Day Ten report: Keeley Hodgkinson and GB women’s cyclists take gold.
Keely Hodgkinson wins the women’s 800m athletics title and the British cycling women’s team sprint break three world records on route to gold.
TOP STORIES - Keely Hodgkinson storms to 800m athletics gold.
Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson won the 800m Olympic title to end her wait for a first global gold medal.
Hodgkinson led from the front early on, but Kenyan Mary Moora was in close pursuit as the bell sounded for the last lap. Moora attempted to pass Hodgkinson on the back straight but the 22-year-old, two-time European champion held strong.
As the race entered the final straight, Hodgkinson kicked on and won the race in a time of 1:56.72.
It was a well-deserved win for Hodgkinson. She was beaten to gold in Tokyo and at the last world championship by USA’s Athing Mu. Mu failed to qualify for Paris after a fall in the US trials.
However, Hodgkinson has had a spectacular year. She consistently ran the world’s best times, broke the British record and defended her European title before winning Olympic gold.
ALSO, IN ATHLETICS
Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis broke his own world record to win the pole vault title.
The reigning Olympic and three-time world champion had already won the event with a jump of 6m before breaking the Olympic record of 6.10m.
Duplantis then raised the height to 6.25m in an attempt to break the world record for a ninth time. He sensationally cleared the bar and cemented his reputation as the greatest jumper in history.
Elsewhere, Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita are through to the women’s 200m final. Favourite Gabby Thomas and 100m Olympic champion Julien Alfred also qualified with ease.
In the men’s 200m, Kenny Bednarek qualified fastest in the heats. Reigning champion Andre De Grasse and 100m champion Noah Lyles also qualified comfortably for the semi-finals.
TRACK CYCLING – GB’s Women’s team sprint break three world records to win gold
Track cycling started in the Velodrome on Monday, and we didn’t have to wait long for Great Britain to win their first gold medal.
Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell and Emma Finucane beat New Zealand in the women’s team sprint final in a world record time of 45.186.
The world record was broken an astonishing four times during this event - three times by Great Britain and once by Germany.
It became apparent that nothing other an exceptional performance would be enough to win the Olympic title.
21-year-old Finucane – who performed superbly on the last lap - is set to be the new golden girl of women’s cycling.
She is already the youngest women’s world individual sprint champion in history and will be competing in this event later in the week. She will also compete in the keirin.
Germany beat Canada in the bronze medal race.
In the men’s team pursuit, Great Britain finished qualification second fastest behind the Netherlands who broke an Olympic record. Their first round is on Tuesday with the final taking place on Wednesday.
GYMNASTICS
Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade completed a full set of medals in Paris after winning gold in the women’s floor final.
Andrade’s excellent routine scored 14.166 which was enough to force Simone Biles into second after the American landed outside of the floor area in her effort.
It is Biles’ fourth medal of the games after winning golds in the vault, individual and team all round events. Her compatriot Jordan Chiles won bronze.
Earlier in the day, Italy’s Alice D'Amato surprisingly won gold in the women’s balance beam with a score of 14.366. Biles had to settle for fifth after uncharacteristically falling off the beam.
Sunisa Lee and Andrade also surprisingly finished outside of the medals with China’s Zhou Yaqin taking silver and Italian Manila Esposito winning bronze.
CANOE SLALOM – KAYAK CROSS
Kayak Cross has proved why it has been included in the Olympics by providing drama and excitement in abundance.
Four competitors are launched down a white-water course before navigating four gates, performing an eskimo roll underwater and then paddling to the finish line.
Team GB’s Kimberley Woods came to Paris as the reigning world champion and qualified easily for the final.
She started strongly early in the race and then made a mistake before being overtaken by the other three competitors.
Woods fought back strongly but initially crossed the line outside of the medals. Fortunately, Germany’s Elena Lilik was disqualified, and Woods was awarded her second bronze medal of the games after competing in the K1 event.
Australia’s Noemie Fox won gold and Angèle Hug of France won silver.
In the men’s race, Joe Clarke recovered from a disastrous start to win silver. The world champion was crowded out by his rivals early on but stormed back through the course and crossed the line in second.
New Zealand’s Finn Butcher won gold and Noah Hegge of Germany won bronze.
TRIATHLON
Great Britain have now won a medal in every event in the Triathlon after Alex Yee, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Sam Dickinson and Beth Potter won bronze in the mixed relay.
GB led after Yee’s excellent first leg but then traded the lead with Germany throughout the second and third.
Dickinson managed to gain the upper hand and gave Potter a five second lead going into the final leg.
Potter was caught at the end of her bike ride by Germany’s Laura Lindemann and USA’s Taylor Knibb.
The duo then looked like they were going to break away from Potter in the final run, but she fought back.
Then, there was an exciting sprint for the finish line with Potter appearing to have edged out Knibb for the silver medal.
However, Team GB were later downgraded to bronze after closer inspection of the photo finish showed that the American crossed the line before Potter.
Nonetheless, it was an excellent performance from the quartet which topped off an impressive Olympic campaign for British triathlon. Germany won the gold medal.
BADMINTON
Chinese duo Huang Yaqiong and Zheng Siwei have won the Olympic mixed doubles title after beating South Korea’s Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun 21-8 21-11.
However, in the city of love, it was Huang’s boyfriend – a fellow Olympian – who stole the headlines by proposing to her moments after her victory lap. Who says romance is dead?
HOCKEY
Great Britain’s women’s team were beaten 3-1 by the Netherlands in the quarter finals. The Dutch got off to the best start possible when Xan de Waard scored in the first 46 seconds.
GB rode their luck but equalised when Hannah French tapped in a rebound from a penalty corner.
GB needed to hold on until half time, but Luna Fokke scored just before the end of the second quarter with a controversial goal that shouldn’t have stood after a referral.
The Dutch drove in the second half and Fokke scored her second of the game to give her team an unassailable lead.
The women’s hockey team will come away disappointed, but it has been an excellent run having won medals in the last three Olympics.
DIVING
Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix is through to the women’s 10m platform final after qualifying in third place.
The British 19-year-old diver has already won bronze in Paris with Lois Toulson in the synchronised event. Unfortunately, Toulson failed to qualify for Tuesday’s individual final.
CLIMBING
19-year-old British climber Toby Roberts has made a solid start in the men’s boulder/lead qualification round.
Roberts finished third in the boulder section with the lead qualification due to take place on Wednesday.
Both scores will then be combined and the top eight will compete in Friday’s final.
