UWA AND WA ATHLETES SHINE AT GOLDEN OLYMPICS Joseph Dawson
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics captivated the nation in a way that seemingly few Olympics have done before. At a time when over half of the country was in lockdown, our inspirational athletes did us proud by performing on the biggest stage after a gruelling five year cycle just to get to the Olympics. Of course, our swimmers were spectacular as usual, with Ariane Titmus exploding onto the scene and beating none other than Katy Ledecky to take out two gold medals in the 400m freestyle and 200m freestyle. Emma McKeon became Australia’s most decorated Olympian, taking out the title for most medals won by any Australian at all Olympics. 15 of the 17 gold medals Australia won were either in or on the water! UWA’s very own Tamsin Cook, a current student, competed in the women’s 400m freestyle heats and UWA club members Zac Incerti (swimming), Bronwyn Cox (rowing), and Brianna Throssell (swimming) all competed and did UWA proud as well. The Kookaburras, who took out a silver medal in a heartbreaking loss to Belgium had four UWA-associated members, either club members, students, or staff: Flynn Ogilvie, Tim Howard, Andrew Charter, and Tom Wickham. Despite missing out on gold, any 60
Olympic medal is an achievement worth celebrating, as is competing in any Olympic Games. These athletes have continued the proud Olympic tradition that UWA has. They have done all past and current students proud with their efforts. A further congratulations is also extended to West Australians Annabelle McIntyre and Jack Cleary, who won a gold and bronze medal respectively in rowing. Annabelle rowed out of the Fremantle Rowing Club and Jack Cleary rowed for West Australian Rowing Club after coming back from the University of California in Berkeley once he graduated from Trinity College. Hour of power a new high for rowing in Australia Tokyo 2020 was the most successful Olympics for Australian rowing, with two gold medals and two bronze medals occurring within an hour - creating an hour of power that will be etched into the history of Australian sport and most certainly Australian rowing. The men’s rowing team for Australia has not won a gold medal since 1996 when the ‘oarsome foursome’ defended their gold medal from Barcelona with a thrilling win in Atlanta.
Pelican, Peafowl...Penguin?
