Sydney, Australia, March 19, 2017 - Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Jessyka Ngauamo finished just short of an emotional hometown gold medal at Manly Beach on Sunday, but their appearance in the final ended a long drought for Australian women’s volleyball.
Cycling fans at Saturday night’s Bendigo International Madison carnival will get the opportunity to watch two potential madison world champions in the Innes Motors Women’s Madison.
Dynamic Australian duo Amy Cure and Alex Manly will use the Bendigo race as their final hit-out before the first women’s madison world championship in Hong Kong in April.
Amy Cure ended her Track National Championships campaign in a blaze of glory on Sunday, winning not only the women’s scratch race but collecting the Champion of Champions award as the event’s best rider.
The 24-year-old from West Pine finished her time at Brisbane’s Anna Meares Velodrome with two golds and a silver.
Amy Cure made a golden return to track cycling in Colombia on Monday as she claimed two gold medals on the international stage.
Cure was the standout track star for Australia as she claimed two podium finishes to complete the third round of the 2016-17 UCI Track World Cup series.
The 24-year-old has a successful history on the track having claimed her maiden elite world title there in 2014.
She was part of the team that also included Ashlee Ankudinoff (NSW), Alex Manly (SA) and Rebecca Wiasak (ACT) that won gold in the women's team pursuit, with fellow Tasmanian Georgia Baker also part of the team for qualifying.
Proving her strength in endurance and recovery, Cure was standing on the podium once again less than two hours later taking gold in the women’s points race to bring Australia's tally to three gold for the round.
NETBALL: Kate Shimmin is rapt to have made the move to Brisbane - and out of harm's way as a defender trying to oppose the might of Firebirds goal shooter Romelda Aiken.
The 24-year-old ex-Adelaide Thunderbird recalled an incident during a game last season when the two-time ANZ Championship MVP left her worse for wear.
"I got my very first black eye from Romelda," Shimmin told News Regional Media ahead of her debut with the Firebirds in Saturday's Super Netball opener in Brisbane.
"She actually split my eye open."
Shimmin, who still sports a scar from the clash, admits she was quick to remind her new teammate when joining the Firebirds late last year.
SHE has a gold medal and the admiration of her teammates to prove it but now Charlotte Caslick’s position as the best female sevens player in the world is confirmed — even if it’s a little embarrassing for her.
The 21-year old on Monday was named Women’s Sevens Player of the Year by World Rugby.
“It’s hard as a team player to get individual awards but it’s pretty awesome,’’ said modest Caslick.
“I actually think there are other girls in my team more deserved than me. I would have voted for them first.’
The award ended an unsuccessful run by the Australian in attempting to win the most prestigious award in sevens rugby.
Caslick had twice previously been nominated but been edged out for the honour.
Olympic gold medallist Charlotte Caslick is the only Australian-based nomination for this year’s World Rugby Awards.
The Rio Games champion has been nominated for the world women’s sevens player of the year.
New Zealand’s leading 2015-16 world series try-scorer Portia Woodman and England captain Emily Scarratt will also vie for the gong.
Caslick was a stand-out in Australia’s 2016 Olympics campaign which culminated with a 24-17 victory over New Zealand in the final in August.
The 21-year-old was also recently named Australia’s women’s sevens player of the year.
Samsung Electronics Australia, with the help of Questacon, Leo Burnett and a few Aussie celebs, has launched an educational resource designed to show students how skills in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) are becoming increasingly relevant across all industries and future career paths.
‘Creators Wanted’ has been launched across Australia through the release of video content conceptualised and developed by Leo Burnett, which is designed to capture the attention of students and drive uptake of STEM subjects at schools and universities.
The videos feature Aussie rugby sevens player and Olympic gold medallist Charlotte Caslick testing out a self-retrieving ball, Showpo founder Jane Lu revealing a colour-changing dress and former MasterChef contestant Reynold Poernomo cooking up an edible 3D-printed croquembouche.
STAR goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold is returning home to Queensland to continue her W-League career with the Brisbane Roar.
The 22-year-old, born on the Gold Coast, said it would be great to be back playing soccer in her home state after a W-League career that began with Perth Glory in 2011.
Arnold was yesterday confirmed as a member of the Roar squad preparing for the first W-League fixture of the season, against Sydney on November 5.
“As a Queenslander, it’s an honour to sign for the Brisbane Roar Football Club,” she said.
“I’m really excited about the new W-League season and can’t wait to play Sydney on November 5.”
THE golden girl of women’s rugby sevens returned to where it all started last week with one thing to say to students at Brisbane State High School: “Hard work is rewarded.”
Australia’s Olympic champion women’s team will play alongside their male counterparts for the first time on home soil in an expanded Sydney Sevens event in 2017. After the inaugural men’s event in Sydney last season, the women’s side will join a three-day tournament from February 3 to February 5 at Allianz Stadium.
Gold medallist Charlotte Caslick said it was a huge boost for the sport following the team’s success in Rio. “It will be awesome to play in front of your home crowd. There’s nothing like playing in front of your family and friends,” she said. “We can keep building the momentum that we started this year.”
AUSTRALIAN rugby gold medallist Charlotte Caslick has sent an inspirational message to a Southern Suburbs player encouraging her to stick with the sport.
Grace Bridge, 12, will spend next year on the sidelines after being told she is too old to continue playing in a boy’s team and too young for the senior women’s league.
But her belief has been restored after the Southern Times Messenger reached out to Australia’s Olympic gold medal winning women’s rugby sevens team last week.
Scrum-half Caslick, who is Grace’s favourite player, replied with some words of wisdom for the budding star.
ACCORDING to Aussie sevens star Charlotte Caslick, a pre-match sledge from New Zealand coa Sean Hora that Australia didn’t like the tough stuff couldn’t have been more wrong – or perfect.
“He said we don’t like physical battles, but we f***ing love them,” Caslick said.
“They played into our hands.”
Rugby sevens seems to fit the Olympics. The sport has, to a greater or lesser degree, the physicality of judo, the skill of rhythmic gymnastics, the athleticism of the 400m dash, the aggression of sprint cycling, and the gut-busting endurance of rowing. It’s fast and funky and fun. And it’s ready to bust out all over.
Sevens athletes range from amateur to semi-professional. They are among the fittest people at the Games. They mix sub-optimal endurance with high-octane effort. They need mental clarity under high fatigue. They train so hard they vomit. They run and run and run.
If there was a moment that defines women's rugby for Tim Walsh, it came in a sevens pool match in Rio, when Australia's Charlotte Caslick tackled the USA's Victoria Folayan in full flight.
"Charlotte Caslick ran 70 metres across field and just drilled this girl into touch," Walsh said. "And as she was running across her braids were flicking around in the wind, she had ribbons in her hair, she had pink boots on, she was tanned up.
IT’S the first time Annette Edmondson was happy to let the tears flow - and it had nothing to do with her Rio competition.
The Australian cyclist fought back the emotions after missing a medal on the Olympic track this week but yesterday they flowed freely when she finally met her Brazilian sponsor child of 10 years.
“We couldn’t see Vanessa at first because she’s quite small and it was crazy there were so many kids chanting and singing,” Edmondson said.
“Then I saw her and it was nice to see how excited she was to see us, I was okay until I saw her mum and she was in tears and then I got emotional.
“There were lots of kids on bikes so we rode about a kilometre with them to the school and the kids were doing a big performance - lots of singing, music, poetry, dance, martial arts, it was really nice.”
Rio de Janeiro: An Olympic fail in the velodrome could see Australian cyclists sacrifice world titles they have traditionally coveted in a bid to turn the tide on the track in Tokyo.
A proposal sure to jar with some would see Australia, which missed its medal target by more than half in a demoralising six days on the track, follow cycling superpower Great Britain which openly priorities Olympic success and considers anything else a bonus.
he proud parents of the gold-winning women's rugby sevens team have pledged to get matching tattoos to celebrate their daughters' achievements.
Australia's victorious rugby team celebrated their emphatic win against New Zealand with family and friends, partying in the city of Rio through the night.
But come morning, with just two hours sleep under her belt, rugby gold medallist Alicia Quirk remembered an ink pact made with a number of the squad's parents.
CHARLOTTE Caslick has stamped herself as the golden girl of Australian rugby sevens.
The Brisbane State High School graduate was named Player of the Tournament for Australia after leading the Pearls to the sport’s inaugural Olympic gold medal early on Tuesday morning (AEST).
Australia beat New Zealand 24-17 to claim gold, with Caslick a star in the victory.
The 21-year-old won the award for the tournament’s best player after scoring seven tries in six games.
