Olympics medal table and live results | Schedule for day eight of Games
Ennis-Hill leads after day one as Greg Rutherford survives scare
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1.26pm BST
The BBC have just showed a replay of the men’s team pursuit final. I would not disagree with anyone who found the Wiggins hysteria a little nauseating if entirely inevitable but his last two digs on the front were just unbelievable. As Geraint Thomas pointed out on Twitter last night, Ed Clancy and Steven Burke deserve huge amounts of credit, as does Owain Doull, but Wiggins dragged them over the line.
1.20pm BST
Jonathan Watts, the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, has been in contact with his daily digest of stories commanding attention in the Brazilian media …
1.12pm BST
It’s just gone 9am in Rio and that means that a couple of sports have begun for the day. Fencing wise the women’s sabre team quarter-finals are up and running and China are facing Spain in the women’s water polo preliminaries.
12.57pm BST
Super Saturday then. Can Great Britain do it again and win three gold medals in track and field? And indeed six overall? Or why stop at six? On top of Jessica Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford there are two genuine chances on the rowing lake (although the women’s eight would do extremely well to beat USA), two in the velodrome and two in the pool (even if those a little bit more optimistic).
OK, perhaps I’m getting a bit ahead of myself and all eight medals is unlikely, Great Britain are not Michael Phelps after all. But it must be pointed out that Great Britain, at this stage anyway, have largely avoided the drop-off that tends to affect Olympic host nations. Just look at what happened to Australia for example. Yes, Great Britain did pinch a number of their best coaches but whether you agree with UK Sport’s funding policy or not, it certainly gets results.
12.46pm BST
Here’s a reminder of how things are poised in the men’s golf – it’s Australia’s Marcus Fraser who still leads at 10 under with Belgium’s Thomas Pieters one shot behind and Henrik Stenson continuing his rich vein of form at eight under. Justin Rose leads the way for Great Britain at six under.
12.32pm BST
The empty seats at the athletics, and indeed at a number of other events, is similarly another bone of contention. And Gary does make a valid point …
@gerard_meagher Re London 2012 tennis, just look at the state of the "crowd" here https://t.co/Fyyu3kiWuN
12.27pm BST
Hope Solo’s “bunch of cowards” comment – directed at Sweden after the USA crashed out of the women’s football competition – has caused quite a stir. Here are a couple of pieces to sink your teeth into.
Related: USA's women lost – blaming it on 'cowards' simply misses the point
Related: The women's soccer defeat shows: we Americans are sore losers | Lilit Marcus
12.23pm BST
Athletics now and Sonia O’Sullivan, the Irish former long-distance runner who won 5,000 silver at Sydney 2000, reacted to Almaz Ayana’s world record breaking performance in the 10,000m with more than a hint of caution when commentating for the Irish broadcaster RTE.
I’m not jumping out of my seat because I still... I don’t know, you kind of question it yourself as well and you think, ‘how can you do that?’ Is it 23 years of knowing more training, having better athletes? How do you have an athlete who can break the world record so easily like that? And she didn’t look very tired afterwards.”
12.19pm BST
The first pairing are out on the golf course – it’s Singo Katayama of Japan and France’s Julien Quesne. As it’s the third round, we’re in reverse order so a little while yet until the leaders are out.
There’s also some badminton action, both men’s and women’s doubles preliminaries.
12.16pm BST
Idle thought occurred as packing to head for the tennis – which organisers insist is a sellout, despite visual evidence strongly to the contrary: why not fill those empty seats by giving tickets to kids from the favelas? Can you imagine what an impression that would leave on some of them? Can you imagine what a thrill they might have had watching Thomaz Bellucci flirt with the impossible on Friday when, for a time, he looked like beating the might Rafa? Can you imagine the tales they could tell when they went home?
The Olympics are supposed to be, in large part, about dreaming, about thinking the impossible. That’s why a lot of athletes are here in the first place. Andy Murray chose to come, not for the money or the ranking points – coz there ain’t any – but the glory and the chance to win medals for Great Britain. He says it all the time: it’s not so much about him, as the team.
12.11pm BST
12.08pm BST
I’m sorry to say that’s me done. It’s been a splendid way to spend a Saturday morning though. Thanks for your company. I’ll be back with you for another graveyard shift in a couple of days from now. Over to Gerard Meagher. Enjoy your Super Saturday.
12.05pm BST
Excellent intel from D Russell on the email on Olympians who’ve competed in two events at the same Games, a topic of interest a couple hours back. I’ll post it all:
“There are a number of athletes who have entered multiple disciplines at the same Olympiad. Johnny Wiesmuller (of USA and Tarzan fame) won golds for swimming and water-polo in 1924. Brit Paul Radmilovic won gold in water-polo at the 1908 games. Due to illness, he was drafted into the GB 4x200 metre relay which they duly won.
11.43am BST
I just caught a replay of Greg Rutherford’s qualification for the long jump final. Blimey, nearly botched it didn’t he? “Sorry mum and dad, I do apologise,” he said to the BBC with a bit of a smile. Impressive fella.
Related: Jessica Ennis-Hill leads heptathlon after day one as Greg Rutherford survives scare
11.39am BST
If you’re just getting here then I’d suggest you get up to speed by reading the daily briefing. That’ll tell you all you need about yesterday, and a nice little primer for what to look out for on day eight. Then, keep this open on your screen as well to track events as it happens. Very handy. And you can tailor it to the country you want to follow. Even better.
Related: Olympics 2016 daily briefing: Solo storm, wonderful Wiggins and a Schooling for Phelps
11.31am BST
One more Phelpsy piece before we really get stuck into the day ahead. And an excellent one, by Les Carpenter in Rio. About how the Baltimore Boy is considerably happier than the robot who dominated previous Games. Quite a lot in here, and well worth it.
Soon he will walk away with the last of his medals dangling around his neck. He steps into fatherhood and into a great unknown: what do you do when you have won more medals than anybody ever and have to start again at something else? Nothing will ever compare to the rush of these races, of the roar of the crowd and the constant affirmation that he – yes he – was the best in the world over and over again. Now he talks about fatherhood and baby outfits and the thrill of knowing his son has seen him swim even if the child has no idea what he is seeing.
Related: Michael Phelps's road to redemption: the champion who found a hinterland
11.24am BST
Neglected to give this a spin when going through the day that was. North Korea’s Rim Jong Sim won their first gold of the Games, in the weightlifting. She said her first thought was how happy it would make her country’s leader, Kim Jong-un. I’m a bit disappointed he isn’t here competing on the golf course given his old man certainly had skills to pay the bills in the discipline.
Related: North Korean weightlifter says Olympic gold will make 'beloved' Kim Jong-un happy
11.14am BST
We’re 15 minutes away from the start of Super Saturday! It begins on the golf course, with the third round of the men’s golf. Then a spot of badminton, before the first medals of the day are decided in the regatta at about half two British time. Not long after that it’s the one athletics final on this afternoon session: the men’s discuss. Then the day goes wild. Whether it’s the pool, the velo, the track, the boxing ring, the tennis court - there medals being given out everywhere. Weightlifting, shooting, fencing and trampolining as well. What a day.
Study the program. Sort your day around it. If there was ever time to settle into a long shift in front of the telly today is it. And of course, stick with us on the blog throughout.
Related: Rio Olympics 2016 – full events schedule
10.54am BST
Michael Phelps didn’t win. Like man biting dog, it’s the unexpected that produces the most interesting headlines. But he was kind of okay with it. Here’s Andy Bull’s piece on Phelps’ final individual Olympic swim. The winner was Joseph Schooling, a Singaporean who had his photo taken with Phelps as a kid. Nice stuff.
“They came to the country club that I trained at,” Schooling said. It was early in the morning, and he was working on an essay. “Everyone just rushed up and was like “it’s Michael Phelps! It’s Michael Phelps!’ and I really wanted a picture.”
Related: Michael Phelps taught a lesson for once – by Joseph Schooling | Andy Bull
10.32am BST
Is it a bit odd that no Brit has won more than eight medals, by the way? This probably feeds into the swimming-has-too-many-medals narrative, doesn’t it? As an Australian, I curiously enough don’t subscribe to that view. Bring on the the 25m sidestroke. Less is more? No. More is more.
10.29am BST
In case you missed it in the rolling news cycle that gathers pace by the hour at an event like this, Sir Wiggo became Great Britain’s most successful Olympian overnight. Here’s a video of him holding medals through the years, from Sydney to Rio.
10.22am BST
This starts off a bit sad but ends up quite lovely. Australian walker Dane Bird-Smith picked up bronze in 20km walk, but his Dad - an Olympian himself from 1984 - missed the medal ceremony as the local police locked him up!
“Just classic Dad really,” said the medal winner. What a great quote.
Related: Australian medal winner's father misses ceremony following arrest mixup
10.12am BST
Excited about Mo later on? The loudest stadium I’ve ever experienced.
Related: Mo Farah aims to punish his rivals with final flourish in Super Saturday encore
10.09am BST
Really enjoying these interactive deep dives. See here how GB won the team pursuit last night: metre by metre. Most impressive work by Carlo Zapponi and Feilding Cage.
Related: How Britain won gold and set a new world record in Olympics team pursuit
10.01am BST
On the stadium woes, Gary Naylor has tweeted us: “Surely the reason there are empty seats is that the tickets are too expensive or too difficult for sports fans to get hold of?”
That may very well be the case. And if it is, that’s an indictment. I know it’s more sophisticated in 2016 than throwing the gates open. But there has to be a middle ground. Let’s hope for full stands tonight.
9.51am BST
One for the Australians: Sun Yang didn’t qualify for the 1500m final and won’t get to defend his title, while rival Mack Horton will be there after finishing second in his heat. Yang says he was ill.
Related: Illness derails Sun Yang's 1500m showdown with Mack Horton
9.38am BST
“Speed golf - who wouldn’t want to watch Usain Bolt on a links?,” suggests Craig McEwan on the email. This is better than the violent alternatives. I want to see some synchronised Greco Roman. Oil me up.
Craig also thanked us for our overnight coverage. It’s our pleasure.
Related: The 20 best Olympic moments in Rio – so far
9.24am BST
Hope Solo had a real, old fashioned gallop after the USA were punted from the women’s football by Sweden.
She said:
“I think we showed a lot of heart. We came back from a goal down, I’m very proud of this team. And I also think we played a bunch of cowards. The best team did not win today, I strongly, firmly believe that.”
Related: Hope Solo calls Sweden 'a bunch of cowards' after USA falter at Olympics
9.11am BST
Clare Pearson has dropped us a line, and I thank her for it.
“I have a question and a suggestion”
9.03am BST
Barney did a thing on the stadium being... half full? Quarter full? Whatever the case, it looked pretty ordinary on the telly. Surely they’ll be out in force tonight.
Rio has never really been a morning kind of place. Ask the average Carioca to leap out of bed on a rainy morning to catch some early discus heats and you might expect a little scepticism. Still, there was something surreal about the scenes inside the Olympic arena, venue for the real glamour events of the next 10 days, which kicked off almost empty, half-filled slowly and was said to be 65% sold for the evening session.
Related: The athletics elite turns up on time but Rio seems still to be in bed
8.53am BST
The best bit of my day on this blog is getting to trawl through the shots taken by some of the best photographers on the planet. Here’s the day seven gallery. James Dart, the digital sports editor here, reckons the Ledecky shot is the best of the lot, illustrating her dominance in the 800m final overnight. Hard to argue with that. Enjoy.
Related: World records for Ledecky, British cyclists and Ayana: Rio 2016, day seven – in pictures
8.46am BST
I don’t think it is overstating things to say that the Matildas, Australia’s women’s football team, are quickly becoming my nation’s favourite sporting team. But they were eliminated overnight in the worst possible fashion: the penalty shoot out. Brazil proceed to the final four.
Related: Rio 2016: Matildas knocked out by Brazil in thrilling quarter-final shootout
8.42am BST
I’ve missed a trick in not mentioning Bradley Wiggins this morning after becoming Britain’s most successful Olympic athlete, his eighth medal (fifth gold) claimed in yesterday’s team pursuit final.
Here’s Owen Gibson picking the bones out of that feat.
While his friends had pictures of footballers on their walls, Wiggins grew up in Kilburn watching Chris Boardman winning gold in Barcelona and dreaming of bike races and Olympic medals.
Related: Sir Bradley Wiggins pulls clear from roll of British Olympic greats
8.29am BST
I’m compelled to pull this out of the below-the-line comments, from reader Mark O’Connor.
“Adam, I’m on the way home from the ‘G after watching our beloved Hawks stay a game clear in the hunt for their fourth straight flag. They remind me of the GB coxless four combinations of the last 16 years - not terribly well loved outside their devoted fans, but it’s impossible not to respect their professionalism, grit and sheer will to win.”
8.25am BST
The Anthony Ervin story may be just about the best of the Olympics so far. Following his overnight gold in the 50m, it’s not a bad time to rehash Andy Bull’s rollicking profile of him four years ago in London. Helluva tale.
In the next eight years, Ervin grew some dreadlocks, played lead guitar in a heavy metal band called Weapons of Mass Destruction, took a job in a record shop, and another in a tattoo parlour, became an alcoholic, experimented with hallucinogens, fractured his shoulder on a motorcycle while he was trying to escape from the police, tried to kill himself with a tranquilliser overdose, spent time studying Sufism became a committed Buddhist and, finally, went back to Berkeley to complete a degree in English.
Related: Olympic swimming: The amazing adventures of the USA's Anthony Ervin | Andy Bull
8.18am BST
This is how Ennis-Hill brought it home in the 800m four years ago on that Super Saturday (you’re going to hear that plenty of times today). It’s the official Olympics stream though as I can’t find the BBC call on youtube. If someone had mad skillz and can ping it through to me, I’ll post that too. Nothing beats a parochial call.
8.12am BST
Speaking of brilliance: Jess Ennis-Hill is on track to go back to back in the heptathlon. Here’s she is taking the lead by coming second in the 200m leg overnight. Bajan Akela Jones is in second place with four of the seven events completed, 25 points behind. I’m not quite sure what that means in relative terms, but they are sitting on 1149 and 1124 respectively. So that suggests Ennis will have to pull out the big ones when competition continues this evening. Don’t doubt her.
8.06am BST
David Spear (not David ‘Britney’ Speers for you Australian politics fans) has opened the correspondence for the morning.
“Here in NZ really enjoying your extensive coverage with The Guardian.”
What more can you even say about 35-year-old Anthony Ervin? You’d probably start by pointing out he’s now the oldest man to win a gold medal in Olympic swimming after his triumph in the 50m freestyle and end by pointing out that when he won his last, as a 19-year-old in the 2000 Sydney Games, he ended up hawking it on eBay to raise $17,000 for the UNICEF tsunami relief fund. Whaddaguy.
8.00am BST
Before we pace through it all with our writers furiously filing their considered stories, have a sniff around the results and medals page. That sounds a bit bland, but it’s essential (if you ask me) to have open in a tab for the duration of the day. Oh, and Team GB are third. Only feels like a couple of days ago when the very status of the nation was under threat for underperformance. Oh wait, that was only a couple of days ago. I guess that Seb Coe knows a thing or two.
Australia, meanwhile, have dropped to ninth after a second consecutive goldless day. But they do have Sri Lanka 55-5 in the cricket. With Shaun Marsh in the XI, I note. This’ll mean nothing to American readers but plenty to the rest.
Related: Rio Olympics 2016 – medal table and results in full
7.49am BST
How about that morning briefing? Russell Jackson, my mate in Melbourne, has really looked after us there. Soak it in with a cup of tea. Or maybe a beer? I just saw a lad with a tin of beer on the tube before 7am, so it isn’t without precedent. Either way: read the briefing. And then subscribe to it so you get it at 7am each morning.
7.45am BST
And what a morning. The cloudless sky feels just right after Team GB’s corker of a day, adding three golds to their pile and leaping to third on the table. And what’s today, you ask? Super Saturday. Who knows whether it’ll play out as it did four years ago, but there isn’t a more exciting day of any Olympiad than the middle Saturday of the Games where the pool, track, velo and just about every other venue of note are heaving with medal deciders.
I’m Adam Collins and I’m here to guide you gently through the hours until they wake in Rio. As I’ve said on other days, we’re given a bit of latitude on the blog these few quiet hours. So take advantage of that and give me your best shot. Adam.Collins.Freelance@theguardian.com is the place to do it, and @collinsadam will also work.
6.35am BST
Welcome back for day eight in Rio, where Sir Bradley Wiggins has increased his jewellery collection to Mr T proportions, the athletics events have finally kicked off and the diving pool water is still green. You can keep up with all the action as it unfolds on the Guardian live blog, which unlike most events at these Games, never stops.
Guessing that Phelps is okay with silver, not okay with having to share a medal stand with Chad le Clos #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/7JqPwHzAce
Got in his hands - @anthonyervin wins #gold again 16 years later in #rio2016 #gobears #goo… https://t.co/q9ubXOFQoq pic.twitter.com/13BaPtAg2N
1st cycling medal for Australia! Silver for men's team pursuit.https://t.co/pgskCD0zYf#OneTeam pic.twitter.com/DQ347LLdIu
Game's over, Brazil advanced, nothing to do. Still mad about Barbara coming so far off her line almost every time. pic.twitter.com/YqdHji62td
This was the full context of my comments today. Thank you @GrantWahl. Losing sucks. I'm really bad at it. https://t.co/s5Mckg8o6B
Now THIS is something you NEVER see..#Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/LY5AVcT9CQ
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