The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 4

The Sunday Age theage.com.au Sunday, September 24, 20OO- 1 Dy unbelievable. I just IreaXy wanted to be a champion and I wasn't ready for it. A shattered Matt Shirvjngton after failing to; I v.3 cding good going in, I wasn't jumping well when it counted. couldn't stop saying, '0hrmy Former world record-holder Erama Seorgrl Australian Ji Wallace, who worHfriP! Olympic silver medal for men's lUdl after not qualifying in the pole vault mgd rnmnetitinn vs-, Aw reach the 100 metres final. trampolining.

0 GOLDS Rower Steve Redgrave takes his fifth, water polo team its first 0 EE Australian women win water polo gold in a classic Australia last night captured the historic first gold medal in women's water polo with a goal in the final second of its thrilling final against the United States before a packed stadium in Ryde. Australian Yvette Higgins scored the winnerwith just one second left on the game clock to give the Australians an edge-of-the-seats 4-3 victory. The Australians had only just relinquished their one-goal lead 12 seconds earlier and appeared headed for extra time when Higgins scored in one of the most Jake Mall water mark, not only for the Australian and US teams, but for the sport of women's water polo, which finally made it to the Olympics in Sydney after a long and sometimes bitter campaign. The crowd of about 17,000, which included Prime Minister John Howard, was surely a record for women's water polo and perhaps for any game of water polo. It was not unlike the swimming finals in that the combatants were Australians and Americans, with loud and continuous chanting and cheering from the Aussie crowd.

The Australian women's team were at the forefront of the campaign for inclusion. It was only a few years ago that several Australian players waved placards in a protest at Sydney airport. They also contemplated taking legal action before FINA and the IOC finally relented and gave women's water polo the green light in October 1997. the other as there was constant pressure on the team in possession. The Americans scored first again in the second quarter, as Ericka Lorenz guided a shot past Australian goalie Liz Weekes with just under three minutes on the clock in the first half.

The Aussies squared it up for the second time shortly after half-time when Bronwyn Mayer scored a goal on a power play (one player extra). At 2-2', the game became a dour defensive struggle for most of the second half. Both sides had numerous chances to take the lead American Coralie Simmons botched one particularly easy opportunity in the middle of the third term. Fortunately for the Australians, their goalie, Liz Weekes, was in fine touch and made several fine saves, particularly in the tense second half. The same could also be said of the US keeper Bernie Orwig.

Last night's game was the high- 4, dramatic finishes imaginable. There was widespread confusion about whether the score would stand, but when the officials declared the shot good, the 17,000 Australian crowd erupted. The Australians had twice levelled the game from one goal deficits. The Americans scored first through the powerful arm of Brenda Villa before the Australians tied it up when Melissa Mills goalled two minutes before quarter time. As expected, the match was tight and goals were at a premium.

Neither side was able to dominate The match was tight and goals were at a premium. Neither side was able to dominate. Taryn Woods shapes to hurl the ball over her American opponent Maureen O'Toole last nlqht. Photo: Orlando Chlodo It was about plongeon in the deep 1 1 If '--1 Alan Attwood Photo: Bill Hatto Britain's coxless four member Matthew Plnsent (centre) hugs Steven Redgrave as James Cracknell (left) and Tim Foster (right) catch their breath after the crew's gold medal win yesterday. Rowing history denied then created ANMRSOME PERFORMANCE How the coxless fours finished Ian Cockerill Redgrave's five golden moments 1984 Los Angeles: 60M In the coxed four -i 1988 Seoul: Gold In coxless pair; Bronze In the coxed pairs 1992 Barcelona: Gold In coxless pair 1996 Atlanta: Gold In coxless pair 2000 Sydney: Gold In coxless four Sreit 'an'" Britain EJ HatV Msl'WaMI 5:57.61 Ntw Zetland 6:09.13 BEFORE Kieren, before Grant, before all the finalists in the men's 1500 metres surged up and down 30 times at the Aquatic Centre yesterday, there was a different kind of splash at the pool.

Diving. Or, as it is delightfully known in French (and these ARE multilingual Games), plongeon. Take it from me: there was some fine plongeon going on. Young men were climbing to the top of the 10m tower and plongeon right off. They did this two at a time.

For this was the men's synchronised 10m final a new Olympic event. The word "synchronised" can cause shudders among sports-watchers, but it must be the way to go. I have seen the future of the Games, and it is synchronised. The time-saving was significant This is no small factor: the Olympic program is bloated; spread out over 17 days. More events in which athletes compete simultaneously would speed things up considerably.

The javelin contest, for example, would have more spectator appeal, not to mention a frisson of danger, if it were decided with all 12 finalists running to the line and hurling their spears at the same time. The synchro diving went like this yesterday: eight teams of two divers had five dives from the top of the tower. Nine judges in green blazers on lifesaver seats down below awarded scores out of 10 for execution and synchronicity. Points were lost if Bill plongeoned into the pool half a second after Bub. I lie.

There were no Bill and Bubs. From Russia there was Igor and Dmitri; from Ukraine, Oleksandr and Roman; from China, Jia and Liang; and from Australia (Oi, oi, oil) Matthew and Robert. Plus four more pairs. All of whom wore snug-fitting old-style cossies. None of those hightech bodysuits here.

It was good to see the diving-pool the centre of attention. It takes place in the same complex, but diving is the poor cousin of swimming. -Spectators who have bought tickets for the swimming judge how badly they've fared by their proximity to the diving-pool. Anywhere near the 10m tower and you'd be better off staving home by a TV But for a while yesterday, before Kieren and Co. grabbed all the attention, everyone in the aquatic centre was there for the diving.

They saw some remarkably precise work from the lads on the tower. Forty dives in all, two divers at once every time, and no disasters. No eye-rolling belhflops; no crash-landings with Oleksandr somersaulting into Roman. You wouldn't expect to see belhflops at an Olympics diving competition, but we all know what TV wants. If synchro diving wants to raise its profile it needs bonus points forpile-ups the plongeon equivalent of a grand prix bingle at the first bend.

Each pair attempted a variety of dives. The description des plongeons ranged from forward 12 somersault to backwards 1 12 somersault with multiple twists. It was not unusual for Igor, say, to start his diving facing forwards while Dmitri faced back. Definitely NOT something you'd want to try in javelin if contestants were at different ends of the field. Igor and Dmitri, incidentally, took the gold for Russia.

Our Boys, Matthew Helm and Robert Newberry, finished fifth. They pronounced themselves pleased by this result, and were able to satisfy my curiosity on one front How, I asked Newberry, do they synchronise their plongeons? "I count to he said, "and hopefully we go the thing It's been said to me that if you win Lucerne and don't medal, you've really fed it up. We just managed not to. Six races and we just found out our destiny." Not long after, the Australian coxless four found out the same author had scripted theirs. They managed a better start than the pair but, by the halfway mark, they had fallen to third behind the fast-breaking Britons and the Italians.

That is where it staved. "We were all confident that we did the best we could for the day," said Dodwell. "It was unfortunate we didn't get the gold medal. That's history now." Redgrave's history, to be precise. When the British crew held off the Italians to win by 0.38 seconds, Redgrave became an Olympian of epic proportions, one his fellow athletes can only shake their heads in wonder at.

This was something the vast majority of sporting fans wanted to see. When Redgrave returned to the other side of the course for the medal ceremony, he was set upon by the world's media. Redgrave sang God Save the Queen lustily, then stalked over to his family, trailed by a forest of cameras. Hugging his wife, Ann, and kissing daughters Natalie and Sophie, he sat his youngest, son Zac, on his knee while the shutters sounded. In the press conference Bo Hanson was asked to describe Redgrave's accomplishment.

"Phenomenal," he answered, before wondering whether we'd ever see the like again. For the moment there is only wonder. A GREAT tide of history, both created and denied, flowed down the 2000-metre length of Penrith's Olympic regatta centre yesterday. Of most interest to the international audience was the performance of a sun-darkened 38-year-old Briton with thinning hair and a stomach distended by up to six insulin injections a day. Steven Redgrave might look like a brickie, but few athletes can boast a better Olympic pedigree.

Yesterday, as part of his country's coxless four, the diabetic Redgrave set himself to become the first person to win gold in an endurance event at five consecutive Games, stretching back to Los Angeles in 1984. A Hungarian fencer managed six gold between 1932 and i960 but the convenient (and not wholly unjustified) distinction between disciplines made Redgrave the focus of the sporting world's attention for one morning. The Australian crowd in attendance also hoped to see some history with an indigenous flavour. Former Oarsome Foursome member and Melbourne merchant banker James Tomkins was aiming to join the exclusive three Olympics-three gold medals club as one half of the men's coxless pair with Matthew Long. As inheritors of the Oarsome Foursome tag, the newly constituted men's coxless four was also looking to extend a recent tradition of Australian gold to a third Olympics.

To do that, the NSW crew of Ben Dodwell, Bo Hanson and the Stewart twins, James and Geoff, would have to upset Redgrave Co. History is accommodating. But only to a point. The first act was played out when Tomkins and Long lined up, the name Drew Ginn prominent on the bow of their boat. The Atlanta Oarsome Foursome member slumped forward and Long flat on his back, staring at the sky.

It also left Tomkins without the gold. The recognition of that lost opportunity, the memory of the tough years since Atlanta and the image of Ginn combined to fill Tomkins' voice with emotion when he first faced the med ia. When he gathered himself, he said he was sufficiently heartened by winning an Olympic bronze in only their sixth race together to contemplate pushing on to the 2004 Games. First, though, he'd be taking a deserved year off. Long agreed the previous months had been difficult for all concerned.

"To come out with a medal, I suppose, is quite nice, but it's not the sort of way we'd like to end it. You always want to try to win had partnered Tomkins until his back gave out minutes before the first race of the world championships in Switzerland two months ago. Ginn had come to Sydney with the intention of cheering from the shore yesterday but the proximity of his shattered dream all became too much and he opted to give his tickets away and watch the race on television at his brother's home. What he would have seen was a struggle all the way. Rather than repeat their unexpected world championship triumph at Lucerne, Tomkins and Long had to rely on a brave and painful final 500 metres to pip Great Britain for bronze.

Tomkins later recalled the only meaningful exchange in that last stage as "Go! Just fing The effort left the 35-year-old Tomkins FTll FE q-v Miii Wkm Silver Australia's women's pair of Rachel Taylor and Kate Slatter. Bronie Matt Long and James Tomkins, exhausted after their third Bronze 2 the men's coxless four of Bo Hanson, Geoff Stewart, Ben Photo: Paul Harris placing In the men's pairs. Photo: Ouentln Jones Dodwell and James Stewart. Photo: William Hatto MEC.