Olympic gold

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Mo Farah wins third Olympic gold - (August 14 2016)

Mo Farah became the first British track and field athlete to win three Olympic gold medals by retaining his 10,000 metres title in Rio.


The 33-year-old continued his unprecedented spell of long-distance domination by landing his eighth straight global crown, but he did it the hard way after falling to the track following a trip from training partner Galen Rupp.

He recovered to respond to the challenge laid down by Kenya's Paul Tanui, bursting past him down the home straight and crossing the line in 27 minutes 5.17 seconds.

Victory saw him eclipse the Olympic achievements of the likes of athletics double champions Sebastian Coe, Daley Thompson and Kelly Holmes.

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GB quartet claim pursuit gold - (August 14 2016)

Great Britain's dominance of the Olympic Velodrome continues after a third gold medal was won on Saturday and a fourth was guaranteed for Sunday.


Laura Trott became Britain's most successful female Olympian with her third gold medal in winning the women's team pursuit alongside Joanna Rowsell-Shand, Elinor Barker and Katie Archibald.

Becky James won Keirin silver, little more than a year after returning from a career-threatening knee injury.

And Jason Kenny will meet team-mate and room-mate Callum Skinner in the sprint final, aiming for his fifth Olympic gold. It is the same scenario as 2008 when Kenny took sprint silver behind room-mate Sir Chris Hoy.


The dominance of Britain in Rio has echoes of Beijing, where seven of 10 track titles were won. The feat was repeated at London 2012.

They will have four golds and one silver from six medal events by Sunday evening, having taken part in five of them.

Failing to qualify for the women's team sprint was the catalyst for the resignation of technical director Shane Sutton in April following a string of discrimination allegations which he denies.

But there is no denying Britain's riders have put the controversy behind them to rise to the occasion in Rio.

Trott, who could win her fourth gold in the six-discipline omnium, which begins on Monday, said: "It feels incredible. You try not to think about it coming into a race but people were tweeting me and writing articles about it.

"It almost feels like I shouldn't have achieved it in a way. I still feel like that young girl that started down at Welwyn Wheelers."

Sir Bradley Wiggins, Ed Clancy, Steven Burke and Owain Doull won Britain's second Olympic gold in the men's team pursuit on Friday and victory followed in the corresponding women's race 24 hours later.

Britain's women had a four-year unbeaten sequence which included London 2012, but since the expansion to four riders and four kilometres, the world had caught up.

Britain finished third after a lowly qualifying finish at March's Track World Championships in London as the United States won gold, but Archibald was absent due to a fractured elbow and knee injury sustained during an unauthorised motorbike trip.

The 22-year-old from Milngavie returned to combine with Trott, Rowsell-Shand and Barker to set world records in all three rides as Trott overtook cyclist Victoria Pendleton, swimmer Rebecca Adlington and athlete Dame Kelly Holmes as Britain's most successful female Olympian.

The final was a duel with the USA, who had the early lead before Britain accelerated to finish in four minutes 10.236 seconds, three seconds faster than the world record prior to Rio.

The USA were a distant second in 4mins 12.454secs.

It was Rowsell-Shand's second gold. She and Trott topped the podium in the event at London 2012 on 'Super Saturday', with Dani King.

"Looking back, London wasn't easy at all, but I think this has been a harder battle here," Rowsell-Shand said.

"We've gone into it with our work cut out to beat the rest of the world."

Seventeen minutes later, James produced a thrilling final lap to finish second behind Holland's Elis Ligtlee. Australia's Anna Meares ended up with bronze.

Since winning sprint and Keirin world titles in Minsk in 2013, James had a cancer scare and a knee injury which left her unable to ride a bike for fourth months.

The 24-year-old from Abergavenny, whose boyfriend is Wales and British and Irish Lions rugby player George North, advanced in supreme fashion by winning her heat and was even more impressive in the second round, following Meares into the final.

She was bidding to succeed London 2012 winner Pendleton as champion but began the final lap in sixth and last place.

She followed the instruction of coach Jan van Eijden to go round high up the outside and powered round the final bend into the medal positions. She might have won, but ran out of track.

James said: "It was a pretty frustrating race. I left it as late as I could.

"I didn't think I was going to get anywhere near round. I could have done with an extra couple of metres, but I'm absolutely thrilled with that medal.

"To think where I was a year ago from now to where I am now, I would never have imagined it."

James has another opportunity in the sprint, which begins on Sunday and concludes on Tuesday, while Mark Cavendish's six-discipline, two-day omnium campaign also starts on Sunday.

Kenny and Skinner, team sprint champions together with Phil Hindes on Thursday, will duel for sprint gold on Sunday.

Kenny won the selection nod ahead of Hoy four years ago when the competition was limited to one rider per nation and claimed gold.

Two riders are now permitted again and Kenny and Skinner qualified in first and second place before making strong progress to the semi-finals.

Kenny needed all three bouts to beat Denis Dmitriev of Russia 2-1, while Skinner beat Australia's Matthew Glaetzer 2-0 to advance.

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Golden glory for GB rowers - - (August 14 2016)

Great Britain ended the Rio 2016 rowing regatta in style as the men's eight won gold and the corresponding women's crew secured a maiden Olympic medal.


After winning women's pair and men's four gold on the penultimate day of a weather-affected competition, the Lagoa witnessed more Team GB success during the final session.

Katie Greves, Melanie Wilson, Frances Houghton, Polly Swann, Jessica Eddie, Olivia Carnegie-Brown, Karen Bennett, Zoe Lee and cox Zoe de Toledo made history by winning Britain's first Olympic medal in the women's eight, with a late surge snatching silver.

The celebrations had barely subsided by the time the men's crew took to the water, producing a dominant display to see off Germany and end the final race of the regatta atop of the podium.

"I was in bits, to be honest," Pete Reed said, having added men's eight gold to the men's four victories of Beijing 2008 and London 2012. "That was everything I had, everything I had.

"I am saying I and I and I here, and that's not me. I am thinking we, we , we - the boys are amazing.

"It's such a privilege, especially doing it with the guys who haven't done it before."

For Reed and Andrew T Hodge, another member of the indomitable men's four at the previous two Games, this was a third straight Olympic gold.

By contrast, it was quite the end to Paul Bennett, Scott Durant and Matt Gotrel's debut Games, while Will Satch added to his men's pair bronze from four years ago.

Tom Ransley, Phelan Hill and Matt Langridge upgraded on their men's eight bronze from London, with the latter finally topping the podium at his fourth Games.

"It's been a long time coming for me - what a way to finish," Langridge said, after helping secure Britain's first men's eight gold in 16 years.

"That's been worth the wait. Obviously, I was disappointed to miss out twice with the silver and bronze but that was worth it."

While six of the men's crew boasted Olympic medals heading to Brazil, Houghton was the only member of the women's eight to have tasted success on this stage.

The 35-year-old won women's quad silver at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, adding a further silver medal at her fifth Games.

It was a poignant occasion for Houghton after her father Robin died earlier in the year, with his flag brought to the Lagoa by her mother Andrea.

"He's up there and I'm just glad he got a great view and will have watched a great race," Houghton said. "That's wonderful.

"With my dad passing away during the racing season in May, it was really hard, but it was also something that gave me great strength.

"He really helped me get through the hard times in rowing and we were really under pressure and there were lots of trials going on at the time.

"But it really, really made me know for sure that I wanted to be rowing.

"I could have walked away from it and said, 'No, this is more important' but he really wanted me to be rowing.

"He passed away maybe six days before I was selected for the fifth Games. I think he knew that I had done enough.

"The girls have just been incredible. When I was rowing, it was just all about rowing and I was so lucky to have the rowing to get me through that, and my dad to get me through the rowing."

Britain topped the rowing medals table in Rio with three golds and two silvers but still fell short of UK Sport's minimum expectation of six podium places.

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Kenny & Skinner guarantee GB gold - - (August 14 2016)

Great Britain are guaranteed a fourth gold medal in the Olympic Velodrome on Sunday after Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner advanced to the final of the men's sprint.


Britain won a third gold on the track in the women's team pursuit and Becky James added a silver in the Keirin on Saturday.

And Kenny and Skinner, who won team sprint gold on Thursday, advanced to an all-British final.

Kenny, the London 2012 champion, needed all three bouts to beat Denis Dmitriev of Russia in his semi-final, while Skinner beat Australia's Matthew Glaetzer to advance.


Kenny won the selection nod ahead of Sir Chris Hoy four years ago when the competition was limited to one rider per nation and claimed gold.

Now the Beijing silver medallist behind Hoy is targeting his fifth Olympic gold ahead of team-mate Skinner.

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Jason Kenny won his second gold at Rio 2016 - and the fifth of his Olympics career - by beating British team-mate Callum Skinner in the individual sprint.

Kenny, the London 2012 champion in this event, had already teamed up with Skinner to win team sprint gold for Britain on Thursday.

And the 28-year-old's 2-0 triumph over Skinner on Sunday night meant he joined fellow cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins and rower Sir Steve Redgrave on five Olympic golds while his overall medal tally is now six.

He will now turn his attentions to matching the achievements of Sir Chris Hoy at Beijing 2008 by winning a third gold at the same Games when he competes in the Keirin on Tuesday.

Hoy, who won six Olympic golds during his incredible career, triumphed in the same three events in Beijing, where he beat Kenny in the sprint final.

Now Kenny can join the Scot - in Rio as a BBC television pundit - as the Briton with the most Olympic golds with victory in the Keirin.

Just one rider per nation was permitted at London 2012 and Kenny won the selection nod ahead of Hoy, who claimed his sixth Olympic gold in the Keirin before retiring.

Kenny won the Keirin world title in 2013 in Minsk, so it is not beyond him. He is Britain's only entrant in the race which begins behind a motorised Derny bike.

Kenny qualified for the sprint in an Olympic record of 9.551 seconds, dipping under the mark of 9.703secs set by Skinner earlier in Friday's qualifying session, which ranks riders for the head-to-head sprints.

And the pair, who are room-mates in the athletes' village and train together every day, successfully negotiated the rounds to set up the second all-British final in eight years.

Kenny easily rounded Skinner in the first of the best-of-three bouts.

And the Bolton rider led out the second sprint and had too much power for Skinner, to draw level with Redgrave and Wiggins, who won his fifth Olympic gold on Friday in the team pursuit.

Kenny is engaged to Laura Trott, who won her third Olympic gold on Saturday.

For Skinner, a 23-year-old from Glasgow, it was a second medal of his debut Games.

It took Britain's tally to four golds and two silvers from five events entered in the velodrome. Britain did not qualify for the sixth, the women's team sprint.

Denis Dmitriev of Russia took bronze with a 2-0 win over Matthew Glaetzer of Australia.

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Max Whitlock took less than two hours to achieve twice what no British gymnast had previously managed in 120 years in Rio on Sunday.

The 23-year-old grabbed gold in the men's floor event and followed it up by pipping his team-mate Louis Smith in a thrilling finish to the pommel horse final.

Whitlock, the 2015 pommel world champion, had been tipped to become the first British gymnast to stand on top of an Olympic podium.

But few believed he would clinch double gold with two nerveless performances which underlined his status as one of the finest male gymnasts in the world today.

Whitlock scored 15.633 on the floor then watched as the favourites including Kenzo Shirai and Samuel Mikulak both made mistakes that left them out of medal contention.

Instead it was two Brazilians, Diego Hypolito and Arthur Mariano - who completed the podium places, to the delight of the home crowd.

Whitlock was cheered onto the podium to collect his historic gold medal while the Brazilian pair milked the acclaim of the crowd.

It was also the first ever Olympic medal of any colour for a British gymnast - male or female - on the floor.

After a brief pose for photographers, Whitlock was ushered away to prepare for the pommel and he came back refreshed and clearly ready for more.

Starting fifth of eight finalists, Smith led the way with a score of 15.833, until Whitlock eclipsed him with 15.966 with one more athlete to go.

And when Russian Nikolai Kusenkov summoned an unspectacular routine, gold and silver for Whitlock and Smith were assured.

The pair embraced before being led out for their medal ceremony on an historic day for the domestic sport.

It was the fourth Olympic medal of Smith's career while Whitlock's historic golden double takes his own career Games tally to five.

Whitlock's feat was all the more remarkable for the fact he had to recover from a bout of glandular fever shortly after becoming Britain's first male individual world champion in Glasgow last year.

The illness forced him to miss the European Championships and cast some doubt over his ability to fully recover in time for the Rio Games.

The doubts were not entirely assuaged by Whitlock's solid but unspectacular performance in the men's team final, in which they narrowly missed out on a medal.

But a consistent display in the all-around competition resulted in him becoming the first British man to reach the podium in the sport's most prestigious category.

Yet that achievement paled into insignificance when compared with Whitlock's achievement in the Rio Gymnastics Arena on Sunday night.

A jubilant Whitlock told the BBC: "I have completely outdone myself, standing here. I am very proud and it's incredible.

"I never go into competition expecting to get a medal, I go in to do my job. Hours and hours, years and years in the gym come down to one minute. I am so happy.

"I had to refocus (after the first gold). I had another job to do. Now I can take both of them in at the same time. The emotion hit me when I realised what I had done."

Smith savoured his silver medal.

He said: "To be here is brilliant in itself, to have messed up the team final, I was dealing with a lot, emotionally and mentally, to come and do that, it means the world.

"So many different things, the amount of pride I am feeling right now, my mum didn't come out but I've been speaking to her every day, she's been worried sick to see me under that pressure and it means so much.

"I've been in the sport two decades now and I don't know if this will be my last Olympics."

On Whitlock's amazing gold medal double, Smith added: "He's incredible and has been an absolute star."

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Andy Murray wrote his name into the Olympic history books by beating Juan Martin Del Potro to become the first tennis player ever to win two singles gold medals.

On a day of stunning success for Britain, the Wimbledon champion came out on top of a brutal match, winning 7-5 4-6 6-2 7-5 after four hours and two minutes.

Murray was already the first man to make back-to-back finals and with victory he eclipsed Steffi Graf, who won the title in 1988 then lost in the final in 1992.

Del Potro stood on the bottom step of the podium in 2012 while Murray soaked up the acclaim of Centre Court but has spent half of the intervening four years trying to recover from a wrist problem that required three operations.

At one stage he doubted he would ever make it back and this run, with victories over Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, has again shown how much he brings to the sport, but there was to be no fairytale ending.

So weary was Murray when Del Potro's final backhand landed in the net that he could barely raise his arms above his head and he engaged in a long, emotional hug with his opponent at the net at the end of a night neither will ever forget.

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Great Britain's Justin Rose hailed a dream come true after claiming golf's first Olympic gold medal for 112 years by edging out Open champion Henrik Stenson in a thrilling final-round battle in Rio.

Rose carded a closing 67 at Reserva de Marapendi to finish 16 under par and two shots ahead of Ryder Cup partner Stenson, with American Matt Kuchar securing bronze after a superb 63.

The outcome was only decided on the 72nd hole when Rose pitched to three feet to set up a decisive birdie and Stenson failed to convert his long-range attempt, the 40-year-old Swede also missing the return putt for par.

That left the stage clear for Rose to tap-in and seal victory before punching the air in delight, the 36-year-old having been one of the major supporters of golf's return to the Games while more than 20 of his fellow professionals had opted out of competing.

"It feels absolutely incredible," said the former US Open champion, whose win takes him back inside the world's top 10.

"I was on that last green, just sort of pinching myself and taking myself back to the quote that I had given about the Olympics all along - I hope my resume one day reads 'multiple major champion and Olympic gold medallist'. But let's just call it major champion and Olympic gold medallist, I'd be a very, very happy man.

"The whole week I've been so focused, I've been so up for it. I've been just so determined to represent Team GB as best as I could, and it was just the most magical week, it really was.

"This is a dream come true. I've been thinking about Rio for a long, long time. I made it a big deal in my year and I had the benefit of walking in the opening ceremony and watching other sports, which was all part of the plan.

"Once I got here and experienced the whole vibe I've just been really excited and to come out with a medal is great. To come out with a gold is unbelievable. It sits alongside the US Open trophy for me."

A month after Stenson had won a thrilling duel with Phil Mickelson at Royal Troon, the Olympics also effectively became a match-play contest between two of the six major champions in the 60-man field.

Rose took a one-shot lead over Stenson into the final round and there was never more than a stroke between them until the end, with both men carding three birdies in the first five holes.

Stenson took the lead for the first time when Rose failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker on the 13th, but was struggling with an injury and received treatment from his physio after hitting his tee shot on the 14th.

Having failed to find the green, Stenson then hit a poor chip and missed from 20 feet for par and Rose edged in front again with a birdie on the 15th.

Kuchar needed to birdie the last to record a superb 62 and keep the pressure on, but left his putt short from 18 feet and had to wait to see if a certain bronze could be upgraded if the top duo faltered.

There was no chance of that when Stenson pitched to four feet for birdie on the short 16th to join Rose on 15 under, but it was the Englishman who produced the best pitch from short of the green on the par-five 18th to secure a famous win.

"I'm pleased with my performance," said Stenson, who will replace Rory McIlroy as world number four when the rankings are updated on Monday.

"Of course, when you're in a good position to try and win you always kind of feel a little disappointed afterwards. But at the same time we said that all along in the Olympics you've got some pretty good consolation prizes.

"I had a bit of an issue, my thoracic spine locked up after the tee shot on the 13th and put me out of rhythm a little. I can't say it was purely down to that but it was not helping, put it that way.

"But I was still there at the end and it came down to whoever made birdie down the last. I didn't hit a good shot and that opened the door for Justin."

Kuchar, who only got into the US team when Jordan Spieth withdrew before the Open and did not know there was no team competition until recently, said: ''It's the happiest I've ever been to finish third. I'm just bursting with pride right now.''

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Giles Scott has all but secured Olympic gold with a race to spare, continuing Great Britain's domination of the Finn class.

Few debutants arrived at Rio 2016 shouldering as much expectation as the 29-year-old, who was overwhelming favourite with bookmakers having failed to win just two regattas in this Olympic cycle, getting silver in those two events.

Sir Ben Ainslie's heir to the throne has made light work of that pressure and is now on the brink of continuing Great Britain's 16-year golden Finn record in the Olympics, started by Iain Percy at Sydney 2000.

The result is subject to protest, and Scott will still have to sail in Tuesday's medal race, but an eighth and second on Sunday has made him uncatchable in the double-point finale.

"I know what it meant to me because of the way it made me feel towards the latter stages of that final race," Scott said having returned to dry land, where men's RS:X silver medallist Nick Dempsey was among those waiting.

"I just found myself welling up, getting tingles as it slowly dawned on me what I had done.

"I wouldn't put myself down as the emotional sort but I had a little cry to myself, which I'd like to think I don't do that often.

"Just the emotions that end up coming out of you in that situation, you can't really prepare yourself for it. It was amazing."

Scott knows his dominance of the class in recent years has seen him race with a "target" on his back, but there was no stopping the indomitable Briton in Rio.

"I think if you'd have asked me would I have won the Olympic Games before the medal race in Rio, I'd have said absolutely not just because of the venue it is," Scott said as the sun set over the Marina da Gloria.

"But the racing we've had this week, I've managed to sail more consistently than everybody else at the top of the fleet.

"It has just landed me in this brilliant situation where I've got the points gap I need before the medal race and it's such a privileged situation to be in.

"The next two days for everyone else fighting out for those medals is going to be incredibly, incredibly stressful.

"To be able to say that I am not going to have to go through that is pretty nice."

Nacra 17 duo Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves are through to their medal race, but face a huge ask to get on the podium.

A fine start to the regatta tapered off and now the duo have to win the medal race and hope the stars align perfectly.

"It's not over until it's over, we have to go out and win the medal race so we will attack it and try and get the win," Saxton said.

"Today was tough for us. Looking at the event as a whole, we started really well for the first few days and were in a medal position the whole time.

"We messed up yesterday a little bit, but still were good enough to be in the medals, but today it didn't quite run for us and we are left to look back at some errors.

"Ultimately it has been a wicked experience, you got to look at the good as well as the bad but right now I am pretty gutted."

Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark sit atop the women's 470 standings after another solid day, while Luke Patience and Chris Grube are 10th in the men's event.

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British star Charlotte Dujardin hailed "a truly magical" Olympic farewell on the brilliant Valegro after she retained her individual dressage title with a stunning Games record performance in Deodoro.

The London 2012 champion now has three Olympic golds in her collection - all with Valegro - having also won the team event four years ago.

This puts the 31-year-old level with cyclist Laura Trott as the most decorated female British Olympian in history although the latter is expected to win another in the velodrome at Rio 2016

Dujardin was unable to retain the team title alongside Carl Hester, Fiona Bigwood and Spencer Wilton earlier at the Games, with the quartet having to settle for silver.

But she could taste glory once more after winning with an Olympic record grand prix freestyle score of 93.857 per cent, as they obliterated the 18-strong field following a stunning performance to an accompaniment of upbeat Brazilian samba-style music.

The score was comfortably higher than when Gloucestershire-based Dujardin won gold on the same horse at London 2012, and the third highest of all-time behind two other mesmeric Dujardin displays.

Dujardin could not hold back the tears as she saluted a remarkable horse that now looks set to be retired, his work on the sport's biggest stage seemingly done.

When he bows out, it will be after underpinning 31-year-old Dujardin's stellar career that has so far reaped 10 major championship gold medals - three Olympic, two world and five European.

And apart from matching Trott on three gold medals, she also joins eventer Richard Meade as the most successful British equestrian rider in Games history.

"It was truly magical. It was the best feeling ever. You couldn't have asked for any more off him," Dujardin said.

"Dreams come true. Going to London, I didn't have any expectations for the individual competition. I just went out there, did my thing and it happened.

"Coming here, I had to defend that title, I had expectation, I had the pressure and I did feel it a little bit for the first time ever.

"I also knew it could be one of the last times with Valegro. I know I am not going to do another Olympics with him.

"But as soon as I got into the arena, Valegro gave me this most amazing feeling and it put a smile on my face. I knew I was fine.

"That is what that horse can do. He can give you confidence like I can't tell you. He's like a rock. He gives you that hug.

"If you think how many tests that horse has done in his lifetime, and how many times he has ever made a mistake. His consistency throughout his career has been absolutely unbelievable.

"I owe it to him to finish at the top, and I've done it. I am going to make sure it happens again (on another horse), but he is a once in a lifetime horse.

"It's another huge challenge to try to recreate and do it all again, but there will never be another Valegro, and I don't want anyone ever to compare a horse that I ride to Valegro, because there is never going to be another him."

Valergro is co-owned by Dujardin's Great Britain team-mate Carl Hester, Roly Luard and Ann Barrott, and it would be no surprise if he bowed out at Olympia's London International Horse Show in December, the event where they set their freestyle world record of 94.300 per cent in 2014.

Hester said: "Consistency is hard with a horse, but he has been at the top for six years without hardly a blip on its record, which is phenomenal.

"You always imagine these top horses to be difficult characters, but he gets ridden out by an 80-year-old at home, kids can get on him in the stables, Charlotte can ride him around the Olympics.

"It's his work ethic - and a 10-year partnership he has with Charlotte."

Asked about Valegro's competition future - the Europeans take place in Sweden next year - Hester added: "That is going to be discussed when we are at home."

Germany's Isabell Werth, riding Weihegold, was second on 89.071 per cent, with another German - Kristina Broring-Sprehe - aboard Desperados, taking bronze following a score of 87.142 per cent.

Hester finished seventh on Nip Tuck, and Fiona Bigwood 17th with Orthilia.

Dujardin also said she will "make sure" she marries fiance Dean Golding following her Rio Olympics glory.

Golding, who was among the crowd in Deodoro, sported a sign on his T-shirt saying: "Can we get married now?"

And Dujardin has vowed not to leave him disappointed.

"Dean had already proposed," she said. "I have already got a ring on my finger, the wally!

"He just wants the whole world to know now, so he secures me and no-one takes me away!

"I've been engaged for a long time.

"He wants to get married now. I did promise him after London (2012) that we would get married, and it never happened.

"There was competition after competition after London, but I will make sure it happens this time."

Dujardin, 31, and Golding, a former long-distance runner, have been together for nine years.