It was the first Wednesday when GB really came to life last year, doubling their medal tally from 5 to 10. At the moment they are ahead of their medal total at this stage in 2012. No host country has ever gone to beat their medal tally at the next games, can GB become the first?
First thought
So far, it has been a really frustrating start for GB. Whilst they have managed to pick up 6 medals, they have also had 6 fourth places, and 6 fifth place finishes. In London 2012 they had 7 of each in the whole Olympics, but already this year it is looking like they will surpass that by a lot.
Having said that, if you turned all 12 of those close shaves into bronze medals, are place in the table wouldn't move and would likely be unaffected. As much as our overall medal count matters, it is the Golds that will be crucial to where we finish in the table, and we have had very few chances to get any of them since Peaty stunned the world with his ridiculous swims.
There were great scenes as GB celebrated at the end of the remarkable 2012 Olympics
Brits in Action
We'll kick off with those medal contenders and straight to cycling where Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome (below) are in action as they aim to take the men's individual time trial. Froome is the bookies' second favourite to take victory with Dutchman Thomas Dumoulin the favourite. Like Stage 13 of Le Tour where Dumoulin beat Froome, there are uphill elements, so it is unlikely to favour the likes of Tony Martin, Fabian Cancellara or other more pure time trialists. Having said that, after the road race it is likely Froome will be more tired than some other riders, who will have an advantage as a result. Let's hope Froome can come through the fatigue to match, or even improve upon his 2012 bronze.
Froome will be hoping to emulate Sir Bradley Wiggins' 2012 achievement
Before that, Emma Pooley will be in the hunt in the women's race. Having retired in 2014, she changed her mind and is back looking to try and add to her 2008 Beijing. The riders expected to fight for gold include Dutch star Ellen van Dijk and New Zealand's world champion Linda Villumsen as well as veteran Kirstin Armstrong who, coming out of retirement will be looking to win a fourth gol aged 43. Pooley would be a very long shot for gold, but there is a chance she could sneak a medal. Despite a disappointing season, Pooley believes she has a chance on a course that, in her words "plays to my strengths".
Andrew Willis is another swimmer who has a shout, but unfortunately he looks more likely to be a 4th or 5th place finisher. In the other pool world bronze medallists Jack Laugher and Chris Mears (below) are in 3m synchro diving action from 20:00, they will be hoping to match the heroics of Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow, and are in a good position to, 3rd favourites with the bookies.
Can Laugher and Mears add an Olympic medal to their World Championship one?
In Canoeing, no-one could have expected Joe Clarke to be going for a medal on his Olympic debut, but his stunning semi-final saw him burst into the limelight as he qualified second for the final at (17:30) today. Another Olympic debutant is Rebekah Tiler. London Olympian Zoe Smith has a shoulder injury so Tiler, a 17-year-old whose dad was a bodybuilder, is the lone female weightlifter selected for Britain. The European bronze medallist believes a top-eight finish is realistic.
Onto shooting and Commonwealth champion Steve Scott will be in double trap shooting, the Lewisham born shooter will be dreaming of replicating Peter Wilson's achievement of gold in this event in 2012, but in reality the 10th ranked Brit will be happy with a top-eight finish too. In Gymnastics Max Whitlock (below) will be going for a silver in the all-around event. Whilst that may seem pessimistic Japanese gymnast Kohei Uchimura has 10 world titles to his name, including every individual all-around gold medal since 2009. He also managed the 2012 title, and will extend his career to Tokyo 2020, much to the frustration of his rivals.
Whitlock will be hoping to dethrone Uchimura (pictured at the top of the page)
On the tennis court, Jamie Murray and Johanna Konta team up for the first time, up against the US pairing of Jack Sock and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. It's a busy day for Konta, who earlier faces Germany's Australian Open champion and Wimbledon finalist Angelique Kerber on Court 1 from about 16:00 in the women's singles quarter-finals. In the men's draw, Andy Murray takes on Fabio Fognini on centre court for a place in the last 8. The Wimbledon Champion has been beaten by the Italian in GB colours before, in the Davis Cup in 2014, so it will be a tricky match for the Scot.
Finally for the Brits, the sevens group stage reaches its climax as GB take on third seeds NZ. The All Blacks were beaten by Japan yesterday, and defeat against GB would put their quarter final place in jeopardy. In the Hockey both the Men's and Women's teams face tough clashes against third seeds Australia and second seeds Argentina respectively this evening.
Japan could take second in the group if GB beat New Zealand
Other highlights
Nathan Adrian, who won a thrilling gold by just one hundredth of a second against James Magnussen in the 100m freestyle final in 2012, will be looking to defend his title in Rio. Magnussen has not managed to qualify for this year's Olympics after a difficult few years, but his compatriot Cameron McEvoy has the best time this year and is favourite to succeed Adrian as the champion. Adrian is second favourite but McEvoy's new Australian record is more than half a second faster than the American's best time this year. His 2012 heroics are unlikely to be replicated.
Will Adrian be celebrating after these games
A thrilling race is expected in the Women's 200m butterfly, with three women battling it out for gold. Despite never recording any top class results in her career, Madeline Groves is favourite for gold after some impressive form this year, the commonwealth bronze medallist has recorded the best times in the first two rounds, but she will have to look out for Japanese rising star Natsumi Hoshi. Having won Olympic bronze in this event four years ago, the 25-year-old is now the world champion. We cannot underestimate Mieria Belmonte either, the London 2012 silver medalist in this event, having already won the 400m medley bronze and with the second best time in the semis, she will be pushing the inexperienced Groves hard.
Rafael Nadal is not one to turn down a challenge. Today, he is scheduled to play three matches, in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Nadal was a happy man on Tuesday after his 6-3, 6-3 win over Andreas Seppi of Italy in the men's singles second round, at the Olympic Tennis Centre.
Nadal is playing through a nasty wrist injury to represent his country
Tonight China will go for gold in the women's individual table tennis. They have won the last 8 gold medals in the event, all in 2008 and in 2012. Amazingly, China have the top three ranked players in the world and have not selected world number 1 Liu Shiwen, her compatriots Ding Ning and Li Xiaoxia are expected to set up a re-match of their 2012 final.
And Finally...
Tune into mens sabre fencing, starting at 12:45 and discover Daryl Homer,
who grew up in the Bronx and was inspired to start fencing when he saw a
picture of the sport in a dictionary, aged 11. He became the first US male
sabre fencer to win a medal at the world championships, when he claimed silver
at the 2015 edition in Moscow. He's now ranked 10th in the world, and has a chance
to be the first American ever to take Olympic men's sabre gold.
Dan Craven, a Namibian road race cyclist, based his decision to compete in the Men's individual time trial on a twitter poll. The bearded maverick opted to go for it after being persuaded by his followers and will be hoping to finish within 15 minutes of the leaders, without a proper time trial bike in the 55km time trial.
Dan Craven, a Namibian road race cyclist, based his decision to compete in the Men's individual time trial on a twitter poll. The bearded maverick opted to go for it after being persuaded by his followers and will be hoping to finish within 15 minutes of the leaders, without a proper time trial bike in the 55km time trial.
Craven has written his name into the history books, regardless of how he performs today
Comments
Post a Comment