Charlotte Worthington wins a dramatic BMX park freestyle Olympic gold as Max Whitlock retains pommel horse title.
| Dates: 23 July-8 August Time in Tokyo: BST +8 |
| Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and online; Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and Sounds; live text and video clips on BBC Sport website and app. |
Team GB also made history in the pool, clinching the men’s 4x100m medley relay silver for their eighth swimming medal of the Games.
Duncan Scott was part of a quartet including Adam Peaty, Luke Greenbank and James Guy who were pipped to the title by the USA.
The 24-year-old, who signs off with a gold and three silvers, has now won more medals at a single Olympics than any other British competitor.
In a dramatic BMX final, Worthington fell on her first run but landed a ground-breaking 360-degree backflip on her second to score 97.50.
Declan Brooks then took bronze in the men’s event to claim GB’s fourth BMX medal.
British boxer Ben Whittaker also guaranteed himself at least a silver medal by beating Imam Khataev, of the Russian Olympic Committee, to reach Tuesday’s 81kg final.
Pat McCormack will also fight for gold in the men’s welterweight division after Ireland’s Aidan Walsh pulled out of their semi-final with an ankle injury, while Frazer Clarke reached the super-heavyweight final after France’s Mourad Aliev was disqualified.
GB’s sailing team have guaranteed two more medals to add to the bronze they have already won.
John Gimson and Anna Burnet are second overall in the mixed Nacra 17 class with one race to go, while defending champion Giles Scott leads the men’s Finn class and cannot now drop lower than third.
Whitlock sets historic mark
Showing the confidence that makes him the world’s best, Whitlock went out first and delivered a near-perfect routine that earned him a score of 15.583.
It was then a nervous wait for the the 28-year-old, but he had done enough to deliver his third career Olympic gold and second in the pommel horse.
That, alongside two World Championship titles, makes him the all-time most successful gymnast in the event.
He also becomes the seventh British competitor to win at least six Olympic medals, after Scott also achieved the feat in the pool earlier on Sunday.
They pull level with Steve Redgrave and Charlotte Dujardin, while only Bradley Wiggins (eight) and Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny (both seven) have more.
“I feel absolutely lost for words, I can’t even describe the feeling and I feel completely overwhelmed – it feels surreal,” said Whitlock.
“Team GB have been doing absolutely incredibly. The gold medals have been flowing in and I just wanted to do the same thing.
“To come out here and get my own, I feel very proud.”
Britain’s BMX medal bonanza
Worthington said she was trying to find a “big banger trick” to deliver Olympic gold but an unprecedented 360-degree backflip left her on the floor during run one.
Undeterred, the 25-year-old went on to execute the move in her second run, becoming the first woman to land it in competition, and registering a score of 97.50.
“It was incredible,” said Worthington, who watched on as four rivals – including hotly tipped American Hannah Roberts – failed to usurp her mark.
“I’ve not been doing that trick for so long but we’ve been trying to find that big banger trick and when we did we thought, ‘this is the one’. If it wasn’t for Hannah Roberts, we wouldn’t be doing these tricks or be this far.”
It was the culmination of years of hard work for Worthington, who was a late convert to BMX and had been working as a chef “sweating it out in the kitchen for over 40 hours a week” before concentrating on the sport.
“It’s a lot of hard work paid off. On the bike, yes, it’s physical hard work but I feel like the work on myself has paid off,” she added.
Having watched that drama unfold, Brooks added Britain’s fourth BMX medal – after Bethany Shriever and Kye Whyte in the racing – to cap an incredible Games.
“I’ve just cried for the last couple of minutes,” 25-year-old Brooks told BBC Sport after his bronze was confirmed.
Slam Dunc for GB swimmers
Regular visits to the podium at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre this Games have seen Britain establish themselves as one of swimming’s powerhouses in Japan.
They may still be a distant third on the medal table to the USA and Australia, but an eighth trip to the podium marks the nation’s most successful Olympics in the sport.
The American team needed a world record time of three minutes 26.78 seconds to beat the British quartet to the men’s 4x100m medley relay title.
But a silver medal rounded off a superb Games in the pool for Britain, who finish with four swimming golds, three silvers and a bronze – having earned a solitary gold at Rio five years ago.
It also capped a record-breaking Olympics for Scott, whose four medals are record haul for a Briton at a single Games and take him to six overall.
“I have a lot of good team-mates,” Scott told BBC Sport. “I’m very fortunate to be part of some excellent relay teams.”
The US victory means American superstar Caeleb Dressel joins compatriots Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi, as well as East Germany’s Kristin Otto, as the only swimmers to win five golds at a single Olympics.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Emma McKeon made history as the first female swimmer to win seven medals at an Olympics, claiming four golds and three bronze.
World record, shared gold and 100m shock
There was no shortage of drama at the Olympic Stadium on a night to remember for Italy.
It started in the men’s high jump, which saw Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi share the gold medal.
After an exhausting two-hour competition, the pair couldn’t be split, having recorded best clearances of 2.37m. They were offered an opportunity to take part in a jump-off, but in a moment of sportsmanship, they agreed to share the title.
Soon after, Lamont Marcell Jacobs claimed a shock gold in the 100m final to make it two Olympic athletics titles in quick succession for Italy.
Jacobs, who only switched away from long jump in 2018, streaked clear to win in 9.80 seconds, 0.04 clear of American Fred Kerley with Canada’s Andre de Grasse taking bronze.
Earlier, Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas smashed the women’s triple jump world record, which had stood since August 1995 – two months before she was born.
With her final jump, and with gold already secured, she leapt 15.67m to smash the previous best by 17cm.
“I’m lost for words, I can’t describe this feeling and this moment,” said the 25-year-old. “Gold medal winner, with an Olympic record, and a world record – wow. It is a fantastic night.”
Also on Sunday…
Britain’s eventers are well placed for team and individual success after impressive cross-country displays, with world number one Oliver Townend, Laura Collett and Tom McEwen leading the team event ahead of Australia and France.
Townend tops the individual standings with Collett third and McEwen sixth.
One round of showjumping at 09:45 BST on Monday will decide team medals, followed by the leading individual contenders jumping again at 12:45.
Meanwhile, American Xander Schauffele won the men’s golf gold medal on a dramatic final day that saw Slovakia’s Rory Sabbatini take silver and Taiwanese golfer CT Pan earn bronze in a seven-way play-off.
Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, Great Britain’s Paul Casey and Japan’s Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama made the shootout before Pan won it on the fourth play-off hole from American Collin Morikawa.
In the men’s tennis, Alexander Zverev won gold to become the first German player to win an Olympic title in the singles since Steffi Graf in 1988.
He defeated Karen Khachanov of the Russian Olympic Committee 6-3 6-1.
But it was heartbreak for Britain’s men’s hockey players, as they lost 3-1 to India in the quarter-finals.
