview competing Olympians and former greats to give you an inside look into the athlete's village, and what goes through the mind of an Olympian before an event.
Hear from greats such as swimming champions Eamon Sullivan and Todd Pearson, former Hockeyroo Sally Carbon, Pole Vaulter Emma George and Basketball superstar Andrew Vlahov.
In the week leading up to the games, Mark and Ben speak to West Aussies heading to Tokyo to represent Australia. In this trailer, hear from Artistic Swimmer, Amie Thompson.
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