Paris 2024 day five: Team GB's Alex Yee and women's quadruple scull win gold
ITV News sport editor Steve Scott reports on a golden 5th day at the Olympics for Team GB.
Alex Yee has won gold in the men's triathlon at the Paris Olympics.
Having entered the race as a firm favourite, Londoner Yee aimed to upgrade the silver medal he earned in Tokyo.
The 26-year-old produced a stunning finish in the delayed race after falling 14 seconds behind big rival Hayden Wilde, going into the 10km run.
Yee began to reel in the New Zealander in the final stages of the race, to emulate Alistair Brownlee and become Britain's second Olympic triathlon champion.
Back in 2017, then 19-year-old Alex Yee posted a tweet to himself stating that "maybe one day you'll be the greatest".
Some seven years later, he realised that dream as Olympic champion.
Yee said some words of encouragement from two-time Olympic triathlon gold medallist Alistair Brownlee spurred him on to give it one last shot.
“Alistair was one of the people with one lap to go who said to me, ‘Anything can happen, mate’. He shouted that out. It’s a pretty special moment to look back at that now.”
The women's quadruple scull also won gold in a photo finish with the Netherlands, edging them on the line by just 0.15 seconds.
It marks Team GB's second gold medal of the day and its sixth of the Games.
Diving
It comes after Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson mounted a big fightback in the women's synchronised diving to clinch a bronze medal.
The pair dove to second at the end of round two, but sunk to fifth place after a couple of difficult dives.
Responding well in the final rounds, their last dive had them place just ahead of close rivals Canada and bag another medal for Team GB.
Spendolini-Siriex's father, First Dates star Fred Sirieix and Toulson's boyfriend Jack Laugher, who won gold while diving in Rio, were both left in tears following the final.
Action to come on Wednesday
There are 18 gold medals up for grabs for Team GB on Wednesday, including in triathlon, rowing, diving, BMX freestyle, canoe slalom and artistic gymnastics.
Medals in swimming and judo are also available for the taking.
Team GB managed to raise its gold medal count to four on Tuesday, after James Guy, Tom Dean, Matt Richards and Duncan Scott won gold in the men’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay, retaining their title.
Nathan Hales also won gold in the men's Olympic trap competition, claiming a new Olympic record of 48 out of 50 to beat Chinese silver medallist Ying Qi by four shots.
Andy Murray put his retirement plans on hold once again by winning the second round of men's doubles with teammate Dan Evans, earning him a place in the quarter-finals.
As the Games continue to heat up, there are plenty of other opportunities to up the Team GB medal haul.
Women's Triathlon
Great Britain’s world champion Beth Potter claimed bronze in the women’s triathlon behind home favourite Cassandre Beaugrand.
Potter, who won the test event around the streets of Paris last year, was one of the favourites for gold but ultimately she could not match the pace of winner Beaugrand, with Switzerland’s Julie Derron in second.
The race was followed by the men’s triathlon, which was postponed due to concerns surrounding the water quality in the River Seine.
Team GB's Alex Yee went into the race as a favourite but fell behind New Zealander Hayden Wilde - Yee produced a stunning finish, coming from 14 seconds behind to take gold.
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Artistic Gymnastics: Men’s All-Around Final
Team GB’s Jake Jarman and Joe Fraser qualified for the men’s artistic gymnastics all-around final in fifth and sixth respectively, with action getting underway at 16:30 BST.
Jarman was a reserve in Tokyo so is making his Olympic debut in Paris. He earned four gold medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, including in the all-around, and a title in the vault at the 2023 World Championships.
Fraser competed in Tokyo and came ninth in the all-around final. He is a former world champion in the parallel bars and a former European champion in the all-around.
Rowing: Women’s Quadruple Sculls
Great Britain’s women’s quadruples sculls crew claimed gold in a dramatic race against the Netherlands.
Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson, Georgie Brayshaw, and Lauren Henry made a cautious start before moving past Ukraine into second spot behind the Dutch.
The 2023 world champions produced a strong finish in the final 250 metres, edging out the Netherlands on the line by just 0.15 seconds.
After the race, an emotional Anderson reflected on a treasured diary entry her late father returned to her outlining the dream to win Olympic rowing gold one day.
At London 2012, a teenage Anderson had been inspired by Helen Glover and Heather Stanning’s rowing triumph in the women’s pairs and scribbled a short entry in her diary.
It read: “My name is Lola Anderson and I think it would be my biggest dream in life to go to the Olympics in rowing and if possible win a gold for GB.”
Anderson, 26, would later throw the note in the bin, only for dad Don – who rowed at university – to return the diary entry to her seven years later, two months before his death from cancer in 2019. He had kept the note in a safety security box and passed it to her while in hospital being treated for leukaemia.
Diving: Women’s 10m Synchro
Team GB’s Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson earned a hard-fought bronze medal in the women’s synchronised 10m platform event.
The pair jumped into second at the end of round two, but entering the more difficult dives, they could only post 60.3 in the third round, causing them to tumble into fifth.
They responded well in the final rounds, scoring a 77.76 on their final dive and following a nervous wait their spot on the podium was all but confirmed after nearest rivals Canada could only score 68.16 on their last dive.
Chinese pair Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan successfully defended their Olympic gold, while North Korea pair Jo Jin Mi and Kim Mirae earned silver.
BMX Freestyle
Kieran Reilly flew the flag for Team GB in the men’s BMX freestyle final, securing the silver medal.
Last year's World champion Reilly was the top qualifier for the final.
Reilly collapsed onto his knees after pouring everything he had left into his second run, with a score of 93.91 pushing him above French favourite Anthony Jeanjean but not enough to match the 94.82 achieved by Argentina’s Jose Torres Gil.
It was a dramatic final in which Australia’s defending champion Logan Martin crashed on both of his runs, while Jeanjean also crashed on his first, needing to risk it all to chase glory the second time around.
Canoe Slalom: Women’s C1
The silver medallist from Tokyo, Mallory Franklin, will be aiming to add to Team GB’s haul of canoe slalom medals in tomorrow’s women’s C1 final.
Following bronze for Kimberley Woods in the women’s K1 and silver for Adam Burgess in the men’s C1, it is the turn of the seven-time world champion Franklin.
The 30-year-old qualified sixth for the semi-final, which takes place at 14:30, with the top 12 canoeists making the final, which starts at 16:25.
Elsewhere, judoka Katie-Jemima Yeats-Brown competes in the women’s -70kg and Matt Richards and Anna Hopkin can go for gold in the men’s and women’s 100m freestyle respectively, after qualifying for this evening's semi-finals.
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