Paris 2024 Olympics: Hodgkinson crowned new queen of British athletics

KEELY HODGKINSON became the new queen of British athletics by taking Olympic gold with a commanding performance in the women's 800m at the Stade de France.

The brilliant 22-year-old Leigh Harrier ran the race on her terms, hitting the front early on and setting the tempo throughout.

Heading into the final straight, Hodgkinson still had Kenyan world champion Mary Moraa for company - but kicked on to finish clear of her rivals and become only the ninth British female ever to win an Olympic athletics title.

That glorious moment arrived shortly after Team GB won its first gold medal in well over 48 hours as the British track cycling team started in the velodrome with a bang.

Remarkably, considering the fine reputation in Olympic cycling, Great Britain had never won the women's team sprint - and did not even make an entry in the event at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020+1.

However, the emergence of Emma Finucane changed everything - and the finest women's sprinter currently racing anchored a world record-breaking time of 45.186 seconds alongside Katy Marchant and Sophie Capewell.

It ended a sequence of three silver medals and nine bronze without a gold between Saturday afternoon and Monday afternoon.

But, despite that mini-drought in terms of gold medals, there were actually four Olympic champions for Team GB crowned in the preceding 24 hours between Friday and Saturday morning.

First, in rowing, Emily Craig and Imogen Grant dealt with the pressure of being overwhelming favourites ahead of the last ever staging of the lightweight double sculls event.

Any pressure did not show, though, as the partnership comfortably retained their three-year unbeaten record since the final in the same event at Tokyo 2020+1.

There, Craig and Grant agonisingly finished fourth - and outside of the medals by 0.01 seconds in a photo finish - but Craig then mounted that very photograph on her living room wall, and it clearly served as ample motivation.

Later on Friday, Bryony Page bounced her way to trampolining glory to become the first ever British woman to win a gymnastics gold medal in any discipline.

And Scott Brash, Harry Charles and Ben Maher were also jumping for joy - literally - after becoming Olympic champions in the team jumping element of equestrian on Hello Jefferson, Romeo 88 and Point Break.

Rounding off the rowing regatta on Saturday, Sholto Carnegie, Rory Gibbs, Morgan Bolding, Jacob Dawson, Charlie Elwes, Tom Digby, James Rudkin, Tom Ford, and cox Harry Brightmore overcame the Netherlands to regain the men's eight Olympic title for Team GB.

So, certainly, the rowing at National Olympic Nautical Stadium produced far more fruitful outcomes than the extremely disappointing performance by British boats in the sport in Tokyo 2020+1, where only one silver medal and one bronze medal were won.

On top of the three gold medals mentioned above and the two silver medals mentioned later in this write-up, British boats took bronze in the women's double sculls, men's coxless four, and women's eight.

Meanwhile, across the weekend, Great Britain continued to collect plenty of other medals across a number of sports, though particularly in those where there was water involved.

In the pool, Duncan Scott and Ben Proud took silver medals in the men's 50m freestyle and men's 200m individual medley respectively.

And Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding claimed bronze in the 3m springboard to ensure that Team GB won medals in all four synchronised diving events at the same Olympics for the first time ever.

Elsewhere, in the men's event at Le Golf National, there was a fine silver medal for Tommy Fleetwood as he carded a five-under 66 in his final round to finish just one shot shy of world number one Scottie Scheffler.

Additionally, equestrian brought in another couple of bronze medals through the efforts of Lottie Fry on her mount Glamourdalec in the team dressage alongside the experienced Carl Hester on Fame and Olympic first-timer Becky Moody on Jagerbomb.

Fry herself then also finished third for a bronze medal in the individual dressage competition.

Of course, it is the track-and-field programme which dominates the calendar in the second half of an Olympic Games - and, among the 41 athletics gold medals to be won in the Stade de France, the crowning of the fastest man on the planet is usually seen as the blue ribbon event.

That man is now Noah Lyles who beat Jamaica's Kishane Thompson by five-thousands of a second (0.005) to win the men's 100m Olympic gold medal in a truly incredible photo finish.

The 27-year-old American surged through from last to first in the second half of a sensational race in which all eight competitors broke the 10-second barrier for the first time in the history of the event.

In the end, 100m came down to millimetres - and was determined by a more desperate lunge for the line by Lyles than Thompson.

The women's 100m final was also pretty close - decided by 0.15 seconds as Julien Aldred of the Caribbean island of St Lucia beat American pair Sha'Carri Richardson and Melissa Jefferson to win her nation's first ever Olympic medal of any type.

Daryll Neita was fourth for Team GB, just four-hundredths of a second away from taking bronze - and it has certainly been an Olympic Games of fine margins for many British competitors.

Sometimes, it has worked out in Team GB's favour - for, that is something to which BMX rider Tom Pidcock, triathlete Alex Yee and the women's quadruple sculls team in rowing can attest.

But, in the triathlon mixed relay featuring Yee and his team-mates Sam Dickinson, Georgia Taylor and Beth Potter, a silver medal turned into bronze following another photo finish.

Back in the rowing, the Netherlands got their revenge for the their dramatic defeat in the quadruple sculls by beating Great Britain in the women's four with a similar comeback.

And that meant Helen Glover was unable to add a third gold medal to the two which she had won at London 2012 and Rio 2016 alongside Heather Stanning in the women's pair.

Similarly, Ollie Wynne-Griffith and Tom George had to settle for a silver medal in the men's pair after being caught on the line by Croatia.

In the gymnastics arena too, there have been some extremely tight calls with 22-year-old Jake Jarman taking a bronze medal in the men's floor final, having been just 0.067 points away from gold.

Jarman made a fine Olympic debut - and alongside another debutant, 20-year-old Harry Hepworth who took bronze in the vault final, British men's gymnastics looks in safe hands following the retirement of long-time standard bearer Max Whitlock.

Of course, in sports such as gymnastics and diving where the ultimate outcome is determined by a set of judges, experience can count for a lot and that is a hard lesson which will have been learned by 19-year-old Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix.

The daughter of First Dates maître d' Fred Sirieux qualified for the final in third place - but a series of early errors in the final itself left her fruitlessly playing catch-up.

Then again, sometimes, the competition is simply too hot - and sometimes the whole event is simply too unpredictable.

Staged on white water rapids, Joe Clarke and Kimberley Woods entered the new Olympic discipline of kayak cross as world number one in the men's rankings and women's rankings respectively.

True to form, both Clarke and Woods reached the medal finals - but, in the men's event, Clarke found himself hampered at the start and took silver.

Then, in the women's event, Woods was crashed into when leading, though did at least collect a second bronze medal of the Games.

Finally, sometimes, the officials get it horribly wrong and there is nothing which can be done about it.

In a tense women's skeet shooting final, Amber Rutter was tied with Chile's Crovetto Chadid after making 55 shots out of 60, meaning extra shots were required.

The pair could not be separated after three further shots when, in a moment of contention, Rutter was called to have missed a shot which slow motion replays appeared to show she hit.

Despite protesting, there was no provision for a video review and the judges did not overturn the decision - and so Rutter was denied the chance to add to Britain's gold total after Chadid fired the winning shots.

Certainly then, it was a frustrating weekend at times for Team GB - but it is perhaps more of an indication of just how many medal opportunities are being created by this excellent squad.

Indeed, the overall Team GB tally of 42 medals at the close of Day 10 was better than it stood at that stage of the Games at London 2012 (40), Rio 2016 (41) and Tokyo 2020+1 (35).

And, while the number of gold medal winners at the end of 5 August was somewhat down on 2012 (18) and 2016 (12), the usually medal-rich track cycling events had been completed in both of those previous editions.

By contrast, this time, the action in the velodrome has only just begun - and form again suggests it will provide a regular source of medals. 

PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

MEDAL TABLE

Pos	Updated 07/08/2024 21:35	G	S	B	TOTAL
1	UNITED STATES (USA)	26	35	32	93
2	CHINA (CHN)	25	23	17	65
3	AUSTRALIA (AUS)	18	12	9	41
4	FRANCE (FRA)	13	16	20	49
5	GREAT BRITAIN & NI (GBR)	12	17	20	49
6	JAPAN (JPN)	12	6	13	31
7	SOUTH KOREA (KOR)	11	8	7	26
8	ITALY (ITA)	9	10	8	27
9	NETHERLANDS (NED)	9	5	6	20
10	GERMANY (GER)	8	5	4	17
11	CANADA (CAN)	6	4	9	19
12	IRELAND (IRL)	4	0	3	7
13	NEW ZEALAND (NZL)	3	6	1	10
14	ROMANIA (ROU)	3	4	1	8
15	HUNGARY (HUN)	3	3	2	8
15	SWEDEN (SWE)	3	3	2	8
17	BRAZIL (BRA)	2	5	7	14
18	SPAIN (ESP)	2	3	6	11
19	UKRAINE (UKR)	2	2	3	7
20	CROATIA (CRO)	2	1	3	6
21	BELGIUM (BEL)	2	0	3	5
22	HONG KONG (HKG)	2	0	2	4
23	PHILIPPINES (PHI)	2	0	1	3
24	AZERBAIJAN (AZE)	2	0	0	2
24	SERBIA (SRB)	2	0	0	2
26	ISRAEL (ISR)	1	4	1	6
27	JAMAICA (JAM)	1	3	1	5
28	SWITZERLAND (SUI)	1	2	4	7
29	KAZAKHSTAN (KAZ)	1	2	3	6
30	THAILAND (THA)	1	2	2	5
31	GEORGIA (GEO)	1	2	1	4
32	DENMARK (DEN)	1	2	0	3
33	GREECE (GRE)	1	1	5	7
34	POLAND (POL)	1	1	4	6
35	KENYA (KEN)	1	1	3	5
36	SOUTH AFRICA (RSA)	1	1	2	4
37	CHILE (CHI)	1	1	0	2
37	ECUADOR (ECU)	1	1	0	2
37	ST LUCIA (LCA)	1	1	0	2
37	UGANDA (UGA)	1	1	0	2
41	CHINESE TAIPEI (TPE)	1	0	4	5
42	CUBA (CUB)	1	0	2	2
42	IRAN (IRI)	1	0	2	3
42	UZBEKISTAN (UZB)	1	0	2	3
45	CZECH REPUBLIC (CZE)	1	0	1	2
45	GUATEMALA (GUA)	1	0	1	2
45	NORWAY (NOR)	1	0	1	2
48	ALGERIA (ALG)	1	0	0	1
48	ARGENTINA (ARG)	1	0	0	1
48	BAHRAIN (BRN)	1	0	0	1
48	DOMINICA (DMA)	1	0	0	1
48	MOROCCO (MAR)	1	0	0	1
48	SLOVENIA (SLO)	1	0	0	1
54	NORTH KOREA (PRK)	0	2	3	5
55	ARMENIA (ARM)	0	2	1	3
55	MEXICO (MEX)	0	2	1	3
57	ETHIOPIA (ETH)	0	2	0	2
58	KYRGYZSTAN (KGZ)	0	1	3	4
58	TURKEY (TUR)	0	1	3	4
60	LITHUANIA (LTU)	0	1	2	3
61	KOSOVO (KOS)	0	1	1	2
61	TUNISIA (TUN)	0	1	1	2
63	COLOMBIA (COL)	0	1	0	1
63	CYPRUS (CYP)	0	1	0	1
63	FIJI (FIJ)	0	1	0	1
63	MONGOLIA (MNG)	0	1	0	1
67	INDIA (IND)	0	0	3	3
67	TAJIKSTAN (TJK)	0	0	3	3
69	DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (DOM)	0	0	2	2
69	MALAYSIA (MAS)	0	0	2	2
69	MOLDOVA (MDA)	0	0	2	2
72	AUSTRIA (AUT)	0	0	1	1
72	CAPE VERDE (CPV)	0	0	1	1
72	EGYPT (EGY)	0	0	1	1
72	GRENADA (GRN)	0	0	1	1
72	INDONESIA (INA)	0	0	1	1
72	PERU (PER)	0	0	1	1
72	PORTUGAL (POR)	0	0	1	1
72	SLOVAKIA (SVK)	0	0	1	1
72	ZAMBIA (ZAM)	0	0	1	1

MEDAL ROLL OF HONOUR
TEAM GB

		GOLD
1	29-Jul	Rosalind Canter (Lordships Graffalo) Laura Collett (London 52) Tom McEwen (JL Dublin)	Equestrian	Team eventing
2	29-Jul	Tom Pidcock	Cycling	Men's mountain bike cross-country
3	30-Jul	Nathan Hales	Shooting	Men's trap
4	30-Jul	Matt Richards Duncan Scott Tom Dean James Guy Kieran Bird James McMillan	Swimming	Men's 4 x 200m freestyle relay
5	31-Jul	Alex Yee	Triathlon	Men's event
6	31-Jul	Lauren Henry Hannah Scott Lola Anderson Georgie Brayshaw	Rowing	Women's quadruple sculls
7	02-Aug	Emily Craig Imogen Grant	Rowing	Women's lightweight double sculls
8	02-Aug	Bryony Page	Gymnastics	Women's trampoline
9	02-Aug	Scott Brash (Hello Jefferson) Ben Maher (Point Break) Harry Charles (Romeo 88)	Equestrian	Team jumping
10	03-Aug	Sholto Carnegie Rory Gibbs Morgan Bolding Jacob Dawson Charlie Elwes Tom Digby James Rudkin Tom Ford Harry Brightmore (cox)	Rowing	Men's eight
11	05-Aug	Sophie Capewell Emma Finucane Katy Marchant	Cycling	Women's team sprint
12	05-Aug	Keely Hodgkinson	Athletics	Women's 800m

		SILVER
1	27-Jul	Anna Henderson	Cycling	Women's road time trial
2	28-Jul	Adam Peaty	Swimming	Men's 100m breaststroke
3	29-Jul	Tom Daley Noah Williams	Diving	Men's synchronised 10m platform
4	29-Jul	Adam Burgess	Canoeing	Men's C-1 canoe slalom
5	29-Jul	Matt Richards	Swimming	Men's 200m freestyle
6	31-Jul	Kieran Reilly	Cycling	Men's BMX freestyle
7	01-Aug	Helen Glover Esme Booth Sam Redgrave Rebecca Shorten	Rowing	Women's four
8	02-Aug	Ollie Wynne-Griffith Tom George	Rowing	Men's pair
9	02-Aug	Ben Proud	Swimming	Men's 50m freestyle
10	02-Aug	Duncan Scott	Swimming	Men's 200m individual medley
11	04-Aug	Amber Rutter	Shooting	Women's skeet
12	04-Aug	Tommy Fleetwood	Golf	Men's event
13	05-Aug	Joe Clarke	Canoeing	Men's kayak cross
14	06-Aug	Jack Carlin Ed Lowe Hamish Turnbull	Cycling	Men's team sprint
15	06-Aug	Josh Kerr	Athletics	Men's 1500m
16	07-Aug	Dan Bigham Ethan Hayter Ethan Vernon Ollie Wood Charlie Tanfield	Cycling	Men's team pursuit
17	07-Aug	Matthew Hudson-Smith	Athletics	Men's 400m

		BRONZE
1	27-Jul	Yasmin Harper Scarlett Mew Jensen	Diving	Women's synchronised 3m springboard
2	28-Jul	Kimberley Woods	Canoeing	Women's K-1 canoe slalom
3	29-Jul	Laura Collett (London 52)	Equestrian	Individual eventing
4	31-Jul	Beth Potter	Triathlon	Women's event
5	31-Jul	Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix Lois Toulson	Diving	Women's synchronised 10m platform
6	01-Aug	Becky Wilde Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne	Rowing	Women's double sculls
7	01-Aug	Oli Wilkes David Ambler Matt Aldridge Freddie Davidson	Rowing	Men's four
8	02-Aug	Anthony Harding Jack Laugher	Diving	Men's synchronised 3m springboard
9	03-Aug	Heidi Long Rowan McKellar Holly Dunford Emily Ford Lauren Irwin Eve Stewart Hattie Taylor Annie Campbell-Orde Henry Fieldman (cox)	Rowing	Women's eight
10	03-Aug	Emma Wilson	Sailing	Women's IQFoil
11	03-Aug	Lottie Fry (Glamourdalec) Carl Hester (Fame) Becky Moody (Jagerbomb)	Equestrian	Team dressage
12	03-Aug	Jake Jarman	Gymnastics	Men's floor
13	03-Aug	Sam Reardon Laviai Nielsen Alex Haydock-Wilson Amber Anning Nicole Yeargin (heats)	Athletics	Mixed 4 x 400m relay
14	04-Aug	Lottie Fry (Glamourdalec)	Equestrian	Individual dressage
15	04-Aug	Harry Hepworth	Gymnastics	Men's vault
16	05-Aug	Alex Yee Georgia Taylor-Brown Sam Dickinson Beth Potter	Triathlon	Mixed relay event
17	05-Aug	Kimberley Woods	Canoeing	Women's kayak cross
18	06-Aug	Sky Brown	Skateboarding	Women's park
19	06-Aug	Lewis Richardson	Boxing	Men's welterweight
20	07-Aug	Elinor Barker Josie Knight Anna Morris Jess Roberts	Cycling	Women's team pursuit

Paris 2024 Olympics: Flurry of gold for Team GB

GREAT BRITAIN won two gold medals in an extraordinary 15 minutes on Day Five of the 2024 Summer Olympics to move up to fifth in the medal table. 

On the streets of Paris, Alex Yee fell 14 seconds behind New Zealand's Hayden Wilde in the men's triathlon as the bell rang out to signal the last lap in the 10km run.

It looked at that stage as if Yee would have to settle for a second successive Olympic silver medal in the men's individual competition - but the 26-year-old from Lewisham saved enough energy for a sprint finish.

With just a few corners to go, Yee strode past Wilde and towards a truly remarkable - and delayed - triumph.

Nevertheless, it was well worth the wait following a 24-hour postponement of the men's event being caused by the water quality in the River Seine not meeting the required standards for the swimming leg.

Now, if that was not enough drama for one morning, the Stade Nautique in Vaires-sur-Marne was the source of a second astonishing Team GB comeback, barely quarter of an hour after Yee crossed the line.

Trailing the Netherlands boat for all except the last few metres of the 2000m course in the women's quadruple sculls, the British boat was a half-length behind with just 200m to go.

However, as the race reached the red buoys marking the last 100m, the quartet of Lauren Henry, Lola Anderson, Georgina Brayshaw and Hannah Scott began their surge.

As the finish line approached, inside the last 5m, the boats were effectively level but making alternative strokes - and the contest concluded in a photo finish.

Incredibly, it showed the final British stroke towards the line was decisive - and confirmed a sixth gold for a Team GB squad which has won medals on every day of the Games so far.

The very first arrived before 11am on Day One as Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen won bronze in the women's 3m springboard diving.

Indeed, diving has again been a fruitful source of medals for Team GB at these Olympics with First Dates maître d' Fred Sirieux watching on as his daughter Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix took bronze in the women's 10m platform alongside Lois Toulson.

Between the women's two synchronised medals, Tom Daley secured an emotional fifth medal in five Olympic appearances with a silver after a stunning performance alongside Noah Williams in the men's 10m platform.

Adam Peaty, Anna Henderson and Leam Lane's very own Kieran Reilly also all took silver medals in the men's 100m freestyle breaststroke swimming, the women's road time trial cycling and the men's BMX freestyle finals respectively.

Meanwhile, the award of the biggest prize has hardly been a rare occurrence.

Following an admittedly quiet opening weekend, the first gold medal was not long in coming, having been nicely set up by the three-day eventing team in the equestrian.

Rosalind Canter, Laura Collett and Tom McEwen carried it home to defend the team title on Lordship Graffalo, London 52 and JL Dublin - and, having helped break Team GB's duck, Collett later added a bronze in the individual event.

In the meantime, Tom Pidcock produced a comeback to rank alongside Yee in the triathlon and the women's quadruple sculls in the rowing.

Favourite Pidcock hit the front early on but then suffered a puncture on the fourth lap which appeared to have devastated his race as he resumed in ninth, 36 seconds down on French leader Victor Koretzky.

The 25-year-old from Leeds did not panic, reeling in his opponents one-by-one, and regaining the lead towards the start of the final lap of the 4.4km course.

Roared on by the home crowd, however, Koretzky overtook Pidcock - and so it all came down to the final few metres.

In a wooded section of the course, Pidcock snatched back the lead with just a few corners to go, smashing his way past Koretzky in a dramatic conclusion in which there was contact between the two bikes.

Later, Adam Burgess took silver in the men's canoeing slalom behind a pretty much perfect performance by France's Nicolas Gestin.

Then, on a medal-laden Day Three, Matt Richards also took silver in the men's 200m freestyle swimming despite starting from an outside lane following a poor semi final performance.

By contrast, on a quiet Day Four at the Olympics, there were only two medals - although both of them were gold.

First, in the mid-afternoon, Nathan Hales proved to be a really sharp-shooter by hitting 48 out of 50 targets in the men's trap shooting final to set a new Olympic record.

Then, in the evening in the swimming, the highly-fancied men's 4 x 200m freestyle relay team - James Guy, Tom Dean, Matt Richards, and Duncan Scott - dominated to become the first quartet of the same men to defend an Olympic title in the event.

Altogether, at the close of Day Five, Team GB had won six gold medals, six silver medals and five bronze for a total of 17 - and that compared favourably with the figures at the same stage of previous Games.

At London 2012, Great Britain had won two gold medals and nine in total - while, at Rio 2016, those tallies were three and 12 respectively.

Most recently, at Tokyo 2020+1, Team GB had won five gold medals and 16 in total by the end of Day Five - although different Games have slightly different sports and schedules.

For example, organisers pushed forward the Rugby Sevens in the hope that the decision of Les Bleus' usual XV captain Antoine Dupont to skip the Six Nations for the Olympics would pay off.

It was a huge all-round risk but it paid dividends as France beat Fiji in the men's final at a packed Stade de France to get their Games off to a flier, albeit a somewhat manufactured one.

Still, though, the swimming schedule is almost always in the first week with track-and-field athletics waiting until the second half of the jamboree - and, in the pool, the French have genuinely produced a new Olympic legend.

Leon Marchand followed up his breathtaking performance in the men's 400m individual medley on Day Two by winning both the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke in the space of 20 minutes on Day Five.

Elsewhere, the host nation has also won gold medals in canoeing, fencing and the women's triathlon event through Cassandre Beaugrand, as well as other medals in archery, equestrian and judo. 

France even briefly sat top of the medal table after Marchand's performances - before Pan Zhanle broke the world record in men's 100m freestyle final to send China back to the summit. 

Nevertheless, both France and Great Britain can be extremely satisfied with their efforts so far in these Games - and there is still plenty more to come. 

PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

MEDAL TABLE

Pos	Updated 01/08/2024 22:45	G	S	B	TOTAL
1	CHINA (CHN)	11	7	6	24
2	UNITED STATES (USA)	9	15	13	37
3	FRANCE (FRA)	8	11	8	27
4	AUSTRALIA (AUS)	8	6	4	18
5	JAPAN (JPN)	8	3	5	16
6	GREAT BRITAIN & NI (GBR)	6	7	7	20
7	SOUTH KOREA (KOR)	6	3	3	12
8	ITALY (ITA)	5	7	4	16
9	CANADA (CAN)	3	2	3	8
10	GERMANY (GER)	2	2	2	6
10	NETHERLANDS (NED)	2	2	2	6
12	NEW ZEALAND (NZL)	2	2	1	5
13	ROMANIA (ROU)	2	1	1	4
14	HONG KONG (HKG)	2	0	2	4
15	AZERBAIJAN (AZE)	2	0	0	2
16	HUNGARY (HUN)	1	2	1	4
17	GEORGIA (GEO)	1	2	0	3
18	SOUTH AFRICA (RSA)	1	1	2	4
18	SWEDEN (SWE)	1	1	2	4
20	BELGIUM (BEL)	1	0	2	3
20	IRELAND (IRL)	1	0	2	3
20	KAZAKHSTAN (KAZ)	1	0	2	3
23	CROATIA (CRO)	1	0	1	2
23	GUATEMALA (GUA)	1	0	1	2
23	UZBEKISTAN (UZB)	1	0	1	2
26	ARGENTINA (ARG)	1	0	0	1
26	ECUADOR (ECU)	1	0	0	1
26	SERBIA (SRB)	1	0	0	1
26	SLOVENIA (SLO)	1	0	0	1
30	BRAZIL (BRA)	0	3	3	6
31	NORTH KOREA (PRK)	0	2	0	2
32	SPAIN (ESP)	0	1	3	4
33	POLAND (POL)	0	1	2	3
33	SWITZERLAND (SUI)	0	1	2	3
35	GREECE (GRE)	0	1	1	2
35	ISRAEL (ISR)	0	1	1	2
35	KOSOVO (KOS)	0	1	1	2
35	MEXICO (MEX)	0	1	1	2
35	TURKEY (TUR)	0	1	1	2
35	UKRAINE (UKR)	0	1	1	2
41	FIJI (FIJ)	0	1	0	1
41	MONGOLIA (MNG)	0	1	0	1
41	TUNISIA (TUN)	0	1	0	1
44	INDIA (IND)	0	0	3	3
45	MOLDOVA (MDA)	0	0	2	2
46	AUSTRIA (AUT)	0	0	1	1
46	EGYPT (EGY)	0	0	1	1
46	SLOVAKIA (SVK)	0	0	1	1
46	TAJIKSTAN (TJK)	0	0	1	1

MEDAL ROLL OF HONOUR
TEAM GB

		GOLD
1	29-Jul	Rosalind Canter (Lordships Graffalo) Laura Collett (London 52) Tom McEwen (JL Dublin)	Equestrian	Team eventing
2	29-Jul	Tom Pidcock	Cycling	Men's mountain bike cross-country
3	30-Jul	Nathan Hales	Shooting	Men's trap
4	30-Jul	Matt Richards Duncan Scott Tom Dean James Guy Kieran Bird James McMillan	Swimming	Men's 4 x 200m freestyle relay
5	31-Jul	Alex Yee	Triathlon	Men's event
6	31-Jul	Lauren Henry Hannah Scott Lola Anderson Georgie Brayshaw	Rowing	Women's quadruple sculls

		SILVER
1	27-Jul	Anna Henderson	Cycling	Women's road time trial
2	28-Jul	Adam Peaty	Swimming	Men's 100m breaststroke
3	29-Jul	Tom Daley Noah Williams	Diving	Men's synchronised 10m platform
4	29-Jul	Adam Burgess	Canoeing	Men's C-1 canoe slalom
5	29-Jul	Matt Richards	Swimming	Men's 200m freestyle
6	31-Jul	Kieran Reilly	Cycling	Men's BMX freestyle
7	01-Aug	Helen Glover Esme Booth Sam Redgrave Rebecca Shorten	Rowing	Women's four

		BRONZE
1	27-Jul	Yasmin Harper Scarlett Mew Jensen	Diving	Women's synchronised 3m springboard
2	28-Jul	Kimberley Woods	Canoeing	Women's K-1 canoe slalom
3	29-Jul	Laura Collett (London 52)	Equestrian	Individual eventing
4	31-Jul	Beth Potter	Triathlon	Women's event
5	31-Jul	Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix Lois Toulson	Diving	Women's synchronised 10m platform
6	01-Aug	Becky Wilde Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne	Rowing	Women's double sculls
7	01-Aug	Oli Wilkes David Ambler Matt Aldridge Freddie Davidson	Rowing	Men's four

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		G	S	B	TOTAL
1	CHINA (CHN)	21	13	12	46
2	JAPAN (JPN)	17	5	8	30
3	UNITED STATES (USA)	16	17	13	46
4	RUSSIAN OLYMPIC TEAM (ROC)	11	15	11	37
5	AUSTRALIA (AUS)	10	3	14	27
6	GREAT BRITAIN (GBR)	8	9	11	28
7	SOUTH KOREA (KOR)	5	4	7	16
8	FRANCE (FRA)	4	9	6	19
9	NETHERLANDS (NED)	4	7	5	16
10	NEW ZEALAND (NZL)	4	3	3	10
11	GERMANY (GER)	3	4	10	17
12	CANADA (CAN)	3	4	5	12
13	SWITZERLAND (SUI)	3	3	4	10
14	CZECH REPUBLIC (CZE)	3	3	1	7
15	CROATIA (CRO)	3	1	2	6
16	ITALY (ITA)	2	8	14	24
17	CHINESE TAIPEI (TPE)	2	2	3	7
18	HUNGARY (HUN)	2	2	2	6
19	SLOVENIA (SLO)	2	1	1	4
20	KOSOVO (KOS)	2	0	0	2
21	BRAZIL (BRA)	1	3	4	8
22	GEORGIA (GEO)	1	3	1	5
23	ROMANIA (ROU)	1	3	0	4
24	SPAIN (ESP)	1	2	2	5
25	HONG KONG (HKG)	1	2	0	3
25	SOUTH AFRICA (RSA)	1	2	0	3
27	AUSTRIA (AUT)	1	1	3	5
28	SERBIA (SRB)	1	1	2	4
29	JAMAICA (JAM)	1	1	1	3
30	NORWAY (NOR)	1	1	0	2
30	POLAND (POL)	1	1	0	2
30	SLOVAKIA (SVK)	1	1	0	2
30	SWEDEN (SWE)	1	1	0	2
30	TUNISIA (TUN)	1	1	0	2
35	TURKEY (TUR)	1	0	2	3
36	ESTONIA (EST)	1	0	1	2
36	FIJI (FIJ)	1	0	1	2
36	IRELAND (IRL)	1	0	1	2
36	UZBEKISTAN (UZB)	1	0	1	2
40	BELARUS (BLR)	1	0	0	1
40	BERMUDA (BER)	1	0	0	1
40	ECUADOR (ECU)	1	0	0	1
40	ETHIOPIA (ETH)	1	0	0	1
40	GREECE (GRE)	1	0	0	1
40	IRAN (IRI)	1	0	0	1
40	LATVIA (LAT)	1	0	0	1
40	PHILIPPINES (PHI)	1	0	0	1
40	QATAR (QAT)	1	0	0	1
40	THAILAND (THA)	1	0	0	1
50	COLOMBIA (COL)	0	2	1	3
51	DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (DOM)	0	2	0	2
51	VENEZUELA (VEN)	0	2	0	2
53	INDONESIA (INA)	0	1	2	3
53	MONGOLIA (MON)	0	1	2	3
55	BELGIUM (BEL)	0	1	1	2
55	CUBA (CUB)	0	1	1	2
55	DENMARK (DEN)	0	1	1	2
55	SAN MARINO (SMR)	0	1	1	2
55	UGANDA (UGA)	0	1	1	2
60	BULGARIA (BUL)	0	1	1	2
60	INDIA (IND)	0	1	0	1
60	JORDAN (JOR)	0	1	0	1
60	NORTH MACEDONIA (MKD)	0	1	0	1
60	TURKMENISTAN (TKM)	0	1	0	1
65	UKRAINE (UKR)	0	1	0	1
66	KAZAKHSTAN (KAZ)	0	0	5	5
67	EGYPT (EGY)	0	0	3	3
67	ISRAEL (ISR)	0	0	2	2
67	MEXICO (MEX)	0	0	2	2
70	ARGENTINA (ARG)	0	0	2	2
70	AZERBAIJAN (AZE)	0	0	1	1
70	FINLAND (FIN)	0	0	1	1
70	IVORY COAST (CIV)	0	0	1	1
70	KUWAIT (KUW)	0	0	1	1
70	MALAYSIA (MAS)	0	0	1	1
70	PORTUGAL (POR)	0	0	1	1

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

GOLD

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

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

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	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

*Men's eight Josh Bugajski, Jacob Dawson, Charles Elwes, Thomas Ford, Thomas George, James Rudkin, Moe Sbihi, Oliver Wynne-Griffith, Henry Fieldman (cox)