Aussies watched an incredible day in France which ended with Australia’s Olympic teams bagging four gold and two bronze medals.
The incredible news brought in a Total TV National Reach of 4,711,000 for Nine’s Olympics 2024 D12 – Night show, and 3,659,000 for Nine’s Olympics 2024 D12 – Night Session 2.
Wednesday will go down as one of the greatest days in Australia’s Olympics history, as Matt Wearn, Keegan Palmer, the men’s track cycling pursuit team, and Nina Kennedy, pole vaulter, all won gold. The six-medal haul – easily Australia’s best for a single Olympic day – took the team to a total of 18 gold medals (with 12 silvers and 11 bronze for a total of 41) – the best return in the country’s history at the Games.
Australia now sits in third spot in the medal tally, with China in second place with 65 total medals and the USA in first place with 94 total medals.
Under the lights at the Stade de France, world champion Nina Kennedy completed the golden day with a stunning victory in the women’s pole vault final. She cleared 4.90m to stave off her nearest rivals and become the first Australian woman to win gold in the discipline. In a hectic finale to the day’s action, Matt Denny added a bronze to the tally in the men’s discus final, while marathon race walkers Jemima Montag and Rhydian Cowley also claimed bronze earlier in the day.
Before Nina Kennedy cleared 4.9m to secure gold in the women’s pole vault, she stood at the top of the runway for nearly a minute, taking in the moment.
In true Aussie spirit, she muttered “Just send it, girl,” as the bar grew nearer.
But once she got over, her gold wasn’t confirmed for another half an hour as she and her rivals attempted to clear 4.95m.
As the bar from Katie Moon’s final attempt fell to the mat, it triggered a huge outburst of emotion from Kennedy.
She jumped up and down, let out a massive scream, and then the tears flowed. She’d picked up a quad strain in Tokyo three years ago and missed the final.
“My bloody mascara’s not waterproof,” she said through tears on the Nine desk later in the morning.
