British medal watch
Helen Glover and Heather Stanning became Great Britain’s
first gold medallists of London 2012 this morning at Eton Dorney. The women’s
pair decimated the field and took gold as expected, being the big favourites
coming into the race. They did not let down the expectations as they raced out
to an early lead and never gave up an inch throughout the race, crossing the
line to manic cheers from the crowds along the course. The men’s eight also won
a medal on the first day of rowing finals. They looked in contention for gold
at the half-way point but they faded towards the end and won bronze.
And Great Britain’s successful day continued in the
afternoon as two medals were secured in the time trial. Tour de France winner
Bradley Wiggins added another Olympic Gold medal to his tally with a dominant
performance. Wiggo now has seven Olympic medals, more than any other Briton.
The gold never seemed in doubt as he led comfortably at all of the major
splits, crossing the line 42 seconds faster than Tony Martin, the silver medal
winner from Germany. Chris Froome, runner-up in the Tour de France this year
behind Wiggins, once again put in a podium performance, coming away with the
bronze medal.
Michael Jamieson took silver in the men’s 200m breaststroke
after setting a new British record for the third time in two days. He swam an
incredible final length, coming from outside of the medals after 150m to only
marginally miss out on the gold.
Craig Bellamy took captaincy duties from the injured Ryan
Giggs as Great Britain won against Uruguay at the Millennium Stadium. Daniel
Sturridge scored the game’s only goal as Team GB took the win 1-0. They were
confirmed as the winners of group A and will face South Korea in the
quarter-finals.
Elsewhere, Andy Murray came from behind to defeat Marcos
Baghdatis of Cyprus 2-1 at Wimbledon. Murray lost the first set 6-4, but roared
into action in the second winning 6-1. The third was more tense, but Murray
came out on top 6-4, and has progressed to the quarter-finals where he will
face Spain’s Nicolas Almagro.
Top news
Daniel Gyurta set a new world record to win the men’s 200m
breaststroke. The Hungarian swam a good race, and capitalised on the early
leaders falling back towards the end of the race, making his way through the
field to take the victory. Rebecca Soni of the USA also set a new world in the semi-final
of the women’s 200m breaststroke. Nathan Adrian, also of the USA, won the men’s
100m freestyle gold after beating Australian James Magnussen to the touch in a
close finish.
Kohei Uchimura won the men’s gymnastics individual all-round
event with a strong effort at the North Greenwich Arena. Uchimura, whose
controversial dismount caused the medal confusion in the team event on Monday,
put that behind him with a dominant performance, excelling on all six pieces of
apparatus.
Novak Djokovic lost the first set against former Wimbledon
champion Lleyton Hewitt in the men’s singles, but came back to win the match
2-1. Yesterday, Jo-Wilfired Tsonga and Milos Raonic set the Olympic record of
longest tennis match, at just under four hours. But their record was broken
today as Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek of the Czeck Republic and Marcelo
Melo and Bruno Soares of Brazil played out a men’s doubles match which lasted
over four hours. The final set was actually two games shorter than yesterday’s,
as the Brazilians came out on top 24-22.
The men’s football group stages reached their climax, with
the quarter-finals now determined. In the same group as Team GB, Senegal was
held 1-1 by the UAE, but progress to the quarter-finals nonetheless from second
place. Moussa Konate scored his fourth goal of the competition in the match. Mexico
and South Korea remained unbeaten to finish first and second in group B. Mexico
finished with a win over Switzerland, while South Korea were held by Gabon.
Brazil beat a resilient New Zealand 3-0 to finish with a 100% record in group
C. Egypt leapfrogged Belarus to finish second in the group, after recording a
3-1 win as the teams met. In Group D both matches finished 0-0, with Japan
finishing first and Honduras second in the group. Spain finished bottom of the
group, with one point and having scored no goals during the tournament. Brazil
will face Honduras in the last eight, in the same half of the draw as Team GB
and South Korea. The other half of the draw sees Mexico take on Senegal and
Japan face Egypt.
Unsung Heroes
Despite being knocked out in the last-32 stage of the
women’s individual archery, Amy Oliver recorded a career-defining victory over
world number one Deepika Kumari.
Team GB’s Paul Goodison, who competes in the laser class
sailing, overcame a back injury that has made him question his participation in
the event to rise up to sixth in the overall classification and keep his medal
hopes alive.
Disappointment
Emma Pooley was unable to finish in the medal places in the
women’s time trial. The flat course was not well-suited to climbing specialist
Pooley, who could only finish sixth. Olga Zabelinskaya of Russia, who won
bronze in the road race on Sunday, added another surprise bronze in the time
trial, but it was American Kristin Armstrong who took the gold.
Luis Leon Sanchez, tipped as a medal contender in the men’s
time trial, had a disastrous start to the race at Hampton Court Palace today.
The Spaniard’s chain snapped within seconds of starting the race, causing a
long delay as a replacement bike was prepared. He then later suffered a
puncture. Sanchez was outside of the medals.
Team GB’s Kristian Thomas missed out on a medal in the men’s
individual all-round gymnastics. Thomas made only one major mistake, on his
vault dismount, but the penalty incurred for that denied him the chance of a
podium finish. He ended the event in
Other news
Eight badminton players competing in the women’s doubles
competition have
been disqualified for not trying in the final of their round robin matches.
The pairs received boos from the crowd as they appeared to be attempting not to
win their matches. It is thought that the teams were trying to manipulate the
draw, in order to play a more favourable opponent in the next round.
Phillips Idowu has
damaged his medal chances through the ongoing saga surrounding his
appearance at the Games, according to head of British Athletics Charles van
Commenee.
Judo veteran Winston Gordon has
criticised the national Judo leadership after a very disappointing
performance from the team in London.
And finally…
NBC, the Olympic broadcaster in the USA, has come under
criticism for their coverage of the Opening Ceremony, in which they cut out a
section interpreted as a tribute to the 7/7 victims for an interview by Ryan
Seacrest with Michael Phelps. NBC’s bad Olympics has continued, as it has been
revealed that, when interviewing passers-by at Buckingham Palace and asking
them about the opening ceremony, they
interviewed former world champion boxer and Olympic medallist Evander
Holyfield, without realising who it was.
Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, was
stranded in mid-air for five minutes at an Olympic event in Victoria Park
after the zip-wire he was on jammed.
A man who found a camera which had been lost at the games is
attempting
to use Facebook and other social media to reunite it with its owners.
Updated medal table
Great Britain has surged up to 11th in the medals
table, with 2 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze. China on 17 gold and USA on 12 gold
remain first and second, with China now leading in total medals also, 30-29.
South Korea has moved ahead of France into third place. Australia won its first
gold of the Games but remain languishing in 15th position. 49
countries have now won a medal, with 22 having won at least one gold.
Tomorrow’s big events
Great Britain’s gold rush continues tomorrow as the much
anticipated track cycling events begin. Chris Hoy goes for his fifth Olympic
gold medal in the men’s team sprint. In the rowing, the men’s lightweight four
are favourites for gold going into their final, with finalists also in the men’s
double sculls and the women’s eight. The men’s singles table tennis event
reaches its climax, and another packed programme of swimming finals in the
evening includes another match-up between the favoured Ryan Lochte and the
great Michael Phelps in the men’s 200m individual medley.
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