Great Britain enjoyed double relay gold on day eight of the Tokyo Olympics but there was disappointment for sprinter Dina Asher-Smith as she missed out on a place in the women’s 100 metres final and withdrew from the 200m.
Team GB’s medal tally stood at 28 by the end of Saturday’s action. The day got off to a golden start as the mixed triathlon team triumphed to give Jonny Brownlee a first-ever Olympic winner’s medal.
There was further morning success over in the pool, as the 4x100m mixed medley relay team of Anna Hopkin, Kathleen Dawson, James Guy and Adam Peaty were victorious ahead of China and Australia. Emma Wilson and Karriss Artingstall added bronze medals in the women’s windsurfer RS:X and women’s featherweight boxing competition respectively.
But the women’s rugby sevens team could not add to the medal haul as they lost their bronze medal match against Fiji on Saturday evening, while Asher-Smith suffered heartbreak of her own.
Here the PA news agency wraps up the best of day eight’s action.
What happened today
Completed it. That was Brownlee’s verdict on the Olympics as he completed his set of medals, adding gold to the bronze he took in London and his silver from Rio. After a fine first leg from Jess Learmonth, Brownlee powered Britain into a lead before Georgia Taylor-Brown and Alex Yee finished the job.
There was then further mixed relay success in the pool as Peaty and co helped Britain to a fourth swimming gold of these Games, and seventh medal overall, to match the previous Olympic record achieved in London in 1908. In the pool, the British quartet finished the relay in a time of three minutes 37.58 seconds, taking 0.83 seconds off the mark China set last year.
At Enoshima, Wilson started the double-point medal race in second place but was overtaken by Charline Picon of France, who won the race to nudge into second position overall, with China’s Lu Yunxiu taking gold. BMX freestyle made its Olympic debut, though there was nothing more than running order riding on Saturday’s session, in which Britain’s Charlotte Worthington posted the fourth highest score in the women’s event and Declan Brooks was seventh in the men’s.
Defeat for Artingstall against Japan’s Sena Irie meant she took a bronze in the women’s featherweight division, but the women’s rugby sevens squad will return empty-handed from the Games after a 21-12 loss to Fiji meant they missed out on a bronze.
Jemma Reekie, Alex Bell and Keely Hodgkinson reached the women’s 800m final, while Chijindu Ujah, Reece Prescod and Zharnel Hughes made the men’s 100m semi-finals.
Asher-Smith suffers hamstring heartbreak
Asher-Smith revealed she had come close to pulling out of the Games due to a hamstring tear weeks ago, even getting a statement prepared to announce her withdrawal. But she made it to the start line in the Japanese capital but looked some way short of her best, and failed to make the 100m as a fastest loser.
She broke down in media interviews as she conceded she would have to pull out of the 200m, the event in which she is the reigning world champion after her success in Doha in 2019. Another big name struggling with injury was Novak Djokovic, who lost his men’s singles tennis bronze medal match to Pablo Carreno Busta and then had to pull out of the mixed doubles bronze medal match because of a left shoulder injury.
While Asher-Smith missed out on the 100m final, Daryll Neita ensured Team GB were represented in the race, but she finished last in 11.12 seconds as Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah retained her title. Britain were sixth of the eight finishers in the inaugural 4x400m mixed relay race, with Poland taking the crown.
Social media moment
Haha true story! https://t.co/0akvvFbNSK
— Jonathan Brownlee (@jonny_brownlee) July 31, 2021
Doping positive
The AIU has provisionally suspended Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria, with immediate effect after an out-of-competition sample collected from the sprinter tested positive for human Growth Hormone, a prohibited substance on the 2021 WADA Prohibited List.⬇️https://t.co/qjMyEDfwTY pic.twitter.com/c4opDQdccv
— Athletics Integrity Unit (@aiu_athletics) July 30, 2021
Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare is out of the Games after testing positive for human growth hormone. Okagbare, an Olympic medallist in the long jump, was due to be in the same 100m semi-final as Asher-Smith, but on Saturday morning the Athletics Integrity Unit announced a provisional ban for the 32-year-old following an out-of-competition test on July 19.
