Team GB Olympic Updates

Blondie · Team GB Olympic Updates

I'm totally addicted to the Olympics but most people dont have time to keep up-to-date with all the happenings. I do lol.

DAY 3 NEWS

Aquatics: Swimming – Jemma Lowe finished sixth in the 100m butterfly final. The men’s 4x100m freestyle quartet came eighth in their final, but set a British record in the process, while Gemma Spofforth set a British record in the 100m backstroke to book a place in tomorrow’s final.

Diving – Tom Daley and Blake Aldridge finished eighth men’s 10m synchronised platform finals.

Archery: The men’s archery team missed out on a place in the quarter-finals when they went down 214-210 to China.

Badminton: Andrew Smith and Tracey Hallam both made exits in their respective singles matches. Smith missed out on a place in the last 16 of the men’s singles draw, going down 21-16, 13-21, 17-21 to Germany’s Marc Zwiebler. Hallam lost 21-10, 21-7 to another German, European Champion Xu Huaiwen.

Canoeing: Campbell Walsh qualified for tomorrow’s semi-final of the single kayak slalom and David Florence for the semi of the single canoe slalom. Florence’s second run in the heats was the second fastest of the day across both disciplines.

Fencing: Martina Emanuel was knocked out the individual foil 15-7 by Erinn Smart of the USA.

Hockey: The Team GB men made a terrific start to their Olympic campaign by beating Pakistan, ranked seventh in the world, by 4-2. Next up are European champions, the Netherlands, on Wednesday.

Rowing: The GB men’s eight became the second GB crew to book a berth in Sunday’s finals with an impressive win over the USA and China in today’s heats. Then Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington also reached the quadruple scull final by winning their repechage. Alan Campbell finished second in his single scull quarter-final to progress to the semis.

Sailing: Ben Ainslie leads the fleet in the Finn class after six races, while Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson lead the Yngling fleet. Bryony Shaw is currently third at the end of day one of her RS:X campaign.

Shooting: Jonathan Hammond shot a pb of 589 in the 10m air rifle, but that wasn’t enough to progress from the qualification round. He came 29th. Charlotte Kerwood came 16th in the women’s trap qualification round, but missed out on the final.

Equestrian: Team GB after a solid attempt at the Cross Country are now in bronze position for the nexy day of eventing - the show jumping final. Mary King and Tina Cook are both in the top ten where the scores are tight, promising an exciting final day tomorrow.

Tennis: Andy Murray lost his singles match against Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) 6 (5)- 7, 4-6 but bounced back alongside his brother Jamie to claim a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Canadian pair Nestor and Niemeyer

Currently team GB are ranked 7th in the medals table with 2 gold and 1 bronze!

Shar

Thanks Blondie, thats a great idea.

I would like to watch more of it than I can so its good to catch up.

Julie C

thanks

Blondie

DAY 4 NEWS
We are now ranked 9th in the medal table league with a total of 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 3 Bronze.

Silver for Florence: David Florence won Team GB’s fourth medal of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games when he took silver in the C1 Canoe Slalom today. Florence was just pipped for gold by Michal Martikan (SVK) in the very last run of the final.

Team Bronze for Equestrian Eventers: Britain’s eventing team of Tina Cook, Daisy Dick, William Fox-Pitt, Sharon Hunt and Mary King won Britain’s second medal of the day when the took team bronze in Hong Kong. And Tina Cook ended the day in style by adding bronze in the individual competition.

European Record for Spofforth: Swimmer Gemma Spofforth set a European record of 59.38 to finish fourth in the 100m backstroke final.

Rowers Equal Athens Record: Four Team GB rowing crews have reached finals in Beijing – equalling the number of finalists at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 – with seven further boats still in with a chance of reaching finals.

Aquatics:

Swimming – In addition to Gemma Spofforth’s European record, Liam Tancock set a British record of 53.39 to come sixth in the men’s 100m backstroke, while David Carry set a British 200m freestyle record of 1:46.47 in the first leg of the 4x200m freestyle relay, as GB qualified in fourth for tomorrow’s final.

Diving – Tonia Couch and Stacie Powell came eighth in the 10m synchronised platform final.

Archery: Naomi Folkard has progressed to the quarter-finals of the women’s individual competition, beating team-mate Charlotte Burgess to do so.

Badminton:

Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson toppled China’s mixed doubles number two seeds Gao Ling and Zheng Bo 21-16, 16-21, 21-19 to reach the quarter-finals, but Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg lost their opening round match number four seeds He Hanbin and Yu Yang, also of China, by 21-15, 21-18.

Boxing: Bantamweight Joe Murray suffered a 17-7 points defeat to China’s Gu Yu.

Canoeing: Campbell Walsh missed out on a place in the final of the K1 Kayak.

Fencing: Nineteen-year-old Alex O’Connell put up a brave battle before losing his opening individual sabre contest 15-14 to Russia’s Nikolay Kovalev.

Hockey: Team GB produced a spirited fightback to secure a point against world number two Argentina. 2-0 down at half-time, they scored twice in three minutes through Sarah Thomas and Mel Clewlow in the second half to draw 2-2.

Judo: Evan Burton just missed out on a battle for bronze, losing his repackage final to Brazil’s Taiga Camilla in the under-81kg class, while Sarah Clark lost her opening round contest in the women’s under-63kg division.

Rowing: The women’s pair of Louisa Reeve and Olivia Whitlam booked a place in the final at the weekend – becoming the fourth British crew to do so.

Sailing: Nick Dempsey finished third and second in his two RS:X races to climb to fifth place on the leaderboard. Bryony Shaw is also fifth in the women’s RS:X, with 11th and sixth place finishes today. Joe Glanfield and Nick Rogers won the first of their two 470 races of the day and are now fifth after four races.

Shooting: Richard Faulds finished sixth in the double trap final, with team-mate Steven Scott coming joint 12th in the qualification round.

Weightlifting: Michaela Breeze finished seventh in her group in the under-63kg class and 15th overall. She suffered a back injury in her final preparations and went into her first attempts in pain.

Louise (Admin)

Oh wow Thanks Blondie - You're running the place better than me at the mo!

Have had so much going on over the past few days (undersatement

)

Thanks very Much for taking the time to do this for us!

Blondie

DAY 5 NEWS

Silver for Pooley: Emma Pooley won Team GB’s second cycling medal of Beijing 2008 and Britain’s seventh medal of the Games by taking silver in the women’s individual time trial.

Eight GB Crews Now in Rowing Finals: Eight Team GB rowing crews have now made it through to A finals at the weekend, with the men’s single, double and four, and the women’s eight today joining the four boats that had already qualified for finals.

Team GB medals today: Gold: 0 Silver: 1 Bronze 0

Team GB medals total: Gold: 2 Silver: 2 Bronze 3

Sport by Sport Round-up

Aquatics: Swimming – the Team GB men’s 4x200m freestyle quartet broke the British record for the second time in 24 hours as they finished sixth in the final today.
Diving – the Team GB pair of Nick Robinson-Baker and Ben Swain finished seventh in the 3m synchronised springboard final.

Archery: Alan Wills reached the quarter-finals of the men’s individual archery competition by beating defending Olympic champion Mauro Nespoli (ITA) 103-99.

Boxing: Super heavyweight David Price produced a powerful display to stop highly-rated Russian Islam Timurziev in the second round.

Canoeing: Fiona Pennie came 17th overall in the heats of the women’s K1 kayak slalom, missing out on a place in the semi-finals.

Cycling: In addition to Pooley’s silver, Nicole Cooke followed up her road race gold by coming 15th in the women’s ndividual time trial, while Stephen Cummings finished 11th in the men’s time trial.

Equestrian: Team GB’s Emma Hindle is currently second in the individual dressage discipline with half of the riders having completed the opening grand prix test. GB are also currently ranked second in the team competition.

Fencing: Richard Kruse narrowly missed out on a quarter-final place in the individual foil – losing 10-9 to multiple world gold medallist and number one seed Peter Joppich of Germany.

Hockey: Britain’s men suffered a 1-0 defeat in a closely contested encounter against the Netherlands, ranked three in the world.

Judo: Winston Gordon suffered a first round defeat at the hands of Khurshid Nabiev from Uzbekistan in the men’s under-90kg class.

Sailing: Ben Ainslie (Finn) and the Yngling crew of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson extended their lead at the top of the leaderboards when they both finished second in their only race of the day in their respective classes on a day when racing was curtailed by light winds.

Tennis: Andy and Jamie Murray made a second exist form the men’s doubles competition, losing 6-1, 6-3 to the French pair Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra.

Louise (Admin)

We're actually not doing too badly are we?

And thank you so much for taking the time to Update this regularly Blondie, Don't Think it's Not appreciated.

Blondie

dont worry - its not a problem. Its on all day and i have nothing better to be doing at the moment anyway!

Blondie

DAY 6 NEWS

Adlington Sets Olympic Record: Rebecca Adlington followed up her gold medal in the 400m freestyle by setting an Olympic record in the 800m freestyle heats tonight. She is joined is Saturday’s final by team-mate Cassie Patten.

Dressage Team Finish Sixth: Team GB finished sixth overall in the team dressage competition, which reached its climax in Hong Kong tonight. The individual competition continues, with Britain’s Emma Hindle currently fourth. Laura Bechtolsheimer also qualified for the final.

Team GB medals today: Gold: 0 Silver: 0 Bronze: 0

Team GB medals total: Gold: 2 Silver: 2 Bronze: 3

Sport by Sport Round-up

Aquatics: Swimming – All four British swimmers in semi-final action this morning reached tomorrow’s finals, including James Goddard and Liam Tancock in the men’s 200m individual medley. But there was disappointment for Opening Ceremony flag-bearer Mark Foster – the 38-year-old missed a place in the 50m freestyle semis.

Archery: Naomi Folkard couldn’t make further progress in the women’s individual archery programme, losing 106-97 to Nami Hayakawa of Japan.

Badminton: Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson missed out on a semi-final berth after going down 21-19, 21-12 to Lee Hyojung and Lee Yongdae (KOR).

Boxing: Tony Jeffries edged out Eleider Alvarez of Colombia in the light heavyweight division to progress to the next round, but Billy Joe Saunders (welterweight) and Bradley Saunders (light welterweight) both lost their bouts today.

Gymnastics: Eighteen-year-old Daniel Keatings finished 20th in today’s individual all-around final with a score of 89.000. His 15.700 on the pommel horse was the highest achieved on that piece of apparatus in the all-around final.

Hockey: Great Britain’s women ran-out 2-1 winners over New Zealand in tonight’s pool game. Team GB came back from a goal down with strikes from Alex Danson and Crista Cullen.

Judo: Michelle Rogers reached the repechage of the under-78kg class, but lost her first contest there to Germany’s Heide Wollert. Peter Cousins was beaten in his first contest by Georgia’s Levan Zhorzholiani.

Rowing: Rowing fell victim to the weather today. The rowing programme was postponed until tomorrow due to an electrical storm. Finals are still scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

Sailing: A lack of wind forced the postponement of today’s sailing programme in Qingdao.

Shooting: Team GB’s Elena Little missed out on a place in the skeet final, shooting a qualification round of 66 for 14th place

Blondie

DAY 7 NEWS

Team Sprint Trio Strike Gold: Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny and Jamie Staff won the team sprint gold on the opening night of action in the velodrome. They set a world best on their first run and beat World champions France in the final. Bradley Wiggins broke his own Olympic record in the individual pursuit qualifiers.

GB to Contest 10 of 14 Rowing Finals: Two further GB rowing crews have qualified for the weekend finals, meaning GB will contest 10 of the 14 finals.

Sailing Crews Poised for Medals: Ben Ainslie (Finn) and the Team GB Yngling crew of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson lead their respective fleets going into tomorrow’s finals in the two classes in Qingdao.

Team GB medals today: Gold: 1 Silver: 0 Bronze: 0

Team GB medals total: Gold: 3 Silver: 2 Bronze: 3

Aquatics: Swimming – The GB women’s 4x100m medley relay quartet of Gemma Spofforth, Kate Haywood, Jemma Lowe and Fran Halsall broke the European record by 0.19 seconds, while their male counterparts took more than two seconds off the British record. Both qualified for finals.
Diving – Rebecca Gallantree came 25th in the women’s 3m springboard, missing out on a place in the semis.

Archery: Alan Wills lost to Cuba’s Juan Carlos Stevens by 108 to 104, ending Team GB’s interest in the archery.

Athletics: Kelly Sotherton made a solid start to her heptathlon campaign on the first day of athletics – she is third after four disciplines. Tyrone Edgar booked a place in the 100m semi-finals, while Helen Clitheroe set a British record in the 3000m steeplechase, but didn’t qualify for the final.

Cycling: Wendy Houvenaghel and Rebecca Romero set the two fastest times in the women’s individual pursuit qualifying round.

Equestrian: Team GB are currently joint sixth in the team jumping event after the first day’s competition in Hong Kong. Nick Skelton (on Russel) and Ben Maher (on Rolette) are joint 14th, with Tim Stockdale 30th on Corlatto and John Whitaker 39th on Peppermill.

Hockey: Great Britain’s men beat South Africa 2-0 tonight and are third in their pool. The goals were scored by James Tindall and Matt Daly.

Gymnastics: Becky Downie achieved the highest finish yet by a British gymnast in an individual all-around Olympic final when she finished 12th in Beijing today.

Judo: Karina Bryant lost her opening round bout to Vanessa Zambotti of Mexico.

Rowing: The GB men’s lightweight double and four have become the latest crews to qualify for finals, taking the total number of Team GB finalists to 10 crews.

Shooting: Jonathan Hammond missed out on a place in the final of the 50m rifle prone, shooting 589 in the qualification round.

Louise (Admin)

Another good day for team GB - Thanks for the uopdate Blondie.

kath123

Britain is now sixth in the Olympic medal tables after winning four gold, one silver and four bronze medals in a specatular day at the Games.

In the cycling competitions, Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins ensured Great Britain's gold rush continued at the Laoshan Velodrome with wins in the keirin and the individual pursuit.

And there was also a silver medal for Ross Edgar in the keirin, a bronze for Steven Burke in the pursuit and a bronze for Chris Newton in the points race.

In the women's pursuit Great Britain are guaranteed gold and silver after Rebecca Romero and Wendy Houvenaghel reached the final.

Earlier, Great Britain's flagship men's rowing four clinched Olympic gold - adding to two bronze medals won by the British team in the double sculls.

The crew of Steve Williams, stroke Andy Triggs Hodge, Pete Reed and Tom James
came from nearly a length back to secure Britain's third consecutive title in the event at the Beijing Games, with a dramatic sprint to the line.

This comes after swimmer Rebecca Adlington won her second gold medal for Britain in the 800m freestyle.

Mr Williams is now a double Olympic champion having been part of the victorious men's four at the last Games in Athens.

Before this, Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington had delivered the first of two bronze medals for Britain, producing a storming surge to secure victory in a dramatic finish to the women's doubles sculls.

Then Matt Wells and Stephen Rowbotham made it a double celebration when they
too came third in the men's double sculls.

Team GB are now sixth place in the medal table with seven gold medals, three silver and seven bronze.

Julie C

Thanks take care luv Juliexx

Blondie

Sport by Sport Round Up for Day 8

Athletics: Kelly Sotherton finished fifth in the heptathlon. Greg Rutherford has qualified for the long jump final and Jeanette Kwakye the 100m semi-finals – both at their first Olympic Games.

Boxing: James DeGale progressed to the middleweight quarter-finals with an 11-5 win over Shawn Estrada of the USA, but 19-year-old flyweight Khalid Yafai went out 9-3 on points to Cuban Laffita Hernandez, who is fighting at his third Olympic Games.

Cycling: It was an outstanding day at the velodrome for Team GB, with Chris Hoy winning gold in the keirin, his second gold of the Games, and Ross Edgar taking silver. Bradley Wiggins retained the individual pursuit title he won in Athens four years ago, with Steven Burke taking bronze, while Chris Newton won bronze in the points race. Team GB are also guaranteed a gold and a silver on Sunday when Rebecca Romero races Wendy Houvenaghel in the women’s individual pursuit final.

Equestrian: Emma Hindle, riding Lancet, has qualified for the final stage of the individual dressage competition, finishing ninth in Saturday’s grand prix special element. But Laura Bechtolsheimer, riding Mistral Hojris, missed out, finishing 18th.

Gymnastics: Claire Wright missed out on a place in the trampolining final, coming 10th in the qualifying round.

Hockey: A Crista Cullen goal 21 seconds from time earned GB a 2-1 win over Japan in Britain’s penultimate pool game. Anne Panter had given GB the lead. They are now third in their pool with one game remaining.

Rowing: The Team GB men’s four of Tom James, Steve Williams, Pete Reed and Andy Triggs Hodge won a pulsating race to take gold ahead of Australia, overhauling them in the final 250m. GB also won two bronzes – Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington in the women’s double scull, while Matt Wells and Stephen Rowbotham took bronze in the men’s double scull.

Sailing: Saturday’s scheduled Finn and Yngling final races were postponed until Sunday because of a lack of wind, but Steve Morrison and Ben Rhodes qualified for Sunday’s 49er final in ninth place.

Blondie

DAY 9 NEWS

Athens Gold Medal Tally Passed: Team GB have already won more gold medals than in Athens four years ago, when Great Britain won nine golds, nine silvers and 12 bronzes. At the end of day nine in Beijing Team GB have 11 golds, six silvers and eight bronzes.

Ainslie Becomes GB’s Top Olympic Sailor: Ben Ainslie’s Finn gold made him GB’s most successful sailor in Olympic history, taking his tally to three golds and a silver, while the GB Yngling crew also won gold.

Romero Makes History: Team GB’s Rebecca Romero made history by adding an individual pursuit cycling gold medal to the silver she won as a rower in the quadruple scull in Athens four years ago.

Rowers Sign-Off With Another Gold: Team GB’s rowers rounded off their outstanding regatta with a gold medal and two silvers – taking their tally to two golds, two silvers and two bronzes.

Smith Wins Bronze: Nineteen-year-old Louis Smith became the first GB gymnast to win an individual gymnastics medal at an Olympic Games for 100 years when he won bronze on the pommel horse tonight.

Team GB medals today: Gold: 4 Silver: 3 Bronze: 1

Team GB medals total: Gold: 11 Silver: 6 Bronze: 8

Sport by Sport Round-up

Aquatics: The GB women’s 4x100m medley relay quartet set a European record of 3:57.50 in the final swimming session of the Games in the pool, while their male counterparts set a British record.

Athletics: Jeanette Kwakye became the first British women to reach an Olympic 100m final since 1984, finishing sixth, while Christine Ohuruogu has progressed to the 400m final and Andy Baddeley has gone through to the 1500m final. Mara Yamauchi was Team GB’s highest placed finisher in this morning’s marathon, coming sixth.

Cycling: It was another outstanding day in the velodrome, with Rebecca Romero winning individual pursuit gold and Wendy Houvenaghel taking silver. The men’s team pursuit quartet of Ed Clancy, Paul Manning, Geraint Thomas and Bradley Wiggins set a world record en route to tomorrow’s final, while both Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton are the proud owners of new Olympic records in the sprint.

Equestrian: GB are placed fourth in the team event going into tomorrow’s final round, with Ben Maher (on Rolette) currently 13th in the individual competition, Tim Stockdale 16th on Corlato Nick Skelton 22nd on Russel.

Gymnastics: Louis Smith’s bronze medal on the pommel horse was the first medal GB has won at an Olympic Games since 1928, and the first individual medal since 1908.

Hockey: Matt Daly’s late goal earned Team GB a 1-1 draw against Canada this morning. They are now third in the pool and their last pool games is against world number one team Australia on Tuesday.

Rowing: Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter collected Team’s GB’s second rowing gold of the Games by winning the lightweight double scull final today. The women’s quadruple scull also won silver, while the men’s eight won another silver in the last race of the Olympic regatta.

Sailing: Ben Ainslie struck gold in the Finn series, while Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson won the Yngling class gold – Ayton and Webb both winning back-to-back Olympic titles.

Shooting: Jonathan Hammond came 42nd in the qualifying round of the 50m rifle three-positions, missing out on a place in the final.

hakkie

Fantastic

Blondie

DAY 10 NEWS

Most Golds Since 1920 Games: Team GB won their 12th gold medal of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on Monday – making it their biggest haul of gold medals since the Antwerp Games of 1920.

Team Pursuit Quartet Make History: Team GB’s team pursuit quartet of Ed Clancy, Paul Manning, Geraint Thomas and Bradley Wiggins smashed their own world record to strike gold – the first time Great Britain have won the Olympic Games team pursuit title since the London Games in 1908.

Silver for 470 Pair: The Team GB men’s 470 crew of Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield climbed from overall fourth to take silver in Monday’s medal race – Britain’s third sailing medal of the Games after two golds on Sunday.

Team GB medals today: Gold: 1 Silver: 1 Bronze: 0

Team GB medals total: Gold: 12 Silver: 7 Bronze: 8

Sport by Sport Round-up

Aquatics: Diving – Ben Swain missed out on a place in the 3m springboard semis, finishing 26th in the preliminary round.
Synchronised swimming – Jenna Randall and Olivia Allison became the first GB synchronised swimmers to compete at an Olympic Games since 1992 and finished the first day of competition in a respectable 14th place.

Athletics: Sarah Claxton and Tasha Danvers qualified for finals of the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles respectively, while Greg Rutherford finished 10th in the long jump final. Marlon Devonish and Christian Malcolm are through to Tuesday’s 200m semi-finals, while Andrew Steele and Martyn Rooney both progressed to Tuesday’s 400m semis.

Boxing: Super heavyweight David Price became the first Team GB boxer to make sure of a medal in Beijing when the referee stepped in to end his contest with opponent Jaroslav Jaksto due to an injury to the Lithuanian at the end of the first round. Price will be up against world champion Roberto Cammarelle (ITA) in Friday’s semi-finals.

Canoeing: Tim Brabants cruised straight into the final of the men’s K1 kayak 1000m flatwater competition by winning his heat.

Cycling: Another outstanding day in the velodrome for Team GB, with a gold medal and a world record in the team pursuit. Both Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny go into Tuesday’s sprint semi-finals, while Victoria Pendleton reached the women’s sprint semis.

Equestrian: GB finished seventh overall in the jumping team event. Ben Maher jumped a clear round on Rolette and stands sixth going into Thursday’s individual final, while Tim Stockdale and Nick Skelton also qualified.

Gymnastics: Beth Tweddle just missed out on ending her Beijing 2008 campaign in the medals, finishing fourth on the asymmetric bars at her last Olympic Games.

Hockey: The GB women’s team drew 0-0 with the USA in their last pool match to earn third place in the pool and a fifth/sixth classification game against Australia on Friday.

Sailing: In addition to Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield’s silver medal in Qingdao, Paul Goodison is all but guaranteed at least a silver in the Laser class on Tuesday. Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark climbed from ninth to finish sixth overall in the women’s 470 class at their first Olympic Games.

Triathlon: Team GB’s Helen Tucker finished 21st in a gruelling women’s race this morning. Hollie Avil didn’t complete the race due to illness.

hakkie

och, was hoping Beth Tweddle would get a meddle!

Terence

4 more golds today. Team GB - Unstoppable

Blondie

DAY 11 NEWS

Biggest GB Gold Medal Haul for 100 Years: Team GB won four more gold medals on day 11 of the Beijing 2008 Games, taking the overall gold medal tally to 16. That makes it GB’s biggest gold medal haul since the London Games of 1908.

Hat-trick for Hoy: Chris Hoy’s sprint gold was his third gold medal of the Games and Team GB’s 15th gold at Beijing 2008. Team-mate Jason Kenny had to settle for silver, while Victoria Pendleton won gold in the women’s sprint.

Ohuruogu is Golden Girl: Christine Ohuruogu won the 400m gold in the Bird’s Nest stadium, which means she holds the Olympic, world and Commonwealth titles. Germaine Mason equalled his pb to win high jump silver.

Goodison as Gold: Paul Goodison won Team GB’s third sailing gold medal of the Games when he won the Laser class in Qingdao.

Team GB medals today: Gold: 4 Silver: 2 Bronze: 0

Team GB medals total: Gold: 16 Silver: 9 Bronze: 8

Sport by Sport Round-up

Aquatics: Synchronised swimming – teenagers Jenna Randall and Olivia Allison just missed out on a place in the duet final, finishing 14th.

Athletics: In addition to the medals won by Christine Ohuruogu and Germaine Mason, Christian Malcolm booked a place in Wednesday’s 200m final, while Martyn Rooney went through to Thursday’s 400m final. Goldie Sayers qualified for Thursday’s javelin final and Jade Johnson goes into Friday’s long jump final. Sarah Claxton came eighth in the 100m hurdles final. Tom Parsons came eighth in the high jump final and Martyn Bernard ninth. Andy Baddeley finished ninth in the 1500m final.

Boxing: Light heavyweight Tony Jeffries became Team GB’s second boxer to guarantee he will win a medal in Beijing by beating Imre Szello 10-2 on points to book a semi-final bout against Ireland’s Kenny Egan.

Canoeing: Tim Brabants went through to the K1 kayak 500m semi-finals by winning his heat. Lucy Wainwright is also through to the women’s semi-final. But there was disappointment for Anna Hemmings and Jess Walker, who missed out in the K2 500m.

Cycling: In addition to the medals won by Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny and Victoria Pendleton in the final day of action in the velodrome, Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish finished joint eighth in the Madison.

Equestrian: Emma Hindle finished seventh overall in the individual dressage event on Lancet.

Hockey: Team GB’s men face a 5th/6th place play-off game against Korea on Saturday after drawing their final pool game 3-3 against world number one team Australia. Team GB’s goals came from Barry Middleton, Richard Mantell and Rob Moore. Australia had to rely on a strike two minutes from time to take a point.

Sailing: Penny Clark came seventh in the Laser Radial medal race to finish 10th overall in the class.

Triathlon: Team GB’s Alistair Brownlee and Will Clarke finished 12th and 14th respectively in the triathlon at their first Olympic Games, while Tim Don failed to finish after suffering with illness in the lead-up to the event.

FlakeySugarButt

I watched the Olympics every morning last week while I was off work and have been thoroughly enjoying it, and I'm disgusted at having to miss it now I've gone back lol. I still watch the updates and stuff on bbc in the evening but it's not the same.... work darn it, so inconvenient!

We're doing so well, I'm really proud of our athletes. Well done Team GB.

Julie C

Congrats

take care luv Juliexx

Louise (Admin)

We're third in the medals table apparently now!

Well done!

Louise (Admin)

Britain notched their highest gold medal tally in a century on Tuesday with three more victories in cycling and sailing for the 2012 Olympics hosts.

That cemented Britain's unexpected third place in China, with 15 golds the best since the 1908 London Games and the perfect way to fire up enthusiasm at home for the next Olympics.

Hosts China are way ahead on 42 golds though, their seemingly unassailable lead helping dull some of the national pain over the withdrawal through injury of track idol Liu Xiang.

The United States are second with 25 golds on Day 11 and face a near-impossible task to catch China, whose medal haul reflects their new global economic and political might.

While China's rise may be inevitable, given it has one fifth of the world's population to choose from, Britain's success was more surprising. Even traditional rivals were impressed.

"They're certainly serving it up," Australia's Olympic Committee president John Coates said. "Their new-found cockiness has got some substance to it."

Nowhere have the Britons been cockier than on bikes.

Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton won a couple more golds in the men's and women's sprints, making it a remarkable eight Beijing golds on road and track for the new cycling superpower.

In Qingdao, on China's east coast, Paul Goodison made up for disappointment in Athens, where he nearly quit, by winning the sailing Laser title.

Britain's success, which has come chiefly in cycling, rowing, sailing and swimming, is attributed mainly to heavy new investment in sport. That has allowed athletes and coaches to train full time, as well as seen improvements in facilities.

Much of the money has come from a national lottery.

"We can rule the waves again," Britain's top-selling Sun said, catching the wave of patriotism.

Julie C

Brilliant

dawn

this is from my local newspaper

Blondie

DAY 12 NEWS

Payne & Patten in the Medals: Keri-Anne Payne and Cassie Patten became the first Team GB swimmers to win medals in the 10km open water marathon at an Olympic Games as the discipline made its debut in Beijing on Wednesday. Payne won silver and Patten bronze in the morning race.

Shaw Thing for Bryony: Windsurfer Bryony Shaw collected Team GB’s fifth sailing medal of the Games when she won bronze in the RS:X class.

Bronze for Danvers: Tasha Danvers slashed her personal best to win bronze in the 400m hurdles – Team GB’s third track and field medal of the Games to date.

Team GB medals today: Gold: 0 Silver: 1 Bronze: 3

Team GB medals total: Gold: 16 Silver: 10 Bronze: 11

Sport by Sport Round-up

Athletics: Christian Malcolm finished sixth in the 200m final in 20.40 seconds. Michael Rimmer won his 800m heat to book a place in Thursday’s semis, while Emily Freeman finished seventh in her 200m semi-final, missing out on the final.

Aquatics: Diving – Tonia Couch finished 12th and Stacie Powell 14th in the preliminary round of the 10m platform to progress to Thursday’s semi-finals.

Boxing: James DeGale made sure Team GB will land three boxing medals in Beijing by beating Bakhtiyar Artayev of Kazakhstan 8-3 on points in the middleweight quarter-finals. He joins team-mates Tony Jeffries (light heavyweight) and David Price (super heavyweight) in the semi-finals. They are all guaranteed at least a bronze medal.

Cycling: Shanaze Reade produced the second fastest time of the day on her second seeding run, despite crashing in her first. It means she can chose her start gate for Thursday’s semi-finals. But Liam Phillips went out in the quarter-finals.

Sailing: There was disappointment for Nick Dempsey in the men’s RS:X windsurfing class – he slipped from the medal positions to finish fourth overall. Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson go into the Star class medal race on Thursday in second place after first, second and sixth place finishes in Wednesday’s races. Leigh McMillan and Will Howden recorded second, third and 12th place finishes in the Tornado class ahead of Thursday’s medal race.

Taekwondo: Eighteen-year-old Michael Harvey lost his opening under-58kg class contest 3-2 to Mexico’s Guillermo Perez, the 2007 world championship silver medallist. Despite putting up a brave battle in the repechage, he went down 2-1 to Rohullah Nikpai of Afghanistan, when victory would have put him into a bronze medal contest.

Blondie

DAY 13 NEWS

Stellar Performance in Star Class: Team GB’s Star Class sailors – Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson - rounded off the Olympic sailing regatta in style by winning gold in Qingdao today. It takes Team GB’s final sailing medal haul to four golds, one silver and one bronze, making it their most successful Olympic regatta for 100 years.

Silver for Davies: David Davies continued Team GB’s stunning performances in the open water marathon swimming by taking silver in the men’s event today – 24 hours after team-mates Keri-Anne Payne won silver in the women’s race with Cassie Patten taking bronze in the women’s race.

Triple Jump Silver for Idowu: Phillips Idowu produced a season’s best 17.62m to take silver in the triple jump. He led the field at the halfway mark, before Portugal’s Nelson Evora added 5cm to his distance to take gold.

Team GB medals today: Gold: 1 Silver: 2 Bronze: 0

Team GB medals total: Gold: 17 Silver: 12 Bronze: 11

Sport by Sport Round-up

Aquatics: Stacie Powell and Tonia Couch made a piece of history by both qualifying for the women’s 10m platform final – it is the first time two British women have qualified for an individual Olympic diving final. Couch finished eighth in the final, with Powell coming 10th.

Athletics: Goldie Sayers set a British record of 65.75m with her first round throw in the javelin final, but just missed the medals, finishing fourth. Martyn Rooney came 6th in the 400m final, while Lisa Dobriskey knocked three seconds off her pb in 4:03.22 to qualify for 1500m final. Johanna Jackson took seven seconds off her own British 20km race walking record as she finished 22nd today.

Canoeing: Tim Brabants and Lucy Wainwright both qualified for their respective K1 kayak 500m finals. Brabants was third in his semi and Wainwright was runner-up in hers.

Equestrian: Two Team GB riders made the final round of the show jumping in Hong Kong. Tim Stockdale finished 16th on Corlato, with Ben Maher coming 20th on Rolette.

Modern pentathlon: Sam Weale and Nick Woodbridge became the first Team GB male modern pentathletes to compete at an Olympic Games since Atlanta in 1996. Weale came 10th overall with Woodbridge finishing 25th.

Sailing: In addition to the gold medal won by Star class sailors Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson, the Team GB Tornado crew of Leigh McMillan and Will Howden ended their campaign on a high note by winning today’s medal race to finish the series sixth overall.

FlakeySugarButt

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

We've dropped down to 4th on the medals table! Bloody Russia have bagged themselves 2 Gold which has bumped them above us. We need to get 2 back now to go back into 3rd spot because they've got a higher overall tally than us so equalizing won't shift us. I really want us to get 3rd, but I don't even know if we've got enough events left that we're competing in where we have a chance of getting them.

To be fair though, 4th is still an amazing achievement for us so I'm still proud!

Blondie

oops its a bit late!

DAY 14 NEWS

Terrific Tim: Tim Brabants made it 18 gold medals for Team GB with victory in the final of the men’s K1 1000m kayak competition. His win also brought a first ever canoeing gold for Great Britain.

Silver Success for Heather: For the third Olympic Games in a row Team GB won a medal in the modern pentathlon, Heather Fell finishing second behind Germany’s Lena Schoneborn to clinch the silver medal after taking 10 seconds out of her rival in the final event, the 3000m run. Team-mate Katy Livingston finished seventh.

Boxing Bronzes: Tony Jeffries and David Price had to settle for bronze medals after being defeated in their semi-final bouts. James DeGale, the 22-year middleweight from London, earned a gold medal chance on Saturday by out-pointing Darren Sutherland of Ireland 10-3 in their semi-final.

Team GB medals today: Gold: 1 Silver: 1 Bronze: 2

Team GB medals total: Gold: 18 Silver: 13 Bronze: 11

Sport by Sport Round-up

Athletics: Britain’s men and women both qualified for Saturday’s finals in the 4x400m relay. The men were fastest qualifiers with a time of 2:59.33, while the women finished third in their heat with a time of 3:25.48. Jade Johnson finished seventh in the women’s long jump with a distance of 6.64m but there was disappointment in the women’s 4x100m relay, where the British four failed to get the baton round. In the men’s decathlon, Daniel Awde ended in 21st place with a total points score of 7516.

Cycling: Shanaze Reade crashed in the final of the BMX racing today chasing the gold medal. The double BMXC world champion was in the silver medal position and chasing down leader Anne Caroline Chausson when she clipped the French rider’s back wheel and crashed on the last major bend.

Diving: Pete Waterfield and Tom Daley both qualified for Saturday’s semi-final of the men’s individual 10m platform event.

Hockey: Team GB’s hockey women ended the Olympic tournament in sixth, losing their 5th/6th place play-off 2-0 to Australia.

Taekwondo: Teenager Aaron Cook suffered heartbreak in the men’s under-80kg competition, losing his semi-final fight in the dying seconds to Italian Mauro Sarmiento and then missing out on the bronze medal with a 4-1 defeat by China’s Zhu Guo.

Blondie

DAY 15 NEWS

DeGale Finishes on a High: James DeGale rounded off Team GB’s boxing campaign with gold in the middleweight division, courtesy of a 16-14 points win over Cuba’s Emilio Correa Bayeaux to take Team GB's boxing medal haul at the Games to one gold and two bronzes.

Stevenson Secures GB’s First Taekwondo Medal: Sarah Stevenson won Team GB’s first ever Olympic taekwondo medal when she beat Egypt’s Noha Abd Rabo 5-1 today.

Second Medal for Brabants: Tim Brabants has won his second medal of the Games, adding the 500m K1 kayak flatwater canoe bronze to the 1000m gold he won on Friday.

Team GB medals today: Gold: 1 Silver: 0 Bronze: 2

Team GB medals total: Gold: 19 Silver: 13 Bronze: 15

Sport by Sport Round-up:

Aquatics: Diving – Tom Daley rounded off his diving campaign with a seventh place finish in the 10m platform final – matchingTeam GB’s best diving performance of the Games. Pete Waterfield just missed out on a place in the final.

Athletics: Lisa Dobriskey came agonisingly close to the medals in the 1500m final, finishing fourth. Martyn Rooney produced a strong finish on the anchor leg to bring Team GB home in fourth in the men’s 4x400m relay, while the GB women’s 4x400m quartet came fifth.

Canoeing: In addition to Tim Brabants’ bronze medal, Lucy Wainwright finished seventh in the women’s 500m K1 kayak final.

Cycling: Team GB’s mountain bikers missed out on the medals in the cross-country competition. Liam Killeen finished seventh and Oli Beckingsale 12th.

Hockey: Team GB’s hockey men rounded off their campaign with an emphatic 5-2 win over Korea in the 5th/6th place play-off in a game that was tied at 0-0 at half time. Britain’s goals came from Barry Middleton, Ashley Jackson, a brace from Jonty Clark and one from Glenn Kirkham.

Julie C

Thanks

Louise (Admin)

The Queen has congratulated British and Commonwealth athletes for their success at the Beijing Olympics and said she was looking forward to the London Games in 2012.

As the 2008 Olympics draw to a close and China hands over the reins to the UK, the Queen spoke of her enjoyment of the sporting event.

This summer's Games have seen Team GB score a string of gold medals in events including cycling, sailing, swimming and athletics.

The Queen said: "As the Olympic Games in Beijing draw to a close, I have been particularly impressed by the British and Commonwealth athletes who have taken part in this memorable competition and who have contributed so much to the spirit of these remarkable Games in the various disciplines.

"Like so many people around the world, I have followed their endeavours with great interest and admiration.

"To all the participants, and to everyone who has supported them so well, I send my warmest congratulations.

"As a nation we now look forward to holding the Olympic Games in London in 2012.

"The golden triumphs of the present British team can only serve as further inspiration to those who will be working hard over the next four years to make the London Games a shining example of Olympic success."

London mayor Boris Johnson will receive the Olympic flag in the handover ceremony in Beijing.

Blondie

The curtain was drawn on the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the Bird’s Nest Stadium on Sunday night as London Mayor Boris Johnson accepted the Olympic Flag from International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge to officially begin the London Olympiad.

British legends from the world of sport and entertainment led the handover celebrations from an iconic red double decker bus. Leona Lewis and Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page combined to provide a musical backdrop for ex-England football captain David Beckham to appear on the upper deck of the bus much to the delight of the crowd.

There are 1433 days until the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony and the countdown now begins in earnest. Team GB will be looking to build upon their outstanding success in Beijing where they finished fourth in the medal table with 19 gold, 13 silver and 15 bronze medals, giving a total of 47 medals and representing Great Britain's best Olympic performance for 100 years.