Day Twelve: Team GB’s 1000th Olympic medal and a British athlete is denied gold on the line again.
Team GB win their 1000th Olympic medal and Quincy Hall beats Matthew Hudson Smith in the 400m to become the latest American to deny a British athlete gold.
TOP STORY – Quincy Hall denies Matthew Hudson Smith in the 400m
Matthew Hudson-Smith narrowly missed out on a gold medal in the men’s 400m after being pipped on the line by Quincy Hall of the USA.
He ran a European record of 43.44 which made him the fifth fastest 400m runner in history. But that was not enough to quell Hall’s storming run for the line. The American ran a personal best of 43.40 to win the Olympic title.
Hudson-Smith has been excellent this year. He previously broke the European record twice to add to the silver medal he won in the world championships last year in Budapest.
It has been a long road for Hudson-Smith who suffered from mental health issues that kept him out of the Tokyo games.
Whilst gold was not the outcome he wanted, what he has achieved since is something to be proud of.
Elsewhere, 100m Olympic champion Noah Lyles qualified comfortably for the 200m final. Kenny Bednarek was once again fastest in the semi-finals, as he was in the first round. Andre De Grasse failed to qualify.
Team GB’s Amber Anning is through to women’s 400m final on Friday after posting a personal best time of 49.47. She won a bronze medal in the mixed 4x400m earlier in the week.
TRACK CYCLING
Great Britain and Australia went head-to-head once again in the Olympic men’s team pursuit final.
This time it was Australia who won gold after an incredibly close contest that saw the lead change hand several times.
However, on the last lap Ethan Hayter nearly slipped off his saddle which cost vital time. The world record holders took advantage of the mistake and raced home for gold.
Nonetheless the British quartet – of Hayter, Charlie Tanfield, Dan Bigham, Ethan Vernon and Dan Bigham – had the honour of winning Great Britain’s 1000th medal in Olympic history. Italy came third.
Shortly after, the GB women’s team pursuit won bronze after beating Italy. They earlier missed out on the gold medal race by 0.2 seconds - to the USA - despite breaking the British record.
Elsewhere, Emma Finucane and Katy Marchant are through to the women’s keirin quarter-finals.
Also, Jack Carlin and Hamish Turnbull are both through to the men’s sprint quarter-finals.
CLIMBING
British duo Toby Roberts and Hamish McArthur are through to Friday’s boulder/lead Olympic final
19-year-old Roberts qualified in second place with a score of 122.2. McArthur had a nervous wait but qualified in 8th.
HOCKEY
The Netherlands beat Argentina 3-0 in the first women’s semi final to reach their sixth successive Olympic final. Luna Noa Fokke, Laura Nunnink and Yibbi Jansen scored the goals.
In the other semi-final, China beat Belgium 3-2 on penalties after drawing 1-1 in normal time.
DIVING
Jack Laugher and Jordan Houlder qualified for the Thursday’s 3m springboard final. Laugher finished third and Houlder finished fifth.
Grace Reid and Yasmin Harper are through the semi-finals in the women’s event.
IN OTHER NEWS...
Team GB’s Andy MacDonald competed in the men’s park skateboarding competition at the age of 51. His best score of 77.66 wasn’t enough to qualify for the final but then he was competing against skaters in their teens and early twenties!
Today, the International Olympic committee relocated several medals from the 2022 Beijing winter Olympics.
Russia initially won figure skating gold two years ago until Kamila Valieva tested positive for doping. She was eventually banned for four years by the world doping agency after the case went through the court of arbitration for sport.
American’s Madison Chock and Vincent Zhou were upgraded to gold with Japan and Canada receiving their silver and bronze medals.
Despite a two year wait the athletes finally got their medal ceremony in front of a packed stadium at the Stade de France.
