The Hunter's Olympic diary - week 2 London 2012

We all love the green and gold but thought this might come in handy for anyone trying to keep a closer eye on our Hunter athletes during the Games.

At the midway point of London 2012 here is a day-by-day blow of the evens our competitors are involved in for week 2.

Sunday, August 5 (day 9)

Daniel Repacholi (shooting)

·      50m pistol – qualifications 9am (6pm AEST)

Iain Jensen and Nathan Outteridge (sailing)

·      Races 12 & 13 – Mens 49ers 12pm (9pm AEST)

Suzy Batkovic and Jenni Screen (basketball)

·      Game 5 – Australia v Canada 2.30pm (11.15pm AEST)

Simon Orchard (hockey)

·      Game 4 – Australia v Great Britain 7pm (4am Monday AEST)

Monday, August 6 (day 10)

Benn Harradine (athletics)

·      Discus - preliminaries 10am (9pm AEST)

Richie Campbell (water polo)

·      Game 5 – Australia v Greece 11.20am (9.20pm AEST)

Iain Jensen and Nathan Outteridge (sailing)

·      Races 14 & 15 – Mens 49ers 12pm (9pm AEST)

Tuesday, August 7 (day 11)

Lyndal Oatley and Kristy Oatley (equestrian)

·      Dressage: Grand Prix Special individual 10am (7pm AEST)

·      Dressage: Grand Prix Special team 10am (7pm AEST)

Simon Orchard (hockey)

·      Game 5 – Australia v Pakistan 10.45am (7.45pm AEST)

Brendan Sexton (triathlon)

·      Men’s race 11.30am (8.30pm AEST)

Suzy Batkovic and Jenni Screen (basketball)

·      Quarter finals – 2pm onwards (from 11pm AEST)

Benn Harradine (athletics)

·      Discus final 7.45pm (5am Wednesday AEST)

Wednesday, August 8 (day 12)

Richie Campbell (water polo)

·      Quarter finals – 2.30pm onwards (from 11.30pm AEST)

Iain Jensen and Nathan Outteridge (sailing)

·      Medal race – Mens 49ers 1pm (10pm AEST)

Thursday, August 9 (day 13)

Lyndal Oatley and Kristy Oatley (equestrian)

·      Dressage: Grand Prix freestyle 12.30pm (9.30pm AEST)

Simon Orchard (hockey)

·      Semi-finals – 3.30pm onwards (12.30am Friday AEST)

Suzy Batkovic and Jenni Screen (basketball)

·      Semi finals – 5pm onwards (from 2am Friday AEST)

Friday, August 10 (day 14)

Richie Campbell (water polo)

·      Semi finals – 2.20pm onwards (from 11.20pm AEST)

Josh Ross (athletics)

·      4x100m relay heats 7.45pm (4.45am Saturday AEST)

Saturday, August 11 (day 15)

Simon Orchard (hockey)

·      Medal matches – 3.30pm onwards (12.30am Sunday AEST)

Suzy Batkovic and Jenni Screen (basketball)

·      Medal matches – 5pm onwards (from 2am Friday AEST)

Josh Ross (athletics)

·      4x100m relay final 9pm (6am Sunday AEST)

Sunday, August 12 (day 16)

Richie Campbell (water polo)

·      Medal matches – 10.20am onwards (from 7.20pm AEST)

*Pictures are taken from 1233 ABC Newcastle and Fairfax websites as well as social media.

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

Green and gold day - triathlon style

Day 17 - August 4

In honour of the opening triathlon of the Olympics for 2012 a three-part day was constructed with a common theme - green and gold!

First up was the women's race at Hyde Park where Sarah, Steve and myself were snapped here by none other than ABC Grandstand reporter Julian Abbott. We were able to see Erin Densham go past on her way to a bronze medal for Australia.

This was followed up with a lunch stop over at a local in Oxford Street where, besides the obligatory pint and burger, we saw a good dose of action on the screen.

Mainly athletics which included Usain Bolt cruising to victory in the 100m heats and the Team GB darling Jessica Ennis causing everybody to stop and watch on her way to gold in the heptathlon.


The third and final leg was the journey to Stratford where Olympic Park is located for Australia v Team GB in the basketball.

An Ashes type battle that turned into a great contest. A tale of two halves and the Boomers turned a 15-point deficit into a 31-point win. Almost a 50-point swing in the second stanza. Patty Mills was behind most of it with 39 points next to his name.

(Myself and Sarah all decked out on our way to basketball at Olympic Park)


Olympics day 8:

HUNTER WATCH
Merewether’s Richie Campbell and the Australian water polo suffered an 11-6 loss to Croatia, which leaves the Sharks with a must-win encounter with Greece later today in order to qualify for the quarter-finals.

PLAY OF THE DAY

The story of the weekend has to be Team GB. A slow start at home to London 2012 has well and truly been erased. They now sit third on the medal tally at the end of day eight with 14 gold, seven silver and eight bronze. Six of those gold were won on a sensational Saturday for the hosts, their best day at the Olympics in more than a century courtesy of Jessica Ennis, Mo Farrah, Victoria Pendleton and co. 

BITS AND BOBS

*Australian swimmer Alicia Coutts winning her fifth medal of London 2012 and matching the feats of Shane Gould and Ian Thorpe before her.

*US swimmer Michael Phelps has ended his glistening career with a total of 22 medals, at the Games including 18 gold, which makes him the most successful Olympian of all time (based on medals).

*US tennis play Serena Williams becomes the first person to achieve the complete career “Golden Slam” – all four major titles and Olympic gold in both singles and doubles.

*Japan’s Hiroshi Hoketsu breaks a 48-year Olympic drought and becomes the oldest competitor at London 2012. The equestrian rider is 71 years of age and last participated in the Games in Tokyo in 1964.

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

Dutch magic

Day 16 - August 3

So there were two Aussies, an Irishman who met a Canadian in Brazil and thousands of Dutch people dressed in various orange apparel - what happens next?

It sounds like the start of a joke but throw in a beautiful, sunny afternoon at an incredible century-old exhibition hall overlooking London city from the north ... and the recipe must be success.

This place was simply amazing.

Not only the concept of having a meeting place for Olympic supporters of a nation in a foreign land but it was done so well, plus the space itself was one of the most magnificent I have seen.

Outside was a beer garden and eateries while inside was a mixture of big screens, interactive activities like spring timing and podium photos as well as a historical rundown of Dutch athletes at all past Olympics.

The final surprise was a massive room, think the Boiler Room at Big Day Out (or in the Sydney Showgrounds), and add a higher domed roof and stained-glass windows at either end.

Yet another unexpected surprise of London 2012!

Olympics day 7:

HUNTER WATCH
*Newcastle basketballers Suzy Batkovic scores 15 points and Jenni Screen takes 4 rebounds in the Opals crucial 70-66 win against Russia.

*Lake Macquarie sailors Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen maintain top spot overall in the 49er class despite not finishing top three in as many races today.

*Former Upper Hunter schoolgirls, the Oatley cousins Lyndal and Kristy, helped Australia to ninth overall in the team dressage standings after finishing 37^th and 42^nd respectively on the individual grand prix rankings.

*Maitland's Simon Orchard and the Kookaburras have an unexpected 2-all draw with Argentina.


PLAY OF THE DAY
History was made on the judo mat with Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani of Saudi Arabia one of only two women from the Gulf kingdom competing at London 2012. They are the first to do so and despite being beaten in 82 seconds she was also allowed to wear a modified hijab.


BEST OF THE REST
China's Dong Dong goes "boing boing" to win "gold gold" in the men's trampolining.

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

An amber lining to the Wimbledon cloud

Day 15 - August 2 (part ii)

So Andy Murray may have been playing somewhere inside the courts of Wimbledon today but the real action went down outside the gates.

I might let the pictures tell the story...

1) Arrival = excited. Laura, one of the many from the Balham Bed and Breakfast, and I out the front of the famous grass lawns.

2) Accessed denied at SW19

3) Back up plan - the break in.

4) Caught out by the local bobby

5) All is not lost. Up the hill and the The Dog and Fox has a solution. 

Who needs the tennis when you're in Wimbledon anyway. A couple of pints in the afternoon sun watching Olympic canoe/shooting/judo/cycling on the screen.

Olympics day 6:

HUNTER WATCH

*Lake Macquarie sailors Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen lead the way in the 49er class despite a 10/6 result in their two races today.

*Merewether's Richie Campbell and the Sharks went down 13-9 to Spain in the men's water polo, leaving the Aussies with a couple of must-win games to stay in medal contention.

*The Oatley cousins, Lyndal and Kristy who were schooled in the Upper Hunter, were midfield after day one of the dressage grand prix while the Aussies sat sixth overall in the team section.

PLAY OF THE DAY

Michael Phelps becoming the first man to win the same event at three consecutive Olympics (200IM) and in doing so collected his 16th gold medal and extended his overall tally to 20 (now 2 ahead of previous record).

AUSSIE SURPRISE PACKET

Okay, so it may not be looking like we are going to conquer the world and punch above our weight again on the overall medal tally but lets take hold here. Great to see Jessica Fox rip down the rapids and score a medal in the women's K1 slalom.

SPECIAL MENTION

Also, a massive hats off to British cyclist Bradley Wiggins, who scored a gold medal for the host nation just two weeks after winning the Tour de France.

Simply amazing and in doing so became the first to achieve the feat as well as topping the all-time number of Olympic medals (now 7) won by a UK athlete. 

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

Closer rivalry than most

Day 15 - August 2

Right about now, 11am London time, former Upper Hunter schoolgirl Lyndal Oatley will begin her debut Olympics campaign in the dressage at Greenwich Park.

The twist in the tail is that she will not only represent Australia her cousin and fellow Upper Hunter schoolgirl Kristy Oatley but she will also be competing against her coach, who just happens to be her husband, Sweedish national Patrik Kittel.

"You have to try and treat it as a normal show - the judges are the same, the arena is the same, the people competing are the same," Oatley said in a release from the Australian Olympic Committee website.

"What changes are the people behind the scene supporting you, the team environment, the buzz around London and the huge number of supports."

Richie Campbell is currently in the water playing for the Sharks against Spain while at 12pm, just off the southern English coast, Lake Macquarie sailors Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen resume races 7 and 8 in the competition lead of the 49er class.

As for my Olympic campaign today - thinking about trying to get into Wimbledon. My chances: probably one of two - bucklies and none. But I'm going to give it a crack anyway.

Golden day in London's east

Day 14 - August 1 (part ii) 

It doesn't get much better than this.

A day at the Games, cheering for the Aussies, watching your mate go around for the Kookaburras, seeing him score (and do that ridiculous Ram celebration thing which everyone in Maitland will be cracking up about but no one else in the world will get) and wandering around Olympic Park.

You beauty!

A wrap from day 5:

HUNTER WATCH 

*Simon Orchard scores a goal in the Kookaburras 5-0 victory against Spain.

*Angie Bainbridge wins the Hunter’s first medal of London 2012 after swimming the heats of the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay.  A completely new four swimmers scored silver in the final behind the US.

*Lake Macquarie sailors Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen lead the 49er fleet by 13 points after first six races.

*Suzy Batkovic and Jenni Screen help Opals bounce back to third in their pool with a 67-61 win against Brazil

PLAY OF THE DAY

Red hot favourite James "The Missile" Magnussen being defeated by the narrowest of margins, 0.01 seconds, in the men's 100m freestyle final on the final stroke by US swimmer Nathan Adrian.

POOR FORM

Controversy in the badminton with four women’s doubles teams kicked out of the Olympics for deliberately losing games.

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

Birthday luck

Day 14 - August 1

Happy birthday Aimee!

I knew if I didn't do this now there is no way I would remember by our drunk o'clock/your morning time.

So hope you have a good day sis.

Back to the Games and Lake Macquarie sailors Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen take a nine point lead into day 3 of the 49er class after surviving a potential disaster yesterday - capsizing in sight of the finish line when leading.

"It just shouldn't have happened," Outteridge said in a release issued by the Australian sailing team.

"We were cruising downwind, having a chat, having a look back at the lay line and saying we should probably go in a second.

"We had a massive lead and that's part of what saved us, I almost thought we were going to get it up and still be first at one point.

"We did a great job of getting the kite down and going again and almost got third."

Races 5 and 6 are today from 12pm.