Olympic quick hits: Masked shot putter steals the limelight, daughters of footy stars shine in the pool, and gold medallist pays tribute to dead dog (2024)

It was another huge day at the Olympics and the weird, wonderful, and heartbreaking was on show right around France.

From a masked shot putter to the daughters of a couple of footy legends making waves in the water polo, here are the bits and pieces you might have missed overnight.

1. This one's for you Rio

As soon as Sharon van Rouwendaal hauled herself out of the water having won gold in the women's open water swim, she pointed to her wrist, kissed it, and burst into tears.

She was pointing at a tattoo of a paw print left by her late dog, Rio, who passed away in May.

"He was my everything," she told Eurosport after crossing the line.

"Swimming is everything, but for me, the most important thing is family and, well, my dogs.

"He was my little baby and my world stopped when he died.

"I didn't want to swim actually, for a few weeks … I was vomiting, I lost 3kgs, but my dad said 'you have to do it for him, you have to'.

"And I wanted to swim one more Olympics for him."

2. Jenneke runs on one leg, defining Aussie grit and determination

Michelle Jenneke refused to let a fall define her Olympic Games.

She also refused to let a ruptured hamstring tendon define her Olympic Games.

The Australian hurdler, who fell during her heat on Wednesday, said she sustained the injury during the heat. It caused her to fall at the third hurdle, miss out on automatically qualifying for the semifinals and forced her into a repechage.

Despite knowing her body was not up to the task of making the semifinal, Jenneke still fronted up for Thursday night's repechage and ran.

After years of hard work, dedication and sacrifice, Jenneke made sure her Olympics ended on her own terms.

"I didn't want my Olympic campaign to end the way it was yesterday," she told the Nine Network.

"I knew that making that semifinal and running under 12 seconds missing one of your hamstrings was probably pretty impossible.

"But I just wanted to prove to myself and the rest of Australia that I've got some grit in me and I'm not going to give up easily."

3. Nina steals the PM's spotlight on ABC Radio

It's not often the prime minister isn't the most important person in the room but when the other person is Nina Kennedy, you better believe he's second.

Anthony Albanese was on ABC Radio in Perth doing an interview, when producers got through to Kennedy in Paris.

Fresh off her gold medal in the women's pole vault, Kennedy by her own admission achieved no more than an hour's sleep.

But she had enough time to connect with ABC Radio Perth, who advised the PM that he was taking a back seat.

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"The whole of Australia is proud of you, and we look forward to welcoming you home," Mr Albanese said.

"Bask in the glory you deserve, because you've brought glory to the whole of your state, but importantly as well, the whole of the country."

A gracious Kennedy said her win had not sunk in yet.

"I think in a few days or a few weeks I'll come back down to Earth and it'll definitely sink in," she said.

"My career has definitely been this snowball effect since 2022. It's nice to keep the ball rolling. I think I've just finally given myself permission to dream and dream big.

"I went into these Olympics thinking 'someone literally has to win it so why can't it be you'."

4. Former roommates clash in a battle between different worlds

One wore a veil, the other fought with her head bare.

Nahid Kiyani Chandeh and Kimia Alizadeh were once friends and roommates as part of the junior Iran taekwondo team. Now an entire world separates them.

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The pair clashed in the round of 16 taekwondo bout in the women's 57kg division on Thursday — with Alizadeh now representing Bulgaria.

Alizadeh was the first Iranian female athlete to win an Olympic medal when she claimed bronze in Rio de Janeiro as an 18-year-old.

Her win catapulted her to fame, but she grew frustrated with life in Iran. As she announced she was leaving her country four years ago, she accused Iranian officials of sexism and criticised wearing the mandatory hijab headscarf.

At the time, she described herself as "one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran".

She was part of the IOC team in Tokyo, but now represents her new country.

But it was Chandeh, the current world champion who lost to Alizadeh in Tokyo, who won on a referee's decision after scores were level.

Chandeh belted out her joy and clenched her fists in delight after her win and celebrated with her coach as Alizadeh took a knee. The rivals didn't even glance at each other as they exited the octagonal combat zone, then declined to speak to reporters.

Asked whether the bout was politically charged, the president of the Iranian taekwondo federation said it was just a "very hard match".

"This is a sport, it's not politics," he said. "She is in the Bulgaria team now, we respect everybody. Their relationship is not bad."

5. Daughters of footy guns help cause major upset

It was arguably the story of Friday morning for Team Australia in lieu of gold medals — the women's water polo team stunning America in the semifinal to claim a spot in the gold medal match.

And the victory came with some familiar names for those who live north of the Murray and have a bit of love for both rugby league and rugby union.

Bronte Halligan was huge in Australia's comeback, scoring twice to tie it up 8-8 with three minutes left. Bronte is the daughter of Daryl Halligan, who played 230 games from 1991 to 2000 for North Sydney and the Bulldogs.

And Tilly Kearns played her part as well.

The 23-year-old who has a growing following on social media is the daughter of Phil Kearns, who represented the Wallabies on 67 occasions between 1989 and 1999.

The Stingers take on Spain in the gold medal match at 11:35pm on Saturday night (AEST).

6. Pakistan and India rivalry spills into javelin

The heated rivalry in cricket has been well documented. Now, India and Pakistan are competing against each other in the javelin throw at the Olympics, too.

When Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan and defending champion Neeraj Chopra of India finished 1-2 at the Paris Olympics on Friday morning, fans from the subcontinent were in abundance at the Stade de France.

"There's no doubt about the cricket rivalry. Now this javelin is also there," Nadeem said through a translator.

"People back home in Pakistan and even in India, they were eager to see us both throwing the javelin and beating each other. I'm happy to see Chopra earning silver."

Nadeem set a new Olympic record with a throw of 92.97m in his second attempt, smashing the old mark of 90.57m set by Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway in 2008.

Chopra took silver at 89.45m, a season best, and Anderson Peters of Grenada took the bronze at 88.54m.

"When I threw the javelin, I got the feel of it leaving my hand, and sensed it could be an Olympic record, inshallah (God willing)," Nadeem said.

"God indeed made it an Olympic record."

It was the first gold medal in track and field for Pakistan which, along with India, can contend for gold in cricket four years from now when that sport joins the Olympic program in Los Angeles.

7. Masked shot putter again steals the show

Who was that masked person?

It was Raven Saunders, of course — the theatrical American shot put standout who uses the pronouns they and them and brings their own distinctive style to every meet.

Saunders qualified for the Olympic final on Friday morning, wearing a full-faced black mask and gold-hued sunglasses. Their hair was dyed neon green on one side and purple on the other. Saunders had gold grills covering their upper and lower teeth, along with long fingernails on their left hand that were bedazzled and in Team USA colours and the letters H-U-L-K.

This is Saunders's alter ego once the shot put starts flying. Turning into "The Hulk" helps them feel like a superhero getting ready to hurl that heavy hunk of metal.

"I'm in full form," Saunders said of the costume.

"I had to remind the people, I am who I am.

"It is one way to make me stand out and encourage other women.

"A lot of younger athletes are coming through and they really push their own styles."

8. Tactical error leaves American in tears

American heptathlete and social media star Chari Hawkins provided one of the more heartbreaking moments of the Games when she realised she had made a huge error in judgement in her quest for a medal.

Hawkins — who lists the high jump as one of her strongest events — failed to register a score in the event after she had deliberately skipped earlier heights, waiting for the higher heights that she felt she could clear.

She went on to use all three of her attempts at the 1.71m mark and failed to clear each one. Because she hadn't recorded an earlier, easier height, she scored zero for the event.

"Oh my gosh. I don't even know what to do. I'm like literally so shocked right now," Hawkins told reporters, after being pictured in tears and shaking when she realised the tactical move had backfired.

She currently sits last in the event with two disciplines to go.

ABC/AP