Another golden day for Team GB at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games saw success come in sports as varied as rowing, trampolining, dressage and cycling. The medal rush is showing no signs of slowing down and there are plenty of names to look out for in today’s action from Brazil.
Rowing, men’s eight final (3:27pm)
Both Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge were part of Team GB’s coxless four-winning
crew at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 and now go after gold number three in the men’s eight on Saturday.
With Reed and Triggs Hodge joined by Matthew Langridge, Matt Gotrel, Will Satch, Tom Ransley, Scott Durant, Paul Bennett and cox Phelan Hill, the eight posted the fastest time of 5:34.23 minutes in the heats as they look for a first gold medal in the event since Sydney 2000.
The women’s eight also go for gold in their final, 20 minutes before the men at Lagoa Stadium.
Athletics, men’s 10,000m final (1:27am)
Only one man in history has successfully defended an Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m track double and Mo Farah’s attempt to join Lasse Viren in that exclusive club begins today.
There are no heats and no second chances in the 10,000m with every runner going straight into the unforgiving final.
It was 2011 when Farah was last denied gold in any Olympic or World Championship race but there are slew of rivals – headlined by the Kenyan and Ethiopian squads – desperate to finally end the almost unprecedented dominance displayed by the Brit over the past five years.
Heptathlon (long jump 3:45pm; javelin 12:00am; 800m 02:50am)
Strong performances on day one have both Jessica Ennis-Hill and Katarina Johnson-
Thompson well in contention in the heptathlon, in first and third respectively.
Reigning Olympic Champion Ennis-Hill hasn’t missed a beat since returning to elite competition following the birth of her first son Reggie last year, while young pretender Johnson-Thompson set a British record and World heptathlon best by clearing 1.98m in the high jump yesterday.
The long jump, javelin and 800m lie in wait for the hyphenated duo today as Team GB look to earn a spot on the podium for the fifth time in the last six Olympic Games.
Boxing, super heavyweight, preliminaries (11:00pm)
At 6ft 6in tall and weighing 17 stone, Joe Joyce is a hard man to miss but he rarely seems to miss his opponents in the boxing ring once that piston-like jab and clubbing right hand get going.
The super heavyweight gets his maiden Olympic campaign underway against Davilson dos Santos Morais of Cape Verde on Saturday evening as he looks to follow in the footsteps of London 2012 gold medallist Anthony Joshua.
The reigning Commonwealth and European Games champion, Joyce also has a fine arts degree from Middlesex University but the 30-year-old will look to prove he is a master of the sweet science as he begins his quest for gold.
Cycling, women’s team pursuit (first round 3:34pm)
Laura Trott lit up the London 2012 Olympic Games with two gold medals and could add a third to her tally in the velodrome on day eight.
Part of the women’s team pursuit squad alongside Ciara Horne, Elinor Barker, Katie Archibald and Joanna Rowsell-Shand, she goes in round one on Saturday afternoon against Australia with the gold medal race scheduled for 9:14pm.
The team produced a world record time of 4:13.26 minutes in qualification on Thursday so are deservedly favourites but the USA will inevitably give the Team GB pursuiters a run for their money. Can they follow the world record breaking men's pursuit team, following their gold on Friday?
Sportsbeat 2016