Max Whitlock could not find himself in better form heading into Rio after smashing his personal best while Liam Phillips and company prepare well for a super Sunday in Manchester. Here's our review of the last 24 hours:
Max Whitlock’s winning all-around score at the British Championships was so good that it would have won him gold at both the last Olympic Games and World Championships.
And the 23-year-old says that stunning personal best set in Liverpool on Saturday – 92.7 – is the result of taking it one step at a time. “I’m really, really happy - preparation went well, the build-up was perfect and that’s my personal best – I’m very happy to do it at the British,” said Whitlock, whose routine included a superb 16.250 score on the pommel. “I felt good throughout the competition, tried not to get ahead of myself just focussing on the next piece, step by step and I’m happy to have done it on all six pieces on the right day.” There was also success for Claudia Fragapane, becoming the British female all-around champion for the first time in her career with another personal best score of 58.1 “To be British champion is unbelievable,” said the 18-year-old. “This gives me a huge amount of confidence and I can’t wait for my next competition now.” Daniel Purvis and Nile Wilson finished second and third respectively in the men’s all-around, while Rebecca Tunney took silver and Ellie Downie bronze in the women’s competition.
Liam Phillips says he blew off the cobwebs in his first race of the year on a Saturday that saw many Great Britain riders excel at the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Manchester.
Kyle Evans finished a promising seventh in the time trial superfinal, with the 22-year-old crossing the line in 29.299 seconds. Elsewhere Tre Whyte, Quillan Isidore, Bethany Shriever and defending World Cup champion Phillips all booked their place in Sunday’s racing after successfully negotiating the qualifying rounds. “It was a great afternoon,” Phillips said, who powered through his heats with a 100 per cent record.
“It’s my first race of the year. It’s nice to get out there and do a couple of starts in amongst people, and ultimately do a couple of races before the more serious end of the racing happens.”
Dan Norton took his try-tally to over for England as his side bounced back from their quarter-final cup loss to Australia at the Hong Kong Sevens. Norton reached the landmark in the 33-0 victory over Kenya in the plate semi-finals, having earlier scored England's only try in the 14-5 defeat against Australia. And at the Atlanta Sevens, England Women beat Canada in the bronze final 26-14 to seal third place. “It’s an awesome finish for us – we had a really good start yesterday and it was important that we backed it up today," said captain Emily Scarratt. "We’re chuffed to have come third.”
Mark Cavendish is aiming to create better memories at the Paris-Roubaix one-day classic as he prepares to take on a supporting role for Dimension Data team-mate Edvald Boasson Hagen.
The 2012 Olympian, who is focusing on Tour de France and Rio 2016 this year, failed to finish at the Paris-Roubaix on his only other appearance in the race in 2011.
"I hope to get a bit deeper into the race than last time and help Edvald later on,” he said. “We're not the big favourites but definitely we can be in the mix at the end."
British riders Luke Rowe, who finished fifth at the Tour of Flanders last week, and Ian Stannard will head up Team Sky’s challenge on the 257.6km route.
Joshua, who clinched gold at the 2012 Olympics, reigned supreme in London again and now has a 16-0 professional record. He is just the third man to win a professional heavyweight title while still a reigning Olympic champion – alongside Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks.
“Every fight gets better and better,” said new IBF heavyweight champion Joshua. “It’s not just about power. It’s about speed and precision.” Sportsbeat 2016