Australian beach volleyballer Mariafe Artacho del Solars incredible journey to the Gold Coast

LIKE a lot of kids at the time, Mariafe Artacho del Solar was inspired by each volleyballers atalie Cook and Kerri Potthars earing gold medals on Bondi during the Sydney Olympics.

Unlike most of those kids, however, del Solar didn’t see a minute of the Aussie u play.

And for good reason. Sh wa living almost 13,000km awa in Peru.

But courtesy of an amazing twist of fate, words of encouragement from Cook and Pottharst still found their way to a seven-year-old del Solar in Lima and inspired her to also become an Olympic beach volleyballer.

She wasn’t to know then that four years later her mum would take her to Australia to live, and 5 years later del Solar would fulfil her dream by competing in green and gold at the Rio Olympics, and this week in the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

Amy Cure on track for a big Commonwealth Games

Tasmanian Institute of Sport cycling coach Matthew Gilmore believes Amy Cure is on the cusp of some serious success at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Cure has been confirmed as a starter in Australia’s team pursuit line-up with Ashlee Ankudinoff, Annette Edmondson and Alex Manly when competition begins at Brisbane’s Anna Meares Velodrome on Thursday, with Launceston’s Georgia Baker and Rebecca Wiasak missing out as the event makes its Games debut.

Gold Coast will mark Cure’s second appearance at a Commonwealth Games, with Gilmore confident the 25-year-old from West Pine was a more well-rounded cyclist than the one who won silver in the scratch race and bronze in the individual pursuit in Glasgow four years ago.

“She has come a long way for sure, mainly because of the experience she has gained in those four years,’’ Gilmore said of the dual Olympian and multiple world champion medalist.

Cure in sight after Rio's pursuit setback

Like all cyclists, track riders try their best to forget crashes but Amy Cure believes the one that spoiled Australia's charge in 2016 for Olympic gold in the team pursuit is different.

The Tasmanian star was part of a squad fancied for a medal in Brazil before a training incident saw all but one member fall just three days out from competition.

A re-jigged line-up managed to ride through the pain of multiple injuries to finish fifth and add another chapter to a sorry Olympic campaign that amounted to just two medals on the track.

Cure insists there are no mental scars from the accident and says the adversity has actually helped them grow in the two years since the setback.

"You learn things from every race and crashes do happen; if we were to think about it every time we got on a bike we wouldn't get far," the 25-year-old said.

"It's more looking forward than back at what can happen ... you go in with a fresh mind but it does give you that bit extra to go that one step better."

Success at a home Commonwealth Games would mean the world to Amy Cure

Despite being what you could describe as an old hand when it comes to major events like the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, there’s still an element of nervousness for Amy Cure just days out from hitting the track at Brisbane’s Anna Meares Velodrome. 

The 25-year-old from West Pine cyclist will don the Aussies colours for the second time at a Commonwealth Games, with the added aspect of it being in her home country adding another element of excitement for her.

Women In Sport : Tamsyn Moana-Veale

– What’s your favourite aspect about your sport?

I love being able to travel the world and working towards goals every day. It’s cool to think that it’s one of the few jobs in the world where everyone around you (coaches, physio’s, dieticians etc) is actively trying to make you better. 

– What made you decide to do Triathlon’s professionally?

I grew up swimming and was naturally a good runner, so some swimming friends who also did triathlon, suggested I give it a go. I won my first race and started doing well in State races as a 14-15 year old, and it progressed naturally from there, to national racing then international.  

Women Of The Commonwelath Games : Stephanie Kershaw

Meet Stephanie Kershaw- at just 4 years old Stephanie started playing hockey in her hometown of Townsville. She was then selected by the QAS to move to Brisbane after school in 2013 to train and in 2015 she was selected to start training with the Hockeyroos in Perth. Unfortunately due to an injury in 2015, Stephanie was put out for the whole 2016 season and this mean’t she missed the Olympics.

#SheSociety got the chance to ask Stephanie some questions on her beginnings in hockey and how she got to where she is today.

South Australian cycling stars Carlee Taylor and Alex Manly join forces with World Bicycle Relief to send disadvantaged kids to scholl on Buffalo Bikes

IMAGINE getting the kids to a school 50km away when you have no transport. South Australian cycling stars are helping put children in developing countries on the road to a better education.

IF you find getting your children to and from school a daily transport challenge, imagine being 50km of bad roads from the nearest classroom and you have no car, there’s no bus and the kids don’t even have pushbikes.

Thousands of children in developing countries are missing school simply because they can’t get there, but a unique international charity now gives South Australians an opportunity to get them on the road to an education.

Kershaw confident Hockeyroos can continue golden run

TOWNSVILLE star Stephanie Kershaw insists the new-look Hockeyroos can handle the pressure of performing at a home Commonwealth Games as they look to maintain their dominance of the tournament.

World number five Australia has claimed the past three gold medals, but face stiff opposition in England (second) and New Zealand (fourth) on the Gold Coast next month.

Kershaw’s selection was a massive relief for the 22-year-old, who was left shattered when a serious knee injury robbed her of any hope of playing at the 2016 Olympics.

“It’s a much nicer outcome. I’m absolutely stoked and it’s a dream come true, I’ve wanted to go to the Commonwealth Games since I was a little girl,” Kershaw said.

Aussies have beach volleyball momentum

You can't come into a Commonwealth Games with much more momentum than Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar.

The two only came together as a team on the beach volleyball court last October, and have since been undefeated on both the Asian Tour and the FIVB World Tour.

Now they will look to keep that run going all the way into winning gold at the sport's inaugural Commonwealth Games appearance.

Marijana Rajcic reflects on first AFLW goal during Adelaide's four point win over Fremantle

MARIJANA Rajcic describes it as one of the most important goals of her cross-code football career.

But Adelaide’s soccer convert said her maiden AFLW major during the Crows’ thrilling four-point triumph over Fremantle owed much to star teammate Erin Phillips.

Rajcic held her nerve to convert a free kick late in the first term in Darwin on Friday night as Adelaide kept its premiership defence alive.

The former Adelaide United W-League captain said a crash-course in goalkicking with reigning AFLW best and fairest Phillips a fortnight ago proved telling in the pressure moment.

“We were at training and Flip (Phillips) goes to me ‘MJ have you got a set-shot routine?’,” Rajcic, 28, said.

“I was like ‘nah mate’, but she said ‘everyone has got to have a set-shot routine’.

“So she spent about 15 or 20 minutes with me before training and basically just stood on the mark for me to do my set shot.

Westfield Matildas unaffected by Asian Cup favourites tag : Arnold

Goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold is confident the Westfield Matildas will be unaffected by the tag of favourites for April's AFC Women's Asian Cup.

Australia are set to enter the tournament in Jordan as the top-ranked nation after surging to fourth in the world on the back of a record-breaking 2017.

An increase in expectation could add pressure as they attempt to win the continental competition for the second time, but Arnold says the group remain grounded. 

Australia names its beach volleyball team for Commonwealth Games debut

INDIGENOUS trailblazer Taliqua Clancy and Peruvian-born Mariafe Artacho del Solar will create beach volleyball history on the Gold Coast in April when they represent Australia in the sport’s Commonwealth Games debut.

Clancy was Australia’s first indigenous beach volleyball Olympian in Rio in 2016 and will team up with Artacho del Solar who moved to Australia from Peru when she was 11.

They only formed as a team in October last year but have been undefeated since on the Asian and FIVB World Tour.

Hills ramps up preparations for Gold Coast Commonwealth Games

Madeline Hills delivered one of the races of her life at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. This April on the Gold Coast she’s hoping to replicate that performance. 

Her fourth-place in the steeplechase in Glasgow came just over a year after an eight-year absence from the sport. The result was the last thing she expected and it was the trigger for a successful period that included two Olympic finals.

Four years later, much has changed for Hills, but plenty remains the same. She has made the move to Melbourne and married her husband. But she also continues to work full-time in the pharmaceutical industry while juggling her athletics career. 

Three knee reconstructions and six W-League seasons later, Marijana Rajcic has made her mark in AFLW

SOMETIMES a game boils down to a matter of moments.

Erin Phillips stole the show up forward in Adelaide’s scintillating seven-point win over the Western Bulldogs.

But it was the defensive efforts of a number of her teammates that would have been shown on repeat at match review.

Marijana Rajcic’s goal-saving tackle in the final term would have been one of them.

“Our backline, we were under the pump in that last quarter,” Rajcic tells foxfooty.com.au.

“We dug deep and did everything we could to prevent a goal. I had the girls’ back and they had my back. It was teamwork to be able to stop that Western Bulldogs’ goal happening.”

Amy Cure named in Australia's Commonwealth Games track endurance team

Amy Cure’s place at April’s Commonwealth Games was confirmed on Tuesday after the 25-year-old was included in Australia’s track endurance team.

She will be one of two Tasmanians in Queensland for the cycling program at the Games, with Launceston’s Georgia Baker included for what will be her Commonwealth Games debut.

Cure, of West Pine, has previously tasted Commonwealth Games success after winning silver in the scratch race and third in the individual pursuit at the Glasgow Games in 2014.

Adelaide Crows have named former Lady Reds captain Marijana Rajcic for first game

FORMER Adelaide United W-League captain Marijana Rajcic has been given the nod to make her debut with the Adelaide Crows’ AFLW team as it chases its first win for the season against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday.

Rajcic, 28, was taken at No. 38 in last year’s draft and will join fellow Lady Reds players Ruth Wallace and Jenna McCormick in her first national league game of Australian football.

Roar goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold will use W-League semi-final to show she can be Matildas No.1

BRISBANE Roar goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold has another chance to show she is fast closing the gap between her and Matildas’ first-choice custodian Lydia Williams at Perry Park on Sunday.

Having won the W-League premiership last Sunday, the Roar can book a spot in next weekend’s grand final, and earn hosting rights, with a win over reigning champions Melbourne City.

Both teams have a host of national team representatives, including Arnold and City’s keeper Williams.

It’s a case of master versus the apprentice, but Arnold, 23, believes she is ready to unseat 29-year-old Williams in the Matildas’ best 11.

Two gold medals for Amy Cure at 2018 Track National Championships

North-West Coast cycling champion Amy Cure has continued to boost her reputation as one of the most versatile riders in the country after a golden weekend at the Cycling Australia Track Nationals in Brisbane.

Following on from a silver medal on Friday night in the individual time trial, Cure defended her crown in the points race on Saturday before making it back-to-back 10 kilometre scratch race titles on Sunday afternoon.

Her haul of three medals across the four days of racing was enough to see her jointly take out the champion of champions award for the elite women with South Australia’s Steph Morton and all but book her spot on the Australian Commonwealth Games team when it is announced later this month.

Amy Cure collects silver at the 2018 Track National Championships

West Pine’s Amy Cure has added another medal to her already burgeoning collection after winning silver at the Track National Championships in Brisbane last night.

Competing in the 3000 metre individual pursuit, Cure qualified second for the medal round, and faced off against race favourite Ashlee Ankudinoff in the ride-off for gold.

Ankudinoff started the quicker in the final, but Cure cut the margin to 0.20 seconds with five laps to go and looked to be making her move.

But the New South Wales rider kicked again, pulling away from Cure, who won the event in 2014 and 2015, to cross the line in 3:31.064, 0.90 seconds ahead.

Edmondson relishing fresh cycling start

Annette Edmondson's body finally gave in late last year, but the track and road cycling talent says she is back to her best ahead of April's Commonwealth Games.

A refreshed Annette Edmondson says the confidence is back in her racing as she eyes off a stacked individual pursuit field on day two of the track nationals in Brisbane.

Edmondson hit a wall and was forced off her bike for two months late last year, after performing well in a road racing season she viewed as a "mental break" after the Rio Olympics.

Thyroid problems kept the former world champion and Olympic bronze medallist from training at full intensity and saw her put on 5kg in what she now admits was a case of her body screaming at her to stop.

The 25-year-old returned in January with a stage win at the Women's Tour Down Under, before a successful debut on Brisbane's Anna Meares Velodrome on Thursday in South Australia's team pursuit.