Olympics daily: Sir Chris Hoy wins fifth gold as Jessica Ennis begins heptathlon medal bid

Published on 03/08/2012 09:39

An emotional Sir Chris Hoy becomes Britain’s most successful Olympian after winning his fifth gold medal in the team sprint, while Jessica Ennis goes for glory in the heptathlon and Rebecca Adlington aims to defend her Beijing gold.

STORIES OF THE DAY

• Sir Chris Hoy was crowned Britain’s most successful ever Olympian last night when he anchored the team sprint cyclists to victory in world-record time – the fifth gold medal of his career.

• Edinburgh boxer Josh Taylor was inconsolable after losing his last-16 fight to Domenico Valentino of Italy last night, but insisted he would carry on in amateur boxing in pursuit of a major title.

• Aberdeen’s Tim Baillie became an ­Olympic gold medallist alongside Etienne Stott as Great Britain claimed gold and silver in the two-man canoe ­slalom in front of a jubilant home crowd.

• The coaches of the four women’s badminton pairs who were disqualified from the Olympics after deliberately trying to lose matches are being investigated, the IOC have announced.

• British sharp-shooter and former farm hand Peter Wilson overcame blustery conditions to win the men’s double trap Olympic title yesterday, sparking wild celebrations amongst the home crowd.

• Andy Murray stepped up his medal hunt in the mixed doubles, partnering Laura Robson to beat Radek Stepanek and Lucie 
Hradecka 7-5, 6-7, 10-7.

• Ben Ainslie boosted his chances of a gold medal yesterday – but came off the water raging at his main rival, Finn leader Jonas Hogh-Christensen.

MEDAL WATCH

1 China: Gold 18 / Silver 11 / Bronze 5 / Total 34

2 United States: Gold 18 / Silver 9 / Bronze 10 / Total 37

3 South Korea: Gold 7 / Silver 2 / Bronze 5 / Total 14

5 Team GB: Gold 5 / Silver 6 / Bronze 4 / Total 15

MUST-SEE EVENTS

HEPTATHLON: JESSICA ENNIS

10:05, OLYMPIC PARK

IT HAS been a long wait for British heptathlete Jessica Ennis. The 26-year-old from Sheffield has won a host of medals in her career to date, but the one that really mattered – the Olympic Games in 2008 in Beijing – was a source of great frustration for the athlete as she was forced to miss the whole event due to three stress fractures in her right foot. Fast forward four years and the track star, who is British national record holder for both the heptathlon and the indoor pentathlon, will be gunning for gold when she takes part in key heptathlon events today, including the 100m hurdles and the high jump. A win at her home Games would provide the perfect complement to the MBE she was awarded in 2011.

ROWING: GRAINGER & WATKINS

10:30, ETON DORNEY

GREAT Britain’s Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins (pictured) broke the Olympic record as they sealed their place in today’s women’s double sculls final at Eton Dorney. Three-time Olympic silver medallist Grainger and Watkins, who are unbeaten since they teamed up in 2010, won their heat easily and smashed the Olympic record by nearly five seconds in a time of six minutes and 44.33 seconds. Grainger, from Glasgow, who represents Edinburgh’s St Andrew Boat Club in rowing events, won silver at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 in the woman’s quadruple sculls. In Athens in 2004 she won silver in the coxless pairs. In Beijing 2008 she won her third silver. She and her partner will be hoping to go one better today.

TENNIS: ANDY MURRAY

11:30, WIMBLEDON

ANDY Murray is within touching distance of an Olympic singles medal after beating Spain’s Nicolas Almagro to make the semi-finals at Wimbledon. The Scot broke serve in game five of the first set yesterday and never looked back, winning 6-4, 6-1 in front of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on Court One. Murray plays Novak Djokovic today after he overcame Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. On current form, the Scot will be confident of competing for the gold. Murray was runner-up at Wimbledon on 8 July and looks determined to secure a place in his second final of the summer at the All England Club. He dispatched Almagro in just 59 minutes and made it clear how much this event means to him with an excited celebration.

SAILING: BEN AINSLIE

12:00, WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND

HE’S an angry man. Ben Ainslie, who is on a quest to capture a fourth gold medal, has spoken out against his Finn rivals following his return to form yesterday, in which he posted a first and a third place finish to put himself back in contention behind surprise leader Jonas Hogh-Christensen. The Briton claimed Hogh-Christensen and Dutchman Pieter-Jan Postma teamed up on him on the water, forcing him to do a penalty turn in race two. “They’ve made a big mistake,” said three-time Olympic champion Ainslie. “They’ve made me angry and you don’t want to make me angry… Those guys better watch out. I can tell you.” This embittered sub-plot is sure to add an element of intrigue as this competition continues.

SWIMMING: REBECCA ADLINGTON

19:45, AQUATICS CENTRE

TONIGHT’S the night for Rebecca Adlington as the double gold medal winner from the 2008 Games takes to the pool to defend her 800m Freestyle title. Adlington qualified fastest for the final, clocking a time of eight minutes and 21.78 seconds, which was 11-hundredths of a second quicker than her biggest rival Lotte Friis of Denmark. Adlington was Britain’s first Olympic swimming champion since 1988 and the first British swimmer to win two Olympic gold medals since 1908. Already at this year’s Games, she won a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle, but will undoubtedly be hoping to take the top prize tonight at the Aquatics Centre given that she holds the world record in the 800m freestyle event – a mark she set in August 2008.

SWIMMING: MICHAEL PHELPS

19:38, AQUATICS CENTRE

FRESH from winning his first individual gold at London 2012 and his 20th Olympic medal overall when he overcame fellow American Ryan Lochte in the men’s 200m individual medley, Michael Phelps will be looking to add to his growing legacy when he takes part in tonight’s 100m butterfly. For a time in last night’s race, it looked like Phelps had a chance of breaking the world record and it’s a performance that bodes well for tonight’s swim – an event where the USA star holds the world record, which he set in 2009. Better still, Phelps cruised through his semi-final last night, beating the man in second place by almost a second to give himself a chance of racking up a remarkable 17th Olympic gold medal.

SCOTS IN ACTION

SAILING: Luke Patience sets sail in the 470 Class just after noon today.

SHOOTING: Jon Hammond will be hoping to be on target in the 50m Prone Rifle Men.

TENNIS: One of the most high-profile Scots of all, Andy Murray, will be keen to keep up his good form of late as he fights for a place in the final.

HANDBALL: Lynn McCafferty, Zoe Van Der Weel and Nina Heglund are all in action as Great Britain take on Angola this morning in a preliminaries match.

JUDO: Also taking centre stage this morning is Chris Sherrington who will be doing battle in the 100kg+ category. Should he progress, the quarter-finals are also due to take place today.

BASKETBALL: Rose Anderson is part of the team taking on France tonight.

FOOTBALL: In the quarter-finals, Ifeoma Dieke and Kim Little are part of the GB outfit taking on Canada tonight.

VOLLEYBALL: Lynne Beattie and Joanne Morgan take to the court in a pool match.

SWIMMING: Michael Jamieson and Craig Benson hope to make a splash in the 4x100m relay.