Precious medals on penultimate day

The penultimate day of Olympic competition saw silver and bronze won by NSWIS athletes, taking the NSWIS medal tally to four gold, five silver and five bronze medals.

NSWIS sailors Olivia Price, Nina Curtis and Lucinda Whitty began the charge to the podium with a silver medal in the women’s match racing regatta. In the best of five races, the trio was locked at 2-2 with Spain heading into the final race, before a time penalty allowed Spain to gain a lead that the Australians couldn’t close. The London Games are the first to include the event on the schedule, with all three NSWIS athletes making their Olympic debut.

The sailing silver was shortly followed by bronze for NSWIS athletes Matthew Butturini, Kieran Govers and Simon Orchard in the men’s hockey competition. The Australian men’s team took on Great Britain for the bronze medal, and despite the strong home-crowd support for Team GB, Australia secured a 3-1 win. Govers and Orchard both scored for the team, with all three hockey players also on Olympic debut.

Elsewhere in London, 2008 Olympic diving champion Matthew Mitcham missed out on the final of the men’s 10m platform, finishing 13th overall; Ed Fernon finished 27th in the men’s modern pentathlon; and the Australian men’s 4x100m relay team, featuring NSWIS athletes Anthony Alozie and Isaac Ntiamoah finished seventh in the final of their event.

Two NSWIS athletes have a chance at Olympic medals on the final day of competition; Chloe Esposito makes her Olympic debut in the women’s modern pentathlon, while Jeff Hunt lines up in the gruelling men’s marathon.