British medal watch
Great Britain took another silver medal this afternoon at
Greenwich Park as the three-day eventers took second place in the team event.
Mary King and Tina Cook both completed their first show jumping run without
knocking down any fences, which coupled with Zara Phillips’ overall score from
earlier was enough to confirm the silver medal. King and Cook went into the
second run, which only counted for the individual event, in medal contention,
but early fences knocked down saw them miss out on individual honours.
A huge crowd of over 70,000 people at Wembley witnessed Team
GB complete a remarkable 1-0 victory over one of the tournament favourites,
Brazil. Steph Houghton scored a goal inside two minutes, her third in as many
games at the Olympics, to put Team GB ahead, a lead they did not relinquish.
Importantly, the undefeated Team GB finish top of Group E and play Canada in the quarter-finals.
In the pool Michael Jamieson broke the British record twice
in the same day in qualifying fastest for the final of the men’s 200m
breaststroke. Jamieson broke the record in the morning’s heats and then
extended it in the evening’s semi-final. He will go for gold in the final
tomorrow, as will Andrew Willis, who was third-fastest overall. Willis would
have broken the British record if he had been in the semi-final after Jamieson,
swimming the second-fastest time ever by a Briton. At Wimbledon, Andy Murray
defeated Finnish opponent Jarkko Nieminen in the second round of the men’s
singles to progress to the third round. Murray won in straight sets 6-2, 6-4,
to set up a match against Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, whom he beat at Wimbledon
earlier this year.
Two brilliantly worked goals from penalty corners saw Great
Britain’s women’s hockey team record their second victory out of two at London
2012. Team GB took an early lead thanks to a goalkeeping error from their South
Korean opponents. The South Koreans came back to level the scores, but then the
two routines were executed to perfection to make it 3-1. The South Koreans didn’t
give up, though, and levelled the scores in the second half as Britain went to
sleep. But then they girls were awoken again with two quick goals, the first
coming after a failed penalty corner routine, and the second a tap in.
Top news
Germany had a successful day in the three-day eventing,
taking gold in the team event and the individual with Michael Jung. The team
gold, for which the top three of five scores count towards the total, was won
with relative ease thanks to four strong scores, which meant the Germans were
assured gold before their leading rider went round. The individual event was
more dramatic as Sweden’s Sara Algotsson Ostholt, leading into the final round,
clipped the last fence. At first it looked as though it would hang on, but the
barrier dropped and Jung, who had a clear final round, claimed the bronze.
Algotsson Ostholt settled for silver.
Ye Shiwen of China overcame the controversy surrounding her
performance to pip Australian Alicia Coutts in the women’s 200m individual
medley. Ye set a new Olympic record in the process. In the men’s 4x200m
freestyle relay, Michael Phelps won his fifteenth Olympic gold medal, and
nineteenth medal overall, as the USA cruised to victory. Ryan Lochte swan a
lightning fast opening leg, putting a gap between the Americans and the field
which never came close to being bridged. Phelps had earlier in the evening once
again had to settle for silver after coming second in the final of the men’s
200m butterfly. Phelps led throughout the race, but South African Chad le Clos
came back from behind and beat the American to the touch. The two medals means Phelps has leapfrogged Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina in the all-time medal-winners table. Latynina won eighteen medals at the Olympics.
China continued their dominance in the diving, as Ruolin
Chen and Hao Wang took the gold medal in the women’s synchronised 10m platform
event. But it was the Americans who won a hotly contested women’s team
gymnastics gold at the North Greenwich Arena. Some spectacular performances saw
them stride to the gold ahead of rivals Russia, who won silver and Romania who
won the bronze. China, the defending champions and one of the favourites,
missed out on a medal, in fourth place. Great Britain finished sixth.
Russia’s Maria Sharapova fought off a spirited effort from
Britain’s Laura Robson to get through to the third round of the women’s tennis.
Robson took Sharapova to a tiebreak in the first set, and broke the Russian in
the second set, but Sharapova came up with two breaks of her own to ensure a
straight sets victory. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France and Milos Raonic of Croatia
played a mammoth final set in the men’s singles at Wimbledon. The Frenchman
eventually came out on top 25-23 in the third, after almost four hours of play.
It was the longest match in the history of the Olympics.
The matches in Group F both ended in draws as Sweden and
Japan ensured safe passage through to quarter-finals of the women’s football.
Canada finished on four points, behind the leaders on five, which means they
qualify as a best third-placed team. In Group G the USA kept up their 100%
record with a tight 1-0 win over North Korea. France beat Colombia 1-0 to
finish second and joining the Americans in the last eight. The North Korean’s
missed out, however, as New Zealand took the last third-place qualifying spot.
The all-whites, in the group with Team GB and Brazil, defeated Cameroon 3-1,
and edged North Korea on goal difference.
Unsung Heroes
Tony Estanguet of France took his third career Olympic gold
medal in the men’s C1 canoe slalom at Lee Valley. Estanguet won gold medals at
Sydney and Athens in the same event, and added another with an assured
performance down the rapids this afternoon.
Kazakhstan’s Maiya Maneza set a clean and jerk Olympic
record on her way to winning the gold medal in the women’s under 63kg category.
She lifted 135kg for the record, while a later world record attempt of 144kg
did not succeed.
The Great Britain men’s basketball team have suffered a
second defeat, this time at the hands of Brazil. They put in a colossal effort
against a team ranked thirty places above them in the world rankings,
eventually losing 67-62. But the game was still up for grabs right into the
fourth quarter, with Team GB leading at a number of occasions even quite late
on. But it was not enough as the South Americans edged the game at the buzzer.
Disappointment
Great Britain’s Gemma Howell was disqualified in the women’s
under 63kg judo competition after performing and illegal move. Fellow judoka
Euan Barton, in the men’s under 81kg event, was eliminated in the first round
despite being touted as a medal contender. Barton was beaten in led than two
minutes after suffering the highest level of manoeuvre. Swimmer Ellen Gandy,
who is the women’s world championship silver medallist in the women’s 200m
butterfly, has been knocked-out in the heats of her event.
David Florence lost momentum after a fast start in the men’s
C1 canoe slalom semi-final, and failed to qualify for the final. He was
eliminated after finishing tenth out of twelve in the semi, with only eight
progressing.
49er class sailors Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes capsized
their boat in the competition’s second race whilst in contention for a high
finish. As a result, the pair came near the back, to go with their third-place
finish in the opening race.
Other news
Water Polo may undergo football-style goal-line technology
debates after a
controversial match between Spain and Croatia. Croatia led 8-7 when Spain
thought they had scored a last second equaliser, but it was adjudged not to
have crossed the line.
A teenager, who criticised Tom Daley’s performance in the
men’s synchronised 10m platform, saying he let down his dead father, has
been arrested.
Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen has
been accused by an American coach of doping. The coach described Ye’s rapid
improvements at the Games as ‘disturbing.’ The accusations have been refuted by
both the Chinese and other Olympic officials, and notably
her father, who attacked the ‘arrogant west’ for the accusations.
Paul Goodison, Great Britain’s defending champion in the
laser class sailing, may
be forced to pull out of the event after the recurrence of a back injury.
Great Britain’s three-day eventers, including Zara Phillips,
were
awarded their medals by Princess Anne, Zara’s mother, after winning silver
in the team competition.
Carl Lewis, the legendary American athlete, has backed the USA’s
sprinters to beat their rival Jamaicans in the upcoming athletics
programme.
The British Olympic Association has
announced that it expects Phillips Idowu to be fit to compete in the triple
jump.
Boris Johnson has
invited controversial media mogul Rupert Murdoch to join him at swimming
finals later this week.
And finally…
Bradley Wiggins has
had his training kit stolen ahead of his attempt to win an Olympic gold in
tomorrow’s time trial. Wiggins briefly left the kit on a bench in the locker
room of the hotel in which the cycling team have been based.
Central London has
been described as a ghost town, as the draw of the Olympics has affected attendance
at normally popular tourist attractions in the capital.
Updated medal table
Another medal sees Great Britain sit 21st in the
medal table, with two silvers and two bronze.
China lead on 13, though the USA have maintained the gap with 9 golds.
Both countries have 23 medals overall. France are third, the only other team
with four golds. Japan sit with 13 medals, but only 1 gold. Japan have accrues
the most bronze medals, with eight. 18 countries have now won a gold medal,
with 34 having won at least one medal of any colour.
Tomorrow’s big events
Great Britain is ready to begin its assault on the medals
table as the first of the rowing finals get underway. The women’s pair of Helen
Glover and Heather Stanning is the best bet for gold on Wednesday at Eton
Dorney. Richard Hounslow will hope to do better than team-mate David Florence
as he competes in the K1 canoe slalom. Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins
goes in the men’s individual time trial, with Emma Pooley the specialist in the
women’s event. The table tennis women’s singles reaches its climax. In the
evening, there are more swimming finals, and the Great Britain men’s football
team take on Uruguay at the Millennium Stadium, looking to ensure passage
through to the knock-out stages.
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