Olympics day 13: Kitesurfing gold but diving and taekwondo disappointment

Ellie Aldridge claimed Team GB’s first gold since Monday.

Ellie Aldridge is an Olympic champion (Patrick Aventurier/PA) (PA Wire)

Ellie Aldridge almost single-handedly salvaged a disappointing regatta for Great Britain as she became the first Olympic gold medallist in kitesurfing.

Aldridge claimed Team GB’s first gold since Monday with a virtuoso performance in Marseille while Emma Finucane took bronze in the women’s keirin.

Britain now sit on 51 medals – within the minimum threshold of the 50-70 target range set by UK Sport – although just 13 golds leaves them in danger of their worst number of first-place finishes in 20 years.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look back at Thursday’s action.

Awesome Aldridge flying high

Aldridge, a 27-year-old from Dorset, reigned supreme in a discipline where competitors fly above the water at up to 40 knots powered by huge kites.

She went into the final sitting second, knowing she could not afford any slip-ups against French rival Lauriane Nolot with two race wins needed, and she did not put a foot wrong.

The success salvages what had been a hugely disappointing regatta for Britain in one of its traditionally strongest medal sports, with Emma Wilson’s bronze in windsurfing the only previous medal.

Finucane edges out Team GB team-mate

Having been part of the women’s sprint team that claimed gold earlier this week, Finucane added keirin bronze for Team GB in the velodrome.

Finucane, 21, narrowly beat team-mate Katy Marchant to the last step on the podium after both British riders made it into the final.

It was Britain’s fifth medal of the week on the track, although perhaps not the colour Finucane had been hoping for given the hype that has been built up around her in the lead-up to these Games.

No laughing matter for Jack

A bronze medallist alongside Anthony Harding in the men’s synchronised 3m springboard, Jack Laugher was unable to follow it up in the individual event after making a hash of one dive in the final.

The four-time Olympic medallist over-rotated on an inward three-and-a-half somersault in the third of six dives and his hopes of a top-three finish disappeared with it.

“It was the nail in the coffin moment at that point really,” Laugher lamented.

Disappointment for Jones and Sinden

Jade Jones’ dream of a third Olympic gold medal was shattered in the elegant surroundings of the Grand Palais as she lost her opening taekwondo bout to North Macedonia’s Miljana Reljikj.

Jones, whose build-up had been dogged by the fallout from a missed drugs test, lost the last two rounds and saw her slim hopes of reaching the repechage swiftly dashed.

Gold medal hope Bradly Sinden also suffered a painful exit as he was forced to pull out prior to his bronze medal match due to an injury to his left knee.

KJT in pole position

Katarina Johnson-Thompson, a two-time world champion, has never won an Olympic medal but may be about to end the drought in the best way possible.

The Liverpudlian got off to an excellent start on Thursday morning and sat top of the pack after the morning session’s 100 metres hurdles and the high jump ahead of main rival Nafissatou Thiam.

The Belgian and Briton briefly swapped places following the evening’s shot put session, but Johnson-Thompson regained her advantage after clocking 23.44 seconds in the 200 metres.

She enters day two with a combined 4055 points, 48 more than Thiam and 99 ahead of the United States’ Anna Hall, with the long jump, javelin and 800 metres still to come.

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