The Newsroom reviews the highs and lows on day 12 of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Rio fans boo French pole vaulter
A disgraceful act from the Rio fans saw them boo French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie while he was competing and at the ceremony where he won the silver medal. The fans continued to boo him until he cried. It has been described as the lowest act of the Rio Olympics. The IOC president Thomas Bach told media that this sort of behaviour towards athletes is not acceptable. Notably upset, Lavillenie described the feeling as the way the Nazi Germany crowd reacted towards African American track and field athlete Jesse Owens during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Lavillenie later went to Twitter to apologise for the remark. He tweeted that he was speechless.
No words. pic.twitter.com/ccSL7JQn2c
— Renaud LAVILLENIE ® (@airlavillenie) August 17, 2016
Boomers smash Lithuania
For the first time since 2000, the Australian men’s basketball team have advanced to the semi-finals of the Olympics. The Boomers did it in style when they demoralised Lithuania 90-64. Patty Mills led from the front with an impressive 24 points. The win sets up a semi-final showdown against the winner of the Croatia-Serbia quarter-final. Everyone will be itching for a gold medal showdown between Australia and the USA.
American swimmer Ryan Lochte in hot water
Last week, Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen reported their taxi was pulled over by an unmarked car on the way home from a nightclub. Lochte told media the men in the unmarked car pretended to be police officers as they allegedly held the swimmers at gun point and stole their wallets. Now there has been fresh CCTV footage of Lochte and Feigen walking through the security section at the Olympic Village, carrying wallets. A Brazilian judge has also found discrepancies in the police testimony and has ordered the swimmers to stay in Rio. Lochte is already back home in the United States and may face extradition.
Ticketing scandal at the Olympics
Irish IOC member, Patrick Hickey, has been raided and arrested by Brazilian authorities at his hotel room. The 71-year-old was reportedly involved in a ticketing scalp. Police said in a statement they had discovered evidence linking Mr Hickey to an international scheme to illegally pass Olympic tickets to touts who were reselling them at well above their original price. Mr Hickey is in custody at hospital after telling authorities he was ill.
Women’s golf gets underway
The men’s golf is finished, now it’s the women’s turn to have a go. Ariya Jutanugarn from Thailand finished first in round one with a score of 65, while the two South Koreans stay tied in second, finishing with a score of 66. Champion golfer Lydia Ko from New Zealand had a dismal start sitting in 11th with a score of 69. Australian golfer Minjee Lee ties with Ko as they head to the second round that will commence tonight at 8:30 AEST.
Australian BMX hopes stay solid
BMX riders Sam Willoughby and Caroline Buchanan are through to the finals stages after an impressive outing in the seeding event. Willoughby finished third around the hilly circuit with a time of 34.71 seconds. Willoughby is in heat three of the quarter-finals while Buchanan finished second in her event with a time 34.75 seconds to enter into the semi-finals. – Jesse Mullens
Top photo of the Olympic rings from the Olympic organisation’s twitter page.
Medal Tally as it stands:
Screenshot of the Olympic medal tally from the Rio 2016 website.
About the author
I am the sports editor for the Macleay Newsroom. I enjoy cooking and watching sport intently.
