Australia's outstanding athletics performance at the 2021 Olympic Games

Listening to Day being interviewed after the race, I was most impressed by her attitude when she thanked her coach and strength trainer while stressing her determination to do whatever it takes to succeed.

Day reminded me of a young Sally Pearson who also expressed similar determination on ABC radio long before becoming a global hurdling star.

Our men's 400m runners also did very well. Alex Beck ran a PB of 45.54 and Steve Solomon ran a PB of 44.94 in the first round before a gutsy third of 45.15 in the semi-final.

For those of us who have run the 400m at our own various standards, we know just how hard it is to back up with another maximal effort just days later after a near maximal effort.

While longer races of 800m and beyond are also decided by tactics, which makes the task of achieving PBs that much harder if races have a lack of pace, Australia did exceptionally well in a number of races.

In the men's 800m, Bol was simply outstanding with his fourth in the final where he demonstrated his mental toughness by giving himself every chance to medal.

Bol also ran two Australian records on his way to the final, culminating in his semi-final win with 1:44.11.

Bol's fourth place was Australia's best result in OG mens running events since Darren Clark finished 4th for the second time in the 1988 400m final.

The other two 800m runners also did very well to make the semi-finals with very good times with Charlie Hunter running 1:45.91 and Jeff Riseley 1:45.41.

In the 1500m, Australia's athletes were outstanding with two males and two females making the 1500m final with all qualifying through top five finishes in the semi-final. In the men's race, Ollie Hoare and Stewart McSweyn became the first duo to make a 1500m final since 1956 when John Landy and Merv Lincoln ran 3rd and 12th.

In the final, McSweyn ran 7th (3:31.91) and Hoare 11th (3:35.79), behind the brilliant Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigsten with an OG record (3:28.32).

In the women's race, with Linden Hall and Jessica Hull qualifying for the final with the latter running an Australian Record with 3:58.81 in the semi-final, this marked the first time that Australia has had two finalists in a OG 1500m female final.