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.
