Team GB added another six medals on Monday, with golds in the team eventing and mountain biking.
Tom Pidcock successfully defended his men’s cross-country mountain biking title in dramatic fashion, as Tom Daley and Matt Richards were among the other medallists.
Equestrian: Eventing
Team GB’s first gold of Paris 2024 came at the Château de Versailles, with Laura Collett, Tom McEwen and Ros Canter topping the equestrian team eventing leaderboard.
The trio finished the three-day competition with 91.30 penalties, ending 12.3 clear of hosts France and 24.5 clear of Japan.
Collett was back on the podium shortly afterwards, finishing third in the individual eventing. Her 23.10 penalties was only bettered by gold medallist Michael Jung and silver medallist Christopher Burton.
“So many years of hard work, blood, sweat and tears,” Collett said. “An emotional rollercoaster doesn’t even do it justice. But for moments like this, every single bad day is so worth it, and you just have to never give up and never lose hope, you can never dream too big.”
McEwen, who picked up an individual eventing silver at Tokyo, finished fourth.
Mountain Biking: Men’s Cross-Country
Team GB’s second gold soon followed, as cross-country mountain biker Tom Pidcock defended his gold medal from Tokyo in dramatic style.
Pidcock, who turns 25 tomorrow, was winning the race when he suffered a puncture which saw him drop to 40 seconds back in ninth.
He then pipped French rider Victor Koretzky in the final lap after the two broke clear of the field.
Pidcock said: “The Olympics is so special and you need to never give up. You need to give everything.”
Diving: Men’s 10m Synchro
Tom Daley and Noah Williams earned a silver medal in the men’s synchronised 10m platform final, scoring 463.44 points.
Daley clinched his fifth Olympic medal at his fifth Games, adding to the one gold and three bronzes he earned previously to clinch the full set. It was Williams’ first medal, competing at his second Olympics.
China’s Lian Junjie and Yang Hao clinched gold with 490.35 points.
Daley had not been intending to compete in Paris until his young son asked to see him compete at the Olympic Games.
“It’s just so special,” Daley said. “This time last year, deciding to come back, not knowing whether I would make the synchro team, let alone qualify for a spot at the Olympics, and now to be here in Paris, diving in front of my son, who is just right there and actually asked me to come back – it’s just so special.”
Swimming
Matt Richards earned Team GB’s second swimming medal, as he picked up a men’s 200m freestyle silver in a closely-fought race.
Richards, who won gold at last year’s World Championships, finished in a time of 1:44.74 and was 0.02 off a gold medal.
“I can’t be too disappointed with that it’s my first ever individual at an Olympic Games so to walk away from that with a silver medal is fantastic. Obviously two one hundredths off gold is excruciatingly frustrating but if anything it’s added more fire to my belly.”
Teammate Duncan Scott finished fourth, just a 0.08 of a second of a medal.
Freya Colbert finished fourth in the women’s 400m individual medley, with Katie Shanahan in seventh.
Whilst, Angharad Evans finished sixth in the women’s 100m breaststroke and Ollie Morgan finished eighth in the men’s 100m backstroke.
Canoe Slalom: Men’s C1
There was also a medal for Team GB in the canoe slalom, as Adam Burgess secured a men’s C1 silver.
Burgess, who finished fourth in Tokyo, 0.16 off a medal, qualified fourth for the final, and set a time of 96.84 for the remaining three canoeists to beat and only Nicolas Gestin went quicker.
He said: “I’ve been dreaming of winning an Olympic medal since I was 10 years old. It was what I was thinking about in the start pool, I just wanted to do that kid proud that dreamt of this moment. I just went out there and gave it my all and here we are.”
Around the Games
Team GB finished fourth in the team all-around final of men’s artistic gymnastics.
Elsewhere, Nathan Hales put himself into a good position ahead of the conclusion of the shooting men’s trap qualification tomorrow, scoring 73 from a possible 75 in the first three rounds.
Emma Wilson is well-placed after two races in the women’s windsurfing, winning her first race and coming second in the second whilst the women’s rugby sevens team lost their quarter-final to the USA 17-7.
In badminton, Kirsty Gilmour beat Azerbaijan’s Keisha Fatimah Azzahra 21-13 21-11 in her opening women’s singles match, while Ben Lane and Sean Vendy won their final group match but did not qualify for the quarter-finals.
Team GB’s Tom Hall, Conor Hall and Alex Wise lost 6-0 to Chinese Taipei in their archery men’s team elimination match, while Lele Nairne was defeated by Georgia’s Eteri Liparteliani in the judo women’s -57kg first round and boxer Delicious Orie lost in the men’s 92kg round of 16.
The women’s hockey team lost 4-0 to Australia, whilst tennis player Dan Evans was knocked out of the men’s singles and Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury lost in the men’s doubles.
Liam Pitchford recorded a dominant 4-0 win against Fiji’s Vicky Wu in the table tennis men’s singles.
With thanks to Team GB
