Team GB in Tokyo: A day of remarkable success

Tokyo 2020 06 Aug 21

Team GB soared to seven medals on day 14 of Tokyo 2020 with remarkable golds coming in the modern pentathlon and track cycling. The velodrome also provided a bronze, and the athletics track saw three medals in the space of an hour – all after women’s hockey had got the ball rolling with bronze. 

Here’s what happened on Day 14: 

  • Laura Kenny makes history with Katie Archibald in the Madison 

  • Kate French on target with modern pentathlon gold 

  • 1500m silver sees Muir finally make a major outdoor podium

  • Silver and bronze in the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay caps a successful evening of athletics

  • Bronze keeps women's hockey's medal streak rolling

  • Lauren Price will go for gold in the women’s middleweight after semi-final victory

  • To come on day 15: Potential for another medal in the modern pentathlon

Laura Kenny becomes Great Britain’s most successful female Olympian 

Laura Kenny became Team GB’s first female Olympian to win gold at three separate Games, as she and Katie Archibald showed complete dominance to triumph in the first-ever women’s Olympic Madison.  

Kenny already had back-to-back omnium and team pursuit golds from London and Rio, as well as a team pursuit silver from earlier at Tokyo 2020, in her locker and added Olympic title number five in style at the Izu Velodrome.

The 120-lap women’s Madison made a dramatic debut as the high-paced, chaotic action on the boards featured riders hand-slinging each other forward and crashes aplenty. 

Laura Kenny: The five-time Olympic Champions who still feels the nerves

But Kenny and Archibald – who now has two Olympic golds and one silver herself – kept themselves out of trouble and won a truly remarkable 10 of the 12 sprints that occur at ten-lap intervals, including the final double points dash for the line, and also took a lap on the rest of the field to build an unbeatable total score of 78 points.   

"It's unbelievable. I'm just so glad. I've never wanted to win a race so badly in all my life,” said Kenny.

Shortly after Archibald and Kenny’s triumph, Jack Carlin took bronze in the men’s sprint to secure his second medal of the Games, after silver in the team event. 

 Madison gold with Archibald takes Kenny to Olympic history

French fights back to secure modern pentathlon gold 

Kate French stormed to modern pentathlon gold with a phenomenal all-round performance at the Tokyo Stadium. 

The 30-year-old from Kent started the decisive laser-run in fifth position, 15 seconds back following the swimming, fencing and show jumping disciplines. 

But a brilliant first pistol shoot helped her close the gap and by the end of the first of four 800m laps, she was in the lead. 

French didn’t let up from there, steadily building a lead over her rivals and nailing each of the other three pistol shoot rounds before sprinting home to win by 16 seconds for Team GB’s 18th Tokyo gold.

She said: "I don't know what just happened, I can't really believe it right now. 

"The team were in the stadium supporting, I could hear them in the crowd and everyone back home, I can't thank them enough for their support.” 

 French storms back to win modern pentathlon gold

Kate French Gold maintains proud women's modern pentathlon record

Muir seals 1500m silver with national record 

Laura Muir secured a brilliant silver as she finally cracked the big stage podium with a British record performance in Tokyo. 

Muir has been threatening this graduation for the last six years, finishing fifth, fourth and fifth over 1500m at the last three World Championships and seventh at the Rio Games five years ago.

She came into the final ranked fourth in the world with conventional wisdom suggesting the race was at the mercy of the Netherlands' Sifan Hassan, seeking an unprecedented distance treble in Tokyo having already won 5,000m gold. 

Muir played her tactics patiently and when the bell rang the five-time British champion was in a group of three, Hassan and Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon tussling at the front.

Kipyegon, defending the title she won in Rio, kicked clear to set a new Olympic record and Muir, head rocking, legs pumping, moved to the shoulder of Hassan and surged away, carving over a second off her own national record in a time of 3:54.50. 

Reflecting on her achievement, Muir said: "I don't know if that national record will be broken but that medal is mine." 

 Laura Muir breaks national record en route to 1500m silver

Team GB do relay double with bronze and silver in under half an hour 

Team GB claimed women’s 4x100m Olympic bronze for the seventh time in their history. 

Asha Philip, Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita set a 41.55 second British record in qualifying and while their handovers were not as slick, they had the speed to hold off their rivals. 

Anchor leg Philip said: "I tried my best, I know our changeover wasn't the best but we've really worked hard as a team. We've had a pandemic and all the worst scenarios thrown at us but we seem to bring it out when the time comes.”

In the minutes following the women’s success and seventeen years after Team GB won Olympic men's 4x100m gold by a hundredth of a second in Athens, they were just pipped to gold by the same margin in Tokyo. 

Chijindu Ujah, Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, whose time was a season's best, were leading coming into the home straight but Mitchell-Blake was chased down by Filippo Tortu in the final stride.

Italy powered to their first-ever Olympic sprint relay title in a time of 37.50 seconds with Team GB's quartet clocking 37.51 secs and Canada completing the podium.

Team GB take bronze in women's 4x100m relay

Silver in the men's 4x100m sees Team GB do the relay double

Hockey bronze starts day of medal success

Team GB beat India in a 4-3 thriller to claim Olympic bronze and keep their proud place on the women's hockey podium.

Goals from Ellie Rayer, Sarah Robertson, Hollie Pearne-Webb and Grace Balsdon held off a spirited India comeback.

With Team GB having won bronze at London 2012 and gold at Rio 2016, Mark Hager's side have now created their own moment in the record books.

 Captain Pearne-Webb said: "It’s been a tough five years. Really, really tough. We’re all still here because we all had that little bit of belief deep, deep down.

"There have been times over the years where we’ve doubted if we could achieve this, I’m just so pleased and proud of everyone that we have."

Pearne-Webb helps Team GB rally to hockey bronze

Price is right in the hunt for gold 

Lauren Price edged out her fiercest rival for a shot at Olympic gold this weekend. 

Price was already assured a medal before her middleweight showdown with Nouchka Fontijn - but had made no secret she only had one colour in mind in Tokyo. 

And after close friend Lauren Williams won taekwondo silver last week, it's now gold or bust for Price.

"I'm not stopping now – my aim is to win that gold. I'm going to give it my all to achieve that goal," she said. 

"It was a dream of mine to just be at an Olympics but now that gold medal is so close, I can almost touch it." 

 Lauren Price into boxing's gold-medal bout

Penultimate day could see another pentathlon medal 

As Tokyo 2020 heads around the final bend, Team GB can still pick up more medals and add to their tally of 58 so far. 

Joe Choong leads after the fencing ranking round and could secure Britain’s second modern pentathlon gold of the Games when it concludes with the laser run at 11:30 BST.

There’s a medal already guaranteed in the boxing ring but Galal Yafai will only have gold in his mind when he contests the men’s flyweight final at 06:00 BST.

Tom Daley will go for double diving glory, after qualifying for the men’s 10m platform semi-finals in fourth. 

Tom Daley knitting his way to diving success

Daley missed out on the final in Rio but will look to secure his place in the showdown from 02:00 BST, with the final starting five hours later. 

Ben Maher is another athlete going for double gold as he takes part in the Jumping team event alongside Holly Smith and Harry Charles. 

The trio qualified in seventh place with the final beginning at 11:00 BST. 

Wedding bells for Maher after striking Olympic gold

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