Team GB won two quick-fire swimming silver medals on day four of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games as Siobhan-Marie O’Connor and the men’s 4x200m relay squad ensured they made a splash in the pool.
It was O’Connor who was celebrating first as she battled with Katinka Hosszu for the women’s 200m IM race, touching home in a new British record of 2:06.88 minutes for second place while bronze went to Maya Dirado of the USA.
But Team GB weren’t done there and minutes later the quartet of Stephen Milne, Duncan Scott, Dan Wallace and James Guy were celebrating a sixth British medal.
They too came home in second in the men’s 2x400m freestyle relay, a race that saw the USA triumph and Michael Phelps earn his 21st Olympic gold medal.
Meanwhile Katherine Grainger is one step closer to adding to her gold and three silver Olympic medals after qualifying for Thursday’s women’s double sculls final at Rio 2016.
The Team GB pair were one of three to row to finals on the morning of day four in Rio, finishing second in their semi-final.
Stewart Innes and Alan Sinclair progressed in the men’s pair while Jonathan Walton and John Collins followed suit in the men’s double sculls – although the men’s lightweight four and lightweight doubles sculls pairing of Katherine Copeland and Charlotte Taylor missed out.
David Florence’s hunt for a medal in the C1 canoe slalom came to an end early in his final run, with two-time Olympic medallist admitting he misjudged his line to the opening gate and failed to recover in the rest of the run, finishing tenth in the final.
Nick Dempsey placed 14th after the second day of the Olympic windsurfing regatta while Bryony Shaw is tenth overall.
Nick Thompson sits ninth in the Laser, Alison Youth is 18th and Giles Scott 17th in the Finn.
Team GB’s equestrian riders finished in fifth place in the eventing team competition with a total score of 252.1 following a strong final day in the showjumping whiile William Fox-Pitt placed 12th in the individual competition.
Meanwhile, Team GB’s female artistic gymnasts placed fifth in the team event – a repeat of their position four years ago at London 2012.
It was the perfect start for Team GB’s men’s rugby sevens squad, winning both of their opening day games against Kenya and Japan to top their pool.
Naomi Folkard is safely through to the last 16 of the women’s archery event after an impressive morning at the Sambadrome.
The 32-year-old breezed past London 2012 bronze medallist Kaori Kawanka of Japan 6-0 to set up a last 16 match up with home favourite Ane Marcelle Gomes Dos Santos on Thursday.
Andy Murray and Johanna Konta made smooth progress in their respective singles draws on a successful day for the Team GB tennis squad.
The manner of their victories couldn’t have been more different with Murray cruising through in straight sets and Konta outstaying double grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in a three-hour epic.
Tonia Couch and Lois Toulson scored a personal best 319.44 to finish fifth in the synchronised 10m platform.
Team GB’s men’s hockey side claimed an important 9-1 win against Brazil as they emphatically came from behind against the hosts to keep their hopes of qualifying from Pool A alive – Barry Middleton, Ashley Jackson and Sam Ward all scoring twice.
Joe Cordina was the only Team GB boxer in action on day four, falling in the last 16 of the lightweight competition to Hurshid Tojibaev of Uzbekistan.
And Alice Schlesinger became the third British judoka to fall in the last 16 as she lost out to the Netherlands’ Anicka Van Emden.
Image courtesy of Speedo via YouTube, with thanks.
