A momentous weekend for Team GB is tempered by a touch of agony

 

Monday 06 August 2012 11:50 BST
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American Sanya Richards-Ross took gold with Ohuruogu just earning silver ahead of another American DeeDee Trotter on the line
American Sanya Richards-Ross took gold with Ohuruogu just earning silver ahead of another American DeeDee Trotter on the line (Getty Images)

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Britain's reigning 400m Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu took silver in a photo finish at the Olympic Stadium last night.

Ohurougu was not even close to being in contention until she entered the final straight and was seemingly willed forward by the roaring crowd, beating the American Sanya Richards Ross.

And in a truly momentous two days for British sport, the golden GB juggernaut rolled on. From Wyemouth to Wimbledon, there was no shortage of ecstasy, but a bit of agony, too.

Pommel horse gymnast Louis Smith thrilled a sell-out crowd with a breathtaking routine that the judges awarded 16.066, matching the score of Hungary's double world champion Krisztian Berki. But Smith missed out on gold because his execution score of 9.066 was fractionally lower than his rival's. It would have been Britain's first gymnastic gold. Ben Ainslie became the most successful sailor in Olympic history, winning a fourth gold, and on Wimbledon's Centre Court, Andy Murray received the very next big thing to a Grand Slam, an Olympic gold medal after demolishing Roger Federer, the man who had reduced him to tears on the same court four weeks ago.

But crazy scheduling meant he went out to play in the mixed doubles final straight with only a 30-minute break. He and young British talent Laura Robson lost out in a third set tie break to the top seeds, Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

But the joy was tempered in Weymouth by Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson's failure to retain their gold from Beijing in the Star class. Instead the pair won silver after a last-minute burst from the Swedes won the race.

Team GB's Ed Clancy took bronze in the omnium event in the velodrome, which combines six cycling discplines over two days. In boxing, the Hull bantamweight Luke Campbell guaranteed himself at least a bronze medal after defeating Detelin Dalakliev in the quarter-finals. And Victoria Pendleton broke the world record in the Women's Sprint several times in the qualifying rounds. She races for gold today.

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