Olympics day 12 early wrap: Dutch reach hockey final, Miroslaw wins climbing gold

There were medals in climbing and skateboarding and action on the hockey field in the early action on Day 12 of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Wednesday:

Hockey: Dutch beat Argentina to reach sixth straight women's hockey final

Reigning Olympic champions the Netherlands defeated Argentina 3-0 in the women's hockey semifinals at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday as midfielder Luna Fokke came off the bench to grab a goal and an assist in the second quarter.

The Dutch have reached every final since missing out at the 2000 Sydney Games, when they finished with a second consecutive bronze, and have a chance to make history for the country if both women's and men's teams win gold for the hockey powerhouse.

“We have nine girls that have never played in the Olympics. The beauty of Dutch hockey is that we can continue keeping up talent with the new generations,” said coach Paul van Ass.

“If the unforced errors are not there, then we usually can be very strong. And then it looks easy. But yeah, Roger Federer also looked always easy when he was good, right?”

Belgium and China meet in the second semi later on Wednesday to determine who faces the world's top-ranked side, who will be playing in their sixth consecutive final, after both lost to the Dutch in the pool stage having conceded three goals.

Argentina, who were beaten by the Netherlands in the final in Tokyo, now have a chance to win their third bronze.

Netherlands opened the scoring in the 21st minute when midfielder Fokke slipped behind the defence on a deep pass and dribbled into the circle to beat keeper Cristina Consentino stick-side, lofting the ball into the right corner of the net.

The Dutch scored a second five minutes later when Laura Nunnink redirected a hard cross from Fokke past Consentino's outstretched leg.

“It's nice to just play good hockey and scoring a goal is like an amazing feeling,” Fokke said.

“We are expecting a competitive final. We will watch tonight and then prepare our game. It's a final so there's a lot of tension.”

The tournament's leading scorer, midfielder Yibbi Jansen, piled on the pressure in the 35th minute with a penalty corner score, her eighth in Paris. Belgium's Ambre Ballenghien is the second highest scorer with six, all from the field. 

Diving: Gibson bruised but undaunted after horror dive

The day did not start off well for American diver Alison Gibson.

Her feet crashed into the springboard when she was in a tucked position amid a somersault in her first dive in the preliminary round of the Olympic women's 3-metre springboard competition.

After a loud bang and gasps from the audience, Gibson fell awkwardly into the water, making a splash that no diver would be proud of.

Her dive was judged as a failure and she got zero points.

Gibson, however, kept going and finished her remaining four dives with as much composure as she could muster but still finished last, marking the end of her Olympic journey.

“I hit my heels and my feet on the board. I have cuts along the sides. And then I bruised my right heel pretty good, but I was determined to keep going,” a tearful Gibson told Reuters, her cuts still raw on both feet.

“I definitely was in pain,” she said. “But one thing that I say is I hope that anyone who is watching just was able to see what it looks like to get up and keep going even when things don't go the way you want them to. It's about the fight.”

“Obviously, today didn't go the way I wanted it to. But I think you can learn and grow from every experience, and I truly hope that the next generation of athletes recognise that even in the worst moments you can keep fighting, you can walk courageously,” she added.

The 25-year-old Gibson almost retired after finishing last in the Tokyo Games three years ago in the synchronised 3-metre springboard event.

She decided to return to the sport, however, and make a bigger impact second time around.

She is sponsoring a schoolchild in Kenya via Missions of Hope International, a nonprofit organisation, and hoped her Olympic experience could shine a light.

“I decided I didn't just want to come back for diving, but I wanted to have an impact beyond myself,” she said

“My mission is for every single child at that school to be sponsored by the end of the Olympics. I really hope that the courage I showed today has a positive impact on those around me.”

Climbing: Poland's Miroslaw wins gold in speed event

Poland's world-record holder Aleksandra Miroslaw clinched the gold medal in women's speed climbing at the Paris Games on Wednesday, in the sport's Olympic debut as a stand-alone event.

The 30-year-old had been the clear favourite after breaking her own world record twice in the lead-up to the finals, climbing the 15-metre wall in 6.06 seconds two days ago.

At the Le Bourget venue on Wednesday, she did the vertical run in 6.10 seconds, beating China's Deng Lijuan in a photo finish. The silver medallist set her personal best in the race, with 6.18s.

Poland's Aleksandra Kalucka won the bronze medal with a time of 6.53s.

Sport climbing is making its second Olympic appearance but the Paris Games are the first where the speed discipline is a separate medal event from boulder and lead, as is the norm for the sport due to the vastly different techniques required.

The smallest misstep can seal the fate of athletes in the Olympics' fastest race, as it did for American Emma Hunt.

In arguably the day's biggest upset, Hunt was eliminated in the quarterfinals after her right foot slipped halfway up the wall. The 21-year-old had been the favourite to challenge Miroslaw for the gold.

Earlier, the men's lead semifinals determined the final eight athletes to vie for gold in the combined boulder and lead competition on Friday. The scores from the two stages were added up to determine the finalists.

Japan's Sorato Anraku, a gold-medal favourite, sailed through at the top of the leader board after the 17-year-old had racked up a huge surplus in the boulder stage.

He climbed the fourth-highest in the lead event, in which athletes are given six minutes to climb a steep, 15-metre structure as high as possible in a single attempt.

His compatriot Tomoa Narasaki failed to make the final.

Despite coming in second behind Anraku in boulder, the twice-Olympian fell on a tricky low section of the route in the lead event when he went for a high-risk move, losing a shot at redemption after just missing the podium in Tokyo.

Narasaki's slip-up meant Britain were the only country to get both of their climbers in the final with Hamish McArthur sneaking through to join 19-year-old Toby Roberts.

Skateboarding: Australia's Palmer defends men's park at Paris Games

Australia's Keegan Palmer held off American Tom Schaar at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday to defend his title from the Tokyo Games and become the first back-to-back gold medallist in the men's park skateboarding event.

Palmer whipped through the concrete bowl in an opening run packed with tricks to grab the lead with a score of 93.11, which would ultimately prove enough as Schaar was unable to stay attached to his board in his final run.

Brazilian Augusto Akio took bronze at the event at La Concorde.

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