Well, in Olympics news such as an Aussie competitor named James Willett has missed out on qualification at the Paris Olympics in the trap shooting after he appeared to have missed the compulsory check-in time ahead of the final (He had both competition points deducted when the eagle-eyed Kiwi coach protested about the decision but if you miss the check in time, 2 competition points will be taken away the rule states) for turning up late that triggered an incident (In a headline which says following dramatic scenes: CANNY KIWI DENIES AUSSIES) which was payback to that terrible underarm incident by Australian Trevor Chappell in 1981 against New Zealander Brian McKechnie who needed a six to win the game at the MCG, allowing Kiwi Owen Robinson (Who tried hard to make the Olympics after 15 years) to secure qualification to Paris this year which is happening in 2 months time so here is the full story according to the NZ Herald:
A dramatic scene unfolded during trap shooting qualification for the Paris Olympics, with the incident drawing comparisons to the infamous underarm cricket incident of 1981.
Australia’s James Willett was tipped to win the final of the November event in Brisbane, which would have sent the New Zealand team packing and booked the Aussies a spot in Paris.
But in a twist that means the Australian team is on the verge of missing their first Olympics since 1968, Willett missed the mandatory check-in time ahead of the final and an eagle-eyed Kiwi coach protested, resulting in Willett being docked two competition points.
New Zealand’s Owen Robinson emerged victorious from the tie by a two-point margin and jubilant scenes erupted as the Kiwis secured their ticket to Paris.
The result leaves Australia with a solitary opportunity for a team member to gain qualification to the Olympics and they will head to Qatar’s capital, Doha, in a bid to save the team’s blushes.
While discussing the Brisbane incident, Willett’s private coach, five-time Olympian Russell Mark, referred to Trevor Chappell’s underarm delivery against Brian McKechnie when the New Zealand batter needed a six to win a match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“New Zealand are still laughing about it – they are saying there is your justice for the underarm delivery,” Mark said.
“There is no way you could expect New Zealand to be in Paris ahead of Australia but they are saying, ‘hey, you blokes ran that event in Brisbane and didn’t even follow your own rules’.”
In a further twist, Robinson revealed in an interview with Newstalk ZB that other members of the New Zealand team had been penalised similarly just days before.
“We had a few skeet shooters shooting a couple of days before us and the Aussies docked them two targets for turning up late... so it was kind of payback on them as well.”
In typical Kiwi fashion when speaking about a battle with our trans-tasman cousins, Robinson said he wishes he’d been able to put up a bigger score.
“I was three targets ahead pretty much going into my last three, I sort of knew that I’d won it and just let the pressure off. To be fair, it would have been nice to win by three but I’ll take the win, take the spot for the Olympics.”
The highly-touted Australian team would have been expected to waltz into the Olympics but Robinson said for him it was a payoff for a decade and a half of hard work.
“I’ve been trying to make the Olympics for 15-odd years now and that Olympic spot, they’re not the easiest things to get, so yeah, it was pretty satisfying to actually win it.”
In response to the dire situation the Australian team finds themselves in, Shooting Australia have accepted a free-of-charge offer from Atlanta gold medallist Mark to help Australia’s men’s trap team ahead of their trip to Doha.
And the rematch between US president Joe Biden & former president of the United States of Donald Trump (Who is due to stand trial whether he must sell his businesses in order to pay a record $400 million + fine but if he doesn't, he'll be sent behind bars for failing to pay the fine) is set after Nikki Haley pulled out of the race by officially ending her campaign in this years upcoming US general election which is a repeat of 2020 where both of them squared off with Biden ended up winning against Trump (And is similar to 1956 where the same presidental candidates turned up in a different year but Trump I believe is the worst US president ever since the late Herbert Hoover in the 1920's).
And the first time I literally remember started watching the Olympic Games on TV was in 1996 when the games was held in Atlanta when Danyon Loader won gold in both the 200 & 400 metre freestyle events, but I covered it since Sydney 2000 (The memorable sporting moments were Australian Cathey Freeman winning gold in the 400m in which the home fans cheered her on throughout the course of the Olympics while New Zealand rower Rob Waddell claimed our country's only gold medal in Sydney in the men's singles sculls) compared to me watching my first rugby game on TV in 1995 (That's 20 years before Japan claimed the biggest upset of the Rugby World Cup since France's boil over victory over New Zealand in the semi in 1999 when they famously knocked over the South Africans in a story dubbed as 'The Brighton Miracle' in which the Japanese men were getting emotional about the win as I mentioned in my previous blogs (And there was Fiji who had beaten Australia by producing the mother of all upsets last year during the World Cup before falling victim to Portugal (Who played like Uruguay in 2019 when they claimed a scalp over Fiji during the pool stages to claim their first ever victory at a RWC after missing out against Georgia in which they sealed a draw against them) in the very last pool game of the tournament despite the Fijians marched on to the quarters for the first time since 2007 by finishing ahead of Australia in their pool) as well as the first time I watched the Rugby World Cup (I have covered it since 1999 compared to my first time following the Football World Cup in 1998 where hosts France (The goal scorers were both Zinedine 'Zizou' Zidane twice of both headers from corner kicks & Emmanuel 'Manu' Petit who finished the Brazilians off in style to score the last goal of the tournament according to the previous blogs that I did) won against Brazil in the final, but I have been covering it since 2002) which was during the final in which the host nation of South Africa (Who have never lost a Rugby World Cup final before because they are 4 out of 4 in terms of wins (First it was the All Blacks in both 1995 & last year & England in both 2007 & 2019) but conceded just the one try in the final against New Zealand last year) broke our hearts after Joel Stransky had a clutch moment during extra time against the AB's to win their 1st of 4 Rugby World Cup championships, & it was that moment which united the whole country under the leadership of the late South African president at the time as well as their great leader of Nelson Mandela in one of South Africa's greatest ever iconic but legendary sporting moments also according to the previous blogs that I did.
And finally in boxing related news such as our own Kiwi boxer Joseph Parker winning against China's Zhang Zeili via unanimous decision in Saudi Arabia after overcoming both knockdowns in which Parker thought that he was out of it, but he got over it instead during the bout in which the New Zealander who emerged victorious against the opponent from China (While the rematch between Parker & Zhang is on the cards after that glorious fight that they have ever seen).
So that is my 541st blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 17th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.
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