After finishing with a silver medal at London 2012 sailors Saskia Clark and Hannah Mills should upgrade to gold on day 12 of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Day 11 saw Mills (above right) and 470 Women’s partner Clark record finishes of third, second and third in the final three opening series races.
And those results, coupled with their performances in the opening seven outings, means the Team GB duo hold a 20-point lead over New Zealand heading into the day 12 medal race.
The medal race sees the top ten boats compete with points doubled, meaning the most you can pick up if you finish last is 20.
So as long as Mills and Clark finish the race they will be crowned champions in Rio, pushing their London 2012 conquerors into second in a reversal of fortunes, while Luke Patience and Chris Grube are in the men’s equivalent with a possible highest finish of fourth.
Rajiv Ouseph will be hoping to keep his Rio 2016 adventure alive as he bids for a final four spot in the men’s badminton singles against Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
The Dane is the reigning European champion but Ouseph will be buoyed by his remarkable run to the quarter-finals.
The GB women’s hockey team face off against New Zealand in the last four.
GB are so far unbeaten in Rio, winning all five of their group games before a 3-1 win over Spain in the quarter-finals saw them set up a chance to get into the gold medal match.
Elsewhere, boxer Savannah Marshall can guarantee herself a bronze medal in Rio if she wins her middleweight quarter-final bout with Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands.
And Mo Farah begins his quest for a second gold medal in Rio with the defence of his 5,000m title getting underway, he will be the first man since Finland’s Lasse Viren in 1976 to retain two Olympic distance titles should he triumph in Brazil.
Dina Asher-Smith is in the 200m final after sealing one of the fastest loser spots and Lorraine Ugen and Jazmin Sawyers are in the long jump final.
On the water, Liam Heath and Jon Schofield will bid to upgrade the K2 200m bronze from London 2012 with the heats and semi-finals, should they get there, scheduled on the Lagoa while Rachel Cawthorn goes in the K1 500m.
Liam Phillips and Kyle Evans compete for the first time in BMX’s seeding run while Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow will hope to follow Team GB’s successful men’s divers with the 10m platform preliminary.
Nick Skelton and Ben Maher compete in the jumping’s third individual qualifier looking to make amends for not making the team jumping final – the title GB won gold in at London 2012.
And finally after the success story of Justine Rose it is the turn of the women to set the Rio Olympic golf course alight – Catriona Matthew and Charley Hull will become the first female British golfers to compete at the Olympic Games for 116 years.
Image courtesy of British Sailing via YouTube, with thanks.
