Brazil Olympics 2016

Blackleaf

Blackleaf

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GOLD - Great Britain

Rio Olympics 2016: Max Whitlock wins second historic medal

BBC Sport
14 August 2016


GB's Whitlock makes history with floor gold

Gymnast Max Whitlock won Olympic gold in the men's floor exercise to create British gymnastics history for the second time at Rio 2016.

On Wednesday, the 23-year-old won GB's first all-around gymnastics Olympics medal in 108 years as he took bronze.

Now he has won the nation's first Olympic medal in the men's floor after earning a score of 15.633.

It was GB's 11th gold medal in Brazil, taking the overall tally to 31.

Whitlock finished ahead of Brazilian pair Diego Hypolito (15.533) and Arthur Mariano (15.433), who took silver and bronze respectively.

Fellow Briton Kristian Thomas finished seventh with a mark of 15.058.

Whitlock has now won four Olympic medals, having claimed two bronzes - in the team event and the pommel horse - at London 2012.

He is also the favourite to win gold in the pommel horse final later on Sunday (19:34 BST), but faces competition from 2012 silver medallist team-mate Louis Smith.


Whitlock on his way to winning gold

Whitlock won silver at the 2015 World Championships behind Japan's Kenzo Shirai, who was expected to be the man to beat in Brazil.

The Briton, who was the third gymnast to go in Sunday's final, set the standard with a virtually flawless routine.

Whitlock faced an anxious wait to see if he would end up on the podium with five more men still to go.

But he knew by the time 19-year-old Shirai took to the mat for the penultimate routine that he was assured of a medal.

Shirai, aiming to become the first Japanese man to win the event since 1968, produced an error-strewn performance, scoring 15.366 to go fourth.

It meant only American Samuel Mikulak could deny Whitlock gold and, after a tense few moments, the Briton's success was confirmed.

Analysis

Beth Tweddle, former Commonwealth Games champion and BBC Sport analyst:

"I think it helped him going so far up in the order. He was then able to just sit back and relax.

"He looked more nervous waiting for the result than he did before his routine.

"We were hoping for a sneaky bronze but where he was brilliant others faltered."

Rio Olympics 2016: Max Whitlock wins second historic medal - BBC Sport

Tecumsehsbones said:
The U.S. has now reached 1,000 gold medals in the Modern Olympics.

Michael Phelps, with 13 individual Olympic championships, has beaten the record for individual championships, 12, held by Leonidas of Rhodes, earned in the Olympics of 152 BCE.
Click to expand...

Great Britain are third on total golds since 1896 with 247.
 
Blackleaf

Blackleaf

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Great Britain could well overtake China into second place in the Rio medals table.

Justin Rose and Andy Murray may soon win gold in the men's golf and men's singles tennis respectively and I'm sure either Whitlock or Smith will win gold in the men's pommel horse later tonight.

GOLD - Great Britain


Rio Olympics 2016: Justin Rose beats Henrik Stenson to Olympic gold in tense finale

BBC News
14 August 2016



Great Britain's Justin Rose became golf's first Olympic champion since 1904 by beating Henrik Stenson to gold in a thrilling final round at Rio 2016.

Rose, 36, was level with Stenson on 15 under par after 17 holes but the Swede bogeyed the last while Rose sank a birdie putt to win by two shots.

The 2013 US Open champion closed with a four-under-par 67 to win on 16 under.

Open champion Stenson (68 ) took silver with American Matt Kuchar carding a 63 to take bronze on 13 under.

Rio Olympics 2016: Justin Rose beats Henrik Stenson to Olympic gold in tense finale - BBC Sport
 
Kreskin

Kreskin

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Justin Rose is one of the good guys. Nice to see him win. I wonder if his caddie got a gold medal too.
 
talloola

talloola

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Kreskin said:
De Grasse got bronze in the 100M.
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that was so exciting, and it is neat to see how he and bolt have become good friends.

we will see much more of de grasse, just like bolt said, he will learn to get a faster start

which will help him.

I was glad to see bolt win, this I'm certain will be his last Olympics, he is a massive man,

with a great record, he will be remembered for a long time. I hope he goes on to win twice

more and complete his goal for this Olympics.
 
Kreskin

Kreskin

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De Grasse does seem to start slow then turn on the jets after about 30m.
 
talloola

talloola

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Kreskin said:
De Grasse does seem to start slow then turn on the jets after about 30m.
Click to expand...

yeah, he does do that, and so does bolt, but like bolt said, because de grasse is small he can learn to

start faster.

I can certainly see why bolt has slow starts, just look at all the arm and leg length, and body length,

takes a lot of work to drag all of that off the blocks 'fast', but de grasse can learn to do that easy.
 
Blackleaf

Blackleaf

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Great Britain had its most successful day ever at a foreign Olympics yesterday by winning five golds and three silvers.

Two of those golds went to gymnast Max Whitlock, who won on the floor exercise and then, hours later, won on the pommel horse. His British team-mate Louis Smith took silver on the pommel horse.

Justin Rose won golf's first gold medal at the Olympics since 1904 in St Louis and my fellow Boltonian Jason Kenny won his fifth Olympic gold medal in the men's sprint in the Velodrome to put him joint third with Sir Steve Redgrave in the list of all-time British Olympic gold medallists. Kenny's compatriot Callum Skinner took the silver in the men's sprint.

Andy Murray became the first tennis player ever to win two Olympic singles titles by beating Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in the men's singles final.

In the men's windsurfing, Great Britain's Nick Dempsey took the silver.

The medals rush put Great Britain second in the medals table, overtaking China.

Rio Olympics 2016: Max Whitlock wins second gold ahead of Louis Smith

BBC Sport
14 August 2016


GB's Whitlock secures men's pommel gold

Gymnast Max Whitlock won his second Olympic gold medal of the day by pipping British team-mate Louis Smith in the men's pommel horse.

Whitlock, 23, had earlier gained Britain's first-ever Olympic gymnastics gold with victory in the men's floor.

Smith, 27, had to settle for silver in the pommel - as he did at London 2012.

Whitlock's double success in the Olympic Arena helped Britain move up to 13 gold medals in Rio, taking their overall tally to 35.

"I've completely outdone myself," Whitlock told BBC Sport.

The penultimate man to go in the final, Whitlock scored 15.966 to push Smith, on 15.833, down to second place.

Alexander Naddour of the United States took bronze with 15.700.

I knew I had to refocus - Whitlock



British medal rush

18:30 (BST): Max Whitlock, gymnastics floor exercise - Gold
19:02: Nick Dempsey, windsurfing - Silver
19:46: Justin Rose, golf - Gold
20:13: Max Whitlock, pommel horse - Gold
20:13: Louis Smith, pommel horse - Silver
21:52: Jason Kenny, cycling sprint - Gold
21:52: Callum Skinner, cycling sprint - Silver
01:04: Andy Murray, tennis singles - Gold

Whitlock now has five Olympic medals, earning bronze in the all-around last week to add to bronzes in the team event and pommel horse at London 2012.

His victory on the pommel came less than two hours after winning the floor.

"I knew I had to refocus as I had another job to do," he said.

Smith won his third individual medal in three successive Games, after winning bronze at Beijing 2008 and silver - ahead of Whitlock - four years later.

He narrowly missed out on gold in London and this latest near-miss means he is still searching for an Olympic title.

Smith was left in tears as he received his medal on the podium, before embracing his team-mate warmly as he stepped up.

"Max has been an absolute star in this competition," Smith told BBC Sport.

"He's been incredible. It's hard to keep composure when a team-mate has just won a medal. I just tried to keep focus."

Smith briefly retired following the 2012 Olympics before returning to the sport in January 2014.

Whitlock prospered in his absence, becoming Britain's first male world champion with a narrow win over his compatriot last year.

In the pommel, Smith went fifth of the eight finalists and set the score to beat with a wonderfully executed routine.

He was guaranteed a medal when Armenia's Harutyun Merdinyan could not match his score but had to settle for silver when Whitlock overtook him.

Medals table (Top 3)

....................................G.....S.....B.....Total
1. United States.....26....21...22......69
2. Great Britain.......15.....16....7......38
3. China....................15.....13...17.....45


Rio Olympics 2016: Max Whitlock wins second gold ahead of Louis Smith - BBC Sport


Rio Olympics 2016: Jason Kenny beats Callum Skinner to win back-to-back golds

BBC Sport
15 August 2016


It was an all-British men's sprint final between Kenny (in the white helmet) and Skinner

Great Britain's Jason Kenny won his fifth Olympic gold medal by beating compatriot Callum Skinner in the men's sprint final at Rio 2016.

Kenny, champion at London 2012, came out on top in the first two races to win the best-of-three final.

Russian Denis Dmitriev beat Australia's Matthew Glaetzer to take bronze.

"It is special, really special," said Kenny, who has now won as many Olympic golds as rower Sir Steve Redgrave and fellow cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins.

Only Sir Chris Hoy, also a cyclist, has won more but Kenny, 28, can equal his mark when he races in the keirin on Tuesday.

"I'm really grateful," he told BBC Sport. "When we win, it feels like the team is winning and we have everyone behind us, pushing us."



"A Great Britain one-two is amazing," said BBC pundit Hoy. "Jason had so much in the tank. He had phenomenal power."

Victory takes Kenny's gold tally in Rio to two after he and Scottish rider Skinner were part of the British team that won the men's team sprint on Thursday.

As well as winning the individual sprint title in 2012, Kenny also claimed a team sprint gold in London.

He also won the team sprint at the 2008 Games, with his solitary silver coming in the individual sprint in Beijing, when he was beaten in the final by Hoy.

The Bolton cyclist's success also continued Britain's track cycling dominance in Rio. They have won four of the six events entered.

Rio Olympics 2016: Jason Kenny beats Callum Skinner to win back-to-back golds - BBC Sport

Rio Olympics 2016: Andy Murray wins tennis gold for Great Britain

BBC Sport
15 August 2016



Tennis

Men's singles final

Murray beat del Potro 7-5 4-6 6-2 7-5

Britain's Andy Murray became the first tennis player to win two Olympic singles titles by beating Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in Rio.

An emotional Murray, 29, secured a thrilling 7-5 4-6 6-2 7-5 victory to make it GB's most successful day at an overseas Games with five gold medals.

The see-saw match featured 14 breaks of serve in front of a raucous crowd.

Murray's win comes five weeks after he claimed his second Wimbledon title and four years after London 2012 success.

Both men looked exhausted in the fourth set of a gruelling four-hour contest, with Murray breaking down in tears after finishing off his gritty opponent.

The crowd on Centre Court were boisterous throughout, with plenty of Argentine support for 27-year-old Del Potro, although emotions did spill over near the climax when two fans were ejected.

Murray said the final was one of the toughest he had played in and cast doubt on the chances of winning a third gold in Tokyo in 2020.

"Four years is a long time and so many things can change," he said. "Who knows about Tokyo? At 33, I'm not sure I'll be at the same level."

Del Potro's silver medal signifies his continued return to form, with his past three seasons disrupted by a wrist injury.

"Mentally I can only imagine how frustrating that must have been to keep going through the same problem and having to try and come back," said Murray.



"He deserves a lot of credit and he should be very proud."

Del Potro beat world number one Novak Djokovic in the first round despite being stuck in a lift for 40 minutes before the match.

The 2009 US Open champion and London 2012 bronze medallist then defeated 2008 champion Rafael Nadal in an epic three-hour semi-final a day before facing Murray.

"I left the last of my toenails on the court," said Del Potro. "I was tremendously tired. It was the crowd that made me keep running."

He added: "When I look at my medal I'm so happy for that, but I've just lost a great final against Andy and I was close to the gold medal.

"He played better in the important moments and is a great champion."

In Murray, Del Potro came up against a player on a career-defining run in the final.

After inspiring Britain to a first Davis Cup win in 79 years in November, Murray was voted the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year, before reaching the Australian and French Open finals and winning Wimbledon for the second time.

He also became a father earlier this year and led GB out at the opening ceremony of Rio 2016 as his country's flag bearer.

On the court, he has lost just one of his past 30 matches, a run stretching back six months, and has been world number two since November, barring a one-week drop to third in May.


Rio Olympics 2016: Andy Murray wins tennis gold for Great Britain - BBC Sport
 
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Blackleaf

Blackleaf

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Tecumsehsbones said:
One thousand golds is your target.

Of course, by the time you get there, the target will be three thousand golds.
Click to expand...

We hit the 250 gold medals mark yesterday, which means we have a quarter of the golds America has despite despite having just a fifth of America's population.
 
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