Today at the Games: Whitlock adds to Worthington’s BMX gold with pommel triumph
Britain also look well placed for eventing medals on Monday.
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Your support makes all the difference.Team GB climbed to 32 medals at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday evening as Max Whitlock struck pommel gold, with Charlotte Worthington having triumphed in the women’s BMX freestyle earlier in the day.
Whitlock proved too good for the competition as he retained the title he won in Rio in 2016, while Worthington’s gold – alongside a bronze for Declan Brooks in the men’s competition – rounded off an incredible BMX competition for Team GB, with Bethany Shriever and Kye Whyte taking women’s and men’s racing gold and silver respectively earlier in the Games.
The final morning of swimming brought a record eighth medal for Britain in the men’s 4×100 metres medley relay.
The quartet of Luke Greenbank, Adam Peaty, James Guy and Duncan Scott claimed silver behind the United States with Scott becoming the first British athlete in any sport to win four medals at one Olympics.
Here, the PA news agency rounds up the best of Sunday’s action.
How the day unfolded
Whitlock was one of Britain’s best medal hopes coming into the Games and he more than lived up to expectation.
Going first in the eight-man final, Whitlock posted a strong score of 15.583. He was then forced to wait as the rest of his rivals tried and failed to match his total, with Chinese Taipei’s Chih Kai Lee coming closest on 15.4.
At the BMX freestyle course on Sunday morning, Worthington was well down the field after falling on her first run but nailed the second, landing the first ever 360 backflip to be performed in a women’s competition to earn a monster score of 97.50, which proved to be untouchable.
It was a ninth gold medal for Britain, and was swiftly followed by a bronze for Brooks, who also improved on his second run. It has been a brilliant Olympics for Britain in the pool, with a final tally of four golds, three silvers and a bronze, surpassing the seven medals won in 1908.
At Sea Forest Park, Britain are in a superb position in equestrian eventing, leading the team competition by a huge margin and with Oliver Townend heading the field in the individual event ahead of the show jumping. In boxing, Ben Whittaker edged into the men’s light-heavyweight final while Pat McCormack will fight for welterweight gold after his scheduled semi-final opponent withdrew through injury. Super-heavyweight Frazer Clarke is guaranteed a bronze after his opponent was disqualified.
Team GB’s Paul Casey and Rory McIlroy of Ireland were involved in a seven-way play-off for bronze in the men’s golf after Xander Schauffele won gold for the United States and Rory Sabbatini took silver for Slovakia. However, Casey’s challenge ended after the first additional hole and McIlroy eventually finished in a tie for fourth, with Chinese Taipei’s CT Pan edging Collin Morikawa of the US to a place on the podium.
At the Olympic Stadium, Zharnel Hughes made it through to the men’s 100m final but was disqualified for a false start as Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs claimed a shock gold. Abigail Irozuru and Jazmin Sawyers both reached the long jump final, while Lizzie Bird became the first British woman to make a steeplechase final. Cindy Sember and her older sister Tiffany Porter missed out on places in the women’s 100m hurdles final, and Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela set a new world record en route to winning gold in the women’s triple jump.
There was disappointment for Britain’s men’s hockey team however, after they were eliminated at the quarter-final stage by India, who beat them 3-1.
Social media moment
- Olympics Live - BBC1 0900, 1245; BBC2 1200.
- Olympics Breakfast - BBC1 0600.
- Athletics - Eurosport 1 1125.
- Badminton - Eurosport 1 0600.
- Cycling - Eurosport 1 0720.
- Diving - Eurosport 2 0745.
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- Gymnastics - Eurosport 2 0900, Eurosport 1 1050.
- Hockey - Eurosport 2 1350.
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- Weighlifting - Eurosport 2 1140.