The Fastest Man on Three Wheels: Why David Weir should be BBC Sports Personality of the Year

I've written an article for The Student Journals about why David Weir, who won four gold medals at the London Paralympics, should be recognised as BBC Sports Personality of the Year. In what has been a vintage year of British sport, Weir's acheivements stand out. Add to that the public response to the Paralympics, which fulfilled the 'Inspire a Generation' slogan even more so than the Olympics, and it becomes apparent that our Paralympians deserve more recognition at the Sports Personality of the Year ceremony.

Click here to read The Fastest Man on Three Wheels: Why David Weir should be BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Top 5 Sporting Heroes of London 2012

Here is the final Olympic top 5 of the week, and by far the most difficult to pick. Whittling down the hundreds of gold medal winning athletes to pick five who stood out is a thankless task, and I have tried to select people who had a significant impact on the Games, and whose achievements were the most impressive. Feel free to comment on who would make up your top five.

5 Jessica Ennis

                Ennis came into London 2012 as the much touted “face of the Games.” You could barely turn a corner without seeing her plastered up on a billboard, not only in London but across the country. There was incredible pressure on Jess to produce. Any doubts about her ability to live up to the hype were quickly expelled as she ran 12.54secs in the opening event, the 100m hurdles. That time would have been enough for gold in the hurdles in Beijing, and was a personal best and all-time heptathlon record. Ennis, like Michael Johnson at Atlanta 96 or Ian Thorpe at Sydney 2000, had come to the party. A series of stunning performances, including personal best efforts in the 200m and javelin, made Ennis a shoe-in for gold going into the final event, the 800m. Effectively Ennis only had to make sure she got round to take the victory, with the 800m being one of her stronger events and her lead in points translating to a 13 second advantage on the track. But, in front of an electric crowd in the Olympic Stadium on the middle Saturday of the Games (dubbed Super Saturday), Ennis won the race in style. Her performance was one of the highlights of the Games. She lived up to the much heightened expectations and exceeded them. In none of the seven events did she even slightly disappoint. A truly outstanding performance.

4 The cyclists

                It proved impossible to pick out the achievements of any one cyclist above the others at these Games. Across the board they were, for the second games running, dominant. One of the moments of the Games, without doubt, was the victory of Bradley Wiggins. Wiggins’ achievements over the past few months have been unprecedented. We also saw the changing of the guard of British track cycling. Both Sir Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny won two gold medals at London 2012. Hoy has now won six Olympic golds, more than any other Briton ever. This will be Hoy’s last Olympics, and he went out in style. Now Kenny, already with three golds in the bag, takes up the mantle. For the women, it is a similar story as Victoria Pendleton bows out, and Laura Trott who is also now a double gold medallist becomes British cycling’s new poster girl. It was a tremendous Games again for the cyclists, but special mention must also go to one who came away with nothing. Mark Cavendish, for the second Games running, was without a medal. But he didn’t shy away from the media glare, and even worked for the BBC as a pundit in the velodrome. Amongst all the track cyclists’ success, he added an expert eye and acted with dignity amongst the inevitable questions surrounding his disappointment.

3 Usain Bolt

                There are not enough superlatives in the world to describe this man. Both incredibly talented on the track, and oozing charisma off it, Bolt has now won six Olympic gold medals (giving him a hit rate of 100% in events he has entered). The Olympics has ignited debates over who is the best ever Olympian. From a British perspective, Sir Steve Redgrave is now challenged by Sir Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins. On a worldwide scale, the common answer is Michael Phelps. Phelps has indeed won 22 Olympic medals, including 18 gold. He also had a 100% success rate in 2008. But, particularly at these Games, he hasn’t been the dominant figure he once was. Bolt has now, across two Olympic Games, been unbeatable in everything he entered. Questions were asked before the Games started about whether compatriot Yohan Blake, or the Americans Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin, could beat him. They did not come close. And after his double triumph in the 100m and 200m, he was then the final leg of the world record breaking 4x100m relay team. Given the baton neck-and-neck with the Americans, Bolt strided away to win gold. He confirmed his place as one of the most dominant athletes of all time, and with it perhaps the greatest ever Olympian.

2 Brownlee brothers

                One of the most gruelling events of the Olympic Games is the triathlon. An unforgiving procession of swimming, cycling and running that takes not only an incredible level of fitness, but also the ability to master three different skills to a world-class standard. To complete a triathlon is commendable; to win a medal is very impressive. Remarkable, one family from North Yorkshire managed to contribute two medal winners in this event. Alistair Brownlee and his brother Jonathan finished first and third, respectively, to claim gold and bronze.Their collective performance in the race was remarkable, leading the whole way. Only Javier Gomez of Spain, and a 15-second penalty, prevented the brothers making it a Team GB 1-2. Such was the immense physical exertion of the race that the medal ceremony was delayed after Jonny collapsed shortly before it was meant to take place, and received medical treatment. The brothers’ performance was one of the more uplifting stories of the Games. They have always trained together, in the scenic Yorkshire Dales, and worked to eachother’s advantage during the race. The fairytale of them crossing the line together was always going to be unlikely to occur, but their amazing efforts were one of the most human storylines of the Games. Additionally, the Brownlee family on its own finished ahead of India, Belgium, Portugal and Greece in the medal table.

1 Mo Farah

                Mo became the undisputed star of London 2012. Just like Kelly Holmes in 2004, and Rebecca Adlington in 2008, he became the nation’s most admired athlete by winning two gold medals in one Olympics. He rounded off Super Saturday in style, winning Great Britain’s sixth gold medal of the day, and third at the track, with a commanding performance in the 10,000m. After almost thirty minutes of running, Farah was still able to kick better than any of his rivals and stayed at the front throughout the final lap. The 5,000m was a closer affair. But every time one of his competitors tried to make a move in the last kilometre, Mo was up for the challenge. Nobody was getting past, nobody would deny Mo a second gold. And so it was as he crossed the line, the look of delight unmistakable on his face. Britain has won more than its fair share of gold medals at London 2012, but none was as inspiring as Mo’s double. Born in Somalia and raised in Djibouti, he was brought to this country aged eight knowing barely a word of English; to hear him speak now, you would not know it. There is no question over Mo’s nationality. He is British through and through, and the nation has taken him to its heart. His celebration, the “Mobot,” which was created by Clare Balding and named by james Corden on Sky1’s “A League of their Own,” has become an instant cult classic. With London 2012’s motto being “Inspire a Generation,” there can be no more inspiring and far-reaching figure than Mo Farah.

Top 5 Obscure Sports We've Grown to Love at London 2012

The second Olympic themed Top 5 looks at the sports we never watched before the Olympic Games but have become hooked on. These are the sports we've never really understood in the past but now consider ourselves experts in. In many cases we just stumbled upon them, but somehow find ourselves searching them out as the Games progress.

5 Judo

                Two people wearing pyjamas trying to grab hold of each other and tackle them to the ground has never been so watchable. Great Britain had a disappointing start to the Games in the judo competition, with high profile names like Euan Barton failing to live up to expectations. But then that all changed as Gemma Gibbons claimed a silver medal in an enthralling day of grappling. One of the great aspects of sports like judo at the Olympics is that each weight category completes its tournament in one day, making it incredibly easy to follow the progress of stars like Gibbons. At first sight judo is a complicated sport, but after a day watching it is incredibly easy to pick up the rules. Two competitors try to bring the other to the ground to gain one of the three scores; from the yuko, when your opponent is brought down but not flat out, through the intermediary waz-ari, to the match-ending ippon, when you send your opponent flat out onto the mat. All of this goes on while players, known as judokas, try to avoid penalties, most commonly for passivity. The sport got off to a slow start in terms of interest, but it is impossible not to be hooked.

4 Canoe slalom

                When doing an Open University style description of the 400m hurdles during the athletics, Colin Jackson told us prophetically that 400m hurdles was “a 400m running race, with the added complication of hurdles.” How profound. Canoe slalom, then, is canoeing with the added complication of having to go through gates. But it’s not that simple. First, competitors contend with the artificially produced rapids. They are penalised for even touching any of the gates, and must pass through each one in their correct order or otherwise incur a devastating 50 second penalty (each run through the course takes about two minutes). Then there are the ever entertaining “upstream” gates, where the canoeists must pass the gate by, only to turn and go back through it. This, in particular, requires incredible technique and strength, and performance through these gates is usually the difference between contending for medals and making up the numbers. As with judo, Britain got off to a slow start in this sport but came good with both gold and silver in the men’s C2 or pairs event. It is impossible to watch canoe slalom without swaying and straining with the competitors, trying in vain to help them make the gate or get back upstream despite being on the comfort of one’s own sofa.

3 Handball

                Perhaps the exposure of handball would have benefited from there being a competitive Great British team. Unfortunately this was not the case. Of course, the name of the sport leads to inevitable jokes about football. One observer commented how the French handball team, which won the tournament, was so strong that Thierry Henry couldn’t get a place in the squad. But when you actually sit down to watch handball seriously, it is surprising at just how violent the sport is. But what is more surprising is that the violence is just accepted. Fouls are part of this game. Whereas footballers might roll around on the floor after a tackle, and get angry at the perpetrator, in handball everybody just gets up and starts again. Fouling even acts as a tactic, allowing the defence to reorganise and repel the opposition’s attack more effectively. Then there is the blatantly cruel way that penalties are taken. The penalty taker basically gets to throw the ball at the goal from about five yards, impeded only by a goalkeeper with minimal chance to stop it. That is not to say they never do; the Hungary goalkeeper, in their quarter-final with Iceland, save a penalty at head-height… with his foot. That save, with only seconds left, set up a Hungary equaliser, sending the game into extra-time after which Hungary were victorious. If I’m honest, I never really picked up the rules of handball. But it is such a fast sport and an entertainingly violent yet somehow amiable one, it became a must watch.

2 Taekwondo

                Any sport where the objective is to kick your opponent in the head is obviously going to be a winner. In taekwondo, not only is this the case, but you get even more credit for doing it with flare. A spinning kick to the head will garner far more points than a regular flat-footed one. Jade Jones was undisputedly the star of the sport for Great Britain, taking a gold medal with a series of entertaining encounters. One of the beauties of taekwondo was that it could move on so quickly. The point scoring system means various successful kicks get different points, meaning a match can to-and-fro between the two competitors. In one match involving bronze medallist Lutalo Muhammad, the score remained at 0-0 for five of the six minutes that the encounter takes, before bursting into life and seeing Muhammad win 7-1. Jade Jones won her opening match after she opened up such a large lead (14 points) that the match was stopped then and there. In contrast, her final opponent from China came through her first round encounter in sudden death after a cagey 0-0 in regulation. The classic exchanges in taekwondo were those when the participants exchanged kicks rapidly. Naturally, attempting a kick you also leave yourself open to attack which often led to quick-fire back and forth attacks with both players accruing points. A very fast-paced sport and an incredibly gripping one.

1 Equestrian

                Great Britain may have won 29 gold medals at London 2012. But the unsung heroes of the whole event were none of these gold medallists, nor even any human being. It was the impeccably trained horses of the equestrian events who stole the show at Greenwich Park. Great Britain had major success in equestrian, with team silver in the three-day eventing, team gold in both dressage and show-jumping, and individual gold in dressage. Dressage was the most unlikely sport that captivated the nation. Who would have thought a load of horses dancing around would be entertaining? Yet somehow it was. It was never better than in the final round, as Charlotte Dujardin confirmed her gold medal, when music was added to the spectacle. Britain’s Laura Bechtolsheimer and her horse Mistral Højris performed to a Lion King medley, while Dujardin and Valegro did their effort to a medley of Great British music, from orchestral tunes like Land of Hope and Glory, through crowd favourites like the Great Escape theme, to rock classics like Live and Let Die by Paul McCartney & Wings. This was another example where, after a short time watching, we felt like experts, picking out the minor errors like we had been watching it all our lives. But for me the highlight was three-day eventing, the true test of a horse’s adaptability and all-round skill. Dressage, cross country and show-jumping, with incredibly designed London-themed fences, with penalties for knocking them over or taking too long to complete the course. It was enthralling from start to finish.

Top 5 Non-Sporting Figures of London 2012

This is the first of three Olympic Top 5 lists. Later in the week will be the Top 5 sporting heroes and the Top 5 obscure sports we've grown to love. But today's list looks at the Top 5 non-sporting figures of the Games.

5 The army

                One of the major pre-Games controversies was the G4S security debacle. It could have spiralled into a logistical nightmare if handled incorrectly. But once the Games had begun, little was heard of security problems. There were a few teething problems during football matches in the week leading up to the Opening Ceremony, but after that everything ran apparently smoothly. This was not a case of issues sorting themselves out. The army stepped in to fill the gaps left by G4S and, by all accounts, handled the situation with aplomb. It is easy to forget that these men could just as easily be fighting a war in Afghanistan, instead of acting as security personnel at the Games. Defending the country is their job, but doing so in these circumstances is not something they have been trained to do. They were called in last minute, but took to it like a duck to water. Importantly, the Games passed without a major security incident, and that is mainly down to the hard work, adaptability and vigilance of our Armed Forces, and for this they should be saluted.

4 Boris Johnson

                Everywhere you turned at the Olympic Games, there were recognisable faces. The Royal Family seemed to be in attendance at every event, with Seb Coe, David Cameron and David Beckham also making more than their fair share appearances. But there was only one man who brought entertainment wherever he went, and that was Mayor of London Boris Johnson. That Boris can make a fool of himself like nobody else was not in dispute before the Games, but London 2012 has just confirmed it. He was in top form before the Olympics even began, taunting Mitt Romney when the American Presidential candidate questioned London’s Olympic preparations. His dancing to the Spice Girls at the closing ceremony will become an instant YouTube classic. His unique way with words, such as the coining of the word “Olympomania,” brought colour to otherwise dull moments. But without doubt Boris’ finest hour was that zip-wire incident. For many a politician, such an incident could be a PR disaster. But Boris did not shout and wail at his security and other hangers-on to get him down. He cracked jokes to the bystanders and laughed the incident off. Without Boris, the world, and the London Olympic Games, would be a duller place.

3 Danny Boyle

                The Beijing Opening Ceremony was spectacular. The fireworks, the performances, the choreography and direction, were all magnificent. Nobody thought it could be topped. In the days leading up to the Games, much of the population was still wondering how we were going to mess the whole thing up. It would be appropriately British to make a pig’s ear of the greatest show on earth. But Boyle stepped up to the mark. His Opening Ceremony was unique. It did not try to match the sheer audacity and scale of Beijing. Boyle knew his ceremony would not be able to compete. But he made it his own. It was quintessentially British, and after all that was what it needed. The Opening Ceremony is organised by the host, and should reflect that. Boyle got it spot on. But perhaps his most impressive achievement was that the whole thing was memorable, from the touching tribute to the victims of 7/7, to the musical medley, or the transformation from pastoral scene to Industrial Revolution complete with Sir Kenneth Branagh as Isambard Kingdom Brunel. But the two cherries on top of the cake, the appearance of Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean and the coup of the Queen alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond, made Boyle’s show peerless.

2 Clare Balding

                Balding has really set herself apart as the star of the BBC broadcasting team at the Olympics. Like many of the presenters, she was tirelessly employed every day of the Games. But she was not given a cushy job in the main studio, providing links to each event, but was ferried around the venues, appearing at swimming, equestrian and boxing to name but three. At each she offered impressive professionalism, clearly well researched but also ceding to her more expert colleagues as appropriate. Importantly, the viewer could really appreciate her passion for sport, which came across on the television and was infectious. Her genuine joy at the success of the equestrians, a sport close to her, was heart-warming. Though Balding invited criticism for raising that questions would be asked about Ye Shiwen’s rapid improvement, I in fact found this even more commendable. She did not shy away from the big issues for fear of the critics. She asked the questions that the viewers were thinking, and wanted answered. For this, she must be praised. Finally, her interview with Bert, the father of South African Chad le Clos, who beat Michael Phelps by the smallest of margins to win a gold medal, was an instant classic.

1 The volunteers

                During the Closing Ceremony, Seb Coe’s speech was interrupted by rapturous applause and cheers. This was when he mentioned the volunteers, known as “Gamesmakers.” The contribution of those who gave up their time, in many cases taking holidays from work to help out, cannot be underestimated. For some, they got to see the inner workings of the Games and the state-of-the-art stadia used for competition. Many will have seen the best action first hand. But for the majority, they stood day after day out in the open, whatever the weather, answering queries and pointing people in the right direction. They did not see any action at all. But they always had smiles on their faces. They were always happy to help. They were doing it for free, but they exemplified the Olympic spirit of helpfulness. Without them, the Olympics could not have run as smoothly as they did.

The Olympic Report: Days 15 & 16

British medal watch

Mo Farah won a sensational second gold medal of London 2012 as he came home first in the men’s 5,000m. Farah ran a strong race, and in the final two laps he led throughout. Those behind him mounted a series of challenges but each time Mo upped his own pace. Nobody else could match his kick, and in the home straight the crowd went wild as they realised he was going to complete a remarkable double.

Anthony Joshua put in a great final round to claim the gold medal in the men’s super-heavyweight division boxing. Joshua was trailing his Italian opponent Roberto Cammarelle after two rounds but pulled it back in third, levelling the bout and winning on count back. The Italians appealed the decision, but this was rejected. After review, Joshua actually won by a wider margin than the original score suggested. Yesterday, Hull’s Luke Campbell also took the gold medal with a victory over Ireland’s John Joe Nevin in the bantamweight category. He knocked over the Irishman in the third round, and went clear after the first two rounds were close. Fred Evans missed out on gold as Kazakhstan’s Serik Sapiyev won a comfortable victory in the welterweight final.

Ed McKeever took gold for Team GB in canoe sprint, crossing the line first in the men’s 200m K1 event. McKeever got off to a fast start and dominated the race, finishing 0.3secs ahead of his nearest rival. It was a successful day at Eton Dorney for the Brits, as the men’s 200m K2 bronze also went the way of Team GB. Liam Heat and Jon Schofield, reigning European champions, could not match the Russian pair who took gold but were in with a chance of silver, until they were pipped to the post by Belarus. The pair ended up settling for bronze.

Tom Daley put the disappointment of the synchronised event by taking bronze in a hotly contested men’s 10m individual platform diving contest. Daley led going into the final dive after a consistent display. He put an early controversy behind him, after he was allowed to retake his first dive having been initially distracted by flash photography, which is banned during diving events. Daley’s final dive was another strong one, which gave him a chance of gold. But his rival also upped their Games, as David Boudia of the USA took gold and Bo Qui of China claimed silver. Nonetheless, Daley was delighted with the medal and celebrated by diving into the pool with his watching team-mates.

Top news

The USA held off a spirited fight from Spain to take men’s basketball gold. The American team, containing NBA all-stars, led for most of the match but Spain kept it close, even leading on a few occasions. But the Spaniards could not quite pull off a remarkable upset as their team of both NBA and European players came up six points short of their more esteemed opponents.

France has retained its handball title after beating Sweden 22-21 in the final. The French claimed the gold in a very tight and hard fought match.

Stephen Kiprotich secured Uganda’s first gold medal since 1972 as he raced clear in the men’s marathon this morning. Kiprotich was an outside bet coming into the event but he ran a textbook race, staying in contention early on and then carving out a lead in the latter stages, crossing the line well ahead of the second placed runner from Kenya.

Mexico completed an unlikely victory in the men’s football final, taking gold over the favourites from Brazil. Mexico took a two goal lead before Brazil pulled one back, but their efforts weren’t enough.

Other news

Tom Daley has dedicated his bronze medal in the men’s 10m platform to his dad, who died last year after a battle with cancer.

Two Egyptian wrestelers have been disqualified from their events after arriving late.

British swimming has announced it will hold a review of the team’s disappointing performance at the Games. Great Britain won only three swimming medals at London 2012, a silver for Michael Jamieson and two bronze medals for Rebecca Adlington.

Lord Sebastian Coe has been appointed as ambassador for the London 2012 Olympic legacy.

David Cameron has announced that funding for sport in the UK, which had only been confirmed up to 2014, has been extended as far as the Rio Games of 2016.

Charles van Commenee, the director of UK Athletics, is undecided on his future after Great Britain only won six medals in track and field. Van Commenee said he would have to consider his position if the target of eight medals was not achieved.

Your final medal table Top 10

Rank      Country                  G            S            B           Total

1              United States      46           29           29           104

2              China                 38           27           22           87

3              Great Britain       29           17           19           65

4              Russia                 24           25           33           82

5              South Korea        13            8             7            28

6              Germany             11           19           14           44

7              France                11           11           12           34

8              Italy                    8             9            11           28

9              Hungary               8             4             5            17

10           Australia               7             16           12           35

The Olympic Report: Day 14

British medal watch

The 470 class sailors won double silver today as Great Britain’s men’s and women’s pairs both confirmed second place in the overall classification. Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark went into the medal race tied with New Zealand, but finished well down the field as the Kiwis claimed the gold medal. Earlier on, Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell also had to settle for silver after failing to beat the Australian boat by one clear place, which would have seen them win gold. The pair were in contention for achieving their goal early on in the race, but a penalty towards the end put to the sword and remaining hopes of sneaking above the Aussies.

Great Britain’s women’s hockey team ended their campaign on a high by winning the bronze medal through a 3-1 victory over New Zealand in the third-place play-off. Team GB took a 3-0 lead, thanks to some splendid work on penalty corners, before New Zealand pulled back a consolation goal late on.

Anthony Ogogo’s defeat to Brazil’s Esquiva Falcao has confirmed that he will take home the bronze medal. By reaching the semi-final of the middleweight competition, Ogogo had been guaranteed at least a bronze but, had he won this bout, he would have been guaranteed a silver. In boxing there is no third-place play-off, so Ogogo is confirmed as a bronze medallist. Ogogo found himself trailing after two rounds and fell further behind as he took risks to cut the deficit, even being knocked over on two occasions. Luke Campbell will fight Ireland’s John Joe Nevin for bantamweight gold after both won their semi-final fights today. Campbell will win at least a silver medal, whatever the outcome of the bout. Fred Evans is also in the final of the welterweight category after a close victory over Taras Shelestyuk of Ukraine.

Lutalo Muhammed has won a bronze medal for Great Britain in taekwondo’s under 80kg category. Muhammad, who was a controversial selection for the Games, won his opening fight but was defeated in his quarter-final encounter. This meant he could not win the gold or silver, but he was given a chance in the repechage which he took with aplomb. He still needed two victories after the reprieve was confirmed, but he managed to do just that and claim the medal.

Top news

The USA’s men’s 4x400m relay team has won the gold as sixteen consecutive Olympic Games coming into London 2012, but a strong performance from the Bahamas saw that run come to an abrupt end. It was a two horse race as America and the Bahamas split apart from the rest of the field, with the Americans leading for most. But on the final leg, the Bahamians overtook their rivals can claimed the gold medal. It was not all doom and gloom for the Americans at the track, though, as the women’s 4x100m relay team won the gold in that event, and broke a 27-year old East German world record in the process. Their run was textbook, with quick legs and efficient changes, as they ran away with the win. Tirunesh Dibaba, looking to complete a double-double by winning the women’s 5,000m to go with her gold in the 10,000m and her two golds in those events in Beijing, had to settle for bronze as team-mate Meseret Defar took gold. It was a great day for Turkey as they took a 1-2 in the women’s 1500m. Asli Cakir finished with the gold medal, while Gamze Bulut took silver. And an Olympic record was set in the women’s hammer as Tatyana Lysenko took gold. The bronze went to Germany’s Betty Heidler after a controversial mishap almost cost her the medal. Heidler’s longest throw was incorrectly measured at first, but the mistake was later cleared up and she was confirmed in third place.

The Netherlands has won gold in the women’s hockey after defeating Argentina 2-0 in the final. Both goals came as the result of well worked penalty corners, as the Netherlands kept up their 100% record in the competition. South Korea has taken the bronze medal for men’s football after a victory over Japan. A goal in each half saw them take a 2-0 victory in the all-Far East clash.

Unsung Hero

Oussama Mellouli became the first person to win medals at both the pool and open water swimming at one Olympics after triumphing in this morning’s 10km swim in the Serpentine. The Tunisian took bronze earlier in the Games in the men’s 1500m freestyle, and added a gold in the marathon swim. He swam an aggressive race, responsible for a breakaway from the group and held his own amongst the open water specialists. He beat Thomas Lurz of Germany, the silver medal winner, by more than three seconds.

Disappointment

Great Britain managed to get round in the 4x100m relay without dropping the baton, but they were disqualified anyway despite finishing second in the heat. The third and final changeover was a comedy of errors and, though the baton did not hit the ground, it was not exchanged within the allowed zone.

Shanaze Reade and Liam Phillips missed out on the medals despite reaching their respective BMX finals. Reade got off to a poor start in the women’s final, finding herself in sixth place early on. She was unable to close down the leaders and finished in the same sixth position she held all race. Phillips, on the other hand, got off to a great start and looked in with a medal chance early in the race, but he then crashed out to leave his hopes in tatters.

Sarah Stevenson had a disappointing day at the ExCel as she failed to live up to expectations in her events. Stevenson was defeated in her opening match-up this morning. In taekwondo, participants who are beaten by the finalists are given a chance to win bronze through the repechage, but Stevenson’s conqueror, Paige McPherson of the USA, lost in the next round.

Other news

Aaron Cook, the taekwondo world number one who was left out of the Olympics after the selectors chose Lutalo Muhammad, has said he is unable to watch the competition in which he expected to compete. Cook attended the first day of competition, but had to stay away today, the day he would have competed, as he could not bear being there.

American runner Manteo Mitchell, who broke his leg during yesterday’s 4x400m relay but still completed the last 200m of his leg in spite of the injury, has revealed he heard his leg as it broke. Mitchell, Team USA’s lead-off man, ensured his team’s progression by completing his lap.

Photos have been unveiled of the Spice Girls in rehearsals. The group have been widely touted to be performing in the Closing Ceremony, but their participation has not been confirmed.

Sweden has launched an appeal against the result of the women’s triathlon after their athlete, Lisa Norden, was awarded silver in a photo finish. Norden was officially beaten by Switzerland’s Nicola Spirig, but photos have since suggested that the race may have been a dead heat. Sweden hopes that Norden will be awarded a second gold medal for the event.

For the first time, Usain Bolt has said he sees himself as a legend of Athletics, the greatest athlete ever. Bolt had refused to be led by interviewers asking him before the 200m final, but after becoming the first man to win a double-sprint-double Bolt has finally accepted his place as the number one of all time.

Jade Jones has vowed to defend her taekwondo title at Rio 2016.

And finally…

Usain Bolt borrowed a photographer’s camera after his 200m triumph yesterday to take a series of celebratory pictures.

The Olympic Report: Day 13

British medal watch

Charlotte Dujardin put in sensational performance to claim gold in the individual dressage competition. Dujardin and her horse, Valegro, went last and scored over 90%, edging out a Dutch rider in second. Laura Bechtolsheimer won the bronze medal, while Carl Hester came fifth. Dujardin has come a long way, originally a stable girl whose potential was seen by team mate Hester. The pair have worked together, and Valegro is owned by Hester. And the work has now paid off twice in a week, with the trio having won team gold on Tuesday. Dujardin performed her medal winning routine to the tune of a number of patriotic anthems, including The Great Escape theme, Live and Let Die by the Paul McCartney & Wings, Land of Hope and Glory and I Vow to Thee My Country, and received a standing ovation after her routine from the Greenwich Park crown. Bechtolsheimer performed to a Lion King medley.

Yorkshire won another gold medal as Leeds’ Nicola Adams dominated her opponent, the world champion Ren Cancan from China, in the women’s flyweight boxing final. Adams became the first woman ever to win a gold medal in boxing at the Olympics. She looked like winning right from the off, and never trailed in points. At the end of the match, she led 16-7 for a comfortable victory. She even managed to knock Ren to the ground in the second round. Jade Jones has won Great Britain’s first ever gold medal in taekwondo, overcoming China’s Yuzhuo Hou in the final of the women’s under 57kg category. Jones won the bout 6-4, with a strong second round providing the basis for her historic win.

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Usain Bolt has become the first man in history to win back-to-back Olympic sprint doubles after coming home first in the 200m. Bolt clocked a time of 19.32secs, coming home ahead of Yohan Blake, winning his second silver behind Bolt of the Games. Warren Weir took bronze to complete a Jamaican 1-2-3. Bolt’s time was just outside that which won him the 200m in Beijing, 0.13secs slower than his own world record.

Also at the track, Kenya’s David Rudisha set a new world record in winning gold in the men’s 800m, annihilating the field in a strong display. Ashton Eaton of the USA won gold in the decathlon, ahead of world champion and fellow American Trey Hardee. Another American, Christian Taylor, won the gold in men’s triple jump to go alongside the world championship crown he won alst year.

Ireland’s Katie Taylor took boxing gold in an electric ExCel Arena this afternoon. Taylor had dominated her opponents so far in the competition, but this final was a much tighter affair. She trailed by a point at half-way, but in the third round turned up the heat and opened up a lead. Russian opponent Sofya Ochigava had no response as Taylor won Ireland’s second medal, and first gold, of London 2012. It is the first Irish gold since Michelle Smith won three in swimming at Atlanta in 1996.

South Africa’s men’s 4x400m relay team has been given a reprieve and will enter Friday’s final, giving Oscar Pistorius the opportunity to achieve an Olympic first. The team had been knocked-out in the semi-final after a collision with a Kenyan runner saw Ofentse Mogawane fall on the track. But after an appeal, it was determined that the incident was the Kenyan runner’s fault. As a result, South Africa will take Kenya’s place in the final.

An entertaining encounter in the women’s football final between the USA and Japan saw the Americans come out as 2-1 victors to claim the gold medal. The USA took a 2-0 lead over world champions Japan, who pulled one back to set up a grandstand finish. The Americans managed to hold on to continue their domination of Olympic women’s football, having won three of the previous four events (only missing out on gold in 2000 when Norway took the crown). Earlier, an injury-time goal saw Canada overcome France in the third-place play-off and claim the bronze medal. France had outplayed their opponents during the match, but Diana Matheson made them pay for a lack of ruthlessness by converting at the back post shortly before full-time.

Disappointment

Great Britain’s men’s hockey team will play-off against Australia after suffering a 9-2 hammering at the hands of the Netherlands. Britain went two down in the first half before pulling one back, but then the Dutch went on the rampage scoring seven in a row before Britain scored a late consolation. The Netherlands take on Germany for gold, while Great Britain will win bronze if they can overcome the Aussies.

Kerri-Anne Payne just missed out on a medal in the women’s 10km marathon swim. The swim, which took almost two hours to complete and took place in the Serpentine, is one of the most challenging events of the Games. The race ended in a sprint finish, with Payne edged out by less than a second, and is without a medal. Eva Risztov of Hungary took the gold medal.

Other news

Great Britain’s Tom Stalker, who was adjudged to have lost his boxing light-welterweight quarter-final to Munkh-Erdine Uranchimeg of Mongolia, has had an appeal against the result rejected.

And finally…

Two of Great Britain’s most successful Olympians at London 2012 have announced that they are an item. Laura Trott, who won gold in the women’s team pursuit and omnium events, and Jason Kenny, who won men’s team sprint and individual sprint gold, chose to reveal their relationship now that the pressure of the Games is over. Kenny also won a gold and a silver in Beijing.

Robert Harting, the German discus gold medallist, had an eventful night after winning his medal. Harting ran the 100m hurdles and tried to take a part of the Olympic cauldron before leaving the stadium, then found himself getting drunk on a German cruise liner. His Olympic accreditation was then stolen after he had passed out.

Updated medal table

Great Britain is back to winning ways, and has now accrued 25 gold medals. The USA has stormed ahead of China on total medals, now leading 90-80, while also have a two medal advantage in terms of golds. Germany has become the sixth nation into double figures of gold. Ireland, who appeared on the medal table yesterday after a show jumping bronze, has climbed again with Katie Taylor’s gold. Australia has made their first appearance in the top ten. 80 nations have now won at least one medal.

The Olympic Report: Day 12

British medal watch

Mo Farah progressed to the final of the men’s 1500m with ease this morning, coasting to a third place finish in his heat which saw him comfortably qualify. Sophie Hitchon set a new British record for the women’s hammer as she also made her way through to the final of that competition. Steve Lewis has qualified with ease for the men’s pole vault final. He vaulted 5.50m, which was already good enough to progress, and so did not have to take any more attempts.

Nicola Adams will take home at least a silver medal from the Game after reaching the final of the women’s flyweight division. China’s Ren Cancan waits in the final, the favourite and three-time world champion.

Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark are guaranteed a medal in the sailing women’s 470 class, going head to head with New Zealand’s crew in tomorrow’s decisive race for the gold.

In the BMX time trial, which determines seedings for the week’s races, Shanaze Reade qualified as fifth fastest. Reade is a multiple world champion and one of the event’s favourites, having crashed out in the same position in Beijing. Liam Phillips goes in the men’s event after being ranked twelfth today.

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Hungary came through an exciting extra-time encounter to defeat Iceland in the men’s handball quarter-final. Iceland missed a penalty then conceded an equaliser in the last ten seconds of regulation, and Hungary made the most of it in extra-time to hold on for the win. They will face Sweden, who overcame Denmark, in the semi-final. France edged a close game against Spain and will face the winner of Croatia vs. Tunisia.

There was a busy day of finals in the Athletics, with America’s Aries Merritt running a personal best to win gold in the 110m hurdles. Dayron Robles, the defending champion, pulled up with a hamstring injury during the race. Britain’s Lawrence Clarke put in a strong finish to sneak into fourth place. Allyson Felix took the women’s 200m gold in a much anticipated race. The women’s 400m hurdles was won by Natalya Antyukh of Russia in a personal best time. The women’s long jump was won by American Brittney Reese, with Britain’s Shara Proctor coming a lowly ninth.

Spain and Russia will meet in the semi-finals of the men’s basketball after victories in today’s quarter-finals. Argentina beat Brazil in their quarter and will face the winner of the ongoing Australia vs. USA match.

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings won a third consecutive gold medal in the women’s beach volleyball after victory today in an all-American final. The pair won the gold medal match in straight sets, 21-16, 21-16.

Disappointment

Tim Brabants was unable to defend his K1 1000m canoe sprint title, finishing in eighth in this morning’s final. Canada’s Adam van Coeverden had come into the final as favourite and burst out into an early lead, but he fell away into second place as Norway’s Eirik Veras Larsen, who won the event in Athens in 2004, came through to take gold.

Daniel Awde has been forced to withdraw from the decathlon due to injury. Awde competed in this morning’s events, but a knee injury has meant that he has decided to drop out of the competition.

Great Britain’s show jumpers were unable to back up their team gold medal with individual glory. Nick Skelton and Scott Brash finished with one fence down and Ben Mayer with two. But the medals went to riders without fences down, Steve Guerdat taking gold with no penalties at all. There was a jump-off for silver and bronze between two riders with only one time fault, Ireland’s Cian O’Connor and Gerco Schroeder of the Netherlands, with the Dutchman eventually claiming silver after an aggressive round in the jump-off.

The Great Britain women’s hockey team will face New Zealand in the bronze medal match after defeat to Argentina. The Argentinians took a first half 2-0 lead, before Great Britain pulled one back late in the second. But they couldn’t level the scores, putting Argentina through to the gold medal match against the Netherlands. They beat New Zealand on penalties after the teams fought out a 2-2 draw after normal and extra time.

Other news

Details have emerged about a Team GB victory parade scheduled for 10 September. The parade will combine winners of both Olympic and Paralympic medals, and will end at Buckingham Palace. It has also been suggested that children may be given the day off school to attend.

The golden post box in Sheffield, painted by the Royal Mail as a tribute to Jessica Ennis’ gold medal winning effort in the heptathlon, has been vandalised. The Royal Mail has said it has repainted the post box as a result of the vandalism.

And finally…

Garth Crooks suggested last night on the BBC that part of the reason for Brazil’s success in the Olympic Games men’s football has been their “4-2-1-3-1” formation, which would suggest that they play with twelve players.

Cuban pole vaulter Lazaro Borges was lucky to escape without injury after his pole snapped into three as he attempted a vault of 5.35m in this morning’s qualifying. He just missed out on qualifying for the final.

Updated medal table

No medal for Team GB today, but our place in third in the medal table is still comfortable. Russia has joined Great Britain, China, USA and South Korea with over ten gold medals. China remain at the top of the table, but the USA has cut the gap after today’s events.

Tomorrow’s big events

Usain Bolt looks to complete the double-double as the men’s 200m final takes place, with the men’s 800m also reaching its end. The women’s open water 10km swim goes ahead, and Great Britain has medal hopes in the individual dressage. Boxing finals start tomorrow, and there are more canoe sprint titles up for grabs. The women’s football gold medal match also takes place tomorrow.

The Olympic Report: Day 11

British medal watch

One family from Yorkshire won two Olympic medals early this afternoon, as Alastair Brownlee won the gold medal in the men’s triathlon, and his brother Jonathan took bronze. The pair excelled throughout the race, amongst the leaders leaving the water after the swimming section and staying in the leading group throughout the cycling. The running saw the competitors start to fragment, with Alastair streaking away at the front. Jonathan was forced to serve a 15 second penalty during the run for a technical infringement earlier in the race, which robbed him of the chance of challenging for gold or silver. Spain’s Javier Gomez took the silver medal.

Team GB added another equestrian gold in the afternoon as they won the team dressage event. The trio of Charlotte Dujardin, Laura Bechtolsheimer and Carl Hester put in another set of top class scores to beat out the German team for first place. All three remain in contention for individual medals.

There was another incredible day in the velodrome as two of cycling’s greats took their final bows at the Olympic Games. Sir Chris Hoy has said he plans to retire after the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, while Victoria Pendleton has said London 2012 is her last competition. Both came away with medals on the final day of track cycling. But it was Laura Trott who got the day up and running with gold in the omnium. Trott went into the final event knowing she needed to finish above America’s Sarah Hammer by three places, and did just that by winning the event while Hammer finished fourth. Pendleton was up next, but could only achieve silver as Australia’s Anna Meares took gold in the women’s individual sprint. Pendleton had won the first race, but the win was handed to Meares due to an infringement by Pendleton. Meares than won a tactical second race to secure the overall win. But Chris Hoy got the team back on track with gold in the men’s keirin. Hoy took to the front with two and half laps remaining and, despite temporarily falling into second, surged back to the front to take the win. Hoy ends his Olympic career with six gold medals and one silver.

Nick Dempsey won a silver medal in the men’s windsurfing. Dempsey went into today’s final race needing only to finish in the top six to secure the silver medal, and he did so with ease ending the race in third position. The Netherlands’ Dorian van Rijsselberge took gold. Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell in the men’s 470 class are now guaranteed at least a silver medal. They are in competition with Matthew Belcher and Malcolm Page of Australia for gold. The Australians have a narrow leading going into the medal race.

Robbie Grabarz took a bronze medal in the men’s high jump, after three jumpers could not be separated in joint third place. Ivan Ukhov jumped clear at 2.38m to take the title, with Erik Kynard of the USA taking silver, and Derek Drouin of Canada and Mutaz Essa Barshin of Qatar also taking a bronze medal each.

Great Britain’s men’s hockey team has joined the women in the semi-finals of that tournament. They needed a win against Spain to guarantee progress after Pakistan were defeated earlier in the day, and they achieved just that with a 1-1 result.

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Australia will take on the USA in the semi-finals of the women’s basketball competition. The American’s trounced Canada in their quarter-final, whereas the Aussies had a closer game against China. Russia scraped through to the semis with a 66-63 win over Turkey, and will face France who also won a close match-up, against the Czech Republic. In women’s handball, all four quarter-finals were close encounters decided by three points or less. The semi-final lines up sees Norway take on South Korea and Spain facing Montenegro.

The USA is guaranteed the gold and silver medal in the women’s beach volleyball as both pairs of its pairs in the tournament reached the gold medal match. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Smith have won the last two Olympic tournaments, but to make a third victory they will have to get past compatriots April Ross and Jennifer Kessy. In the men’s event, Brazil’s Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego have reached the final, and will take on the German pair of Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann.

The men’s hockey semi-finals will see Australia face Germany and Great Britain take on the Neterlands. Australia trounced Pakistan to confirm their place in the top of Pool A. The Netherlands have remained the only team in the competition with a 100% record after victory over South Korea.

China took gold in the women’s team event table tennis. They defeated Japan 3-0 in the final. Singapore took bronze after defeating South Korea in the play-off. Brazil and Japan will contest the first semi-final in the women’s volleyball after victories today. The USA has also qualified for the semis and will face South Korea after they came from behind to defeat Italy.

The USA and Spain will fight it out for gold in the women’s water polo after both teams came through their semi-finals with victory. Both teams are guaranteed a medal, whereas the semi-final losers, Australia and Hungary, will have to battle for bronze.

Germany’s Robert Harting took gold in the discus with a throw of 68.27m. Also in the athletics, Australia’s performance at the Games has markedly improved as Sally Pearson collected the gold medal in the 100m hurdles in an Olympic record time. Meanwhile controversial Algerian Taoufik Makhloufi, who was originally disqualified from the Games before being reinstated for not trying in the 800m, took gold in the men’s 1500m in a dominant performance.

Mexico is guaranteed an Olympic medal in men’s football after a come-from-behind victory over Japan. Yuki Otso opened the scoring after 12 minutes, but goals by Marco Fabian after half an hour, and Oribe Peralta after a little more than an hour put Mexico ahead, a lead they would not relinquish. Javier Cortes added a third in injury time to complete the scoring at 3-1. In the final they will face Brazil who cruised to victory over South Korea 3-0, thanks to a first half goal from Romulo and two goals in quick succession either side of the hour mark from Leandro Damiao. This means the bronze medal match will be an all-Asian affair.
 

Unsung Hero

Marina Alabau won Spain’s first gold medal of the Games in the RS:X windsurfing discipline. Alabau led heading into the medal race, and won that race to ensure that she would take home the gold.

Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina of Russia became the first gold medal winners in synchronised swimming at London 2012, winning the women’s duet free routine competition.
 

Disappointment

Phillips Idowu crashed out of qualifying in the men’s triple jump after failing to record a jump long enough to place him in the top twelve, who qualify for the final. Idowu has had various problems coming into the Games, suffering from niggling injuries but also having a war of words with UK Athletics. Women’s javelin hope Goldie Sayers also failed to qualify for her final. An elbow injury flared up in practice and Sayers recorded three no throws to be eliminated. She has vowed to continue on to Rio 2016.

China’s Liu Xiang, winner of gold in the men’s 110m hurdles in Athens in 2004, pulled up before the second hurdle with an Achilles injury in this morning’s heat. Xiang had to be helped from the track and is now out of the competition. Xiang also missed out on a medal at his home Olympics, Beijing 2008, due to injury. He reached the final, but pulled out at the last minute.
 

Other news

Seven Cameroonian athletes have gone AWOL, Olympic officials have said. It is thought they may be intending to remain in Europe rather than go home with the colleagues.

Alastair Brownlee has criticised the penalty which saw his brother Jonathan drop gown to third in the men’s triathlon earlier today.
 

And finally…

British pole vaulter Holly Bleasdale put in a disappointing performance in her final yesterday, finishing sixth. However her day did take a turn for the better, as she revealed her boyfriend proposed to her after the final, and she accepted.
 

Updated medal table

China has extended its lead over the USA to four gold medals. Great Britain, on 22 golds, has now won more gold medals at this Olympics than in Beijing in 2008. Team GB has now also won gold medals in more different disciplines than the USA, and excluding swimming (in which the USA won 16 golds) Team GB would be comfortably ahead of their American rivals.

Interestingly, after today’s events Yorkshire has now won 5 gold medals which, if it were a country, would place it 11^th, ahead of Australia, Japan and Spain. The Brownlee family on its own sits equal 37^th alongside Lithuania and ahead of Mexico, Serbia and Argentina.

Tomorrow’s big events

More medal hopes for Great Britain tomorrow as the individual show jumping medals are given out. There are finals for the women’s 400m hurdles and 200m, and men’s 110m hurdles. The women’s beach volleyball gold medal match goes ahead, as well as an array of canoe sprint finals at Eton Dorney. There are also a significant number of knock-out matches in hockey, volleyball, handball, water polo and a number of other sports.

The Olympic Report: Day 10

British medal watch

There were dramatic scenes at Greenwich Park as the team show-jumping came to an end with Great Britain winning gold. The competition was held over two rounds of jumping, but Great Britain led by Nick Skelton who was clear on both rounds, and the Netherlands could not be separated. All four riders had to go again for both teams. Clear rounds from Skelton, Ben Maher and Peter Charles ensured the victory as the Dutch had two riders with fences down.

Jason Kenny defeated Gregory Bauge of France to claim the gold medal in the men’s individual sprint. Kenny won silver in Beijing in 2008, behind Sir Chris Hoy, but with new rules restricting countries to one entrant, Kenny out-qualified Hoy to take the place. He didn’t lose a single race throughout the competition, winning the final in convincing fashion. Victoria Pendleton has now reached the semi-final of the women’s event, where she will take on German Kristina Vogel. Meanwhile Laura Trott leads the omnium overnight after half of the six events. Trott won both the lying lap and the highly entertaining elimination race to sit joint first.

Beth Tweddle, who will retire from gymnastics after the Games, has won a bronze medal in the asymmetric bars final. Tweddle put in a strong performance, with the only error being a big step backwards on her dismount. Had she perfected the dismount she may have challenged for gold, but the mistake put her in second at the time. She had an anxious wait with three more gymnasts to compete, but the final two both made errors which cleared the way for Tweddle to finish third. Aliya Mustafina of Russia won the gold medal.

Nicola Adams has become the first British woman to be guaranteed a boxing medal. Adams has reached the semi-finals of the women’s flyweight division, beating Stoyka Petrova of Bulgaria in her quarter-final. In the men’s section, Luke Campbell, Anthony Joshua and Anthony Ogogo are now also guaranteed at least a bronze medal each by reaching the semi-finals of their respective weight divisions.

Great Britain’s women’s hockey team have qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament. Their place was assured before they actually faced the Netherlands today, after rivals China lost 1-0 to Japan. Great Britain would have only needed a draw if China had won. Later in the day, the Netehrlands came from behind to beat Team GB 2-1, but both teams go through to the semi-finals.

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Tom Slingsby became Australia’s second gold medal winner of the Games in the men’s laser class sailing. He beat out out Great Britain’s Paul Goodison, the defending champion who was suffering from a back injury and, as a result, missed out on a medal. The women’s laser radial event was won by Xu Lijia of China. The Australians are guaranteed another sailing gold medal after Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen opened up an unassailable gap with one race to spare in the 49er class.

The women’s football semi-finals have been completed, with USA vs. Japan being the gold medal match in a repeat of the World Cup final, and Canada vs. France for bronze. World champion Japan resisted a late renaissance from France to book their place in the final with a 2-1 victory. Yuki Ogimi and Mizuho Sakaguchi scored either side of half-time for the Japanese, before Eugenie le Sommer scored with fifteen minutes to go to make the end of the match interesting. But Japan held on, and is guaranteed a medal, while France will have to compete for bronze. At Old Trafford, an incredibly hard-fought match saw the USA defeat Canada 4-3. The game was enthralling from start to finish, with Canadian captain Christine Sinclair scoring a hat-trick as they led three times. But three times the USA came back, with two goals from Megan Rapinoe and one from Abby Wambach. The game went into extra time at 3-3, but Alex Morgan rose highest in the third minute of injury time in the second half of extra time after a wonderful cross, to put the USA through.

Kirani James became the first man from Grenada to win an Olympic medal, doing so in style by winning gold in the men’s 400m. He ran a national record to win the race ahead of Luguelin Santos of Dominican Republic and Lalonde Gordon of Trinidad and Tobago in a Caribbean 1-2-3. Grenada is now the smallest country ever to win a gold medal at an Olympic Games.

In the women's hockey, Argentina fought out a 0-0 draw with Australia to set up a semi-final tie with Great Britain. Australia had to win the match to progress from Pool B; the draw leaves them third, level with Argentina and New Zealand on points, but eliminated on tiebreakers. New Zealand will take on the only side still unbeaten, the Netherlands, in the semi-final. They drew 0-0 with Germany earlier today to book their place in the last four.

Unsung Heroes

Greco-Roman wrestling, one of the more obscure sports of the Games, got underway yesterday. Roman Vlasov of Russia won the gold medal in the under 74kg category, with the under 55kg category won by Hamid Soryan Reihanpour of Iran winning that country’s first ever Greco-Roman wrestling gold medal. Today, Omid Noroozi won the under 60kg category to collect Iran’s second gold in as many days, and Alan Khugaev achieved the same feat for Russia in the 84kg category. Cuba’s Mijain Lopez took gold in the under 120kg category.

Disappointment

Kristian Thomas was unable to follow up his great performance in the men’s gymnastics team event, where he helped Great Britain win bronze, in the individual vault final. Thomas sat on the mat during his second vault, which resulted in a significant penalty, dropping him down to eighth overall. Hak Seon-yang of South Korea took the gold medal, finishing a full point ahead of Thomas.

Holly Bleasdale struggled in the final of the women’s pole vault and was eliminated early without challenging for a medal. She vaulted 4.45m at the third attempt but didn’t really come close to making her next attempt of 4.55m. World record holder and defending champion, Elena Isinbayeva of Russia, also disappointed, recording 4.70m which was only good enough for bronze. Jennifer Suhr of the USA won the gold medal, with the appropriately named Yarisley Silva taking the silver medal.

Meanwhile Dai Green missed out on a medal in the men’s 400m hurdles, after finishing fourth. Green was catching up on the leaders during the final straight but remained well short of claiming third place for bronze. Felix Sancez of the Dominican Republic took the gold, before receiving his medal in floods of tears and receiving a very warm reception from the crowd in the Olympic Stadium.

Valerie Adams of New Zealand, the world and Olympic champion, was unable to match Nadzeya Ostapchuc in the women’s shot put final as the Belarusian took gold. Adams came home in the silver medal position, but repeatedly failed to match her rival who streaked away with victory, putting 21.36m, 76cm further than Adams.

Other news

Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria became the ninth athlete (after the eight badminton players) to be thrown out of the Games for not trying, before later being reinstated allowing him to take his place in the 1500m final. Makhloufi was one of the favourites for that race after winning his semi-final in style, but was forced also to compete in the 800m after his country’s Olympic committee did not withdraw his entry. In the 800m heat, he began the race but quickly fell off the back of the pack and gave up in the first lap.

Phillips Idowu has finally arrived in London ahead of triple jump qualifying tomorrow, following his injury saga.

American judoka Nicholas Delpopolo, who finished seventh in the men’s under 73kg category, has been expelled from the Games after testing positive for marijuana. Delpopolo said he that he had eaten food laced with the drug, but had not known at the time what the food contained.

Australia has ordered an inquiry into the country’s poor performance in the swimming pool. Australia won 10 medals but only one gold in the pool, though that was their only gold medal of the first week of the games.

Louis Smith, Britain’s silver medal winner in the pommel horse, believes he may miss out on a place in Rio 2016 due to increasing competition within British men’s gymnastics.

Geraint Thomas, who won gold as part of the men’s pursuit cycling team, has said the performance vindicated his decision to prioritise the Olympics over the Tour de France.

Wendy Houvenaghel, who won a silver medal in the individual pursuit in Beijing, has criticised Great Britain’s gold medal winning women’s pursuit team after she was left out of it. Houvenaghel has said that she was assured she would have been part of the team by coach Shane Sutton, and had recorded a faster time in training than the world record that the trio of Dani King, Jo Rowsell and Laura Trott recorded in the final. She described the team as juvenile after they ignored her following their gold medal triumph.

And finally…

A man has been arrested after a bottle was thrown on to the Athletics track as the 100m finalists were in their blocks. The man who was arrested was tackled by a Dutch judoka sat behind him after the incident. The bottle was thrown behind the athletes and did not affect the race, though Justin Gatlin, the American who won the bronze medal, described it as distracting.

Updated medal table

China now leads the USA by 2 gold medals, sitting on 31 overall. Great Britain has reached 18 gold medals, one fewer than they achieved in Beijing with six days of competition still to come. Australia had its best day of the Games, with one gold in the bag and another guaranteed though not yet awarded. When that gold is finally given, they will leapfrog southern hemisphere rivals New Zealand and South Africa, both of whom have already won three gold medals but have far fewer silver and bronze.

Tomorrow’s big events

The track cycling culminates tomorrow with Britain going for three more medals; world champions Laura Trott in the women’s omnium, and the legendary pair of Victoria Pendleton in the women’s sprint and Sir Chris Hoy in the men’s keirin. Brothers Jonathan and Alastair Brownlee compete in the men’s triathlon. The equestrian dressage events conclude with Great Britain in contention in both individual and team events, while the men’s hockey round robin stage reaches its climax. There are semi-finals for women in both the water polo and beach volleyball, and women’s handball quarter-finals.

The Olympic Report: Day 9

British medal watch

Andy Murray annihilated Roger Federer to claim the men’s singles gold medal. Murray was by far the better player on the day, breaking Federer five times across the match and rarely looking in danger. He took the first set 6-2 and the second set 6-1, before completing an incredible straight sets victory winning the final set 6-4. Unfortunately, Murray couldn’t follow it up in the mixed doubles where he and partner Laura Robson had to settle for the silver medal. They dominated the Belarusian pair of Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka in the first set, but the Belarusians repaid the favour in the second and also came out on top in the Champions’ tiebreaker to win the gold.

Ben Ainslie won his fourth Olympic gold medal, edging out Danish rival Jonas Hogh-Christensen. Ainslie only had to beat the Dane in the medal race to claim gold, and he did just that, finishing 9^th out of 10 while his opponent was dead last. Ainslie knew what he needed to do and made sure he kept the Dane behind him at all times, the pair basically having their own race at the back of the field, but Ainslie came out on top. Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson missed out on a gold medal in an agonising final race for the star class sailing. They had a strong lead going into the race over the Brazilian boat, and spent most of the race ensuring they stayed ahead of their main rival. However the Swedish boat, third overall coming into the race, put in a strong performance to challenge the leaders. The British pair was still in gold medal position until they lost a place in the last few metres of the race, dropping into silver medal position.

Great Britain’s men’s gymnasts continued to over-perform at the Games claiming silver and bronze in the men’s pommel horse. Louis Smith was a contender for gold going into the event but, despite an excellent performance, Krisztian Berki came away with the gold. The two gymnasts actually achieved the same score, but the Hungarian won by virtue of having a higher execution score. Max Whitlock won an unlikely bronze in the same event. The pair also won bronze for Team GB in the men’s team competition.

Ed Clancy posted a rapid 1km time-trial to win the bronze medal in the men’s omnium cycling. Lasse Norman Hansen from Denmark recovered from a crash in the scratch race to win the gold medal. But Clancy came from outside the medals with one race to go to finish third overall. In the evening, Christine Ohuruogu almost managed to successfully defend her 400m title, but was eventually made to settle for silver as Sanya Richards-Ross of the USA won the gold. Christine, known as a strong finisher, came from fifth around the final bend to close in on the leader, but couldn’t catch Richards-Ross and Ohuruogu took silver in a photo finish.

Top news

Usain Bolt set a new Olympic record to be crowned as the fastest man on Earth. Bolt ran 9.63secs to successfully defend his Olympic men’s 100m title. He beat out fellow Jamaican and rival Yohan Blake, who won silver, and American Justin Gatlin who took bronze. Seven of the finalists ran underneath 10 seconds, with only Asafa Powell who picked up an injury during the race failing to do so. Bolt got off to a sluggish start out of the blocks but quickly made up the gap and took the lead. He didn’t ease off at all to cross the line in a time faster than that which won him the gold in Beijing.

Serena Williams won her second gold medal in two days as she and her sister Venus triumphed in the final of the women’s doubles. They defeated their Czech opponents Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 6-4, 6-4. Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia won the women’s marathon this morning in an Olympic record time. She needed a sprint finish to edge out Priscah Jeptoo of Kenya by five seconds.

Unsung Hero

Natasha Jonas became the first British women to win an Olympic bout after beating American Queen Underwood 21-13. Women’s boxing is in its first Olympics, and today was the first day of competition.

Disappointment

Great Britain’s medal hopes in the women’s marathon were given a blow when Paula Radcliffe was forced to pull out last week due to injury. Any last hope of a medal was blown a quarter of the way into the race today, as Mara Yamauchi pulled up due to a heel injury. Yamauchi had been in the leading pack but was forced to stop on a rainy morning.

Other news

After her win in the heptathlon, during which she set a personal best and heptathlon record in the 100m hurdles that would have been fast enough for gold in Beijing, Jessica Ennis has announced she will not run in the separate 100m hurdles event.

Lord Seb Coe has backed Mo Farah to win an Olympic gold double in the men’s 5,000m.

Sir Steve Redgrave says that Great Britain’s rowing medal haul of nine medals, including four golds, may never be beaten.

Stuart Pearce believes that the Team GB men’s footballers, who were knocked-out on penalties last night by South Korea, will learn a lot from their experiences in the tournament.

Sir Clive Woodward, who is the director of elite performance at the British Olympic Association, has claimed that the British athletes are thriving in front of home crowds.

Rebecca Adlington has left her participation in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro up in the air, but has suggested she would like to compete on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.

And finally…

The BBC’s Olympic Stadium studio team of Colin Jackson, Michael Johnson and Denise Lewis, went crazy as Mo Farah completed his remarkable 10,000m victory, as shown by footage shown on the BBC this morning.

The Royal Mail, which is painting a post box gold in the hometown of every British Olympic gold medallist, has painted a post box gold in the wrong town for women’s team pursuit winner Laura Trott.

Updated medal table

Great Britain remains a clear third after another two gold medals today. Team GB now has at least ten medals of each colour. China is now two clear of the USA, with 30 gold medals won, and has one more total than the Americans on 61. Elsewhere, Kazakhstan have now won six golds and no other medals, four of which have come in weightlifting. North Korea has also won a disproportionate amount of gold medals, with four from a total of five. Other nations have won fewer golds than hoped: Russia has 16 silvers and 15 bronze, but only 4 gold, Japan has won 12 silver, 13 bronze but only 2 gold, and Australia 12 silver, 7 bronze but only a single gold medal. 61 countries have now won a medal of any colour, with 36 countries having won at least one gold.

Tomorrow’s big events

Great Britain has more medal opportunities, none more so than Beth Tweddle in the asymmetric bars final. The velodrome, as usual, has been a rich source of success for Team GB at this Olympics, and Jason Kenny is well placed overnight for a gold in the men’s sprint. The show jumping team event concludes tomorrow with Britain looking strong going into the final day of competition. Dai Green will hope to improve on qualifying performances and challenge for the podium in the men’s 400m hurdles. Elsewhere, beach volleyball knock-outs continue, canoe sprints begin, the women’s football semi-finals go ahead, as does the last round of women’s hockey group games.