Day 15 at the Paris Olympics: GB add six more medals as duo make history in pool

Izzy Thorpe and Kate Shortman were among the successful athletes on Saturday.

Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe won silver for Team GB (John Walton/PA) (PA Wire)

Izzy Thorpe and Kate Shortman claimed a historic Olympic silver in artistic swimming as Team GB won six medals on Saturday – although none of them gold.

Caden Cunningham was a runner-up in the men’s +80kg category in taekwondo while there were individual bronzes for Noah Williams in diving and Georgia Bell in the women’s 1500 metres.

Team GB also claimed bronze medals in both men’s and women’s 4x400m relay events.

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

A first in artistic swimming

Thorpe and Shortman won technical silver and free bronze at the World Aquatics Championships earlier this year so they came to Paris ahead of the women’s duet in high spirits.

The events are combined in Paris and after a Big Ben-themed technical left them fourth, Thorpe and Shortman delivered a Rising Phoenix free routine that was adjudged the best of the 17-strong field.

That was enough to lift the childhood friends, whose mothers used to compete alongside one another, into silver in the women’s duet for Team GB’s first Olympic medal in artistic swimming.

Cunningham settles for silver

Cunningham had to settle for Olympic silver after being beaten by Iran’s Arian Salimi in the final of the men’s +80kg category in Paris.

The 21-year-old from Huddersfield won the first round 6-3 but was edged out in the next two as the Iranian pulled away to ensure his nation’s third taekwondo gold.

Cunningham’s medal sealed a gutsy comeback from a serious knee injury in his opening bout at the 2022 World Championships in Mexico, which forced him out of action for a number of months.

Wonderful Williams snatches diving bronze

Williams scraped into the men’s 10m platform final, sealing the 12th and last qualifying place, but looked set to miss out on the podium after dropping to fifth with two dives left.

However, the 24-year-old, who won silver with Tom Daley in the synchronised event earlier in the Games, delivered a brilliant response with excellent scores of 93.60 and 94.35.

Coupled with his rivals slipping up, Williams got himself into the medal positions and said afterwards: “I’m pretty shocked, I did bad earlier. I don’t feel like I didn’t deserve to get into the final.”

Relay OK

While the United States walked away with both gold medals in the 4x400m relays, Team GB can be happy after finishing third in both men’s and women’s events.

Alex Haydock-Wilson led off for GB, and though individual men’s 400m silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith found himself locked into a battle for second, Britain remained third after his second lap.

The USA extended their advantage, and by the time Lewis Davey handed off to Charlie Dobson and he rounded the final bend, there was considerable distance both in front of and behind the British anchor.

The women’s 4x400m quartet of Victoria Ohuruogu, Laviai Nielsen, Nicole Yeargin and Amber Anning quickly followed up by making it a five relay medals from five finals with bronze in the final track event of the Paris Olympics.

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