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Libby Trickett’s gold medal dream came true at the Beijing Water Cube yesterday, swimming the 100m butterfly final in a time of 56.73sec, ahead of American Christine Magnus (57.10) and fellow Aussie Jessicah Schipper (57.10).
The 23-year-old won gold in the 4x100m freestyle in Athens, but couldn’t have asked for a better finish in Beijing.
“To come up with not only a gold medal but a personal best time in these sorts of circumstances, honestly it’s more than I could have dreamed and hoped for,” she told Channel 7 after the race.
Lleyton Hewitt was also amongst the Australian winner’s list after a hard-fought battle with Swede Jonas Bjorkman, 7-5 7-6 (7-2).
Hewitt advances into a second round clash with number one-in-waiting Rafael Nadal.
Many wrote Hewitt off in round one, but Nadal isn’t about to underestimate the ability of the former Wimbledon champion.
The Spaniard, who has only won three of their past seven encounters, described Hewitt as “one of the best players in the world.”
“He is not playing all the time. So for that reason, his ranking is not in the top positions,” Nadal said.
“But for sure he’s a very dangerous player, no? One of the worst second rounds in the draw.”
In other news, the men’s rowing team was dealt a serious blow in their heat today after drifting off track.
The eight, which includes Australian flag bearer James Tomkins, were forced to stop rowing when a rudder malfunction steered them into Canada’s lane.
Head Coach Noel Donaldson said the problem would be fixed for their upcoming do-or-die heat.
After a relatively successful day in Beijing, Australia jumps to fifth on the overall medal tally.
While in the battle of the superpowers, China remains on top, threatening to topple America’s reign at the head of the Olympic table.