New Zealand wins second medal in the women’s pair!

New Zealand wins second medal in the women’s pair!

Women's pair earn bronze

Juliette Haigh and Rebecca Scown have hung on bravely to earn a bronze medal in the women’s coxless pair rowing at Eton Dorney.

It was New Zealand’s second medal of the games, following the bronze medal won by the New Zealand three-day eventing team.

“This was the race in which we wanted to put it all together,” Haigh said. “We had the best start we had all season and gave it everything we could.”

Haigh said her arms were cramping near the end. “We were hanging on for dear life stroke after stroke.”

Hamish Bond and Eric Murray looked a class apart in the men’s pair semi-finals at Eton Dorney.

As in their heat, they quickly separated themselves from the rest of the crews and forged ever further ahead, eventually winning by nearly eight seconds, an astounding margin.

The New Zealand men’s quadruple sculls missed out on making the final. With the first three to go through, John Storey, Michael Arms, Matthew Trott and Robert Manson finished fourth in their semi-final in 6min 10.95s, more than five seconds behind third-placed Great Britain.

Sarah Gray, Louise Trappitt, Fi Bourke and Eve Macfarlane gained a modicum of compensation for the disappointment of their earlier effort when they won the women’s quadruple sculls B final from Poland.

Hockey men bounce back well

The New Zealand men’s hockey team have re-ignited their Olympic campaign with a 3-1 win over India at Riverbank Arena.

After losing 2-0 to Korea in their first match, the men’s Black Sticks viewed the outing as a must-win.

The match was a tight one. New Zealand had 12 shots at goal to India’s 10, and both teams earned six penalty corners.

Six sailing crews in top ten

Six of the NZ Olympic Sailing contenders are ranked inside the top ten after a fine day on the water in Weymouth, and two teams are yet to begin.

Highlights from this fifth day of Olympic Sailing for the kiwi team include an impressive race win for Andrew Murdoch in the Men’s individual Laser fleet, and a win for the Womens Match Racing crew vs team GBR in front of the home crowd of spectators on the Nothe hill above.

The young 49er pairing of 21 year old Peter Burling and 23 year old Blair Tuke continued their low points score card, picking up a third and a fifth in their two races.

Board sailor JP Tobin also had a great day, improving his overall standing to sixth with a third and seventh place finish.

Villumsen misses medal

New Zealand time trial expert Linda Villumsen has missed out on an Olympic medal by the cruellest of margins.

Villumsen finished fourth in the 29km women’s individual time trial at Hampton Court Palace, missing the bronze by less than two seconds.

In the men’s 44km time trial, New Zealander Jack Bauer finished a creditable 19th among the 37 starters.

Dawson exits in canoe slalom

Mike Dawson was philosophical after his exit at the semi-final stage of the K1 canoe slalom at Lee Valley.

Dawson, whose world ranking is 51st, did well to qualify for the semi-finals, restricted to 15 kayakers.

However, in his semi-final run he came unstuck at the 19th and 20th gates, incurring 100 penalty seconds, which plummeted him to the bottom of the field.

Early exit for de Villiers

New Zealand’s sole Olympic judo representative, Moira de Villiers, has lost in the first round of the 70kg division.

De Villiers, 22, was beaten 1-0 on yuko (accumulated penalties) by German Kerstin Thiele after a tough and relatively even contest.

Brazil outclass Oly Whites

The New Zealand men’s soccer team’s Olympic campaign has ended after a 3-0 loss to a strong Brazilian team at St James Park, Newcastle.

After a defeat and a draw in earlier pool matches, the Oly-Whites needed a win over Brazil to advance into post-section play – a tall order against a team of brilliant young professionals.

Kean misses out in backstroke
Wellingtonian Gareth Kean performed well below his best in his 200m backstroke heat, managing just 2min 00.34s, more than three seconds outside his national record.

Kean’s time placed him 29th among the backstrokers, with the top 16 to move on to the semi-finals.

Meanwhile the New Zealand women’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay team failed to reach the final.
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