It’s day 12 and the finals are piling up. Catch up, Bolt-style, with our briefing and then stay with the pack as the live blog steers you through another day of Rio action. It’s all here.
The big picture
Perspective is a funny thing. For China, third position in the medals table is, according to state media anyway, “the worst Olympic flop”. For Britain, second place and a pleasingly round 50 medals make Rio the team’s most successful away Games. It’s not all about the cycling, though it is quite a lot about the cycling:
Katy Marchant getting bronze means every GB track rider who took to the velodrome in Rio has won a medal. An amazing achievement.
— Simon Richardson (@SRichardsonCW) August 16, 2016
But day 11 had its low points, too, not least the booing of French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie as he received his silver medal behind home winner Thiago Braz Da Silva. The weeping Frenchman had to be consoled by athletics chief Sebastian Coe and IOC president Thomas Bach, who accused the crowd of “shocking behaviour”. Spectators had already been asked to curb the hostilities, especially as – foolish Jesse Owens comparisons aside – Lavillenie’s only crime was to compete in a pole vaulting competition. Which is, you know, his job.
Boos too, and perhaps more justified, came the way of boxing officials, who face accusations of corruption following some eyebrow-raising decisions. “They’re fucking cheats,” was the verdict of Ireland’s Michael Conlan, who was judged to have lost his bantamweight quarter-final to Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin, and had an idea who to blame:
Hey Vlad @PutinRF_Eng
— Michael Conlan (@mickconlan11) August 16, 2016
How much did they charge you bro?? @AIBA_Boxing #Rio2016 😘
The father of US boxer Gary Antuanne Russell also thought he’d been “robbed” of a light middleweight quarter-final win over Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Gaibnazarov. US swimmer Ryan Lochte, on the other hand, might not have been.
And it was impossible to overlook the big upset of day 11 (well, night: it was a one-minute-to-midnight start), as Team USA’s three-time Olympic gold medallist Kerri Walsh Jennings and partner April Ross were ruthlessly dispatched 2-0 by Brazil’s Ágatha Bednarczuk and Bárbara Seixas de Freitas in the women’s beach volleyball semi-finals. The former gold hopes now scrap for bronze against another Brazilian couple, Talita and Larissa, on Wednesday evening. They, helpfully, were in fact Brazil’s top-seeded pair.
You should also know:
- Jamaica’s Omar McLeod clinches gold in 110m hurdles.
- Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon makes late charge for Olympic 1500m gold.
- New Zealand and American runners help each other after collision in women’s 5,000m.
Team GB roundup
BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2016 is going to be a nightmare, I tell you. On day 11, Laura Trott became Britain’s most successful female Olympian with her fourth gold. Jason Kenny equalled Chris Hoy’s record of six golds. Jack Laugher’s silver made him Britain’s most successful Olympic diver (although probably not yet the most famous). Giles Scott made sure Britain kept its monopoly in the Finn class sailing with another gold.
There were two more bronzes – for Nile Wilson (men’s horizontal bar), and Team GB’s youngest competitor, 16-year-old Amy Tinkler (women’s floor exercise) – in gymnastics, for heaven’s sake. Tinkler gets her GCSE results next week and Durham high school for girls can expect more press interest than usual. She’ll definitely be able to pull off one of those leaping-clutching-results photos.
Joshua Buatsi leaves with a bronze from his light-heavyweight boxing bout, and super-heavyweight Joe Joyce will get at least the same from his upcoming semi-final.
Masterful dives from China’s Cao Yuan kept Laugher in silver but weren’t enough to lift his country ahead of Team GB in the overall medal table: Britain stays second with a medal haul already ahead of the pre-Games target of 48. Which of course has prompted some hang-on-a-minute moments. German cyclist Kristina Vogel, who took gold ahead of Britain’s Becky James in the women’s sprint, definitely 100% wasn’t casting aspersions on British bike success but merely wondering aloud:
I don’t want to accuse anyone of anything, but it’s certainly questionable … I have no idea how they do it.
Have a read of this, and this, if you’re doing a bit of idle wondering yourself.
- Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark on brink of striking 470 sailing gold.
- Chris Langridge and Marcus Ellis plan ‘something special’ to win badminton bronze.
- Nicola Adams makes rusty start in defence of her Olympic boxing title.
- British riders stumble and scupper bid to retain showjumping team title.
- Marathon swimmer Jack Burnell angered by ‘ridiculous’ disqualification.
Team USA roundup
A double whammy in the men’s triple jump – gold for Christian Taylor and silver for Will Claye – prompted Claye to propose to his partner, hurdler Queen Harrison, and a congratulatory tweet from Michelle Obama:
Congratulations to @Taylored2jump and @WilliamClaye for bringing home gold and silver medals for @TeamUSA in the triple jump today!
— The First Lady (@FLOTUS) August 16, 2016
Simone Biles took to the floor and took off from the floor to win that fourth Rio gold, Aly Raisman completing another US one-two. They got a surprise visit from actor Zac Efron. That’s some competitive congratulating, Team USA. Let’s just hope Donald Trump doesn’t get any ideas.
Surprise!! #Rio2016 #Gold #FinalFive pic.twitter.com/yUswjZeHsa
— Zac Efron (@ZacEfron) August 16, 2016
Two twos from Danell Leyva, who scored silver in both the men’s parallel bars and horizontal bar, were complemented by another second spot for Sarah Hammer in the women’s omnium. Bronzes came for Caleb Paine in the men’s Finn class sailing, and for Jennifer Simpson in the women’s 1,500m, on an athletics evening that was not one for the highlights package.
That women’s beach volleyball semi-final will be, though, defeat or no defeat: Kerri Walsh Jennings had lost only two sets in her entire Olympic career before the 2-0 loss to Brazil.
Australia team roundup
That’s (a bit) more like it. A gold and a silver, both in the sailing, appropriately enough for the team whose home is girt by sea. Tom Burton swiped gold – the country’s seventh – in the Laser final; Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin took silver in the Nacra 17 behind Argentina. It still leaves Australia ninth in the overall table, but ends the two-day medal drought in splashing style.
Elsewhere: hmm. Cyclist Annette Edmondson faded to eighth in the women’s omnium, beaten by Britain’s Laura Trott and co despite a win in the 500m time trial and second place in the flying lap. Alyssa Bull and Alyce Burnett came in last in the women’s kayak double 500m final.
Top qualifier Murray Stewart came fourth in the men’s kayak single 1,000m finals; Dani Samuels finished in the same not-quite-medal spot in the women’s discus. Brandon Starc stumbled in the men’s high jump, weighed down in 15th spot by the burden of Game of Thrones jokes.
Wincing injury of the day was a tie between Kim Mickle’s dislocated shoulder mid-javelin launch, and the men’s marathon swim. That was led by Jarrod Poort for 9km of the 10km before a late surge by, well, everyone else left him third from last:
My balls hurt, but my arms hurt more … Not sure what to ice first. Layed [sic] it all out there today, took a massive risk and went for it, but it didn’t pay off. But hey that’s sport. I had fun.
But the big shock was in the women’s basketball, where the previously undefeated Opals, who have taken home a silver or bronze from every Olympics since 1996, were shunted out by not-favourites Serbia 71-73. The men’s team face Lithuania in the quarter-finals at midnight AEST.
Picture of the day
And today’s logistical issue you’d never thought of: how to keep marathon swimmers hydrated (because it’s not osmosis). At four points in the 10km splash, coaches stretch out feeding poles – who says sport is glamorous? – holding bottles of energy drinks. National flags on the sticks ensure competitors don’t grab a rival’s drink. Every day’s a school day in the Olympics briefing.
Diary
All times below are local to Rio: here’s the full timetable tweaked for wherever you are. Or add four hours for UK, add 13 hours for eastern Australia; subtract one hour for east-coast US and four for west coast. Only 16 golds going today.
- First up, it’s round one of the women’s golf from 7.30am.
- Four finals in athletics, with the men’s 3,000m steeplechase at 11.50am, the women’s long jump at 9.15pm, the women’s 200m at 10.30pm (could Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson get the double?), and the women’s 100m hurdles at 10.55pm.
- The morning session gets off to a speedy start with the men’s decathlon 100m heats from 9.30am; Mo Farah is back for the men’s 5000m heats from 10.05am. And the men’s 200m semi-finals start from 10pm, with Britain’s Adam Gemili up against Usain Bolt in the second.
- At 12.30pm it’s Indonesia v Malaysia in the badminton mixed doubles final. Ahead of that, at 11am, Britain’s Rajiv Ouseph takes on Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen in the men’s singles quarter-final.
- A super-late start – only technically day 12 at 11.59pm – for the women’s final in the beach volleyball, where it’s Germany v Brazil. Brazil’s second pair will play the USA for bronze at 10pm.
- Two semi-finals in the men’s football: Brazil v Honduras at 1pm, and Nigeria v Germany at 4pm.
- In the women’s hockey semi-finals, Britain take on New Zealand at 5pm, after the Netherlands face Germany at noon.
- Critical eyes on the boxing and the men’s welterweight final at 4.30pm. It’s Uzbekistan v Kazakhstan in that one.
- Equestrian continues from 10am with the team show jumping finals. Britain, the 2012 champions, won’t be there.
- Sailing sees the women’s 470 final at 1.05pm – in which Britain’s Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark are almost certain to take gold ahead of New Zealand and the US – and the men’s at 2.05pm, in which Croatia and Greece currently lead Australia’s Mathew Belcher and Will Ryan.
- The men’s basketball quarter-finals start from 11am: first up is Australia v Lithuania; the USA play Argentina at 6.45pm.
- The men’s team table tennis final comes at 7.30pm. I wouldn’t bet against China here. Sorry, Japan.
- Day one of taekwondo begins at 9am and concludes with two finals: the women’s -49kg at 10pm and the men’s -58kg hot on its heels at 10.15pm.
- Wrestling dishes out three golds in the women’s freestyle 48kg, 58kg and 69kg.
Underdog of the day
The winner of Brazil’s first Olympic gold in boxing, in day 11’s lightweight final, Robson Conceição has been a national and world champion, so is hardly an unknown. But he has a hell of a backstory. Born in a tough neighbourhood in Salvador, he was taught to scrap by his street-fighter uncle. Too poor as a child to pay for the bus fare to the boxing academy 10km from his home, he’d run there and back. Ahead of his medal-winning bout he said: I’ve been through so many different things in my life to survive … I do what I need to keep going.” And he did.
Tweet of the day
Another instalment in the popular Olympics series: why you should always meet your heroes.
12 yr old @LauraTrott31 wearing Wiggins' 2004 Athens gold. 12 yrs later she has 4 of her own. Incredible. #gold pic.twitter.com/TZjnSYXsIl
— sophieraworth (@sophieraworth) August 16, 2016
If today were a 1980s classic floor-filler
Honestly, I’ve been trying to avoid using this one. But this time it works. I apologise.
If Spandau Ballet aren't the wedding singers at the Trott / Kenny nuptials there is something seriously wrong with the world #Gold
— Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) August 16, 2016
And another thing
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