Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Team GB claim eight more medals - with two golds in sailing
Team GB have claimed eight more medals at the Tokyo Olympics - with two golds and a silver in sailing, and two silvers in track cycling.
In sailing, Giles Scott took the overall win in the men’s Finn class, shortly after Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell claimed gold in the men’s 49er at the Tokyo Olympics.
And Great Britain’s John Gimson and Anna Burnet won the silver medal in the mixed Nacra 17 class.
Meanwhile, GB won two silver medals in track cycling - in the women's team pursuit and men's team sprint.
Boxer Pat McCormack also won the silver medal after losing his welterweight final against Cuba’s Roniel Iglesias.
Keely Hodgkinson broke Kelly Holmes' long-standing national record to win the silver medal in the women’s 800 metres race.
Earlier in the morning, Great Britain’s Jack Laugher won the bronze in the men’s 3m springboard.
US' Simone Biles, who had pulled out of three individual event finals, also claimed a bronze medal as she returned to compete in the balance beam finals. She finished behind Chinese teenagers Chenchen Guan and Tang Xijing.
Sailing
Fletcher and Bithell went into the final men’s 49er sailing race, where double points are awarded, in second, four points behind New Zealand’s Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. But victory for Fletcher and Bithell and third for New Zealand saw them claim gold.
The pair's biggest obstacle turned out to be Germany but, having taken the final turn in second, they just edged over the finish line in front.
Speaking after the race, Fletcher said: “I think it’s been super close all week in racing and today showed off what it’s been like. It was an intense race but it’s mind-blowing to be sat here now being Olympic champions”.
On the race to the line with the German boat, the 33-year-old added: “I thought we had it to be honest but I knew it was super touch and go. “The other guys had right of way over us so we had to be careful to not get a penalty and time everything just right but Stu did an incredible job of making the boat go fast and we just nicked it at the end”.
There were tears and jubilant scenes at Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club near Rochdale, Greater Manchester, as Bithell’s parents Vivian and Leslie watched the pair race over the finish line in front.
Stuart Bithell's family and friends cheer as the sailor claims gold
It is a first Olympic medal for Fletcher, who finished sixth with Alain Sign in the same class in Rio, while Bithell also took silver in the 470 class alongside Luke Patience at London 2012.
Bithell missed out to Fletcher and Sign for Rio, and the pair were rivals before deciding to team up in a bid to qualify for Tokyo.
The decision brought immediate dividends as they won European and world titles, and now the biggest prize of all.
Scott's gold medal in the Finn class continued the country’s dominance.
It is Britain’s sixth successive title in the boat dating back to Iain Percy’s success in Sydney 21 years ago. Ben Ainslie then won three consecutive titles before Scott clinched his first gold in Rio.
He had a nine-point lead going into the final medal race but had to play catch-up after a poor start and crossed the line in fourth, which was just enough to keep him ahead of Hungary’s Zsombor Berecz.
The 34-year-old from Cambridgeshire, said: “I made it by the skin of my teeth, it was properly to the wire, it was really tight. I tried to stay relaxed but I’ve never been involved in a boat race as close as that.”
Giles Scott's parents are joined by other family and friends to celebrate as their son wins a gold medal
Scott’s father also described his pride for his son, who was crowned champion in the men’s Finn class: “I’m afraid I was up at 2.30, I couldn’t sleep – but fortunately there was plenty on the telly, so I was watching all the sport, getting ready for this ride.
“I’m proud for him as much I’m proud of him… he’s shown his mettle by coming back into this boat, and after a really rocky first day, showing why he was defending Olympic champion.”
The 69-year-old said he and his wife Ros, who were watching at the National Sailing Academy in Weymouth, spoke to their son via video call after his victory.
“He said ‘I’m relieved to see I didn’t give you a heart attack’,” Mr Scott added.
Giles Scott's mum and dad react to their son's Olympic success
Also in sailing, silver medallists Gimson and Burnet were guaranteed a medal going into the final mixed Nacra 17 class race and finished safely in fifth to stay in second place behind Italians Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti.
Burnet's mother, Louise Burnet, from Shandon, said “we would never ever have dreamed of this happening” and said her daughter has “always had this great passion” since she began sailing at the age of five in an Optimist dinghy.
She said: “They’ve just been a great team together and it’s a massive passion for them both. They are really good friends and you need that partner you click with.
“When Anna started sailing at the local yacht club she had no fear of the water from an early age.
“There were a lot of long drives at weekends which her father Colin did a lot of, 11 hours down to the south coast at weekends, and it is certainly all worth it now.”
The medal races were postponed from Monday, when a lack of wind forced racing to be cancelled for the day, and it was nip and tuck throughout a hugely exciting race.
Britain are favourites to win a fourth sailing gold in the women’s 470 on Wednesday, with Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre holding a lead.
Track cycling silvers
Great Britain's Katie Archibald, Laura Kenny, Neah Evans and Josie Knight won a silver medal in the women's team pursuit.
Team GB momentarily broke the world record in the first round to reach the final, beating the US with a time of 4:06.748 - although they crashed into themselves at the end. But Britain’s record lasted less than 10 minutes as Germany went faster in the next heat.
Germany broke the record once more in the final against Britain with a time of 04.249 seconds, winning by more than six seconds - and Team GB had to settle for silver.
Kenny told the BBC: “We knew (Germany) were going to go fast, but maybe not quite that fast.”
Asked about the prospect of adding two more medals to her tally, she added: “Yeah, I’ll just keep turning up and see what happens!”
Teammate Evans added: “It’s really special. Obviously we were defending champions and there are huge expectations because we do have such a good reputation, but there are so many strong nations.
“We came out fighting but it wasn’t to be this time.”
GB's men's sprint team later won silver. Jason Kenny, Jack Carlin and Ryan Owens, were comfortably beaten by the Netherlands team, who set a new Olympic record of 41.369 seconds. The Dutch have not been beaten in a team sprint event since 2017.
Kenny told the BBC: “We poured our heart into the second ride to get to the final and then just rolled the dice in the final.
“We geared up and just went for it, and obviously we knew we had a bit of ground to make up. I had nothing in the final, I was rubbish.”
Owens added: “It’s a dream come true. This team has got a pretty good track record and there’s a lot to live up to.
“It’s been a different few months but to come through it with these guys is amazing.
“We got our best out on the day, you have to show up in every race and there’s no pacing it in the team sprint.”
Athletics
Keely Hodgkinson broke Kelly Holmes' long-standing national record to win the silver medal in the women’s 800 metres race.
The 19-year-old finished behind the USA's Athing Mu, finishing at one minute 55.88 seconds to beat Holmes' record in 1995.
She also claims Team GB's first medal on the track at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Raevyn Roger, from the US, overtook Britain's Jemma Reekie in the last push for the finish line and claimed third place, while Reekie settled for fourth.
Alex Bell came seventh in 1.57.66 minutes.
Boxing silver
Pat McCormack won the silver medal after losing his welterweight final against Cuba’s Roniel Iglesias.
McCormack, who progressed to the 69kg showpiece after Irish opponent Aidan Walsh withdrew from their semi-final because of injury, was hoping to win Britain’s first boxing gold of these Games.
However, all five judges preferred the slicker work of southpaw Iglesias, who won every round on three of the officials’ scorecards.
Diving bronze
Jack Laugher claimed third place on the podium as China's Xie Siyi took gold, with Xie's teammate Wang Zongyuan finishing runner-up.
It was a consistent performance from Laugher, who did not drop below 81 points in his six dives with a best of 96.9 from his forward four and a half somersaults tuck.
GB teammate James Heatly qualified in fourth place but finished ninth after he was unable to recover from a disappointing first dive in the 12-strong final.
Laugher's bronze is his third Olympic medal of his career. The 26-year-old from Harrogate won gold and silver at Rio 2016.