Team GB in Tokyo: Wednesday wonders earn fourth place in medal table

Tokyo 2020 04 Aug 21

Five medals marked another fruitful day in Tokyo with golds in sailing and equestrian helping Team GB climb into fourth place in the overall table. Here’s what happened on day 12:

  • Hannah Mills becomes most successful female Olympic sailor of all time, with gold in the 470 class alongside Eilidh McIntyre 

  • Ben Maher earns Team GB’s fifth equestrian medal of the Games, with gold in the individual show jumping 

  • Sky Brown becomes the nation’s youngest-ever Olympic medallist, with a brilliant bronze in the women’s skateboarding park event 

  • A silver for Ben Whittaker and bronze for Frazer Clarke add to Team GB’s burgeoning boxing medal count 

  • Further progress in the velodrome with Jason Kenny, Jack Carlin and Katy Marchant all in action 

  • Laura Muir, Jodie Williams and Lizzie Bird shine on the track, but heartbreak for Katarina Johnson-Thompson 

  • Brits also in hockey, canoeing, diving and marathon swimming action 

  • More excitement to come on day 13 

Mills breaks new barriers as sailors continue to shine

Hannah Mills became the most successful female Olympic sailor of all time as she grabbed 470 gold alongside Eilidh McIntyre.

The pair had a 14-point lead heading into the medal race, worth double points, and put in an assured performance to finish fifth.

It was more than enough for helm Mills to retain the title she won with Saskia Clark at Rio 2016, and for crew McIntyre to take gold on Olympic debut.

Top step was the crowning glory for a brilliant regatta for Team GB at Enoshima Bay, representing a third gold and fifth medal overall.

Mills said: “It’s been one of the hardest weeks of my life. I’m sure for Eilidh as well, just every day, not being able to eat, just nerves building up, the emotion of the fact we’ve done it.

“It’s over. We’ve done what we came here to do and it’s amazing.”

Mills: This doesn’t feel real

Majestic Maher keeps equestrian gongs coming

Ben Maher followed in the footsteps of Nick Skelton by taking individual show jumping gold in a dramatic six-rider jump-off.

The 38-year-old and horse Explosion W went round in 37.85 seconds to take the title ahead of Sweden’s Peder Fredricson by just 0.17s.

Maher’s gold is Team GB’s fifth equestrian medal in Tokyo, equalling their best-ever haul from London 2012 – where Maher became an Olympic champion for the first time.

“It doesn’t seem real. I think it will sink in tonight or tomorrow morning, let’s just say there has been a lot of pressure in the last couple of weeks,” said Maher.

“I am biased but I believe I am on the best horse, he is an incredible horse.”

Maher soars to show jumping gold

Brilliant Brown makes Team GB history

Sky Brown became Team GB’s youngest Olympic medallist of all time as she banked skateboarding bronze in Tokyo.

Aged 13 years and 28 days, Brown finished behind Japan's Sakura Yosozumi and Kokona Hiraki, the latter just 12 years old.

The X Games champion, who qualified for the final in second place, fell on her first two runs in the final but stitched things together brilliantly at her last attempt.

The teenager replaces Sarah Hardcastle as Britain's youngest summer Games medallist, the swimmer was aged 15 years and 113 days when she won silver and bronze in Los Angeles.

She also overtakes silver medal-winning figure skater Cecilia Colledge, who turned 15 just a couple of months before the 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Games.

Brown said: “I’m so stoked. I can’t believe it, it’s unbelievable. I'm so happy to be on the podium with these guys, it's insane.”

Alongside skateboarding, sport climbing is making its debut at the 2020 Games, and Team GB’s Shauna Coxsey finished tenth following speed, bouldering and lead qualification events, missing out on reaching the final by two places.

She said: “I was really happy with the performance I gave. My body is not in the shape I wanted it to be, I had no idea if I'd make it this far as a professional climber, so to even be here is insane.”

Sky’s the limit for Olympic medallist Brown

Rewards in the ring for Whittaker and Clarke

Ben Whittaker secured Team GB’s fourth boxing medal of Tokyo 2020 after defeat in the men’s light heavyweight final in Tokyo.

Whittaker was beaten on a split decision by Cuba’s Arlen Lopez, joining welterweight Pat McCormack with a runners-up spot.

Elsewhere Frazer Clarke picked up bronze after a semi-final defeat to Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov.

The super-heavyweight bout was stopped in the third round after a nasty cut above Clarke’s right eye opened up, leaving him unable to continue.

Light heavyweight fighter Whittaker wins Team GB’s fourth boxing medal

Clarke claims Team GB’s second Tokyo 2020 boxing bronze

Carlin and Kenny eye sprint podium after another strong day in the velodrome

Jason Kenny might have become Team GB’s most successful Olympian ever, but he is backing teammate Jack Carlin to succeed him on the podium in the individual sprint.

Kenny – who won gold in the event in London and Rio - played down his own chances, instead saying it is teammate Carlin who is the best shot of a medal, with the six-time Olympic champion only qualifying eighth fastest before being pushed all the way in the next two rounds to make the last 16.

The 24-year-old Carlin looked in impressive form as he qualified third fastest and then eased through the rounds, despite a minor scare in a win over Malaysia’s Muhammad Sahrom.

Kenny said: “Jack is really strong and is in a really good position obviously. He’s definitely our best chance. The Dutch boys are fast, a little bit quicker but Jack’s got the edge in racing.”

Meanwhile, Katy Marchant got her Olympics underway by securing her place in the quarter-finals of the women’s Keirin, and the men’s team pursuit quartet broke the national record on their way to seventh, with victory over Switzerland in the 7th-8th placing race.

Kenny backing Carlin for individual sprint success

Mixed emotions for Team GB on the track

Laura Muir and Jodie Williams booked their spots in track finals, while Lizzie Bird ran a PB as Team GB’s female stars shone.

In the 1500m semi-finals, Muir made a statement by staying with 5000m champion Sifan Hassan and cruising through to the final in second spot in a time of 4:00.73.

Williams continued her successful conversion from 200m to 400m by making the first individual Olympic final of her senior career, dipping under 50 seconds for the very first time with a personal best 49.97s to come second in her semi-final.

Meanwhile, Bird – who had made history earlier this week when she became the first British woman to qualify for the women’s 3000m steeplechase Olympic final – smashed her previous personal best with a British record time of 9:19.74 to finish ninth.

However, Katarina Johnson-Thompson pulled up due to a right calf injury during the 200m, the final event of day one of the heptathlon, and although she bravely got up off the track to finish the race, she was disqualified for stepping outside of her lane.

Hockey heartbreak but Brits make a splash elsewhere

Hollie Pearne-Webb has urged Team GB to put their hockey semi-final heartache behind them and quickly switch focus to Friday’s bronze medal match.

Team GB will not defend the gold they so memorably won in Rio after a 5-1 defeat to Netherlands in the last four in Tokyo.

They can still leave with a medal and face the losers of the second semi-final, India, for bronze on Friday.

Pearne-Webb said: “We have had to show some resilience during this Olympic cycle and now we have to get over this quickly and move on.”

In canoeing, Rio 2016 champion Liam Heath advanced to the semi-finals of the men’s kayak single 200m, posting an Olympic-best time in the process, while Deborah Kerr progressed to the semi-finals in the women’s kayak single 500m.

Lois Toulson and Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix safely booked their places in diving’s women’s 10m platform semi-finals, finishing seventh and tenth in the preliminary round respectively.

And marathon swimmer Alice Dearing became the first black, female swimmer to represent Team GB at an Olympic Games, coming home 19th in the women’s 10km event.

Pearne-Webb urges Team GB to end Olympic hockey experience on a high

More to come on thrilling Thursday

Another feast of athletics medals are up for grabs on Thursday, with Holly Bradshaw (11:00am BST), Andrew Pozzi (3:55am BST), and Tom Bosworth and Callum Wilkinson (8:30am BST) in pole vault, 110m hurdles and 20km race walk finals action.

Liam Heath and Deborah Kerr face canoe sprint semi-finals, hoping to earn spots in the men’s kayak 200m final (3:42am BST) and women’s kayak single 500m final (4:29am BST) respectively.

In track cycling, Katy Marchant continues her women’s Keirin campaign, that concludes with the final at 9:45am BST. Matthew Walls is in omnium action from 7:30am.

Galal Yafai will look to secure at least another silver medal for Team GB when he fights Kazakhstan’s Saken Bibossinov in their flyweight semi-final, at 6:48am BST.

Hector Pardoe will feature in the men’s marathon swim from 10:30pm on Wednesday night, and Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson will dive for a place in the the women's 10m platform final from 2:00am BST.

The women's and men's modern pentathlon competitions get underway with fencing at 5:00am BST and 8:30am BST respectively, with Kate French, Joanna Muir, Joseph Choong and James Cooke all competing.

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