Showing posts with label tom daley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tom daley. Show all posts

Friday, 31 December 2021

Index 2021

 


FOOTBALL

• Season 2020/21
23.04 Super League coup attempt leaves nasty scar
06.06 For the record: Tuchel guides Chelsea to European glory
• Euro 2020+1
11.06 The Guide: Better late than never
26.06 Southgate seeks to banish the ghosts of Euro 96
10.07 And Final-ly...
13.07 Not this time, maybe never
• Season 2021/22
27.08 Premier League preview: Ronaldo returns after Man City miss out on Kane
19.11 Goal glut for Kane as England qualify for World Cup

OLYMPICS
• Tokyo 2020+1
24.07 The unwanted Olympics
31.07 Proud Daley achieves his dream at last
10.08 Kennys keep their Golden Touch

FORMULA ONE
• 2021 season
28.03 Verstappen closes in on record-chasing Hamilton
19.07 Hamilton revives title challenge after dramatic day at Silverstone
23.11 Tetchy title race goes to the wire

CRICKET
• Ashes series 2021/22
07.12 Overshadowed, uncertain Ashes series steps out of the shade
29.12 Ducking hell
• Earlier series
05.02 Root seeks a jewel in the crown

OTHER SPORT
• Snooker
18.04 Trump targets second World Snooker title
03.05 Obdurate Selby grinds down doughty Murphy
• Tennis
19.09 Raducanu makes the grade in New York
• Golf
27.09 Windswept Europe battered by Americans in Wisconsin
• Ice Hockey
22.05 Free hit for Team GB in ice hockey finals

POLITICS
• Local elections
09.05 Labour holds London but loses in Hartlepool and heartlands

INDEX 2021 
• Previous years 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

Saturday, 31 July 2021

Tokyo 2020+1 - Proud Daley achieves his dream at last


TOM DALEY wept tears of joy as he completed his 13-year Olympic career with a first gold in the 10m synchronised platform diving alongside debutant Matty Lee.

Daley - who first competed for Great Britain as a 14-year-old at the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing - had won successive bronze medals in London 2012 and at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

But, this time, the Plymouth lad and his 23-year-old Leeds-born diving partner Lee absolutely nailed their final dive to stay ahead of their Chinese rivals Cao Yuan and Chen Aisen.

After six rounds, the British duo had scored 471.81 points compared to 470.58 for the Chinese - and so, Daley, after so many years of trying, had finally achieved his boyhood dream.

"I still can't honestly believe what is happening," Daley said. "That moment, being about to be announced as Olympic champions, I was gone. I was blubbering."

With seven days completed, Great Britain has eight gold medals and 28 altogether - and sits sixth in the medal table, behind only China, hosts Japan, United States, the team representing Russia, and Australia.

In particular, the performance in the swimming pool has been something of a revelation, with the clock turned back to 1908 when London hosted the Games for the first time.

For the first time in 113 years, Team GB has won seven medals in swimming at a single Games in a haul which includes four gold, two silver and a bronze for Luke Greenbank in the 200m backstroke.

Earlier, Adam Peaty had started the ball rolling with an emphatic victory in the 100m breaststroke, an event in which he still has not lost for seven years.

But, if that was expected, a first British 1-2 in the pool since 1908 came as a complete shock as Tom Dean and Duncan Scott dominated the 200m freestyle.

Scott also won silver in the 200m individual medley - and Dean and Scott then combined with James Guy, Matt Richards, and Callum Jarvis in the heats, to achieve a crushing victory in the 4x 200m freestyle relay.

Debutant Richards, aged only 18, was outstanding in the third leg and set up Scott perfectly for the anchor leg as the race finished with the British teams missing out on the world record by just three-hundredths of a second.

Not to be outdone by Dean, Peaty also now has two gold medals at these Olympics - and three overall - after being part of the team which won the inaugural mixed 4×100 metre medley relay.

Peaty raced alongside Guy, Kathleen Dawson, Anna Hopkin, and Freya Anderson in the heats, as the British wrote their names in the history books as the first Olympic winners of this event.

Meanwhile, in the gymnasium, there was more history being made by Team GB as the women's team - Amelie Morgan, Alice Kinsella and the 16-year-old Gadirova twins, Jennifer and Jessica - came from behind for a first Olympic teams medal since 1928.

Bryony Page added to her silver from Rio de Janeiro with a bronze this time in the women's trampoline - and, with the individual event finals now getting under way, the British medal haul from the Ariake Gymnastics Centre might not be finished just yet.

Of course, taekwondo has always delivered for Team GB, ever since its introduction to the Games at Sydney in 2000 - and these Tokyo Olympics have been no different.

Bradly Sinden and Lauren Williams both won silver on debut in the featherweight and welterweight categories respectively - while the more experienced Bianca Walkden took bronze after suffering a controversial semi final defeat.

Staying with martial arts - and judo has been less successful for Team GB with the events unsurprisingly dominated by hosts Japan.

Nevertheless, the national sport of the home nation will always be recorded as Britain's first medal of these Tokyo Olympics with Chelsie Giles taking bronze in the 52kg category on day two.

Elsewhere, in the equestrian, Charlotte Dujardin became the most decorated British female Olympian - for now.

Dujardin, on her new horse Gio, won bronze medals in individual and team horse dancing - or dressage, to give its proper name - to take her overall career total in the Olympics to six - three gold, one silver, two bronze).

Track cyclist Laura Kenny can overtake Dujardin with medals in each of her three events - and, staying on two wheels, there have already been some strong performances from Team GB.

Tom Pidcock took gold with a dominant display in the men's mountain bike cross-country - and, in BMX, Bethany Shriever won each of her three races for gold in the women's event while Kye Whyte took silver in the men's final race.

Trusty triathlon delivered again as Jess Learmonth, Jonathan Brownlee, Georgia Taylor-Brown and Alex Yee struck gold in another new event at the Olympics - a mixed relay - after Yee and Taylor-Brown had both won silver in the respective men's and women's competitions.

Slalom canoeist Mallory Franklin was also on the second step of the podium in the women's C1 event - and, at around about the same time as that, British world champion, Matt Coward-Holley took bronze in the men's trap shooting.

For the rowing team, there was a silver in the men's quadruple sculls and a bronze in the men's eight on the Sea Forest Waterway - but, for the first time since 1984, Britain failed to win a gold medal at an Olympic regatta.

No fewer than six fourth-placed finishes go some way to explaining the overall low haul - and Emily Craig and Imogen Grant can be especially gutted at having missed out on bronze by one-hundredths of a second in the women's lightweight double sculls.

But, funded a generous £25m by UK Sport via the National Lottery, the rowing team simply had to do better than they did - and some tough questions will now need to be asked.

Indeed, the abiding Team GB memory from the rowing competition in Tokyo will be the sight of the men's four - in an event won five times in a row by the British boat from Sydney onwards - almost taking out the Italians by actually steering into the wrong lane.

Certainly, British Rowing will not look back on the Tokyo Olympics with much fondness at all.

There was also disappointment in the athletics with the events in the Olympic Stadium only just under way.

Big hope Dina Asher-Smith failed to qualify for the women's 100m final - and, citing a hamstring injury incurred during the trials before the Games, the 25-year-old has now pulled out of her favoured 200m.

There is better news from the Enoshima Yacht Harbour where there are no fewer than six British boats which have been navigated into a top three position, as it stands.

And there are four guaranteed medals in boxing with featherweight Karriss Artingstall, middleweight Lauren Price, welterweight Pat McCormack and light-heavyweight Benjamin Whittaker all taking home at least a bronze after reaching the semi finals of their events.

But, as Asher-Smith and others show, these Olympics have shown that there is nothing beyond that which is absolutely guaranteed in sport.

Naomi Osaka, the home face of these Games, lost 6-1, 6-4 to world number 42 Marketa Vondrousova in the third round of the women's tennis - and, in the men's competition, Novak Djokovic gave away a one-set lead to lose his semi final to Alexander Zverev.

Earlier, Tunisian teenager Ahmed Hafnaoui stunned the field in the men's 400m freestyle swimming by taking gold, having qualified for the final with the slowest time.

Then, later that day in the women's cycling road race, Austrian Anna Kiesenhofer pulled off what CNN described as "one of the biggest shocks in Olympics history".

Kiesenhofer had trained for the event without a coach or a professional team and her only genuine chance of a medal was from the early breakaway which she initiated.

Slowly but surely, Kiesenhofer's fellow riders at the front fell back - and, with the leading group down to just three, the Austrian broke away by herself for the final 41km while climbing the Kagosaka Pass.

All of the riders, except for Kiesenhofer, were eventually swallowed up by the Dutch-led peleton - and, as Annamiek Van Vleuten crossed the line for silver, she thought she had won gold - until she was told about the previously unheralded Austrian.

Unquestionably, though, the biggest story of the first week came in the Ariake Gymnastics Centre where American gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from the all-round final after a single vault on Wednesday.

World super-star Biles had looked out-of-sorts in the opening days of the competition - but had still qualified for the all-round final and the finals of each of the five pieces of apparatus.

At first, it was speculated that a physical injury was going to prevent Biles from attempting to achieve a remarkable six gold medals at these Games.

However, it quickly emerged that Biles had actually stepped away from the Olympics for the good of her mental health.

"After the performance I did, I just didn't want to go on. I have to focus on my mental health. I just think mental health is more prevalent in sports right now.

"We have to protect our minds and our bodies and not just go out and do what the world wants us to do.

"I don't trust myself as much anymore. Maybe it's getting older. There were a couple of days when everybody tweets you and you feel the weight of the world.

"We're not just athletes. We're people at the end of the day and sometimes you just have to step back."

Biles's actions have rightly drawn much praise - and, here in the UK, BBC presenter Alex Scott delivered an extremely eloquent summary of the situation.

“The four-time Olympic champion has transcended her sport, raised awareness on a range of very important issues and she’s done it again," Scott said. "Finding one’s voice is just as difficult as any skill that can be mastered.

“Simone has ensured that the Tokyo Olympics will also be defined by things other than sport. (This is) a conversation that needs to be continued. Mental health is important and it does matter.”

It may be difficult to see - but, for sure, the right decision for anyone sometimes is simply just to walk away and allow the situation to ease.

For now, though - my very best wishes to Biles and Asher-Smith, and indeed anyone else who feels as if they are struggling a little right now.


🔴MEDAL TABLE Updated on 31-July at 17:18 BST
Pos
GSBTOTAL
1CHINA (CHN)
21131246
2JAPAN (JPN)
175830
3UNITED STATES (USA)
16171346
4RUSSIAN OLYMPIC TEAM (ROC)
11151137
5AUSTRALIA (AUS)
1031427
6GREAT BRITAIN (GBR)
891128
7SOUTH KOREA (KOR)
54716
8FRANCE (FRA)
49619
9NETHERLANDS (NED)
47516
10NEW ZEALAND (NZL)
43310
11GERMANY (GER)
341017
12CANADA (CAN)
34512
13SWITZERLAND (SUI)
33410
14CZECH REPUBLIC (CZE)
3317
15CROATIA (CRO)
3126
16ITALY (ITA)
281424
17CHINESE TAIPEI (TPE)
2237
18HUNGARY (HUN)
2226
19SLOVENIA (SLO)
21
14
20KOSOVO (KOS)
2002
21BRAZIL (BRA)
1348
22GEORGIA (GEO)
1315
23ROMANIA (ROU)
1304
24SPAIN (ESP)
1225
25HONG KONG (HKG)
1203
25SOUTH AFRICA (RSA)
1203
27AUSTRIA (AUT)
1135
28SERBIA (SRB)
1124
29JAMAICA (JAM)
1113
30NORWAY (NOR)
1102
30POLAND (POL)
1102
30SLOVAKIA (SVK)
1102
30SWEDEN (SWE)
1102
30TUNISIA (TUN)
1102
35TURKEY (TUR)
1023
36ESTONIA (EST)
1012
36FIJI (FIJ)
1012
36IRELAND (IRL)
1012
36UZBEKISTAN (UZB)
1012
40BELARUS (BLR)
1001
40BERMUDA (BER)
1001
40ECUADOR (ECU)
1001
40ETHIOPIA (ETH)
1001
40GREECE (GRE)
1001
40IRAN (IRI)
1001
40LATVIA (LAT)
1001
40PHILIPPINES (PHI)
1001
40QATAR (QAT)
1001
40THAILAND (THA)
1001
50COLOMBIA (COL)
0213
51DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (DOM)
0202
51VENEZUELA (VEN)
0202
53INDONESIA (INA)
0123
53MONGOLIA (MON)
0123
55BELGIUM (BEL)
0112
55CUBA (CUB)
0112
55DENMARK (DEN)
0112
55SAN MARINO (SMR)
0112
55UGANDA (UGA)
0112
60BULGARIA (BUL)
0112
60INDIA (IND)
0101
60JORDAN (JOR)
0101
60NORTH MACEDONIA (MKD)
0101
60TURKMENISTAN (TKM)
0101
65UKRAINE (UKR)
0101
66KAZAKHSTAN (KAZ)
0055
67EGYPT (EGY)
0033
67ISRAEL (ISR)
0022
67MEXICO (MEX)
0022
70ARGENTINA (ARG)
0022
70AZERBAIJAN (AZE)
0011
70FINLAND (FIN)
0011
70IVORY COAST (CIV)
0011
70KUWAIT (KUW)
0011
70MALAYSIA (MAS)
0011
70PORTUGAL (POR)
0011

🔴TEAM GB MEDALS Updated on 31-July at 21:58 BST

GOLD
26-JulyTom Pidcock
CyclingMen's cross-country
Report
26-July

Tom Daley
Matty Lee
Diving

Men's synchornised 10m platform

Report


26-JulyAdam Peaty
SwimmingMen's 100m breaststroke
Report
27-JulyTom Dean
SwimmingMen'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-JulyBethany Shriever
CyclingWomen'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






SILVER
25-JulyBradly Sinden
TaekwondoMen's -68kg
Report
26-JulyLauren Williams
TaekwondoWomen's -67kg
Report
26-JulyAlex Yee
TriathlonMen's individual
Report
27-JulyDuncan Scott
SwimmingMen's 200m freestyle
Report
27-JulyGeorgia Taylor-Brown
TriathlonWomen's individual
Report
28-July



Tom Barras
Jack Beaumont
Angus Groom
Harry Leask
Rowing



Men's quadruple sculls



Report




29-JulyMallory Franklin
CanoeingWomen's C-1
Report
30-JulyDuncan Scott
SwimmingMen's 200m individual medley
Report
30-JulyKye Whyte
CyclingMen's BMX racing
Report

BRONZE
25-JulyChelsie Giles
JudoWomen's 52kg
Report
27-JulyBianca Walkden
TaekwondoWomen'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-JulyCharlotte Dujardin
EquestrianIndividual dressage
Report
29-JulyMatthew Coward-Holley
ShootingMen's trap
Report
30-July*see below
RowingMen's eight
Report
30-JulyLuke Greenbank
SwimmingMen's 200m backstroke
Report
30-JulyBryony Page
GymnasticsWomen's trampoline
Report
31-JulyEmma Wilson
SailingWomen's RS:X
Report
31-JulyKarriss Artingstall
BoxingWomen's featherweight
Report
*Men's eight Josh Bugajski, Jacob Dawson, Charles Elwes, Thomas Ford, Thomas George, James Rudkin, Moe Sbihi, Oliver Wynne-Griffith, Henry Fieldman (cox)

Saturday, 6 August 2016

Rio 2016 Olympics: Great expectations for Team GB

RIO 2016 OLYMPICS
Preview - Sport-by-sport - Results/table
 
THE WORLD turned its eyes towards Rio de Janeiro today as Great Britain aims to follow up the success of London 2012 with its best ever overseas performance at an Olympics.

UK Sport, the nation's high performance funding agency, has set British athletes the ambitious target of winning 48 medals, one more than what was achieved at Beijing in 2008. 

But, having won 29 golds and 65 medals overall four years ago on home soil, this year's objective actually seems reasonable enough. 

The Guardian newspaper agrees and has predicted a total of 58 medals. Meanwhile, its broadsheet counterpart, the Telegraph, reports sports data firm Gracenote Sports has made a forecast of 56.

On that basis, the upper level of the range of attainment set by UK Sport - a total of 79 medals - would clearly appear to be rather pushing it.

In fact, to achieve that level, Britain would have to buck a historic trend whereby no country which hosted an Olympics has gone onto beat their total of medals at the very next Games.


Certainly, though, Team GB - as it is officially branded - has far too much talent to suffer the same fate as the last squad which travelled to the western hemisphere for a Summer Olympics. 

Then, back in 1996, Britain won only 15 medals overall to finish the Games at Atlanta in a humiliating position of 36th in the table.

Indeed, only Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent in the men's coxless pair prevented Great Britain from returning from a Summer Olympics for the first time without a single gold medal. 

A definitive nadir had been reached. 

Thankfully, though, the British Olympic Association had a plan involving funding from the National Lottery and the set-up of UK Sport to identify the best opportunities for success. 

There was an injection of funding into sailing, cycling and rowing, in particular, while the two sports with most medals on offer - athletics and swimming - were also strategically targeted.

Immediately, there was an improved showing. At Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004, Team GB climbed up to 10th in the table with 11 and nine golds respectively.

Then came the huge success in Beijing where Britain was ranked fourth - behind only China, United States and Russia - having delivered 19 golds.

And most recently, four years ago, came those magical two weeks in London where, as hosts, Team GB achieved a top-three position for the first time since 1920 by slipping ahead of the Russians.

Of course, the strategy of UK Sport can be considered controversial in some respects.

Sports such as basketball, synchronised swimming, water polo and weightlifting had their funding withdrawn after they were seen to have underachieved at London 2012.

Critics have pointed out that such judgements can be a matter of perception and that the withdrawal of funding denies the sport any chance of improvement as it has an inevitable knock-on effect at a grassroots level.

In fairness to UK Sport, though, its funds are not limitless - and, even then, its targets are not solely just about winning.

Some of the targets refer to final placings outside of the medal positions so that it can recognise if elite performance in a sport has progressed or not.

And, overall, a majority of sports fans would probably consider that the governing body has been getting it right.

After all, since it was set up, cyclist Sir Chris Hoy has - with six golds - become the nation's most successful Olympian, overtaking the aforementioned Redgrave.

Moreover, with seven medals, Hoy also shares the lead for most medals altogether with Sir Bradley Wiggins. Hoy has now retired, of course, so fellow cyclist Wiggins can take an outright lead in Rio.

In track and field, the likes of Jessica Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford have become household names across Britain after starring in Super Saturday four years ago.

Meanwhile, boxer Nicola Adams and taekwondo champion Jade Jones are both back looking to add to their respective happy London 2012 memories.

Team GB is again expected to perform well in anything involving a boat - such as rowing, sailing and canoeing - while the Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Jonathan, still rule the roost in triathlon.

Swimming is expected to go a lot better than it did four years ago when Britain finished with just three medals, none of which were gold.

Indeed, Adam Peaty has been widely tipped to become the first British male Olympic champion in the pool since Adrian Moorhouse in 1988.

Elsewhere, there are genuine prospects of success in diving through Tom Daley, and in gymnastics through Louis Smith and Max Whitlock.

Team GB flagbearer Andy Murray will defend his Olympic title fresh from winning Wimbledon for a second time.

And, then of course, there is golf which is making its first appearance at a Games since 1904.

It could also be its last. Concerns over the outbreak of the Zika virus have been especially prominent in the golfing world and each of the men's top-four ranked players, including Rory McIlroy, will not be in Rio.

In fairness to the golfers, a group of 150 physicians and scientists sent an open letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) in May, calling upon them to have "an open, transparent discussion of the risks of holding the Olympics as planned in Brazil".

But the WHO dismissed the request, stating that "cancelling or changing the location of the 2016 Olympics will not significantly alter the international spread of Zika virus", and that there was "no public health justification" for postponing them.

Even still, getting the show on the road in Rio has not been easy amid an economic and political crisis which has engulfed Brazil.

The Brazilian economy has officially been experiencing an economic recession since early 2014.

And this has been coupled with a political crisis which has resulted in President Dilma Rousseff facing an impeachment trial over allegations she manipulated the government budget.

Unsurprisingly, there have been the customary complaints about the accommodation facilities - most notably from the Australians - while traffic jams have clogged up the city in the build-up.

Of course, the biggest pre-Olympic storm was not something for which Rio could be blamed.

Doping in sport, and at the Olympics especially, is nothing new - but the subject became especially prominent in the run-up to these Games, with the spotlight falling on Russia in particular.

An independent investigation commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency reported that Russia's Ministry of Sport and Federal Security Service had operated a "state-dictated" system to implement an extensive doping program and to cover up positive samples.

In response, the International Olympics Committee (IOC) immediately called an emergency meeting to discuss the report.

But then, in a total cop-out, spineless IOC president Thomas Bach left it up to individual sports federations to decide whether Russian athletes should be able to compete.

Ultimately, 271 Russians were cleared for competition while 118 were removed with Russia claiming now to have the cleanest team at the Games

Closer to home, cyclist Lizzie Armitstead found her way into the headlines for all the wrong reasons after it was revealed she had missed three drugs tests.

Armitstead - who won Team GB's very first medal at London 2012 - has denied any wrongdoing on her part but it is difficult not to be cynical.

Hopefully then, Rio 2016 will instead provide only positive stories from now on and cynicism can take a back seat.

After all, even just as a viewer, the best thing about the Olympics is the sheer escapism of it: a two-week period every four years where the drudgery of life is put on hold and all that really matters is which men and women in this world can go highest, go fastest and be strongest.

Unfortunately, for people watching in Britain, many of the biggest events are in the middle of the night.

The men's 100m final, for instance, is scheduled to be run at 2.25am in the early hours of Monday 15 August.

Nevertheless, the BBC is providing round-the-clock coverage for nightowls and a daily highlights show at 9.15am to allow people to catch-up on anything which they have missed.

There will also be a montage or two, and - no doubt at some point - a moment for which a lump in the throat is unavoidable.

Welcome back to the Olympic Games - the greatest show on earth.

Monday, 13 August 2012

London 2012 Olympics: Happy and glorious - the Great British medallists

London 2012 Olympics on The Intrepid Reporter
Unofficial sport-by-sport guide - Medal calendar - Full results - The Big 4 - Team sports


"DOES it really have to end?" I asked at the conclusion of my last blog post. Sadly, yes, it did indeed have to end. 

But, from Lizzie Armistead's silver medal in the women's road race to Samantha Murray's medal of the same colour in the modern pentathlon, this was an epic 16 days which Great Britain, as a country, will never forget. 

London 2012 has, for a short while at least, made Britain feel truly great again as - despite all the worries beforehand - it has delivered a brilliant Olympic Games.

As chairman of organisers LOCOG, Lord Sebastian Coe - himself a two-time Olympic gold medallist - promised at the opening ceremony that London would "do it right". 

At the closing ceremony last night, he was able to confirm that had been the case. "We lit the flame and lit up the world," he added, before the biggest cheer of the night arrived. 

It was not for the athletes or their coaches - but deservedly for the Games Makers, a 70,000-strong army of volunteers who had changed the face of London for a glorious two weeks.

London was actually the first host to introduce volunteers to the Olympics when it hosted them previously in 1948 as a war-ravaged country struggled to meet the costs.

There were similar fears this time around. Britain may not be in a state of war but the economic outlook is little brighter and the £9bn which it spent was probably too much in the cold light of day.

Now that it is spent, though, it makes it all the more important then that the money has been invested wisely and that there is genuine legacy to London 2012. This can only be judged in time, of course.

For now, it is time just to sit back and recall the 65 medal-winning moments which Great British athletes produced at these brilliant Olympic Games, as well as so many other memories. 

A roll of honour featuring them all can be found below.

GOLD

Athletics
Jessica Ennis Heptathlon
Mo Farah 5,000m and 10,000m 
Greg Rutherford Long jump

Boxing
Nicola Adams Women's flyweight
Luke Campbell Men's bantamweight
Anthony Joshua Men's super heavyweight - Great Britain's 29th and final gold of London 2012

Canoe - slalom
Tim Baillie & Etienne Stott Men's C-2

Canoe - sprint
Ed McKeever Men's K-1 200m

Cycling - road
Bradley Wiggins Men's time trial

Cycling - track
Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny & Sir Chris Hoy Men's team sprint
Steven Burke, Ed Clancy, Geraint Thomas & Peter Kennaugh Men's team pursuit
Laura Trott, Dani King & Joanna Rowsell Women's team pursuit
Sir Chris Hoy Men's Keirin
Jason Kenny Men's sprint
Victoria Pendleton Women's Keirin
Laura Trott Women's Omnium

Equestrian - dressage
Laura Bechtolsheimer, Carl Hester & Charlotte Dujardin Team dressage
Charlotte Dujardin Individual dressage

Equestrian - jumping
Nick Skelton, Ben Maher, Scott Brash & Peter Charles Team jumping

Rowing
Helen Glover & Heather Stanning Women's pair - Great Britain's first gold of London 2012
Katherine Grainger & Anna Watkins Women's double scull
Andy Triggs Hodge, Pete Reed, Alex Gregory & Tom James Men's four
Katherine Copeland & Sophie Hosking Women's lightweight double scull

Sailing
Ben Ainslie Finn

Shooting
Peter Wilson Double trap

Taekwondo
Jade Jones Women's lightweight 57kg

Tennis
Andy Murray Men's singles

Triathlon
Alistair Brownlee Men's triathlon


SILVER
Athletics
Christine Ohuruogu 400m

Boxing
Fred Evans Men's welterweight

Canoeing - slalom
David Florence & Richard Hounslow Men's C-2

Cycling - road
Lizzie Armistead Women's road race - Great Britain's first medal of London 2012

Cycling - track
Victoria Pendleton Women's sprint

Equestrian - eventing
Tina Cook, William Fox-Pitt, Mary King, Zara Phillips & Nicola Wilson Team eventing

Gymnastics
Louis Smith Pommel horse

Judo
Gemma Gibbons Women's half-heavyweight 78kg

Modern Pentathlon
Samantha Murray Women's modern pentathlon - Great Britain's 65th and final medal of London 2012

Rowing
Chris Bartley, Richard Chambers, Peter Chambers & Rob Williams Men's lightweight four
Zac Purchase & Mark Hunter Men's lightweight double scull

Sailing
Iain Percy & Andrew Simpson Star
Nick Dempsey Men's RS-X
Luke Patience & Stuart Bithell Men's 470
Hannah Mills & Saskia Clark Women's 470

Swimming
Michael Jamieson 200m breaststroke

Tennis
Andy Murray & Laura Robson Mixed doubles




BRONZE 

Athletics
Robbie Grabarz High jump

Boxing
Anthony Ogogo Men's middleweight

Canoeing - sprint
Liam Heath & Jon Schofield Men's K-2 200m

Cycling - road  
Chris Froome Men's time trial

Cycling - track
Ed Clancy Men's Omnium

Diving
Tom Daley Men's 10m platform

Equestrian - dressage
Laura Bechtolsheimer Individual dressage

Gymnastics
Sam Oldham, Dan Purvis, Louis Smith, Kristian Thomas & Max Whitlock Men's team all-round
Max Whitlock Pommel horse
Beth Tweddle Uneven bars

Hockey
Women's team Beth Storry, Emile Maguire, Laura Unsworth, Crista Cullen, Hannah MacLeod, Anne Panter, Helen Richardson, Kate Walsh, Chloe Rogers, Laura Bartlett, Alex Danson, Georgie Twigg, Ashleigh Ball, Sally Walton, Nicola White & Sarah Thomas

Judo
Karina Bryant Women's heavyweight +78kg

Swimming
Rebecca Adlington 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle

Taekwondo
Lutalo Muhammad Men's middleweight 80kg

Triathlon
Jonny Brownlee Men's triathlon

Rowing
Alex Partridge, James Foad, Tom Ransley, Richard Egington, Mohamed Sbihi, Greg Searle, Matthew Langridge, Constantine Louloudis & Phelan Hill (cox) Men's eight
George Nash & Will Satch Men's pair
Alan Campbell Men's single scull


FINAL MEDAL TABLE
RankCountryGSBTotal
1UNITED STATES (USA)452929103
2China (CHN)38272388
3Great Britain & NI (GBR)29171965
4Russian Federation (RUS)24263282
5South Korea (KOR)138728
6Germany (GER)11191444
7France (FRA)11111234
8Italy (ITA)881127
9Hungary (HUN)84517
10Australia (AUS)7161235
11Japan (JPN)7141738
12Kazakhstan (KAZ)71513
13Netherlands (NED)66820
14Ukraine (UKR)65920
15New Zealand (NZL)62513
16Cuba (CUB)53614
17Iran (IRN)45312
18Jamaica (JAM)44412
19Czech Republic (CZE)43310
20North Korea (PRK)4026
21Spain (ESP)39416
22Brazil (BRZ)35917
23South Africa (RSA)3216
24Ethiopia (ETH)3137
25Croatia (CRO)3126
26Belarus (BLR)25512
27Romania (ROU)2529
28Kenya (KEN)24511
29Denmark (DEN)2439
30Poland (POL)22610
30Azerbaijan (AZE)22610
32Turkey (TUR)2215
33Switzerland (SUI)2204
34Lithuania (LIT)1124
35Norway (NOR)2114
36Canada (CAN)151218
37Sweden (SWE)1438
38Colombia (COL)1348
39Mexico (MEX)1337
39Georgia (GEO)1337
41Ireland (IRL)1135
42Argentina (ARG)1124
42Slovenia (SLO)1124
42Serbia (SBR)1124
45Tunisia (TUN)1113
46Dominican Republic (DOM)1102
47Trinidad & Tobago (TRI)1034
47Uzbekistan (UZB)1034
49Latvia (LAT)1012
50Algeria (ALG)1001
50Bahamas (BAH)1001
50Grenada (GRN)1001
50Uganda (UGA)1001
50Venezuela (VEN)1001
55India (IND)0246
56Mongolia (MGL) 0235
57Thailand (THA)0213
58Egypt (EGY)0202
59Slovakia (SVK)0134
60Belgium (BEL)0123
60Armenia (ARM)0123
60Finland (FIN)0123
63Indonesia (INA) 0112
63Bulgaria (BUL)0112
63Estonia (EST)0112
63Chinese Taipei (TPE)0112
63Malaysia (MAS)0112
63Puerto Rico (PUR)0112
69Botswana (BOT)0101
69Cyprus (CYP)0101
69Gabon (GAB)0101
69Guatemala (GUA)0101
69Montenegro (MNE)0101
69Portugal (POR)0101
75Greece (GRE)0022
75Moldova (MDA)0022
75Singapore (SIN)0022
75Qatar (QAT)0022
79Afghanistan (AFG)0011
79Bahrain (BRN)0011
79Hong Kong (HKG)0011
79Kuwait (KUW)0011
79Morocco (MAR)0011
79Saudi Arabia (KSA)0011
79Tajikistan (TJK)0011

Sunday, 12 August 2012

London 2012 Olympics: Farah and Bolt finish off with a flourish

London 2012 Olympics on The Intrepid Reporter
Unofficial sport-by-sport guide - Medal calendar - Full results - The Big 4 - Team sports


MO FARAH completed an amazing double by winning the 5,000m on another golden night for British athletics at the Olympic Stadium.

Farah, who won the 10,000m last on 'Super Saturday' last weekend, again ran a brilliant tactical race, taking to the front on the bell for the last lap.

On the back straight, it looked as if he may have gone to early with Kenyan Thomas Longosiwa sitting right on his shoulder, seemingly ready to pounce.

However, Farah's renowned late burst of pace in the home straight left Longosiwa trailing in his wake, and the Londoner won in 13:41.66. Ethiopia's Dejen Gebremeskel took silver with Longosiwa ultimately just hanging on in third.

As he crossed the line, Farah had a look of sheer disbelief at his achievement written all over his face. Well, Mo - you better believe it for you are now a double Olympic champion!

It was indeed another truly special night for the 80,000 spectators in east London as the stars of track delivered yet more immense performances.

The greatest of them all, Usain Bolt, won his sixth Olympic gold medal and broke a fourth world record after anchoring the brilliant Jamaica team in the 4x100m relay.

In truth, there was little more for Bolt to do as, by the time Yohan Blake had handed him the baton, Jamaica had pulled well clear.

Credit must go to Bolt, then, for opting to make more history rather than just strolling home ahead of United States and Trinidad & Tobago.

The Great British quartet had not qualified for the final after botching a baton changeover for the fifth time out of the last six major championships - a seriously unimpressive record.

But, thankfully, that was one of very few disappointments over the last two weeks and yesterday Team GB took its total number of medals up to 62 with 28 gold, 15 silver and 19 bronze.

Remarkably, that is the same number of golds as Germany (11), France (10) and Australia (seven) combined.

And it has been confirmed that Britain will finish third in the medal table for certain, ahead of Russia and only behind the two current superpowers, United States and China.

Before the Olympics, it perhaps felt dangerously presumptuous of governing body UK Sport calling Team GB "its greatest ever team".

However, it is now clear that it was just well-placed confidence in a supreme group of athletes, the finest group this country has ever produced.

Another golden day for GB began early on the water at Eton Dorney where trainee accountant Ed McKeever powered away from the field to win the 200m single kayak event in 36.246 seconds.

Within the hour, McKeever had been joined on the podium by Liam Heath and Jon Schofield who took bronze in the doubles event to make it four canoeing medals overall for GB at these Olympics.

Later - as the light declined on Day 15 of London 2012 - boxer Luke Campbell won Britain's 28th gold medal by beating Irishman John Joe Nevin 14-11 in his bantamweight bout.

That was Britain's first bantamweight gold since 1908, and their second gold in the ring at London 2012 after Nicola Adams made history on Thursday (Day 13) by becoming the first ever woman to win an Olympic boxing medal.

The ever-smiling Adams floored three-time Chinese world amateur champion Cancan Ren for an easy win by 16-7 on a day of girl power for Great Britain.

Having broken their duck last week in terms of rowing gold, Britain's female athletes also broke new ground in the equestrian as Charlotte Dujardin and Laura Bechtolsheimer won gold and bronze in the individual dressage.

With three golds, a silver and a bronze, Britain won medals across all three disciplines - jumping, dressage and eventing - in the same Olympics for the first time ever.

Gold also came on the taekwondo mat as 19-year-old Jade Jones, from Flint in Wales, capped her meteoric rise by beating Yuzhuo Hou in the lightweight category.
Two years ago, then devoid of lottery funding, the Jones family raised the £1600 she needed to attend the Youth Olympics in Singapore.

She won gold there - and now, she is a fully-fledged Olympic champion, Britain's youngest at these Games.

On Friday (Day 14), Team GB was frustrated by a lack of gold medals but it was nonetheless still a successful day.

There was double silver in the sailing as both the male and female crews - Luke Patience/Stuart Bithell and Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark - won in the 470 class.

With silver actually already secured for both of them going into the medal race, there had been hopes that they would push for an overall victory - but, amid light winds in Weymouth, their challenges unfortunately faltered.

Later, those two silver medals were added to by three bronzes - in boxing courtesy of Anthony Ogogo in the middleweight division, taekwondo thanks to Lutalo Muhammad, and women's field hockey.

The hockey squad thus overcame the disappointment of losing their semi final 2-1 to Argentina in the finest possible way - by beating New Zealand 3-1 for bronze.

Unfortunately, the men could not follow suit. They lost their bronze match against Australia by the same score - although that was at least an improvement on their devastating 9-2 semi final defeat to Netherlands.

Finally, teenager Tom Daley has had his fair share of low points at London 2012, finishing in the worst possible placing - fourth - in the synchronised event before struggling in the individual preliminaries.

Daley had edged through his first round down in 15th but then improved in the semi finals to be placed in fourth again.

Thankfully, in the final, Daley delivered his best, and his consistency over six dives was rewarded with a brilliant bronze.

His dad, Rob, who died after battling cancer last year, would have been so proud of him - and it was touching to see the youngster pay tribute.

"I know that if he was here he would be very proud," said the 18-year-old, who is Britain's first individual diving medallist for 52 years.

"It's really tough not having him here, but I'm so glad to come out with something to show for it after all of the hard work we put in together."

Yet another magic moment in these Olympics - there have been so many, as this excellent BBC video amply demonstrates. Does it really all have to end today?

MEDAL TABLE (Day 16, 15:54)
RankCountryGSBTotal
1UNITED STATES (USA)452929103
2China (CHN)38272287
3Great Britain & NI (GBR)28161963
4Russian Federation (RUS)21253379
5South Korea (KOR)138728
6Germany (GER)11191444
7France (FRA)10111233
8Italy (ITA)87924
9Hungary (HUN)84517
10Australia (AUS)7161235
11Japan (JPN)7141738
12Kazakhstan (KAZ)70512
13Netherlands (NED)66820
14Ukraine (UKR)65920
15Cuba (CUB)53614
16New Zealand (NZL)53513
17Iran (IRN)45312
18Jamaica (JAM)44412
19North Korea (PRK)4026
20Spain (ESP)39416
21Brazil (BRZ)34815
22Belarus (BLR)34512
23Czech Republic (CZE)3339
24South Africa (RSA)3216
25Ethiopia (ETH)3137
26Romania (ROU)2529
27Kenya (KEN)24511
28Denmark (DEN)2439
29Poland (POL)22610
29Azerbaijan (AZE)22610
31Turkey (TUR)2215
32Croatia (CRO)2125
33Norway (NOR)2114
34Switzerland (SUI)2103
35Canada (CAN)151218
36Colombia (COL)1348
37Mexico (MEX)1337
37Sweden (SWE)1337
37Georgia (GEO)1337
40Ireland (IRL)1135
41Argentina (ARG)1124
41Slovenia (SLO)1124
41Lithuania (LIT)1124
44Serbia (SBR)1113
44Tunisia (TUN)1113
46Dominican Republic (DOM)1102
47Trinidad & Tobago (TRI)1135
47Uzbekistan (UZB)1135
49Latvia (LAT)1012
50Algeria (ALG)1001
50Bahamas (BAH)1001
50Grenada (GRN)1001
50Uganda (UGA)1001
50Venezuela (VEN)1001
55India (IND)0246
56Mongolia (MGL) 0235
57Thailand (THA)0213
58Egypt (EGY)0202
59Slovakia (SVK)0134
60Belgium (BEL)0123
60Armenia (ARM)0123
60Finland (FIN)0123
63Indonesia (INA) 0112
63Bulgaria (BUL)0112
63Estonia (EST)0112
63Chinese Taipei (TPE)0112
63Malaysia (MAS)0112
63Puerto Rico (PUR)0112
69Botswana (BOT)0101
69Cyprus (CYP)0101
69Gabon (GAB)0101
69Guatemala (GUA)0101
69Montenegro (MNE)0101
69Portugal (POR)0101
75Greece (GRE)0022
75Moldova (MDA)0022
75Singapore (SIN)0022
75Qatar (QAT)0022
79Afghanistan (AFG)0011
79Bahrain (BRN)0011
79Hong Kong (HKG)0011
79Kuwait (KUW)0011
79Morocco (MAR)0011
79Saudi Arabia (KSA)0011
79Tajikistan (TJK)0011