Tag: Australia

2024 Olympics draw: USWNT to face Germany, Australia, playoff winner

The USWNT escaped the toughest possible group, but will still face a stern test in Group B

The draw for the women’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Olympics is complete.

The U.S. women’s national team will face Germany, Australia, and either Zambia or Morocco in Group B.

Elsewhere, defending Olympic champions Canada were placed in Group A with hosts France, while defending World Cup champions Spain will once again meet Japan (the only team to beat La Roja last summer).

The U.S. were placed in Pot 1 for the draw, alongside France and Spain. The sorting of the pots meant that the USWNT was obliged to face Germany in the group stage due to rules preventing two teams from the same confederation from being placed in the same group.

From Pot 2, Canada could not be paired with the U.S., while Germany could not be placed in a group with UEFA rivals France or Spain.

The USWNT will be looking to reestablish itself as a truly elite team after two rocky showings in major tournaments. The U.S. was unconvincing in winning bronze at the 2020 Olympics, while a round-of-16 exit at last summer’s World Cup was the earliest exit from that tournament in program history.

The USWNT will start its quest for a fifth Olympic gold medal against the African qualifier on July 25 at the Allianz Riviera in Nice. The U.S. will head to Marseille for its second match, facing Germany at the Stade Vélodrome on July 28. The final USWNT group-stage clash will also be at the Stade Vélodrome, with Australia the opponent on July 31.

The Confederation of African Football’s final round of Olympic qualifying will see Zambia and Morocco play a two-legged tie in the first week of April. The winner will claim the final place in Group B. Nigeria and South Africa will square off for the other CAF place in France.

The tournament will see 12 teams sorted into three groups of four, with the top two finishers in each group advancing to the quarterfinal stage. The top two third-placed teams in the group stage will complete the field for the knockout round.

Unlike the men’s tournament, which functions as an under-23 event with a handful of overage players, the women’s Olympic soccer tournament has no age restrictions.

2024 Olympic women’s soccer draw

Group A

  • France
  • Colombia
  • Canada
  • New Zealand

Group B

  • USA
  • Zambia or Morocco
  • Germany
  • Australia

Group C

  • Spain
  • Japan
  • Nigeria or South Africa
  • Brazil

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Watch: Stampede of kangaroos inundate Australian golf course

Stephen Roche and his golf partner got quite a show at Heritage Golf and Country Club in Victoria, Australia.

Stephen Roche and his golf partner got quite a show when they teed off on the fourth hole of the Heritage Golf and Country Club in Victoria, Australia.

Although the club is known for having small herds of occasional kangaroos hopping through the fairways, what Roche saw this week was something to behold. The course, the first Jack Nicklaus ‘Signature’ design in Australia, is a parkland-style course that initially opened in 2000.

A full stream of kangaroos took over the course, and Roche filmed the stampede, noting that the animals should avoid his golf ball.

The same club was the center of controversy a few years ago, when kangaroos were being culled from the busy course until neighbors and locals fought to find another solution. Instead of taking out the animals a new fencing system was installed at the time.

Tiger shark chases turtle to beach in wild scene caught on video

A beachgoer in Western Australia this week captured extraordinary footage showing an 8-foot tiger shark nearly beaching itself while trying to catch a turtle.

A beachgoer in Western Australia this week captured extraordinary footage showing an 8-foot tiger shark nearly beaching itself while trying to catch a turtle.

The footage posted below, courtesy of Ruth Gaw, shows the shark swimming rapidly toward shore and the turtle scooting onto the sand in the nick of time.

“The turtle got away, and the shark didn’t stay much longer,” Gaw told FTW Outdoors. “A large stingray [also] got chased in, but I had stopped recording when it happened.”

The shark nearly stranded before thrashing back into the water.

The pursuit occurred at Monkey Mia, a tourist destination famous for white-sand beaches and abundant marine life.

Gaw spotted the shark approaching as her husband Derek and son Arran were fishing for mackerel.

Tiger shark trying to get off the beach. Photo: Ruth Gaw

Her footage shows the shark swimming beneath fishing line, and line draped over the shark’s back as it reached the shore.

Not long before the shark encounter, the family had been swimming in waist-deep water.

Tiger sharks can measure nearly 15 feet and often prey on turtles. The apex predators are considered dangerous and have been implicated in several attacks on humans.

Chilling discovery as venomous snake crawls from ice dispenser

For a certain woman in Adelaide Hills, Australia, fetching ice from her refrigerator will from now on involve at least some trepidation.

For a certain woman in Adelaide Hills, Australia, fetching ice from her refrigerator will from now on involve at least some trepidation.

That’s because the woman this week discovered a large and potentially dangerous snake inside the ice dispenser as she approached to fill a glass.

The accompanying video shows an Adelaide Hills Snake Catcher employee coaxing the snake free of the compartment and into a canvass bag.

“You just never know where you’re going to catch them,” the company stated on Facebook.

9 News identified the reptile as a red-bellied black snake and began its report: “It was a shock discovery for an Adelaide mum when instead of a glass of ice she was greeted with a very slippery creature.”

Encounters with red-bellied black snakes are fairly common in parts of Australia. While the snakes are venomous and their bites can cause illness, they are not typically aggressive toward humans.

The refrigerator in question appears to be inside a garage or work shed, which might make such a bizarre discovery less surprising.

–Image was supplied to 9 News

Ring in the New Year: LIV Golf’s Cameron Smith marries girlfriend Shanel Naoum

Smith and Naoum have been pictured together dating to his 2022 Players Championship victory.

Cameron Smith took the phrase “ring in the New Year” quite literally.

The 30-year-old Smith married his girlfriend, Shanel Naoum, on Dec. 30, 2023, in Brisbane, Australia, at the Cathedral of St. Stephen. Pictures began to leak online over the holiday weekend that featured Smith and his signature mullet, of course.

Naoum is a chiropractor in Florida where the two live and has been spotted with Smith at tournaments dating to his 2022 Players Championship victory at TPC Sawgrass near their home in Jacksonville.

Smith had a breakout season in 2022 that featured a trio of wins at the Sentry, Players Championship and Open Championship – his first major victory – before he took his talents to LIV Golf for the end of the 2022 season. Over 19 starts on the Saudi-backed circuit, Smith has three wins and eight top-five finishes.

Massive whale emerges yards from shore, thrilling beachgoers

A large sperm whale joined swimmers near the shore Saturday at Port Beach, Australia, generating concern that the mammal might strand itself.

*UPDATE: It was reported Tuesday (Dec. 12) that the sperm whale has perished after it became stranded on a Perth sandbar.

A large sperm whale joined swimmers near the shore Saturday at Port Beach, Australia, generating concern that the mammal might strand.

The accompanying footage was captured by Ori Weiser, who announced via social media that the whale ultimately “swam away happy.”

Wishful thinking, most likely, because healthy sperm whales generally remain offshore in deep water.

Typical diving forays in search of prey extend 2,000 feet beneath the surface, but sperm whales are capable of diving to depths of more than 10,000 feet.

The whale might have been sick, injured, or disoriented. But as of Saturday night it had not stranded.

9 News Perth reported early Sunday that swimmers were asked to exit the water during the 50-foot whale’s appearance.

Weiser’s footage shows the whale just yards from shore and one clip shows a jetski rider following closely behind.

Sperm whales are the largest toothed whales on the planet and are found around the world.

According to NOAA Fisheries, the most significant threats to sperm whales are ships (vessel strikes), commercial fishing gear (entanglements), ocean noise (disorientation), oil spills and contaminants, and climate change.

LIV Golf announces return to Australia as first part of 2024 schedule release

LIV Golf is returning to the Grange Golf Club in April of 2024.

Loads of fans, a party hole with a DJ, a close team competition down the stretch and Patrick Reed drinking from a shoe made LIV Golf Adelaide 2023 the upstart circuit’s quintessential event.

Commissioner and CEO Greg Norman and South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas announced on Friday the league is hoping to rekindle that atmosphere by returning to the Grange Golf Club, April 26-28, 2024. LIV Golf Adelaide is the first event on the 2024 schedule to be announced and will be held the same week as the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

“That’s what LIV should be, in its heart and its DNA, I think that’s what it can be every single week, and will be when people start understanding what the real deal is here,” said DeChambeau of league’s Aussie debut back in April. When it came to fanfare and entertainment, Adelaide was by far LIV’s best event of 2023.

“The inaugural event drew tens of thousands of attendees from interstate and overseas and saw tickets snapped up almost as quickly as they were released,” said Zoe Bettison, the South Australian Minister for Tourism, via a release.

An economic impact report stated that of the 77,076 attendees across the event, 41 percent of ticket purchasers came from out-of-state. Hospitality tickets for LIV Golf Adelaide 2024 go on sale Nov. 15.

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Shark tagger offers blunt response to catch of giant marlin

An angler in Australia has caught and released a black marlin estimated to weigh 950 pounds, but not everybody is impressed.

Grander Watch on Saturday shared an image of a giant black marlin jumping behind a boat off Cooktown, Australia. The Facebook description boasted that the marlin, which was released, weighed an estimated 950 pounds.

Apparently, Keith Poe, a prominent California-based shark tagger, was not impressed.

Beneath the marlin post, Poe shared an image showing a massive great white shark alongside his boat and commented, simply: “5,000 pounds.”

Poe told FTW Outdoors that he caught and tagged the shark years ago off Mexico’s Guadalupe Island.

Poe now tags white sharks and mako sharks for the Marine Conservation Science Institute, run by Michael Domeier.

Keith Poe poses with catch of an estimated 5,000-pound white shark.

As for the catch of a 950-pound black marlin, it’s impressive. The catch of any marlin weighing close to or more than 1,000 pounds (a.k.a. grander) is considered rare.

The all-tackle world record for black marlin stands at 1,560 pounds. The record, set off Cabo Blanco, Peru, has stood since 1953.

–Top image courtesy of Grander Watch

Shark upstages surfer with perfect ‘el rollo’ just beyond lineup

A surfing publication has shared footage showing a hydrofoil surfer being video-bombed by a leaping shark in Australia.

A surfing publication on Thursday shared footage showing a hydrofoil surfer being video-bombed by a leaping shark.

The footage shows Adam Bennetts artfully carving turns at Australia’s Wategos Beach when the shark leaped free of the surface and spun just beyond the lineup.

“Who do you think got the highest score? Bennetts asked via Instagram. “That el rollo from the shark was pretty sick.”

The footage, accompanied by the tune Reggae Shark, was captured in July by Ben Tayler. Surfer featured the clip Thursday.

Wategos Beach is in Byron Bay, New South Wales.

Josh Giddey wins 2023 FIBA World Cup Rising Star award

The Thunder’s starting backcourt won a pair of accomplishments for their 2023 FIBA World Cup play.

Following the conclusion of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, winners were announced for several individual awards.

Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named to the All-Star 5 lineup as one of the best five players in the international tournament.

His backcourt partner also was the recipient of an award despite not qualifying for the quarterfinals. Josh Giddey was named the Wanda Rising Star of the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

In five games, Giddey averaged 19.4 points, six assists and five rebounds. He was the face of Australia’s run.

The 20-year-old is entering his third season in the NBA. A successful FIBA campaign this summer could play a pivotal role in his development.

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