UK press on the hunt for GB gold

Day 13 - July 31 (part ii)

So the UK press have started to tun on Team GB with no gold medals in the bank as yet.

Who would have thought that about home town Olympic media, especially the English tabloids?

You would be pleased to know that inside a page 3 girl was still around and the English Premier League coverage remained in tact, slightly reduced however, in the sports pages despite being out of season.

Meanwhile, here is Taya from the Balham Bed and Breakfast getting her Aussie on for the volleyball battle with team GB.

Back at the five ringed mania (day 4):

HUNTER WATCH

*Lake Macquarie sailors Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen avoided a potential disaster in the 49er class to lead the regatta after four races. They lead by nine seconds overall despite capsizing in the second race of day two and ended up fourth, which followed up a second earlier in the day.

*Merewether’s Richie Campbell helped the Sharks to a 7-4 win against Kazakhstan in round two of the men’s water polo.

*Thomas Fraser-Holmes had Australian in second position following a personal best time as the opening swimmer in the men’s 4x200m relay but they wound up fourth in a history making race for Michael Phelps. 

PLAY OF THE DAY

Hard to go past the might of Michael Phelps and his climb to the top of the Olympic medal tally but there was a nice touch leading into the record-breaking achievement.

Phelps was on the dais after the men’s 200m butterfly final when he noticed South African Chad le Clos had forgotten something.

Le Cos was the man who had just beaten Phelps on the final stroke but the 27-year-old put it all behind him.

The photos were about to be taken and le Cos had failed to pick up his gold medal and hold it up near his face in the traditional pose for the world press.

Phelps gave le Cos, who had tears streaming down his face after the national anthem, a knowing nudge and a friendly reminder from someone who had been there once or twice before.

BEST OF THE REST

France’s Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and Canada’s Milos Raonic played out the longest three-set match in Olympic tennis history, lasting a touch under four hours.

Tsonga eventually advanced with a 6-33-6 25-23 victory against Raonic. 

Links:

*Twitter - @joshuacallinan

*Read the London Eye each day in the Maitland Mercury during the 2012 Olympic Games

*Tune into 1233 ABC Newcastle each morning from 7.30am during the Games period for a live cross from the London Olympics with breakfast presenter Aaron Kearney

*The Hunter's Road To London - 1233 ABC Newcastle