Two Medals for NZ on Day 2

Two medals were the highlights of day two of competition in Nanjing. Both outstanding performances and nailbiting finishes, 14-year old Bobbi Gichard took bronze in the women's 100m backstroke just 3/100ths of a second behind the winner and 16-year old Dan Hoy secured silver in a heart-stopping photo finish in triathlon. 

BRILLIANT BRONZE IN THE POOL

14-year-old Bobbi Gichard, the youngest swimmer in the field, was a blink away from victory at the Youth Olympic Games in China today.

The Hawkes Bay swimmer from Napier Girls High School claimed the bronze medal in the 100m backstroke, just 3/100ths of a second from the winner Clara Smiddy after the American ran down the young Kiwi and silver medallist Jessica Fullalove (GBR) in the last stroke.

Gichard, coached by Noel Hargraves-Booth at the Greendale club, took it to her more senior opponents to lead going through the 50m turn in 29.63s. She still led until the final five metres when the British swimmer and then the American out-touched the Kiwi in a brilliant race.

Her time of 1:01.25 set a new national age group record for 14 years and is the fastest time set by any New Zealand age group swimmer up to the limit of 18 years.

Gichard said she was overwhelmed with the performance.

I had absolutely no idea it was so close, Gichard said. The plan was to go max all-out the whole way and hang on. Over the last few metres I was dying.

It was the first medal in the pool for the Kiwi swimmers this week, although Gichard will not have too much time to savour the moment, as she competes in her favoured 200m backstroke later today (NZ time).

Earlier teammates Gabrielle Faamausili and Michael Mincham did not advance from the morning heats. Faamausili clocked a solid 58.34, under her qualifying time, in the 100m freestyle, which was 26th fastest. Mincham was 16th fastest in heats of the 200m freestyle in 1:52.42, well under his qualifying time.

HEART STOPPING FINISH BRINGS NZ SILVER IN TRIATHLON

It was a strong field in the mens sprint triathlon today, but Daniel Hoy, 16, Westlake Boys High School, took on the challenge and was rewarded with silver. Hoy came out of the 750-metre swim in 5th and made a smooth transition in to the cycle leg. He then attempted to surge away from the group a number of times in the 20km cycle leg, but eventually settled in to riding with the group to conserve energy. The tactical move in the cycling paid off in the 5km run. "I was feeling pretty good going in to the run," said Hoy. "I backed myself for a sprint finish because I knew I had the raw speed coming from my track background." Eventual winner, Ben Dijkstra, kept pace with Hoy and the surged away from the rest of the field coming in to the final 250 metres. It was a sprint finish and both crossed the line in 54min 43 seconds. It was a photo finish that gave gold to Dijkstra and silver to Hoy, winning New Zealands first medal.

ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS

Millie Williamson, 14, Te Kura Correspondence School, earned a score of 48.350 in the artistic gymnastics today, placing her 19th and just shy of qualification for the next round of competition. Williamson is the 3rd youngest athlete here at the Youth Olympic Games.

ROWING

Jack OLeary, 17, Kavanagh College, had a strong showing in the rowing today, with the distance conditioning over the past few months suiting the back-to-back racing. OLeary finished 2nd in the repechage with a time of 3:23.9. He moves through to the semi-final tomorrow with one of the faster times and will be aiming to make the A final.

The womens pair of Jackie Gowler, 18, Nga Tawa Diocesan, and Renee Olley, 17, Craighead Diocesan School, had an improved performance in the heats, finishing in 3:45.72 and will be racing in the repechage tomorrow.

TABLE TENNIS

Sophia Dong, 16, MacRobertson Girls High School, played another two rounds of competition in pool play today, with her first competition against the world number five Miyu Kato from Japan. It could have been an overwhelming matching for Sophia, who is ranked number 442, but she held her own with the games results being 11-4, 11-7 and 11-4. The afternoon brought another tough match for Sophia, this time against the Czech Republic player Kristyna Stefcova. The crowd got behind each game with gasps and clapping whenever Sophia forced Stefcova into highball defense. Stefcova eventually took the match 11-7, 11-7, and 11-4.

HOCKEY

The mens 5-a-side won their pool match against Mexico. The team played well from the beginning, up 4-0 by the end of the first third. The next third brought home another 3 and the last third, the team dropped off the pace and stepped back from the offense. According to assistant coach, the team has struggled to settle to the new conditions but todays game saw an improvement in the teams unity. Its a rest day tomorrow and the team will be back to play Germany on Wednesday.

Womens Hockey won 10-5 today against Zambia, working together to play a strong first third. Defensive errors hurt the team in the second third, but they picked themselves back up to take home the win in the final third. Each of the players scored, providing good experience for the future pool rounds. The team will be playing Germany tomorrow.

SAILING

Finn Croft, 16, Westlake Boys High School, and Coral Headey, 15, Otumoetai College, showed excellent form off the start line in the Techno 293 windsurfing today. The shifting winds, however, meant a loss in placings and a surprise for even the most seasoned sailers. Both Croft and Headey were in top three positions in their individual events, but found it difficult to retain the positions because of the changing winds.

Alistair Gifford, 15, Marlborough Boys College, had two races in the mens one person dinghy. Hes ranked 16th after having difficulty with the wind. According to Kendall, Gifford has good speed but got caught on the wrong side of the shift.

FENCING

Sheldon Ogilvie, 16, Cashmere High School, took on Canadas Dylan French in the fencing round of 16 for epee individual, but just came up short of progressing through to the next round. Ogilvie was even with French, 5-5 after the first period, but pulled ahead in the second period to 9-7. According to coach Daniel Chan, Ogilvie rushed the last few minutes of the duel resulting in a loss of three points and a victory to French.

BASKETBALL

The mens 3x3 basketball team beat Guatemala 18-13 in their opening game today.

It was a good positive start for the kiwi team playing on court two, with the players dealing well with limited preparation. According to coach Anthony Corban, the boys were happy to come away with the win in their first game. The second game of the day was against Venezuela, with a much tighter finish. New Zealand took the win 16-15 and will be looking forward to the next seven games, after which will be the elimination rounds.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

The duo of Kahurangi Robinson, 17, Western Heights High School, and Nathaniel Moore, 18, Mount Maunganui College, won 2-0 in their second pool match, this time against Lithuania.

The boys were playing in the middle of the action on centre court, but didnt allow the music and fanfare to take over. According to coach Darrell Boyd, the two had good control, played a strong defensive game and served very touch and accurate.

The first set was won 21-19, followed by the second win 21-18. According to Moore, the two went into the game a bit nervous, but with the help of Robinsons cut shots, the team was able to win the points needed. The team will play world champions Brazil today (NZ)