Team GB lose place at ice hockey top table

GREAT BRITAIN collapsed from 3-1 up two days in a row earlier this week to suffer a painful relegation from the top flight of the ice hockey World Championships.

Team GB were beaten 5-3 by Austria on Monday, only just over 24 hours after a 4-3 defeat to Latvia at the Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland.

Those defeats left Pete Russell's men on just one point from seven games, well short of the safety mark in Group B - but it could have been all so different if the build-up to the tournament had not been quite as disrupted by injury as it was.

Shorn of the brightest British hockey star of his generation, Liam Kirk, the team suffered further blows to the offence with the loss of Mike Hammond and Ollie Betteridge.

At least Team GB could call upon the vast experience provided by captain Jonathan Phillips who picked up a new national record by winning his 111th cap in the match against Austria.

But the lack of firepower was clearly in evidence in four warm-up matches, two each against Denmark and Italy, which finished with four defeats and an aggregate score of 1-16.

Nevertheless, in the finals themselves, Team GB acquitted themselves generally well -  and were shut out only by Sweden (0-6), hosts Finland (0-6), and the United States (0-3), the latter of which was a competitive battle.

In total, Team GB found the back of the net on 10 occasions in the four other matches, scoring one more goal than in the 2019 World Championship when Britain beat France in overtime to survive in their first season back in the top flight for 25 years.

This time, though, it was not to be - despite a stunning recovery from 3-0 down in the third period against Norway in their second game.

A trio of quickfire goals from Robert Dowd, Brett Perlini and Mark Richardson forced an unlikely period of overtime - but, while there was no further scoring in the additional five minutes, it was the Norwegians who prevailed on penalty shots for the extra point.

At the time, it still looked like a good point - but results elsewhere in Group B conspired against Team GB with Austria forcing overtime against the United States then causing a shock by beating the Czech Republic on penalty shots.

Meanwhile, Latvia beat Norway in a regulation time victory for three points - and the points from the match between the Latvians and the Austrians were split 2-1 in favour of the former after another match which went all the way.

As largely expected then, the Team GB campaign would be decided by their last two matches with Latvia (5) and Austria (4), well clear of Russell's side on a single point.

Britain looked set to close the gap on the teams above them when Lewis Hook restored a two-goal lead at 3-1 within seconds of Oskars Batna pulling one back for Latvia.

Those goals followed an opening period which was dominated by Britain and rewarded on the scoreboard with a goal from Perlini and a maiden senior international strike for Cade Neilson.

By the end of the second period, Latvia were back in it at 3-2 after scoring on the powerplay - and Britain critically failed to stay out of the penalty box in the third as the Latvians completed the turnaround with two further powerplay goals.

At least, at that point, Austria remained within reach - and any win in regulation time was enough for Team GB to survive again at the elite level on head-to-head

In a carbon copy of the Latvia game, things looked good again early on as Matt Myers and Dowd deservedly put Britain 2-0 up, and Neilson produced a quick response to an Austrian goal for a 3-1 scoreline.

The main difference this time was that, by the time Neilson scored, the match was in the third period and had less than 14 minutes left.

Nevertheless, that was still more than enough time for an Austria team who did not panic in the knowledge that a tie at the end of 60 minutes would be enough for them.

The Austrians quickly got back on level terms through Dominique Heinrich and Benjamin Nissner as Britain were overwhelmed - then went ahead for the first time through Thomas Raffl to leave Britain needing two.

Unsurprisingly, Team GB pulled the goalie - but that merely allowed Peter Schneider to slide the puck into an empty net from the very next attack.

That fifth Austrian goal arrived with an undoubtable thud of finality - the new boys had secured safety and Great Britain were going down.

Of course, right now, there is much about the future which remains uncertain.

The expulsion of Belarus and Russia from the Championships this year following the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine has left questions over the future structure of the promotion and relegation places between the top flight and the second-tier Division 1A.

Russia - if ever welcomed back into the international fold - almost certainly would be placed straight back into the Top Division with Belarus likely to go to Division 1A following their bottom-placed finish in 2021.

This year, though, there were still two promotion spots up for grabs with Hungary and Slovenia replacing Britain and Italy who were relegated after they also took just one point in Group A.

In some heartening news this week, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced Great Britain as the host of Division 1A in 2023 with the matches set to be played on home ice at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. 

Therefore, Team GB already stand an excellent good chance of ensuring that this memorable spell among the elite merely ended on a semi-colon - and not a full-stop.

GROUP A	W	W-OT	L-OT	L	F	A	Pts
(Q) SWITZERLAND	6	1	0	0	34	15	20
(Q) GERMANY	5	0	1	1	26	20	16
(Q) CANADA	5	0	0	2	34	18	15
(Q) SLOVAKIA	4	0	0	3	23	19	12
DENMARK	4	0	0	3	18	18	12
FRANCE	1	1	0	5	11	24	5
KAZAKHSTAN	1	0	0	6	19	31	3
(R) ITALY	0	0	1	6	12	32	1

• All matches at the Helsinki Ice Hall in Helsinki, Finland

13-May	14:20	FRANCE	2-4	SLOVAKIA
13-May	18:20	GERMANY	3-5	CANADA
14-May	10:20	DENMARK	9-1	KAZAKHSTAN
14-May	14:20	SWITZERLAND	5-2	ITALY
14-May	18:20	SLOVAKIA	1-2	GERMANY
15-May	10:20	ITALY	1-6	CANADA
15-May	14:20	FRANCE	2-1	KAZAKHSTAN
15-May	18:20	DENMARK	0-6	SWITZERLAND
16-May	14:20	SLOVAKIA	1-5	CANADA
16-May	18:20	FRANCE	2-3	GERMANY
17-May	14:20	ITALY	1-2	DENMARK
17-May	18:20	SWITZERLAND	3-2	KAZAKHSTAN
18-May	14:20	FRANCE	2-1	ITALY	OT
18-May	18:20	SWITZERLAND	5-3	SLOVAKIA
19-May	16:00	GERMANY	1-0	DENMARK
19-May	19:30	CANADA	6-3	KAZAKHSTAN
20-May	14:20	GERMANY	9-4	ITALY
20-May	18:20	KAZAKHSTAN	3-4	SLOVAKIA
21-May	10:20	DENMARK	3-0	FRANCE
21-May	14:20	CANADA	3-6	SWITZERLAND
21-May	18:20	ITALY	1-3	SLOVAKIA
22-May	14:20	KAZAKHSTAN	4-5	GERMANY
22-May	18:20	SWITZERLAND	5-2	FRANCE
23-May	14:20	KAZAKHSTAN	5-2	ITALY
23-May	18:20	CANADA	2-3	DENMARK
24-May	10:20	GERMANY	3-4	SWITZERLAND	GWS
24-May	14:20	SLOVAKIA	7-1	DENMARK
24-May	18:20	CANADA	7-1	FRANCE

GROUP B	W	W-OT	L-OT	L	F	A	Pts
(Q) FINLAND	6	0	1	0	25	5	19
(Q) SWEDEN	5	1	1	0	27	10	18
(Q) CZECH REPUBLIC	4	0	1	2	19	13	13
(Q) UNITED STATES	3	2	0	2	18	12	13
LATVIA	2	1	0	4	14	20	8
AUSTRIA	1	1	2	3	16	22	7
NORWAY	1	1	0	5	15	29	5
(R) GREAT BRITAIN	0	0	1	6	10	33	1

• All matches at the Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland

13-May	14:20	UNITED STATES	4-1	LATVIA
13-May	18:20	FINLAND	5-0	NORWAY
14-May	10:20	SWEDEN	3-1	AUSTRIA
14-May	14:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	5-1	GREAT BRITAIN
14-May	18:20	LATVIA	1-2	FINLAND
15-May	10:20	NORWAY	4-3	GREAT BRITAIN	GWS
15-May	14:20	AUSTRIA	2-3	UNITED STATES	OT
15-May	18:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	3-5	SWEDEN
16-May	14:20	LATVIA	3-2	NORWAY
16-May	18:20	FINLAND	4-1	UNITED STATES
17-May	14:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	1-2	AUSTRIA	GWS
17-May	18:20	SWEDEN	6-0	GREAT BRITAIN
18-May	14:20	NORWAY	5-3	AUSTRIA
18-May	18:20	FINLAND	2-3	SWEDEN	GWS
19-May	14:20	GREAT BRITAIN	0-3	UNITED STATES
19-May	18:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	5-1	LATVIA
20-May	14:20	GREAT BRITAIN	0-6	FINLAND
20-May	18:20	LATVIA	4-3	AUSTRIA	GWS
21-May	10:20	UNITED STATES	3-2	SWEDEN
21-May	14:20	AUSTRIA	0-3	FINLAND
21-May	18:20	NORWAY	1-4	CZECH REPUBLIC
22-May	14:20	GREAT BRITAIN	3-4	AUSTRIA
22-May	18:20	SWEDEN	7-1	NORWAY
23-May	14:20	UNITED STATES	0-1	CZECH REPUBLIC
23-May	18:20	AUSTRIA	5-3	GREAT BRITAIN
24-May	10:20	SWEDEN	1-0	LATVIA
24-May	14:20	UNITED STATES	4-2	NORWAY
24-May	18:20	FINLAND	3-0	CZECH REPUBLIC

QUARTER FINALS

26-May	14:20	GERMANY	1-4	CZECH REPUBLIC	Helsinki
26-May	14:20	SWEDEN	3-4	CANADA	Tampere  OT
26-May	18:20	SWITZERLAND	0-3	UNITED STATES	Helsinki
26-May	18:20	FINLAND	4-2	SLOVAKIA	Tampere

SEMI FINALS

28-May	10:20	FINLAND	4-3	UNITED STATES	Tampere
28-May	14:20	CANADA	6-1	CZECH REPUBLIC	Tampere

BRONZE FINAL

29-May

13:20

UNITED STATES

4-8

CZECH REPUBLIC

Tampere

GOLD FINAL

29-May

18:20

FINLAND

4-3

CANADA

Tampere OT

OVERALL RANKINGS

1 • FINLAND

2 • CANADA

3 • CZECH REPUBLIC

4 • UNITED STATES

5 • SWITZERLAND

6 • SWEDEN

7 • GERMANY

8 • SLOVAKIA

9 • DENMARK

10 • LATVIA

11 • AUSTRIA

12 • FRANCE

13 • NORWAY

14 • KAZAKHSTAN

15 • (R) ITALY

16 • (R) GREAT BRITAIN

GREAT BRITAIN TOURNAMENT POINTS
2+3 • Cade Neilson

2+2 • Brett Perlini

2+0 • Robert Dowd

1+1 • Ben Lake

1+1 • Lewis Hook
1+1 • Matthew Myers
1+0 • Mark Richardson

0+2 • Scott Conway

0+2 • Josh Batch
0+1 • Evan Mosey
0+1 • Joshua Tetlow
0+1 • Sam Jones
0+1 • Ben O'Connor

Tokyo 2020+1 - Kennys keep their Golden Touch

JASON KENNY became the outright most successful British Olympian of all time after he won a seventh career Olympic gold medal with victory in the men's Keirin on the last day of action in Tokyo.

Earlier last week, his wife - Closing Ceremony flagbearer Laura Kenny - had become the top female British Olympian by winning her fifth career Olympic gold medal alongside Katie Archibald in the women's Madison. 

And, certainly, on the back of this performance, it can now be said that the supposed demise of British track cycling had been much exaggerated. 

Beyond the Kennys, Matthew Walls became an Olympic champion in the men's Omnium and later added a silver in the Madison alongside Ethan Hayter. Additionally, Jack Carlin continued to show promise by taking bronze in the men's sprint. 

There was not such good news from the Olympic Stadium where Britain failed to win a gold medal in athletics for the first time since the complete flop at the Atlanta Games in 1996.

In fairness, the outcome was not too much of a surprise, especially when big medal chances - heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson (calf) and sprinter Dina Asher-Smith (hamstring) - both pulled up during their events with injuries. 

To her credit, Asher-Smith recovered sufficiently to secure a bronze the 4 x 100m relay alongside Asha Philip, Imani-Lara Lansiquot and Daryll Neita. 

Undoubtedly, though, the men's equivalent event was the closest that Team GB came to athletics gold all week - and it really was painfully close.

CJ Ujah, Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake ran 37.51 seconds to be beaten by the Italian quartet by one-hundredth of a second. 

It completed a remarkable summer for Italy following triumphs in the Euro 2020+1 Final and, through Marcell Jacobs, a men's 100m Final from which Hughes was disqualified for a false start.

Elsewhere, in the women's 1500m, Laura Muir enjoyed a Tom Daley-esque moment of redemption as she took silver after so many near-misses in the major championships over the years. 

Then, in the men's 1500m, fellow Scot Josh Kerr won bronze in the second-fastest British time ever behind only Mo Farah and ahead of the likes of Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett and Steve Cram. 

Kerr, aged 23, should have plenty of majors left in him, hopefully - and so should 19-year-old Keely Hodgkinson who stormed to a shock silver in the women's 800m. 

In her first senior outdoor championship, the Leigh Harrier performed outstandingly in her Final to break the British record set by Kelly Holmes back in 1995. 

Add in Holly Bradshaw's bronze in the pole vault - and, while there was no gold rush (or even a trickle, for that matter), this was a pretty acceptable showing for an athletics cohort in transition and beset by misfortune.

Collectively, of course, Team GB has performed spectacularly well in the last couple of weeks and equalled the tally from London 2012 with 65 medals overall.

That was good enough for fourth place in the medal table behind United States, China and hosts Japan with the Americans only just jumping above the Chinese on the final day. 

A late run of British gold medals held off strong challenges from the team representing Russia, who finished fifth, and sixth-placed Australia.

And, altogether, Team GB won medals in 18 of the 26 sports in which it entered competitors - a greater breadth of sports than any other country in the world.  

Chelsie Giles got the first of the 65 medals with bronze, appropriately enough in the Japanese sport of judo, on the second day - and Lauren Price completed the haul with gold in the middleweight boxing in the last few hours of the final day. 

In between, there were British Olympic champions in no fewer than nine different sports: cycling, swimming, sailing, boxing, equestrian, modern pentathlon, triathlon, diving and gymnastics.

“For this team to deliver 65 medals is absolutely extraordinary,” the Team GB Chef de Mission Mark England said.

"The team has made history on the back of the most complex, challenging and most difficult environments that we will ever face, certainly in my lifetime. And I can say that because I’ve been involved in five or six summer Games.”

Gold medal success for Team GB in modern pentathlon for both Kate French and Joe Choong was particularly impressive, given they were only two gold medals available - while in another multi-sport event, the triathlon, Team GB took medals in all three events, including a gold in the new mixed relay event. 

Indeed, in an encouraging demonstration of adaptability, Team GB performed strongly in several of the new sports and events. 

Charlotte Worthington won the inaugural gold medal in the women's BMX freestyle - and, on the final day of a historic performance in the swimming pool, Britain won the first ever mixed 4 x 100m medley relay through Kathleen Dawson, James Guy, Anna Hopkin - and that man Adam Peaty. 

As well as the women's Madison and the mixed relay in triathlon, mentioned above, there were also medals in the men's BMX freestyle through Kye Whyte, women's skateboarding through 13-year-old Sky Brown, and women's featherweight boxing through Karriss Artingstall.

The women's +87kg weightlifting was also technically a new event - although, in reality, it was simply an adjusted version of the existing heavyweight category. 

Nonetheless, Emily Campbell's silver medal was the first ever won in weightlifting by a British woman, and the first British weightlifting medal of any sort since 1984.

Remarkably - except for the opening day - there were medals for Team GB on each and every day of Tokyo 2020+1. 

Day 11 on Tuesday 3 August was particularly special, producing eight medals which coincidentally matched the total from day 11 of both London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016. 

To begin, Britain woke up to sailing gold medals in the 49er and Finn categories for Stuart Bithell and Dylan Fletcher, and Giles Scott respectively following a series of ridiculously tight races. 

Meanwhile, there was a silver medal in the Enoshima Yacht Harbour for John Gimson and Anna Burnet in the mixed nacra 17 class. 

In the velodrome, there were also silver medals for Archibald, Laura Kenny, Elinor Barker, Neah Evans and Josie Knight in the women's team pursuit, and for Carlin, Jason Kenny and Ryan Owens in the men's team sprint. 

But the medal rush did not stop there. At breakfast time in the UK, Birtley boxer Pat McCormack took a fourth Team GB silver of the day in the men's welterweight and Jack Laugher secured a bronze in the 3m springboard diving.

Finally, there was that athletics medal for the teenager Hodgkinson, a fifth Team GB silver of the day.

The following day - Wednesday 4 August - could not quite live up to those incredible standards but still produced five medals including another sailing gold, this time for Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre in the women's 470 class. 

Benjamin Whittaker and Frazer Clarke won silver and bronze boxing medals at light heavyweight and super heavyweight respectively, a few hours after skateboarder Brown had become Britain's youngest ever Olympic medal winner. 

Strangely, despite a generally impressive Games, it looked like boxing gold might somehow elude the male Team GB competitors. 

However, on the penultimate day of competition, Birmingham flyweight Galal Yafai completed the domination of his weight division.

Of course, there are some Olympians who, it felt, seemed simply destined to make it onto the podium. 

Max Whitlock defended his pommel horse title to become the most successful British gymnast in Games history - and top all-time British diver Tom Daley added a bronze in the 10m platform to the gold which he won with Matty Lee in the synchronised event. 

In equestrian, following the dressage success for Charlotte Dujardin, Team GB continued to produce the goods. 

Tom McEwen won gold in team eventing alongside Laura Collett and Oliver Townend - and won silver in the individual category on Toledo De Kerser. Ben Maher won gold in the jumping event on Explosion W. 

Other reliable medal shouts came on the water in canoeing where Liam Heath picked up his fourth career Olympic medal in the K1 200m sprint - and from women's field hockey team which has now won medals at the last three Olympics.

True, in the hockey, there was disappointment initially as eventual winners Netherlands got revenge for the defeat in the 2016 Final in Rio de Janeiro with a comprehensive 5-1 semi final win. 

However, the Team GB squad held its nerve to secure third place in a dramatic 4-3 win against India.

For sure, though, this Olympics - from a British perspective - belongs to the Kennys and their phenomenal achievements, and Britain will certainly miss them when they are gone.

Their fierce determination and prestigious talent is further augmented by their delightfully modest attitude and low-key approach to publicity. 

After all, when asked how they are going to celebrate their Record Games, Jason Kenny suggested that a quiet night with their three-year-old son, Albie, is probably going to be as wild as it is going to get.

“Just being home is the plan,” he said. “Being fair with Albie, we haven’t seen him for two weeks now. It’s the longest we’ve ever been away from him."

Little Albie - who has been staying with grandparents - will not realise yet but his parents are both British sporting legends.

The Kennys truly are Britain's Golden Couple. 

🔴MEDAL TABLE Final standings • BBC closing montage

Pos		G	S	B	TOTAL
1	UNITED STATES (USA)	39	41	33	113
2	CHINA (CHN)	38	32	18	88
3	JAPAN (JPN)	27	14	17	58
4	GREAT BRITAIN (GBR)	22	21	22	65
5	RUSSIAN OLYMPIC TEAM (ROC)	20	28	23	71
6	AUSTRALIA (AUS)	17	7	22	46
7	NETHERLANDS (NED)	10	12	14	36
8	FRANCE (FRA)	10	12	11	33
9	GERMANY (GER)	10	11	16	37
10	ITALY (ITA)	10	10	20	40
11	CANADA (CAN)	7	6	11	24
12	BRAZIL (BRA)	7	6	8	21
13	NEW ZEALAND (NZL)	7	6	7	20
14	CUBA (CUB)	7	3	5	15
15	HUNGARY (HUN)	6	7	7	20
16	SOUTH KOREA (KOR)	6	4	10	20
17	POLAND (POL)	4	5	5	14
18	CZECH REPUBLIC (CZE)	4	4	3	11
19	KENYA (KEN)	4	4	2	10
20	NORWAY (NOR)	4	2	2	8
21	JAMAICA (JAM)	4	1	4	9
22	SPAIN (ESP)	3	8	6	17
23	SWEDEN (SWE)	3	6	0	9
24	SWITZERLAND (SUI)	3	4	6	13
25	DENMARK (DEN)	3	4	4	11
26	CROATIA (CRO)	3	3	2	8
27	IRAN (IRI)	3	2	2	7
28	SERBIA (SRB)	3	1	5	9
29	BELGIUM (BEL)	3	1	3	7
30	BULGARIA (BUL)	3	1	2	6
31	SLOVENIA (SLO)	3	1	1	5
32	UZBEKISTAN (UZB)	2	0	2	4
33	GEORGIA (GEO)	2	5	1	8
34	CHINESE TAIPEI (TPE)	2	4	6	12
35	TURKEY (TUR)	2	2	9	13
36	GREECE (GER)	2	1	1	4
36	UGANDA (UGA)	2	1	1	4
38	ECUADOR (ECU)	2	1	0	3
39	IRELAND (IRL)	2	0	2	3
39	ISRAEL (ISR)	2	0	2	4
41	QATAR (QAT)	2	0	1	3
42	BAHAMAS (BAH)	2	0	0	2
42	KOSOVO (KOS)	2	0	0	2
44	UKRAINE (UKR)	1	6	12	19
45	BELARUS (BLR)	1	3	3	7
46	ROMANIA (ROU)	1	3	0	4
46	VENEZUELA (VEN)	1	3	0	4
48	INDIA (IND)	1	2	4	7
49	HONG KONG (HKG)	1	2	3	6
50	PHILIPPINES (PHI)	1	2	1	4
50	SLOVAKIA (SVK)	1	2	1	4
52	SOUTH AFRICA (RSA)	1	2	0	3
53	AUSTRIA (AUT)	1	1	5	7
54	EGYPT (EGY)	1	1	4	6
55	INDONESIA (INA)	1	1	3	5
56	ETHIOPIA (ETH)	1	1	2	4
56	PORTUGAL (POR)	1	1	2	4
58	TUNISIA (TUN)	1	1	0	2
59	ESTONIA (EST)	1	0	1	2
59	FIJI (FIJ)	1	0	1	2
59	LATVIA (LAT)	1	0	1	2
59	THAILAND (THA)	1	0	1	2
63	BERMUDA (BER)	1	0	0	1
63	MOROCCO (MAR)	1	0	0	1
63	PUERTO RICO (PUR)	1	0	0	1
66	COLOMBIA (COL)	0	4	1	5
67	AZERBAIJAN (AZE)	0	3	4	7
68	DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (DOM)	0	3	2	5
69	ARMENIA (ARM)	0	2	2	4
70	KYRGYZSTAN (KGZ)	0	2	1	3
71	MONGOLIA (MGL)	0	1	3	4
72	ARGENTINA (ARG)	0	1	2	3
72	SAN MARINO (SMR)	0	1	2	3
74	JORDAN (JOR)	0	1	1	2
74	MALAYSIA (MAS)	0	1	1	2
74	NIGERIA (NGR)	0	1	1	2
77	BAHRAIN (BAH)	0	1	0	1
77	SAUDI ARABIA (KSA)	0	1	0	1
77	LITHUANIA (LTU)	0	1	0	1
77	NORTH MACEDONIA (MKD)	0	1	0	1
77	NAMIBIA (NAM)	0	1	0	1
77	TURKMENISTAN (TKM)	0	1	0	1
83	KAZAKHSTAN (KAZ)	0	0	8	8
84	MEXICO (MEX)	0	0	4	4
85	FINLAND (FIN)	0	0	2	2
86	BOTSWANA (BOT)	0	0	1	1
86	BURKINA FASO (BUR)	0	0	1	1
86	IVORY COAST (CIV)	0	0	1	1
86	GHANA (GHA)	0	0	1	1
86	GRENADA (GRN)	0	0	1	1
86	KUWAIT (KUW)	0	0	1	1
86	MOLDOVA (MDA)	0	0	1	1
86	SYRIA (SYR)	0	0	1	1

🔴TEAM GB MEDALS 22 GOLD • 21 SILVER • 22 BRONZE • TOTAL 65

GOLD • BBC montage

26-July	Tom Pidcock	Cycling	Men's cross-country	Report
26-July	Tom Daley Matty Lee	Diving	Men's synchornised 10m platform	Report
26-July	Adam Peaty	Swimming	Men's 100m breaststroke	Report
27-July	Tom Dean	Swimming	Men's 200m freestyle	Report
28-July	Tom Dean James Guy Matt Richards Duncan Scott [Callum Jarvis]	Swimming	Men's 4 x 200m freestyle relay	Report
30-July	Bethany Shriever	Cycling	Women's BMX racing	Report
31-July	Jess Learmonth Jonathan Brownlee Georgia Taylor-Brown Alex Yee	Triathlon	Mixed relay	Report
31-July	Kathleen Dawson James Guy Adam Peaty Anna Hopkin [Freya Anderson]	Swimming	Mixed 4 x 100m medley relay	Report
01-August	Charlotte Worthington	Cycling	Women's BMX freestyle	Report
01-August	Max Whitlock	Gymnastics	Men's pommel horse	Report
02-August	Laura Collett Tom McEwen Oliver Townend	Equestrian	Team eventing	Report
03-August	Stuart Bithell Dylan Fletcher	Sailing	49er	Report
03-August	Giles Scott	Sailing	Finn	Report
04-August	Hannah Mills Eilidh McIntyre	Sailing	Women's 470	Report
04-August	Ben Maher	Equestrian	Individual jumping	Report
05-August	Matthew Walls	Cycling	Men's Omnium	Report
06-August	Katie Archibald Laura Kenny	Cycling	Women's Madison	Report
06-August	Kate French	Modern pentathlon	Women's individual	Report
07-August	Galal Yafai	Boxing	Men's flyweight	Report
07-August	Joe Choong	Modern pentathlon	Men's individual	Report
08-August	Jason Kenny	Cycling	Men's Keirin	Report
08-August	Lauren Price	Boxing	Women's middleweight	Report

SILVER

25-July	Bradly Sinden	Taekwondo	Men's -68kg	Report
26-July	Lauren Williams	Taekwondo	Women's -67kg	Report
26-July	Alex Yee	Triathlon	Men's individual	Report
27-July	Duncan Scott	Swimming	Men's 200m freestyle	Report
27-July	Georgia Taylor-Brown	Triathlon	Women's individual	Report
28-July	Tom Barras Jack Beaumont Angus Groom Harry Leask	Rowing	Men's quadruple sculls	Report
29-July	Mallory Franklin	Canoeing	Women's C-1	Report
30-July	Duncan Scott	Swimming	Men's 200m individual medley	Report
30-July	Kye Whyte	Cycling	Men's BMX racing	Report
01-August	Luke Greenbank James Guy Duncan Scott Adam Peaty [James Wilby]	Swimming	Men's 4 x 100m medley relay	Report
02-August	Tom McEwen	Equestrian	Individual eventing	Report
02-August	Emily Campbell	Weightlifting	Women's +87kg	Report
03-August	John Gimson Anna Burnet	Sailing	Mixed Nacra 17	Report
03-August	Katie Archibald Elinor Barker Neah Evans Laura Kenny Josie Knight	Cycling	Women's team pursuit	Report
03-August	Jack Carlin Jason Kenny Ryan Owens	Cycling	Men's team sprint	Report
03-August	Pat McCormack	Boxing	Men's welterweight	Report
03-August	Keely Hodgkinson	Athletics	Women's 800m	Report
04-August	Benjamin Whittaker	Boxing	Men's light heavyweight	Report
06-August	Laura Muir	Athletics	Women's 1500m	Report
06-August	Chijndu Ujah Zharnel Hughes Richard Kilty Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake	Athletics	Men's 4 x 100m relay	Report
07-August	Ethan Hayter Matthew Walls	Cycling	Men's Madison	Report

BRONZE

25-July	Chelsie Giles	Judo	Women's 52kg	Report
27-July	Bianca Walkden	Taekwondo	Women's +67kg	Report
27-July	Jennifer Gadirova Jessica Gadirova Alice Kinsella Amelie Morgan	Gymnastics	Women's team all-round	Report
27-July	Charlotte Dujardin Charlotte Fry Carl Hester	Equestrian	Team dressage	Report
28-July	Charlotte Dujardin	Equestrian	Individual dressage	Report
29-July	Matthew Coward-Holley	Shooting	Men's trap	Report
30-July	see below [1]	Rowing	Men's eight	Report
30-July	Luke Greenbank	Swimming	Men's 200m backstroke	Report
30-July	Bryony Page	Gymnastics	Women's trampoline	Report
31-July	Emma Wilson	Sailing	Women's RS:X	Report
31-July	Karriss Artingstall	Boxing	Women's featherweight	Report
01-August	Declan Brooks	Cycling	Men's BMX freestyle	Report
03-August	Jack Laugher	Diving	Men's 3m springboard	Report
04-August	Sky Brown	Skateboarding	Women's park	Report
04-August	Frazer Clarke	Boxing	Men's super heavyweight	Report
05-August	Liam Heath	Canoeing	Men's K1 200m	Report
05-August	Holly Bradshaw	Athletics	Women's pole vault	Report
06-August	see below [2]	Field hockey	Women's tournament	Report
06-August	Jack Carlin	Cycling	Men's sprint	Report
06-August	Asha Philip Imani Lansiquot Dina Asher-Smith Daryll Neita	Athletics	Women's 4 x 100m relay	Report
07-August	Tom Daley	Diving	Men's 10m platform	Report
07-August	Josh Kerr	Athletics	Men's 1500m	Report

[1] Men's eight Josh Bugajski, Jacob Dawson, Charles Elwes, Thomas Ford, Thomas George, James Rudkin, Moe Sbihi, Oliver Wynne-Griffith, Henry Fieldman (cox)
[2] Women's field hockey team Giselle Ansley, Grace Balsdon, Fiona Crackles, Maddie Hinch, Sarah Jones, Hannah Martin, Shona McCallin, Lily Owsley, Hollie Pearne-Webb, Izzy Petter, Ellie Rayer, Sarah Robertson, Anna Toman, Susannah Townsend, Laura Unsworth, Leah Wilkinson

Free hit for Team GB in ice hockey finals

"THEY'RE going to Switzerland!" roared commentator Aaron Murphy as he called the final dramatic overtime play of Great Britain's incredible comeback triumph against France two years ago.

But, ultimately, neither Great Britain - nor anyone else - got to go to Switzerland after the tournament last year inevitably ended up on the long list of sporting events which were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Of course, coronavirus has not magically gone away - and, even this year, all of the divisions below the elite tournament were again cancelled. 

For Team GB, that was good news as the resultant removal of relegation in these World Championships has guaranteed that, whatever happens this year, Britain will keep their place in the top flight in 2022.

In fairness, Britain had earned their place among the elite in 2018 - and retained it in 2019 - on merit with two brilliant victories over Hungary and France, respectively.

In 2018, promotion to the top division for the first time since 1994 was achieved when Robert Farmer equalised against the Hungarians with 15 seconds of regulation time remaining to give Britain the point they needed.

Then, the campaign in 2019 came down to what was effectively a relegation playoff against the French after six inconsistent performances had all ended in defeat. 

France were also without a win going into the match - and a tight opening period was shaded by Team GB.

In the second period, though, the tie shifted decidedly in favour of the French as, devastatingly, they scored three times in four minutes and one second of play. Two of the goals came just six seconds apart. 

An even game now had a very uneven score - yet, remarkably, the British team kept their nerve, and began to dominate. 

First, Robert Dowd finished neatly from a pass by Ben O'Connor - then, three minutes later, Hammond reduced the lead down to one after O'Connor's shot had been parried.

By then, the momentum switch was obvious - and, with 14 minutes still to go, Farmer found another vital goal in his locker.

Neither team could find a winner in regulation time - but, in overtime, skipper Jonathan Phillips held off some close attention down the left and found Ben Davies in front of the net.

Davies made no mistake - and Team GB were going to Switzerland, or so they thought.

This year, instead of going to Switzerland as commentator Murphy had foretold, Team GB were meant to travel to Minsk, the capital of original co-host Belarus, after being drawn in Group A.

But, on 18 January, there was another big change. International ice hockey governing body, the IIHF, decided that the World Championship could not be played in Belarus due to "safety and security issues".

And, to be honest, it would be difficult to pretend that outcome did not come as a surprise.

For months, the Belarusian capital had been paralysed by a series of protests against the government in Minsk which has been under the control of Alexander Lukashenko for the last 27 years. 

Lukashenko has built a despotic cult of personality and continues to hold in an iron grip on Belarus to the extent that he has even been described as the last dictator in Europe

Several political groups, politicians and international entities, including the European Parliament, called for Belarus to be stripped of it matches - and, eventually, the situation there became so untenable that the IIHF felt obliged to act.

Group A matches will now be held at the Olympic Sports Centre in Riga, the capital of Latvia, which has also retained its own hosting rights of Group B.

Those matches in Group B - between Latvia, Canada, Finland, United States, Germany, Norway, Italy, and Kazakhstan - will be played, as planned, at the Arena Riga.

Meanwhile, alongside Great Britain and Belarus, Group A features Sweden, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark - and, effectively, the Russia national team.

In line with a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on doping sanctions in December, however, the Russian team is prohibited from competing under the Russian flag or using the Russian national anthem at any Olympic Games or World Championships until 16 December 2022.

Instead, Russia must compete as "neutral athletes", not that those circumstances make the number two-ranked team any less of a threat.

By contrast, Great Britain - at 19th, the lowest ranked team - are still going to find it difficult at times to compete over the next 12 days against some of the powerhouses of the sport, even if the big guns are shorn of many of their Stanley Cup-tied NHL stars.

Meanwhile, Team GB will be without their usual coach Pete Russell who will miss the tournament after he chose to spend time with his family following the end of his season at Freiburg in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

Assistant coaches Adam Keefe and Corey Neilson will co-lead this British campaign in his place.

Nevertheless, the aforementioned lack of relegation should lift a weight off the shoulders of the players - and, hopefully, that means Team GB can, once again, punch above their weight.

Pos	GROUP A	W	OTW	OTL	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	RUSSIA	3	0	0	1	15	7	+8	9
2	SWTIZERLAND	3	0	0	1	14	10	+4	9
3	SLOVAKIA	3	0	0	1	11	12	-1	9
4	CZECH REPUBLIC	1	1	0	2	12	13	-1	5
5	DENMARK	1	1	0	2	7	9	-2	5
6	BELARUS	1	0	1	2	8	12	-4	4
7	GREAT BRITAIN	1	0	1	2	8	15	-7	4
8	SWEDEN	1	0	0	3	12	9	+3	3

21-May	14:15	RUSSIA	4-3	CZECH REPUBLIC
		Burdasov [04:16 PP] Shvets-Rogovoy [35:27 SH] Barabanov [45:28] Grigorenko [59:41]	(1-1, 1-1, 2-1)	[09:26] Flek [37:53] Vrana [57:23 PP] Kubalik
21-May	18:15	BELARUS	2-5	SLOVAKIA
		Stefanovich [53:25 PP2] Sharangovic [54:22]	(0-3, 0-0, 2-2)	[03:53] Pospisil [09:17 PP] Cehlarik [11:02 PP] Pospisil [45:05] Hrivik [59:15 EN] Cehlarik
22-May	10:15	DENMARK	4-3	SWEDEN
		Nick Jensen [30:40] Nick Jensen [37:33] Kristensen [38:09] Nick Jensen [48:22 PP]	(0-0, 3-2, 1-1)	[22:06] Klingberg [35:09] Tommernes [50:56] Klingberg
22-May	14:15	GREAT BRITAIN	1-7	RUSSIA	📺
		Liam Kirk [18:46 PP]	(1-4, 0-1, 0-2)	[05:53 PP] Burdasov [07:19 SH] Grigorenko [09:21] Burdasov [10:51] Tolchinsky [30:08] Karnaukhov [49:59 PP] Kuzmenko [53:04] Slepyshev
22-May	18:15	CZECH REPUBLIC	2-5	SWITZERLAND
		Chytil [14:46 PP] Smejkal [54:59 PP]	(1-1, 0-2, 1-2)	[17:09 PP] Hoffman [24:12 PP] Meier [38:19] Scherwey [50:27 PP] Meier [57:08 PP] Hoffman
23-May	10:15	GREAT BRITAIN	1-2	SLOVAKIA	📺
		Liam Kirk [22:03]	(0-1, 1-1, 0-0)	[00:25] Hrivik [24:42] Lantosi
23-May	14:15	SWEDEN	0-1	BELARUS
			(0-0, 0-0, 0-1)	[40:33] Nesterov
23-May	18:15	DENMARK	0-1	SWITZERLAND
			(0-1, 0-0, 0-0)	[13:12] Meier
24-May	14:15	SLOVAKIA	3-1	RUSSIA
		Kelemen [30:00] Gernat [53:19 PP] Daloga [58:59 EN]	(0-0, 1-1, 2-0)	[31:06 PP] Barabanov
24-May	18:15	CZECH REPUBLIC	3-2 OT	BELARUS
		Kovar [29:44] Zadina [33:03 PP] Kubalik [61:23 PP]	(0-0, 2-1, 0-1) (1-0)	[25:52] Sharangovich [51:30] Yeryomenko
25-May	14:15	GREAT BRITAIN	2-3 OT	DENMARK	📺
		Ben O'Connor [02:33] Mike Hammond [56:18]	(1-2, 0-0, 1-0) (0-1)	[10:19] Jakobsen [13:44 PP] Nick Jensen [64:35 PP] Lauridsen
25-May	18:15	SWITZERLAND	0-7	SWEDEN	📺
			(0-2, 0-2, 0-3)	[08:35] Froden [10:00 PP] A Kempe [22:33] Olofsson [30:24] Froden [41:18 PP] Nygren [47:14] Lundkvist [50:46] Tommernes
26-May	14:15	RUSSIA	3-0	DENMARK
		Morozov [39:18 PP] Barabanov [49:41] Voronkov [56:35]	(0-0, 1-0, 2-0)
26-May	18:15	BELARUS	3-4	GREAT BRITAIN	📺
		Kodola [29:15] Platt [51:19] Prince [57:43]	(0-1, 1-2, 2-1)	[13:38] Liam Kirk [37:06] Ben Davies [38:35] Liam Kirk [48:41] Mike Hammond
27-May	14:15	SWITZERLAND	8-1	SLOVAKIA
			(1-0, 3-0, 4-1)
27-May	18:15	SWEDEN	2-4	CZECH REPUBLIC	📺
			(2-0, 0-0, 0-4)
28-May	14:15	SWEDEN	Score	GREAT BRITAIN	📺
			(Periods)
28-May	18:15	DENMARK	Score	BELARUS
			(Periods)
29-May	10:15	CZECH REPUBLIC	Score	GREAT BRITAIN	📺
			(Periods)
29-May	14:15	SWITZERLAND	Score	RUSSIA
			(Periods)
29-May	18:15	SLOVAKIA	Score	DENMARK
			(Periods)
30-May	14:15	BELARUS	Score	SWITZERLAND
			(Periods)
30-May	18:15	SWEDEN	Score	SLOVAKIA
			(Periods)
31-May	14:15	CZECH REPUBLIC	Score	DENMARK
			(Periods)
31-May	18:15	RUSSIA	Score	SWEDEN	📺
			(Periods)
01-June	10:15	SWITZERLAND	Score	GREAT BRITAIN	📺
			(Periods)
01-June	14:15	SLOVAKIA	Score	CZECH REPUBLIC	📺
			(Periods)
01-June	18:15	RUSSIA	Score	BELARUS
			(Periods)

Pos	GROUP B	W	OTW	OTL	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	FINLAND	3	0	1	0	11	5	+6	10
2	GERMANY	3	0	0	1	19	9	+10	9
3	UNITED STATES	3	0	0	1	13	5	+8	9
4	KAZAKHSTAN	1	2	0	1	8	8	-	7
5	LATVIA	2	0	1	1	9	7	+2	7
6	CANADA	1	0	0	3	6	12	-6	3
7	NORWAY	1	0	0	3	9	15	-6	3
8	ITALY	0	0	0	3	5	16	-11	0

21-May	14:15	GERMANY	9-4	ITALY
		Kuehnhackl [15:56] M Mueller [18:44] Rieder [24:23] Tiffels [27:47 PP] Noebels [35:13] Reichel [37:52] Noebels [38:35] Plachta [42:52 SH] Pfoederl [48:41]	(2-2, 5-0, 2-2)	[17:42] Petan [18:07] Frigo [43:22 PP] Bardaro [44:06 PP] Frank
21-May	18:15	CANADA	0-2	LATVIA	📺
			(0-1, 0-1, 0-0)	[19:58] Indrasis [28:39] Batna
22-May	10:15	NORWAY	1-5	GERMANY
		Lilleberg [36:21]	(0-1, 1-3, 0-1)	[19:44] Plachta [23:19 PP] Gewanke [26:04] Pfoederl [30:35] Reichel [44:41] Bergmann
22-May	14:15	FINLAND	2-1	UNITED STATES
		Ohtamaa [26:54] Pakarinen [35:41]	(0-0, 2-1, 0-0)	[38:01 PP] Robertson
22-May	18:15	LATVIA	2-3 GWS	KAZAKHSTAN
		Darzins [27:44] Ri. Bukarts [45:25] [3/8 in shootout]	(0-0, 1-1, 1-1) (0-0) (0-1)	[38:59] Shin [45:37] Blacker [4/8 in shootout]
23-May	10:15	NORWAY	4-1	ITALY
		Trettenes [10:04] Rosseli Olsen [25:12 PP] Trettenes [36:01 PP] Trettenes [40:59]	(1-0, 2-0, 1-1)	[51:55] Frank
23-May	14:15	KAZAKHSTAN	2-1 GWS	FINLAND
		Panyukov [35:56 PP] [3/4 in shootout]	(0-0, 1-1, 0-0) (0-0) (1-0)	[33:24] Lundell [1/4 in shootout]
23-May	18:15	CANADA	1-5	UNITED STATES	📺
		Comtois [51:35]	(0-1, 0-3, 1-1)	[07:42] Robertson [21:19] Clendening [23:27 PP] Moore [38:20] Moore [57:06] Tennyson
24-May	14:15	LATVIA	3-0	ITALY
		Karsums [32:08] Darzins [58:48] Karsums [59:48 EN]	(0-0, 1-0, 2-0)
24-May	18:15	GERMANY	3-1	CANADA	📺
		Loibl [10:46] Plachta [11:24] Holzer [57:59 EN]	(2-1, 0-0, 1-0)	[18:19] Paul
25-May	14:15	UNITED STATES	3-0	KAZAKHSTAN
		Clendening [06:57] Moore [21:33 EA] Drury [41:58]	(1-0, 1-0, 1-0)
25-May	18:15	FINLAND	5-2	NORWAY
		Pakarinen [14:24] Lundell [21:40] Nousiainen [25:54] Innala [47:17 PP] Bjorninen [53:25]	(1-1, 2-0, 2-1)	[01:30] M. Olimb [41:13] Lindstrom
26-May	14:15	KAZAKHSTAN	3-2	GERMANY
		Shin [26:39] Starchenko [40:31 PS] Akolzin [55:42]	(0-0, 1-2, 2-0)	[29:38] Kuehnhackl [34:07 PP] Eisenschmidt
26-May	18:15	CANADA	4-2	NORWAY
		Brown [00:22] Henrique [10:23 PP2] Mangiapane [34:41] Henrique [50:14 SH]	(2-0, 1-2, 1-0)	[29:08] Valkvae Olsen [30:28] Rosselli Olsen
27-May	14:15	UNITED STATES	4-2	LATVIA	📺
			(2-2, 2-0, 0-0)
27-May	18:15	FINLAND	3-0	ITALY
			(2-0, 1-0, 0-0)
28-May	14:15	KAZAKHSTAN	Score	CANADA
			(Periods)
28-May	18:15	LATVIA	Score	NORWAY
			(Periods)
29-May	10:15	ITALY	Score	KAZAKHSTAN
			(Periods)
29-May	14:15	NORWAY	Score	UNITED STATES
			(Periods)
29-May	18:15	GERMANY	Score	FINLAND	📺
			(Periods)
30-May	14:15	ITALY	Score	CANADA	📺
			(Periods)
30-May	18:15	FINLAND	Score	LATVIA	📺
			(Periods)
31-May	14:15	UNITED STATES	Score	GERMANY	📺
			(Periods)
31-May	18:15	NORWAY	Score	KAZAKHSTAN
			(Periods)
01-June	10:15	CANADA	Score	FINLAND
			(Periods)
01-June	14:15	ITALY	Score	UNITED STATES
			(Periods)
01-June	18:15	GERMANY	Score	LATVIA
			(Periods)

📺 Live coverage of all seven of Great Britain's matches will be provided by Livesports (Freeview Ch 64, Sky HD Ch 422, Virgin TV Ch 553 and on the Freesports player). Livesports will also have coverage of 18 other games across the tournament.