Colin Oates kickstarted the European Judo Championships with a silver medal while British Lionhearts moved a step closer to the World Series of Boxing (WSB) semi-finals after beating Ukraine Otamans 4-1 in quarter-final first leg. Catch up on all the latest news here.
Colin Oates ensured Great Britain made a strong start to the European Judo Championships after he picked up a silver in Kazan.
Fighting in the -66kg category, the London 2012 Olympian racked up one of the biggest results of his career to date as he secured his second European Championship medal after a bronze in 2011.
The 32-year-old made his way past some tough opposition, including Italy’s Fabio Bastile in the quarter-final before a match-winning throw against Adrian Gomboc in the golden score period earned Oates a spot in the final.
Georgia’s Vazha Margvelashvili has already won three Grand Prix medals in 2016 alone and dispatched Oates with an ippon for gold although the Brit was in reflective mood afterwards.
“It was a really good day today,” he said. “Amazing that I can still feel gutted though because I felt I had the chance to become European champion and missed it.
“That being said it’s great reinforcement ahead of the Games and to take another European medal is a great achievement.”
The British Lionhearts are in pole position to reach the World Series of Boxing (WSB) semi-finals after winning their quarter-final first leg against Ukraine Otamans.
Fighting at York Hall, the Lionhearts boxers put on an impressive show to triumph 4-1.
And although Valerii Kharlavov pulled one back with a split-decision victory over one of the Lionhearts’ overseas boxers, Denis Radovan of Germany, a hard-fought win by Croatia’s Bepo Filipi restored the British outfit’s three bout lead.
It means the Lionhearts need to win just two more bouts in Friday night’s second-leg to take the match – with GB Boxing squad’s Luke McCormack, Ekow Essuman and Frazer Clarke all set to feature.
James Guy believes last year’s successful World Championships could be just the start for British swimming as he looks towards his Olympic debut in Rio.
Guy announced himself on the world stage in Kazan last summer, claiming 400m freestyle silver and 200m freestyle gold, becoming the first British man to win a world freestyle title. And, alongside fellow world champion Adam Peaty, he heads up a 26-strong Team GB swimming squad, which also includes Commonwealth and European champion Jazz Carlin and experienced world medallists and London 2012 campaigners Fran Halsall and Hannah Miley.
“We’ve got more medal contenders than we had in London,” said Guy. "Everyone is swimming faster, last year was the best World Championships we have ever had and I think there is rightly more expectation than there was four years ago.” Read more here. Find out more about the whole squad here
Scott Overall is running for redemption at this weekend’s Virgin Money London Marathon.
After already securing the Olympic qualifying time at last year’s Berlin Marathon, Overall needs to be in the top two British finishers to fulfil the selection criteria for Rio.
And he admits he’s driven on by the memories of his disappointing showing on his Olympic debut in London, when he finished 61st in a time that was nearly 12 minutes slower than his 2:10.55 personal best.
“This is what I’ve been thinking about for the last four years,” said Overall. “I want to make Rio and produce a championship performance that’s worthy of my talent.” Read more here.
Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones is ready and raring to get back to the business of securing her place on the plane to Rio after recovering from a knee injury.
Jones, winner of -57kg gold at London 2012, missed March's Dutch Open and the recent Presidents Cup in Germany due to the problem.
But after resting up, the 23-year-old is set to return to action at Sunday's German Open before the European Taekwondo Championships take place in Switzerland next month.
Jones helped secure Team GB a quota place at this summer's Olympic Games although she still needs to have her place confirmed on the team, with the forthcoming competitions a chance to show what she can do.
"I can't wait to get stuck in the competition," Jones told BBC Wales Sport.
"In the whole scheme of injuries it is not that big a deal, it is only a little niggle, but it was my first ever injury and the fact that if I carried on training I could have made it worse.
"It was not worth risking for the Olympics so it was better to get it strong and get it back to normal, for the sake of missing a couple of competition.”
It will be a case of returning to a happy hunting ground for Vicky Holland this week as she takes to the start line of the World Triathlon Series in Cape Town.
The double Commonwealth medallist secured her first ever ITU World Triathlon Series victory in South Africa following a tight finish a year ago.
And she will aim to do so again as she steps up her Olympic preparations in the women’s race.
Holland said: “This was the race that gave me the confidence to believe I could aim for the top of the podium, it was quite a break through last year, so it’s great to be back.
“This year it’s a sprint rather than Olympic distance, and my first race of the season, so it’s quite different, but I’m looking forward to getting out there."
Fellow Brits Jodie Stimpson and Non Stanford are also in action while in the men’s competition, Great Britain will be represented by Adam Bowden and Jonathan Brownlee.
Kindled by the rays of the sun and continuing a sacred tradition from the eighth century BC, the Olympic torch started its long journey to the Rio de Janeiro in ancient Olympia.
A high priestess, played by actress Katerina Lehou, performed the simple ceremony under cloudless skies and symphony of bird song in front of the Temple of Hera. Read more here.
Sportsbeat 2016