The British team has had a successful Olympics in Tokyo, with the youngest medallist for GB, Sky Brown. Plus boxing and sailing have also achieved success.
The when will the olympics be is a question that has been asked for years. This year, it was finally answered with success in sailing and boxing.
| Dates: July 23rd to August 8th, Tokyo time: BST +8 |
| Watch on TV, iPlayer, Red Button, and online; listen on Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra, and Sounds; and read live text and video snippets on the Sport website and app. |
Sky Brown, 13, won a historic bronze medal in skateboarding to become Great Britain’s youngest Olympic medalist, while Team GB also won gold in sailing and boxing on Wednesday.
After winning gold in Rio five years ago and silver in London 2012, Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre won gold in the 470 class, becoming Mills the most successful female Olympic sailor of all time.
After Frazer Clarke won bronze in the men’s super-heavyweight category, Ben Whittaker continued Team GB’s successful boxing campaign with a silver medal in the men’s light-heavyweight division.
With six medals on the line in Tokyo, Britain will have its most successful Olympics in the boxing arena since 1920, when only 12 countries competed.
The British medal total currently stands at 47, with 14 of them being gold, propelling the country to fifth place in the medal standings.
On day 12, the first came from Brown, who was born a month before the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and crashed on her first two runs in the women’s park skateboarding final before finishing third with a score of 56.47.
The swimmer, who was 15 years and 113 days old when she won silver and bronze at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, has been replaced as Britain’s youngest summer Games medal winner.
Brown also surpasses Margery Hinton’s 93-year-old record as the country’s youngest athlete and wins Team GB’s first skateboarding medal at the age of 13 years and 28 days.
Meanwhile, Jason Kenny began his defense of his Olympic sprint championship with three wins in the preliminary rounds, while teammate Jack Carlin advanced as well, while Katy Marchant advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s keirin.
Katarina Johnson-Thompson, the world champion, had a shaky start to her heptathlon campaign, finishing sixth after three events. On Wednesday, the British athlete will compete in the 200m.
Laura Muir qualified for the 1500m final with a time of 4:00.73, placing her second in her semi-final.
In Tokyo, Brown makes history.
Brown broke the record for Team GB’s youngest Olympic medalist by more than two years, and she also became the country’s youngest participant at a summer Games.
Hinton swam in the Amsterdam Games in 1928 when she was 13 years and 44 days old, and her record lasted for nearly a century.
That is, until Wednesday, when Brown, who is 16 days younger, started her women’s park skateboarding campaign at Ariake Urban Sports Park.
Brown would have reduced the summer record even more if the Games hadn’t been postponed by a year, but figure skater Cecilia Colledge maintains the overall honor for Britain, having competed in the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid at the age of 11.
Brown advanced to the final, but she fell on her first two attempts, setting up a suspenseful last try.
But the Japan-born youngster, who had a serious accident in training last year that caused her to fracture her skull, shatter her left arm and wrist, and suffer lacerations to her heart and lungs, finished third with a score of 56.47.
“This is fantastic. “I’m really glad to be here, I’m fortunate,” Brown remarked, adding that she will now “hang out with pals and party.” “..
“I was certainly banged, and I fell twice, which made the last lap even more enjoyable. It was crazy, it was a super-sick final, and all the ladies were ripping it.”
Sakura Yosozumi, 19, of Japan, won gold with a score of 60.09, while 12-year-old Kokona Hiraki of Japan took silver with a score of 59.04.
Mills adds to his tally of medals
Britain’s Olympic triumph continued on the water, with Mills and McIntyre’s victory bringing the country’s total of sailing medals to five, three of which are gold.
The British duo placed sixth in the 470 medal race, but their previous achievements were enough to beat off silver medalists Poland and bronze medalists France.
After bronze medalists France filed a complaint, their celebrations were temporarily halted.
Mills, 33, who was one of Team GB’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony, did not have to wait long for confirmation of her third Olympic gold.
“It’s just insane,” Mills remarked. “Like many Olympians, I dreamt of one day being here and standing on the top of the podium.”
“I’ve had two great crews to sail with, Saskia [Clark] previously and Eilidh this time, and I feel very fortunate.”
Meanwhile, McIntyre is following in the footsteps of her father, Mike, who won gold in the star class at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Earlier, Chris Grube and Luke Patience of the United Kingdom placed sixth overall in the men’s 470.
Team GB’s boxing glory continues.
Before Tokyo 2024, Whittaker stated his goals were to win the Olympics and become the mayor of Wolverhampton.
His ceremonial ambitions are unknown, but the 24-year-old will return home with Olympic trophy after losing to Cuba’s Arlen Lopez in the final.
Whittaker lost a split decision in the light-heavyweight final against Lopez, who added the championship to the middleweight gold he earned in Rio 2016.
“You don’t win silver, you lose gold,” remarked Whittaker, who was visibly moved. “I’m very disappointed in myself; I didn’t do well.” Of course, he’s a world-class athlete who has already won two Olympic gold medals, but I’m disappointed. I’m starting to feel like a failure.
“Bless him, Wolverhampton’s mayor made a short video for me wishing me luck, and he said if I win the gold, I get the chain – I didn’t get the gold, so he can have it for a while.”
Whittaker’s silver came after Clarke’s bronze in the super-heavyweight division.
After a cut above his eye reopened in the previous round, the 29-year-old was forced to withdraw from his semi-final against Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jaloolov.
“It’s not the fairytale I had hoped for, but I’m proud of myself,” Clarke said in an interview with Sport. “I’m disappointed I didn’t do a little bit more, but I’m a bronze medalist in the Olympics.”
“I’m in good health and have attended the Olympic Games. I’m not sure what more I could ask for.”
Galal Yafai will compete in the flyweight semi-finals on Thursday, followed by Lauren Price’s middleweight semi-final fight on Friday, ensuring Britain two more medals.
On day 12, anything else happened?
The GB women’s hockey team’s championship defense came to an end in scorching temperatures at Oi Hockey Stadium, where they fell 5-1 to the Netherlands in the semi-final.
They will compete for bronze against the losers of the Argentina vs. India match.
Andrew Pozzi qualified for the men’s 110m hurdles final on Thursday, thanks to a fourth-place performance in the semi-finals.
Alice Dearing, 24, made history by being the first black British swimmer to compete in an Olympic event, placing 19th in the women’s 10km marathon.
Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson qualified in seventh and tenth place, respectively, for the women’s 10m platform semi-finals.
Sydney McLaughlin of the United States held off opponent Dalilah Muhammad to win gold in the women’s 400m hurdles, breaking her own world record in the process.
What’s on the horizon?
- Climbing: Shauna Coxsey is competing in the women’s combined event right now.
- Ben Maher, Harry Charles, and Scott Brash are competing in the individual event of showjumping (from 11:00 BST)
