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.

The Olympic Report: Day 8

British medal watch

Great Britain had a brilliant morning at the rowing, winning three medals, including two gold. The men’s four beat off a challenge from Australia to get Great Britain’s day off to the best possible start with another gold medal. They opened up a lead over the Aussies in the second 500m and maintained it for the rest of the race to ease to victory. Three of the team won gold in the same event at Beijing in 2008, and retained their crown at London 2012. Sophie Hosking and Kate Copeland streaked away to win gold in the women’s lightweight double sculls. World champions Greece led early on but Great Britain had levelled by half way and never looked back, winning the race by more than a length. Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter overcome a mechanical failure in their boat to claim silver. On the first start, the Purchase’s seat malfunctioned, but fortunately the rules allow the race to be restarted. The fault was fixed, and in the second attempt at the race they were beaten their main rivals from Denmark. The Danes made a late charge in the last 500m after the Brits had lead throughout, and recorded the victory.

But the golden morning was followed by a golden evening at the Olympic Stadium. Jessica Ennis set a new British record for total points in the heptathlon on her way to gold. Earlier in the day she had completed the long jump and javelin, two of her weaker events. But not only did she minimise the damage, but she extended her lead with a long jump of near her personal best, and a javelin throw which exceeded it. Already a shoe-in for gold, she went on to win her 800m heat to claim gold. The night got better soon afterwards, as Greg Rutherford claimed victory in the men’s long jump. Rutherford was an outsider for a medal coming into the final, but took an early lead with a jump of 8.21m. Amazingly, he later extended that to 8.31m meaning he actually had the two longest jumps of the competition, a well-deserved gold. While Rutherford claimed gold, Mo Farah had begun his 10,000m and the atmosphere in the Olympic Stadium was electric. Mo was amongst the leading group throughout and was first to kick-on in the last lap. Nobody posed a significant challenge and the crowd carried Mo to the finish for a truly incredible win.

In the afternoon, Great Britain had claimed another gold in the track cycling as the women’s team pursuiters set two world records (in addition to one yesterday) in the two runs today. In the final they comfortably beat out the Australians, recording the third gold in the velodrome for Team GB. The only event completed so far that Team GB hasn’t won is the women’s team sprint, in which they were disqualified after recording a world record. Jason Kenny is in the last eight of the men’s sprint. He qualified fastest overall and won his first two head-to-head encounters. Ed Clancy sits in fourth place overnight in the men’s omnium, a new event for London 2012 which incorporates a series of different track cycling disciplines. He is well positioned, with his weakest events out of the way.

Andy Murray will compete in two finals tomorrow, and is guaranteed at worst two silver medals, after winning in the mixed doubles semi-final with partner Laura Robson. They won a Championship tie-breaker against their German opponents to complete the victory.

Top news

The USA team won gold in the men’s 4x100m as Michael Phelps claimed his 22^nd Olympic medal, and 18^th gold, in what he has said is his final Games. Phelps had overcome a disappointing start to the Games, missing out on a medal in the 400m individual medley, to win four gold medals. The Americans beat out Japan and Australia. In the men’s 1500m, China’s Sun Yang obliterated both the field and the world record as he claimed the gold medal. The USA took gold in the women’s 4x100m medley, taking the victory while setting a brand new world record.

American Serena Williams eased to victory over Maria Sharapova in the women’s singles final. Williams defeated her opponent 6-0, 6-1. It was a good day for the USA at Wimbledon. As the Bryan brothers also took gold in the men’s doubles.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica is the Olympic women’s 100m champion. Fraser-Pryce won a close race to claim the gold medal. Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin all qualified for the men’s 100m semi-finals with ease. Ryan Bailey was the quickest in the second round, running 9.88secs. Dwayne Chambers, James Dasaolu and Adam Gemili of Team GB have also qualified.

Unsung Heroes

The Lithuanian men’s basketball team became the first to seriously challenge the American ‘Dream Team’ suffering a narrow 99-94 defeat. Lithuania led in the fourth quarter but the NBA MVP from last year, LeBron James, came good at the end of the match to assure the USA took the win.

Disappointment

Lashawn Merritt, from the USA, is out of the men’s 400m. Merritt won the gold medal in that event in Beijing, but pulled up with the recurrence of an Achilles injury during today’s heat.

Helen Jenkins could only finish 5^th in the women’s triathlon. Jenkins was behind after the swimming but joined the leading group during the cycling section. She stayed near the front throughout the running, but during the final lap the leaders stretched out more and Jenkins was left behind. Switzerland’s Nicola Spiring and Sweden’s Lisa Norden crossed the line almost simultaneously, but Spiring was awarded the gold.

Team GB’s interest in the football is over after the men’s team followed the women fro last night in losing a quarter-final. Sunderland’s Ji Dong-won opened the scoring for South Korea, before Aaron Ramsey levelled it from the spot. Ramsey missed another penalty as the game finished 1-1 after normal time, and after extra time. The penalty shoot-out saw eight successful attempts, including another from Ramsey and conversions from Tom Cleverley, Craig Dawson and Ryan Giggs. However a miss from Daniel Sturridge gave South Korea the chance to win and they made no mistake to confirm a 5-4 triumph.

Other news

Ed Clancy has thanked the support in the velodrome which lifted him and his team-mates to claim gold in the men’s team pursuit.

Hope Powell, coach of the England and Great Britain women’s football teams, has called for Team GB to enter the women’s football competition for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

And finally…

The Royal Mail has a busy day tomorrow printing stamps and painting post boxes. They are making stamps for every British gold medal, and painting one post box gold in each gold medal winner’s home town. That means tomorrow they will be printing 6 brand new stamps, and painting 12 post boxes gold.

Updated medal table

Great Britain took charge of the medal table today, almost doubling the number of gold medals won so far. Team GB now has 14 golds, 7 silvers and 8 bronze. Team GB is a clear third, behind USA and China in 1^st and 2^nd, and well ahead of South Korea and France behind.

Tomorrow’s big events

The flagship event of the Games reaches its end tomorrow as the fastest man over 100m is crowned. But Great Britain has gold medal opportunities in the sailing, where Ben Ainslie in the finn and Iain Percy and Adnrew Simpson in the star have their medal races. Louis Smith is Britain’s great gold medal hope in gymnastics in the men’s pommel horse final, plus Andy Murray looks to make up for his crushing Wimbledon loss to Roger Federer by beating the Swiss to an Olympic gold medal.

The Olympic Report: Day 7

British medal watch

Three-time Olympic silver medallist Katherine Grainger finally became British rowing’s golden girl as she came home first in the final of the women’s double sculls with team-mate Anna Watkins. They led from the start and, despite a spirited effort from the Australian team, took a comfortable gold. Great Britain had earlier taken bronze in the men’s pair. The New Zealand boat stormed to an easy victory, leaving all the others in their wake, but Britain’s pair of George Nash and Will Satch fought it out with France for second place, a fight they lost but they will settle for bronze. Alan Campbell rounded off the day by claiming a bronze of his own in the men’s single sculls. The top two had streaked away earlier in the race, with Campbell neck-and-neck for bronze. But the crowd at Eton Dorney carried him home as he edged out his Ukranian rival.

Great Britain took its second and third gold medals of the day at the velodrome. In the men’s team pursuit, Team GB broke the world record in the final against Australia to claim gold. Britain breezed through the first two stages as the fastest team, and when guaranteed at least silver in the final they blew the Aussies away with an incredible performance. Then soon after, Victoria Pendleton made up for yesterday’s disqualification by taking gold in the women’s keiren. Pendleton took to the front in the penultimate lap and wasn’t going to be denied the victory, as Australian and main rival for gold Anna Mears was left way back in the field. Earlier at the track cycling, Team GB smashed the field and set a new world record in the women’s team pursuit at the velodrome. The team go into tomorrow’s first round as favourites.

Rebecca Adlington had to settle for the bronze medal in the women’s 800m freestyle, her second medal of that colour at London 2012, as Katie Ledecky of the USA took gold. Fifteen-year-old Ledecky was ahead of Adlington throughout the race and came close to breaking Adlington’s world record. Lotte Friis, Adlington’s main rival, came 5^th.

Andy Murray put in a tremendous effort to defeat world number two Novak Djokovic 7-5, 7-5 in the semi-final of the men’s singles tennis. Murray is now guaranteed at least a silver medal, and the match-point set off an eruption of celebration inside Centre Court.

Karina Bryant made it a double success for Great Britain in judo, claiming bronze in the women’s over 78kg category. Bryant lost her semi-final but came through a thrilling bronze medal match. Bryant was twice behind in that match, but came back on both occasions, scoring a match-winning ippon to claim the bronze, after Gemma Gibbons’ silver yesterday.

Jessica Ennis sits in first position after the first day of the heptathlon. Ennis set a British record and heptathlon record in the 100m hurdles to begin the day in style. Her time was faster than the winning time of the women’s 100m hurdles in Beijing. She then added solid efforts in both high jump and shot put before another personal best, this time in the 200m. She has accrued more points in the first day than she ever has done before. Dai Green put in a solid effort to qualify for the semi-finals of the men’s 400m hurdles. Green was fourth-fastest in the first round. Christine Ohuruogu is through to the semi-finals of the women’s 400m.

Ben Ainslie has set-up a nail-biting medal race on Sunday in the finn class sailing after winning the final race of the series. Ainslie goes into the race, where points count double, trailing Dane Jonas Hogh-Christensen by two points. Ainslie needs to beat the Dane to claim the gold medal. In the star class, Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson won race ten to give them a big lead heading into their medal race, also on Sunday.

Charlotte Dujardin set an Olympic record score to take first place in the dressage individual event. With British riders in fifth and seventh also, Team GB is set to challenge for medals in both the individual and team events. At the boxing, all seven entrants from Great Britain have now reached the quarter-finals. In boxing, all semi-finalists are guaranteed a bronze medal at least, which means the seven boxers are one win again from a medal.

Top news

There was another marathon tennis match at Wimbledon today, as Roger Federer overcame Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro 19-17 in the final set of their men’s singles semi-final. The match is the second at London 2012 to break the record of longest men’s singles match at the Olympics in terms of minutes. Federer will now face Andy Murray in the gold medal match, a re-match of the Wimbledon final at the same venue last month. The final, unlike the matches leading up to it, will be over five sets.

Missy Franklin of America smashed the world record to take gold in the women’s 200m backstroke. She led throughout the race, and never fell behind world record pace with a steady but dominant performance. Lizzie Simmonds of Great Britain was fourth. Michael Phelps won another gold medal in the men’s 100m butterfly, coming through the field after reaching the turn in second-last place. Phelps timed his attack to perfection. There was a tie for silver between Chad le Clos of South Africa and Evgeny Korotyshkin of Russia.

Poland's Tomasz Majewski and Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia became the first gold medallists in track and field at London 2012. Majewski won the men's shot put and the legendary Dibaba put in an incredible sprint finish over the last 400m to win the women's 10,000m by a wide margin..

France will face Japan in the semi-finals of the women’s football after both recorded victories today. France beat Sweden 2-1, coming back from a goal down, while the much fancied Brazilians, who lost their last group game to Team GB, lost again to world champions Japan and were eliminated. Japan goes through after a 2-0 victory. In another quarter-final, the USA beat New Zealand 2-0.

Unsung Heroes

Florent Manaudou, in his first ever sprint swimming final, won gold in the men’s 50m freestyle. Manaudou got the first touch in a very tight final to claim the victory.

Late last night, Team GB’s men’s basketball team just missed out on a giant-killing as Spain emerged victors in the third round of group play, 79-78. Britain were 13 points back when the fourth quarter started, but the clawed back at the Spaniards’ lead. It was a colossal effort, but the runners-up from Beijing 2008 held out to consign Great Britain’s men to a third straight defeat. This evening it was the women's turn, and they underwent a heart-breaking last second defeat. The game went into overtime after the scores were tied after four quarters, but Celine Dumerc scored a three-pointer with 0.2 left on the clock to win 80-77. The same player had scored a three-pointer late in regulation to force the extra period.

Dong Dong capped off a golden five minutes for China by winning the men’s trampolining. He finished comfortably in first place, less than five minutes after his compatriots won the mixed doubles final at badminton. Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei beat another Chinese pairing to confirm the gold medal, by two sets to nil.

Sergei Martynov of Belarus has won an Olympic gold medal at his sixth Games. The two-time world champion had only ever reached bronze before at the Olympics, but he claimed gold today in the men’s 50m rifle prone. His score of 705.5 was a world record.

Disappointment

Canada set up an all-North American women’s football semi-final with the USA after a 2-0 victory over Great Britain at the City of Coventry stadium.  Both goals came in the first-half, and second-half pressure from Team GB came to no avail. A late penalty claim was turned down but the result was a fair one as the improving Canadians outplayed Great Britain, who are now out of the tournament.

Larry Godfrey completed a torrid tournament for Great Britain’s archers after being eliminated in the last sixteen of the men’s individual event today. Godfrey lost his match on a sudden death arrow, after his opponent struck a 10.

Other news

Russian cyclist Victoria Baranova has been sent home for doping.

The lanes at this morning’s rowing finals had to be redrawn, as the wind direction favoured boats who had qualified for the final with slower times. There was criticism of the officials yesterday for not taking the same action.

Great Britain’s gold medal in the men’s team sprint will not be investigated, despite lead-off man Philip Hindes saying he deliberately fell off his bike after a disappointing start, to take advantage of a loop-hole which allows the team a restart. The runners-up from France have accepted that they have no right of appeal, but their coach has said it may be something for the cycling authorities to look at in future.

The head of South Korea’s badminton delegation at London 2012 has apologised after the furore surrounding the throwing of games in the women’s doubles tournament.

British swimmer Caitlin McClatchey, who has competed in three finals at London 2012, may consider a career in politics after her swimming career ends.

And finally…

Jessica Varnish, one half of Britain’s disqualified women’s team sprinters, had a bad day get worse yesterday after dropping her phone in the toilet.

Updated medal table

Great Britain is now 4th in the medal table with 8 gold, 6 silver, and 8 bronze medals. The USA has usurped China at the top, 21 golds to 20. They also have one more overall than the Chinese. South Korea also sit above Great Britain, with the French just below, having won as many gold medals but fewer silver and bronze. There is the a gap to Germany on five golds.

Tomorrow’s big events

Another packed day tomorrow with various gold medal hopes for Great Britain. Jessica Ennis concludes her heptathlon campaign, and the women’s pursuit team cyclists try to follow up today’s world record by claiming the gold. Helen Jenkins is the favourite in the women’s triathlon, and Dai Green goes in the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles. Mo Farah competes in the men’s 10,000m and Britain has two medal hopes in the men’s long jump. Of a more general interest are the final of the women’s 100m, and the heats of the men’s event. There is also plenty more on offer, a bumper day of sport at London 2012.

The Olympic Report: Day 6

British medal watch

Great Britain won two golds in less than five minutes this afternoon as the hosts’ Olympic Games really started to get some momentum. At the men’s C2 canoe slalom, Great Britain took both gold and silver in amazing scenes. Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott qualified slowest for the final but put in an incredible run first up in the final. Other pairs came and went without being able to challenge the Brits’ time. David Florence and Richard Hounslow, both of whom disappointed in their individual events, qualified fastest for the final and hence went last. As they lined up, with Baillie and Stott in provisional first, Great Britain was guaranteed a gold medal. Florence and Hounslow were ahead at each split in their run but lost time at the end. They crossed the line in second, gifting Baillie and Stott the gold while claiming the silver for themselves, as the crowd went wild.

Almost simultaneously to the canoeing, Peter Wilson was the class act of the competition as he took gold in the men’s double trap shooting event. Wilson took an early lead and never looked likely to let it slip. The competition for silver and bronze was a tight one, but Wilson was running away with the gold. A double miss late on brought the field closer to him, but he regained his composure to ensure the fourth gold of the Games for Team GB.

Great Britain took gold on the first day of track cycling in the men’s team sprint. The team put an early mechanical problem for Philip Hindes behind them as they came from fourth at the first split to set an Olympic record in the heat, Sir Chris Hoy delivering a brilliant final lap. They went one better next, though, as they qualified for the final with an incredible world record on the back of Hindes’ personal best opening lap. Then another amazing effort by the team of Hindes, Jason Kenny and Hoy set another world record to defeat France with comfort in the final. Hoy has now won five Olympic gold medals, equalling Sir Steve Redgrave as Great Britain’s most prolific gold medallist. Great Britain’s team also smashed the world record in the heats of the men’s team pursuit. They finished well clear of Australia, who was touted as their main rivals in the event.

Great Britain recorded another silver medal as the men’s lightweight four took second place in their final. Denmark led for much of the race, but fell back at the end. It looked like Great Britain would surge into first place, but the South Africans finished stronger and took the gold. The men’s four overtook their main rivals for the gold medal, Australia, in the last 250m to win their semi-final and raise hopes of a victory in the weekend’s final. Australia went out fast and at one point were a whole boat’s length ahead, but the Brits didn’t give up and came back to win at the line. Kat Copeland and Sophie Hosking also won their semi-final, in the women’s double sculls, finishing ahead of world champions Greece.

Gemma Gibbons won a superb silver medal in the women’s judo under 78kg category. Great Britain’s judo team has disappointed in these Games but Gibbons provided some respite from that frustration. She beat the world champion Audrey Tcheumeo, from France, in the semi-final, thanks to a dramatic golden score waz-ari to be guaranteed at least a silver medal. Unfortunately, she was outfought in the final by American Kayla Harrison.  This came after a dramatic last 16 match. Gibbons led throughout but conceded a controversial yuko with only seven seconds to go, which let her Mongolian opponent Lkhamdegd Purevjargal tie the match. But seven seconds was plenty for Gibbons to assure a quarter-final place, striking back immediately with a buzzer-beating yuko of her own.

Andy Murray breezed past Spaniard Nicolas Almagro to set up a men’s singles semi-final against Novak Djokovic. Murray won the first set 6-4, but after Almagro called on the trainer in between sets, he couldn’t match Murray who cruised to a 6-1 second set victory. His first-serve success percentage was over 80%.

Ben Ainslie recorded a victory in the 7^th race of 10 in the finn sailing class to reignite his hopes of a fourth Olympic gold medal. His Danish competitor, Jonas Christensen-Hogh, finished well down the field. In the 8^th race Ainslie was 3^rd, one place above his rival, meaning Ainslie has now closed the gap. He is currently a decent distance clear of the third placed sailor in the overall standings. Steve Morrison and Ben Rhodes won both of today’s races in the 49er class, putting a poor start to the series behind them and climb into second overall. Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson lead the star class overall classification after a victory in race 7 and a runners-up spot in race 8.

Top news

Gabrielle Douglas won the flagship event of women’s gymnastics, the all-round competition, holding it together in all four disciplines. She was the most consistent performer, claiming gold ahead of nearest rival Viktoria Komova.

China’s world champion Zhang Jike beat compatriot Wang Hao in the final of the men’s singles table tennis. Zhang won the match, 4-1, to claim the gold. France’s Emilie Fer won the women’s K1 canoe slalom event.

Russia is guaranteed at least a silver medal in the women’s singles tennis, as Maria Sharapova and Maria Karilenko meet eachother in the semi-finals. Serena Williams of the USA faces Belarussian world number one Victoria Azarenka. In the men’s event, Roger Federer of Switzerland meets Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, as well as Murray’s match-up against Serbian Novak Djokovic.

America’s Rebecca Soni became the first person to successfully defend an Olympic title in the pool at London 2012 in the women’s 200m breaststroke. Soni smashed the world record by almost half a second, leading from the outset to the end of the race to claim gold. Tyler Clary took gold with an Olympic record in the men’s 200m backstroke, beating out favourite Ryan Lochte into third position and bronze. It was a disappointing day for Lochte, who was also beaten by great rival Michael Phelps in the men’s 200m individual medley. Phelps claimed the gold, his first individual gold of London 2012, while Lochte settled for silver.

Ki Bo Bae of South Korea continued her nation’s domination of women’s archery as she won the individual event at Lord’s. It was a tense finish, going down to a single arrow shoot-out after six sets of play against Mexican Aida Roman. Both archers hit an 8 in the shout-out, but Ki’s arrow was closer to the centre of the target and she was awarded the gold.

Unsung Heroes

Great Britain’s Anthony Agogo defeated world number one, Ukraine’s Ievgen Khytrov, in a very close second round match in the men’s middleweigh boxing. The match was tied on points, and tied on countback (when the total scores of all the judges are collated). But the next tiebreaker was the judges’ verdict, and the majority went with Agogo, who was visibly delighted with his victory. He is now a genuine medal hope.

Great Britain’s Carl Hester and Laura Bechtolsheimer were placed first and second after the first day of the dressage competition. Great Britain has never won a medal in dressage, but is now in contention in both the individual and team events.

Disappointment

The women’s team sprinters, Jessica Varnish and Victoria Pendleton, were disqualified after an error in their knock-out competition. They appeared to have qualified for the final, but it was discovered that they changed-over outside of the correct zone and were eliminated. They set a new world record in their heat, as Victoria Pendleton completed a lightning fast second lap to come from behind to beat the Australian team. The record only lasted a couple of minutes, however, as the Chinese team broke it themselves in the next heat. The Chinese broke the world record again in the next round, and won the final ahead of Germany. However they too fell afoul of the same infringement as Team GB, and were relegated to silver, with the Germans taking the gold.

Other news

The driver of a bus which knocked-over and killed a cyclist yesterday evening near the Olympic Park has been arrested and released on bail. Gold medal winning cyclist Bradley Wiggins has suggested it may be wise to make helmets compulsory for cyclists.

Japan has lodged a successful appeal against the defeat of boxer Satoshi Shimizu. Shimizu, competing in the bantamweight category, knocked down his Azerbaijani opponent Magomed Abdulhamidov five times in the final round, but had still been originally adjudged to have been defeated. There was also a disqualification in the boxing last night, as Ali Mazaheri of Iran was eliminated after receiving three warnings for holding within a minute.

Two of the pairs who were reprieved after four other pairs were disqualified from the women’s doubles badminton have reached the semi-finals of the competition. This means that it is guaranteed that one of the pairs will win at least a bronze.

Yu Yang, one of the disqualified badminton players, has announced she is to quit the sport. Meanwhile the coaches of the disqualified pairs are now being investigated.

Josh Booth, an Australian rower, was arrested yesterday after causing damage to a shop-front whilst drunk. Booth was part of the Australian men’s eight which finished sixth in yesterday’s final. When in custody, he fainted and hit his head.

And finally…

Adam Gemili, the young British 100m sprinter who has burst onto the scene in the last year, has received his official Olympic accreditation. However, his pass doesn’t have his photo on it, but instead the photo of a mystery person.

The Royal Mail will make special stamps for all of Great Britain’s gold medallists.

Boris Johnson has suggested that Vladimir Putin, who is on a diplomatic visit to London, should ‘strip to the waist’ and take part in the judo competition, which President Putin attended today.

Updated medal table

Great Britain now sits fifth in the medal table thanks to three gold medals in one day, bringing the overall total to five gold, six silver and four bronze. It was the USA, however, who had the best day as they tied with China on 18 gold medals in the Games. China remain top by virtue of having won more silver medals, although the USA lead in total medals. South Korea and France are the other nations who continue to sit above Great Britain.

Tomorrow’s big events

The pick of the action comes from the Olympic Stadium tomorrow as the athletics events begin. Jessica Ennis begins her heptathlon campaign in the pick of the day for Team GB. Larry Godfrey is Britain’s last hope in the archery, as the men’s individual event comes to an end tomorrow. While Rebecca Adlington tries to defend her women’s 800m freestyle title in the pool. The men’s team pursuit is Team GB’s best hope for gold at the track cycling, with the team going in as favourites. But Great Britain has multiple medal hopes at the rowing: Alan Campbell in the men’s single sculls, and Anna Watkins and Katherine Grainger in the women’s double sculls are the best hopes for gold, while George Nash and Will Satch in the men’s pair and the men’s quadruple sculls are also medal contenders for medals.

The Olympic Report: Day 5

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 11^th 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 15^th 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.