The contingent of 16 UWA students, club members and alumni from the University of Western Australia have completed their Olympic campaign, with plenty of highs and lows along the way. Read on for detailed results of each sport.
Athletics
Nina Kennedy – Pole Vault
Nina Kennedy is a member of the UWA Athletics Club, and had an unfortunate run-in with wet weather in Tokyo which affected her performance in the competition. As the rain steadily increased in Tokyo, Kennedy cleared 4.40m on her first attempt, however was unable to clear 4.55m and was eliminated from the competition.
Kurtis Marschall – Pole Vault
Bachelor of Science student and UWA Athletics Club member Kurtis Marschall headed into Tokyo off the back of a 15th place in the 2016 Rio Olympics, and gold at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. In Tokyo, Kurtis qualified in second place with a jump of 5.75m. However Marschall was unable to clear the 5.55m jump, leaving him with a “NM” result.
Elizaveta Parnova – Pole Vault
Like teammate Nina Kennedy, UWA Athletics Club member Elizaveta Parnova’s Tokyo campaign was plagued with unfortunate circumstances. Despite the slippery, raining conditions at the Olympic Stadium, Parnova cleared her first jump of 4.25m on the first try. However, she failed to clear the 4.40m jump after three attempts, before a rain delay was eventually called.
Declan Tingay – Race Walk
UWA student and UWA Athletics Club member Declan Tingay competed in the men's 20km race walk in Tokyo. After getting caught in a congested pack in the first few laps, Declan continued to climb the rankings and first broke into the top 20 at the 8km mark. Tingay managed to hold his position for much of the remainder of the race, before advancing to 17th place by the 16th kilimetre. Declan crossed the finish line after 1:24:00, placing 17th overall and recording a new personal best performance.
Hockey
Men’s (Andrew Charter, Tim Howard, Flynn Ogilvie, Tom Wickham)
UWA Graduate Andrew Charter, incoming student Tom Wickham and UWA Hockey Club members Tim Howard and Flynn Ogilvie have had a stellar run at the Olympic games as members of the Kookaburras, walking away with a silver medal.
The team dominated the field throughout the group stages against Japan (won 5-3), India (won 7-1), Argentina (won 5-2), New Zealand (won 4-2), and Spain (drew 1-1), helped along by goals from Ogilvie and Wickham.
The team progressed to the quarter-final against the Netherlands, and scores were tied 2-2 at the conclusion of the game, thanks to two goals from Wickham. The game progressed to a penalty shootout to decide the winner, which Australia won 3-0, including a penalty from Ogilvie. Throughout the match, Charter presented a stellar performance in goal, saving seven of nine goal attempts throughout the match and denying all three penalty attempts from the Dutch.
The Kookaburras were then matched against Germany for their semi-final of the tournament, emerging with a 3-1 victory. The Australians kept the pressure on the German side with numerous attempts on goal, and Charter successfully saved three penalty corners.
The gold medal match once again came down to a penalty shootout following a 1-1 score at full time thanks to a goal from Wickham in the second half and plenty of successful defending from Charter. Despite two successful penalties, including one from Ogilvie, Belgium was able to win the shootout 3-2 and claim the gold medal.
Women’s (Georgia Wilson)
UWA graduate Georgia Wilson represented Australia as a member of the Hockeyroos at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The team had a stellar run throughout their group stage, arriving at the quarter finals after defeating Spain (3-1), China (6-0), Japan (1-0), New Zealand (1-0) and Argentina (2-0). Georgia made her Olympic debut in the team’s final group match against Argentina.
However, the team experienced an upset in the semi-finals, being defeated 0-1 by India to end the Hockeyroos’ medal dreams for Tokyo.
Rowing
Bronwyn Cox
UWA Boat Club member Bronwyn Cox competed as a member of the Women’s Rowing Eight squad in Tokyo. The Australian team came third in their heat with a time of 6:18.95, before heading to the Repechage to record a 4th place standing in a time of 5:57.15. This effort was enough to get the team through to the final, where they completed the course in 6:03.92 to finish the competition in 5th place.
Rugby
Tyler Miller – Referee
UWA Bachelor of Arts student Tyler Miller attended the Tokyo 2020 games as an official in the Rugby Sevens competition. Tyler refereed two games throughout the women’s competition, a pool match between ROC and Kenya, as well as a 9-12 placing game between Canada and Brazil. Tyler also Assistant Refereed 10 games in the competition, including the bronze medal match between Fiji and Team GB.
Swimming
Tamsin Cook
UWA student, UWA West Coast Swimming Club member and previous UWA Sport staff member Tamsin Cook competed in two events in Tokyo. In her individual event, the women’s 400m freestyle, Tamsin finished just one place shy in the heat to secure a place in the final. However, she swam only 0.7 seconds slower than her personal best time of 4:04.1. She also competed in the heat of the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay alongside UWA West Coast teammate Brianna Throssell. Although Tamsin didn’t compete in the final, she still received a bronze medal in recognition of her contribution to the team’s success.
Zac Incerti
UWA West Coast Swimming Club member Zac Incerti had an Olympics to remember, competing for Australia in both the men’s 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays. Incerti played an important role in the team’s efforts and was rewarded with bronze medals for both events.
Brianna Throssell
Brianna Throssell is a member of the UWA West Coast Swimming Club who competed in a variety of events in Tokyo. Individually, Brianna competed in both the women’s 100m and 200m butterfly events. In the 100m butterfly, Throssell was knocked out after placing 6th in her semi-final, however in the 200m made it to the final where she placed 8th. Brianna also swum in the heats of the women’s 4x100m medley relay and mixed 4x100 medley relay for which she earned gold and bronze respectively, as well as the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay alongside teammate Tamsin Cook for which she received a bronze medal.
Water Polo
Men’s (Andrew Ford, George Ford)
The Australian water polo team, featuring UWA graduates and UWA City Beach Water Polo Club members Andrew Ford and George Ford had a mixed campaign in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. In the group stage, the team won 2 games against Croatia (11-8) and Kazakhstan (15-7), however lost to Montenegro (15-10), Serbia (8-14) and Spain (5-16). Unfortunately, this track record wasn’t enough to get the team through to the quarter finals and saw Australia eliminated from the competition.
Following the games, Kookaburra Andrew Charter was elected as a new member of the Australian Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission. Members of the Athletes' commission are elected by the Australian Olympic team during the summer games, and exists to advise the AOC executive of the athletes' perspective in all matters of the Olympics.
The focus of the UWA Sport community now turns to the Paralympic Games, where it is expected a number of UWA community members will compete.