Medal hopes remain as the count climbs to 11

The number ofmedals attributed to Griffith University students and alumniat the Rio Olympics has climbed to 11 near the end of the second week of competition, with hopes that more will come.

Medal prospects remain for Bachelor of Sport Development student Domonic Bedggood in the 10m platform on Saturday (August 20) from 5am.

Nikita Pablo isin thesynchronised swimming final with the teams technical routine being heldtomorrow (August 19).

On Sunday, alumnus Michael Shelley starts in the marathon at 10.30am, while Bachelor of Public Health student Ashleigh Gentle will be competing in the women’s triathlon from midnight.

Twenty-four Griffith University students and alumni headed for the Rio Games, and the medal count among them so far sits at three gold, four silver and four bronze.

Public Health student Emma McKeon finished her campaign with four Olympic medals — a gold in the 4×100 relay with a new world record, a silver in the 4×100 medley relay, a silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay and a bronze in the 200m freestyle. She also came seventh in the 100m butterfly.

Social Work student Madi Wilson also comes home with a gold for her part in the 4×100 freestyle relay and a silver from the 4×100 medley relay heats.

Science student Cameron McEvoy secured two bronze, one for the 4×100 freestyle relay and the other for the heat swim of the 4×100 medley relay. He placed seventh in the 100m freestyle final.

Alumnus Matt Abood was also a heat swimmer and scored a bronze in the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay.

Rounding off the swimming, Jess Ashwood (Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Bachelor of Psychological Science) swam the heat and won silver in the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay. She also was ranked seventh in the women’s 400m freestyle final and fifth in the 800m freestyle final.

Golden Girl

Alumna Shannon Parry comes home as a golden girl after Australia beat New Zealand in the rugby sevens final following a blistering campaign.

Griffith University alumnus Shannon Perry is now a rugby sevens gold medal winner. Photo courtesy of ARU Media.

While many athletesdid not celebrate a podium finish, there were strong performances across the board from the Griffith students and alumni.

In the rowing, Jessica Hall (Psychological Science) andMadeleine Edmunds (Business) were forced into the repechage, but were knocked out after coming fifth in a tight finish of just .04 seconds behind the USA in fourth place.

Water polo team members Ash Southern, Kelsey Wakefield and Bronwen Knox were just edged out in the quarter finals by Hungary 13-11 in a penalty shootout. However, they play for fifth place against Spain on Saturday (August 20) at 3.10am.

In cycling, alumna Katrin Garfoot was hampered by a chest infection but still managed to finish ninth in the women’s time trial in wet and slippery conditions.

Making her mark

Alumna Louise Bawden made her mark in the beach volleyball, winning all of her preliminaries before being knocked out in the quarter finals after a tough match with the USA.

each volleyball Olympian Louise Bawden

In the women’s kayak single K1 500, Naomi Flood finished sixth in her semi-final, and was ranked 18th in the overall standings.

In the kayak double K2 500, Bachelor of Communication graduate Alyce Burnett came third in her semi-final, and finished eighth in the final.

In the discus, Matt Denny ranked 19th in the qualification round, but failed to progress to the finals. However, his throw of 61.16 metres makes him Australia’s top discus athlete.

Tameka Butt, Elise Kellond-Knight and Clare Polkinghorne, competing in women’s football, made it to the quarter-finals, but a nil-all draw, a nail-biting extra time and subsequent penalty shootout with Brazil wasn’t enoughto progress them to the next round.

Adam Imer, representing Brazil in the hockey, had a tough run with Brazil losing all of its preliminary matches and failing to make it into the quarter finals.

MEDAL WINNERS