2016-08-18

Olympics medal table and live results | Schedule for day 13 of Games

Triathlon: gold for Alistair Brownlee as brother Jonny takes silver

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8.00pm BST

The women’s 10m platform final is getting underway in a couple of minutes. And it’s very windy. Si Yajie of China was the most impressive in qualifying, USA’s Jessica Parratto was second. Australia and Britain also have divers in action – Melissa Wu and Tonia Couch.

7.54pm BST

Boxing needs a good laugh, or at least an extended grin, after days of rolling rumours about suspect judging and even collusion in what has been a troubled tournament on several fronts. And on to the stage bounds Nicola Adams, whose smile could light up a graveyard, but who spared no charity on her old friend, Cancan Ren, beating her convincingly to reach the flyweight final.

Related: Nicola Adams lights up the ring en route to Olympic flyweight final

7.52pm BST

There was no shame in defeat for Thomas Barr, the Irishman who finished a gallant fourth in the 400m hurdles final won by Kerron Clement of the USA. Barr broke the national record he set in the semi-final and was 0.05sec off bronze. Barry Glendenning was at the stadium …

Related: Ireland’s Thomas Barr sets national record in Rio’s 400m hurdles final

7.50pm BST

Pat Hickey, the Irish Olympic Council chief, has been released from hospital.

Here is Pat Hickey being escorted from hospital moments ago in Rio pic.twitter.com/UQpXnR8zTa

7.48pm BST

What scenes at the bay as home pair Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze win the medal race of the 49er FX. That’s the final event of the Games at the Marina da Gloria – quite the way for the hosts to sign off.

7.42pm BST

Britain’s Jade Jones has won her quarter-final against Raheleh Asemani of Belgium 7-2 and will face Sweden’s Nikita Glasnovic in the semi-final in about 90 minutes time.

7.39pm BST

AIBA, amateur boxing’s world governing body (with ambitions to bring the professionals under its leaking umbrella), are digging a hole rather than filling it in after sending six officials home and “reassigning” Karim Bouzidi – without even naming him. This is old-fashioned Eastern Bloc mind-set, state-controlled media management. Except it looks even more dreadful than the judging. “The decisions taken emphasise that AIBA will not shy away from its responsibilities and will continue to ensure a level playing field and a fair and transparent sport. It is of paramount importance to protect our sport and its R&J community whose integrity has been put into question.”
But “shying away” is exactly what they are doing. No names, no numbers, no responsibility.

7.38pm BST

La Cruz is throwing some shapes during the third round and breaks into a full dance when the bell tolls. What a performance from the Cuban. He is jeered by the crowd for showboating but he looks a special boxer. The decision, of course, is unanimous.

7.34pm BST

The Cuban fighter has taken the second round unanimously too. Can Niyazymbetov find a knockout blow or is he to settle for silver?

7.33pm BST

It’s fair to say reaction to the US relay decision is mixed

@alansmith90 One of the US athletes was impeded or interfered with in the women's relay. In other sports, that's a DQ. No problem with me.

@alansmith90 Re. 4x100 No! It's not fair, but aren't there nine lanes at the OS?

7.29pm BST

La Cruz takes the first round on all three scorecards.

7.28pm BST

The final piece of action for today in the boxing ring is underway. The men’s light heavy weight final sees Cuba’s Julio La Cruz take on Kazakhstan’s Adilbek Niyazymbetov – the world No1 and No2.

7.22pm BST

Is this fair? Email me your thoughts – alan.smith@theguardian.com – or send a tweet to @alansmith90

Related: USA will have chance to rerun women's 4x100m after dropping baton

7.13pm BST

Towards the end of the second round of the women’s golf, there is no major surprise on the leaderboard. Stacey Lewis of Team USA leads on -9, with Britain’s Charley Hull and South Korea’s Inbee Park (who is still on the course) a shot behind. Candie Kung of Chinese Taipei, Nicole Larsen of Denmark and Norway’s Marianne Skarpnord are a further stroke back on -7.

7.11pm BST

In a further twist to the controversy over the judging at the boxing, under a cloud of corruption fears revealed by the Guardian on the eve of the Olympics, the AIBA executive director (and effectively the man who runs the show) Karim Bouzidi has been “reassigned” to a new role with immediate effect. Of course, this being an international sports federation, they don’t say why. Or, indeed, even name him in the release. Yesterday a number of officials (believed by the Guardian to be six in number) were also sent home. They weren’t named either and all the results to date stood. How’s that for transparency?

7.08pm BST

And things could get even better for the Serbians, who are in the early stages of their women’s basketball semi-final with Spain. It’s 7-6 to the latter midway through the first quarter there.

7.07pm BST

Sensationally, Serbia have beaten the USA in the volleyball! There will be no gold medal for America because Serbia have come from behind to win 3-2 (taking the decider 15-13) and will enter their debut decider in their third Games. There are tears on both sides for very different reasons. The other semi-final, China v Netherlands, takes place later – at 10.15pm local time.

7.01pm BST

The US women’s 4x100m have been let back into the competition after dropping the baton earlier today. Sort of. Allyson Felix was bumped by a Brazilian athlete as she attempted to hand over to English Gardner, and the US successfully appealed. The US will now have a chance to try again - around an empty track. If they beat the slowest team into the final, then they’ll be in. That team is ... China, so there’s absolutely no chance of political fallout on this one. According to the IAAF China has already lodged a protest against the decision. We just need to throw Ryan Lochte and some boxing judges into the mix and we’ll have the perfect Olympic story.

6.59pm BST

In the fifth set of the volleyball semi-final, USA lead 11-10. It’s gonna go right down to the wire.

6.52pm BST

Japan’s Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi have beaten the Danish duo Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl 2-1 in the women’s badminton doubles final, coming from behind to win 18-21, 21-9, 21-19.

6.47pm BST

In the volleyball semi-final, USA have made it 2-2 in sets against Serbia. And it is 2-2 early in the fifth.

6.36pm BST

The AIBA have released a statement to say they are “fully committed to a zero tolerance policy towards fair play in boxing”. Err …

6.34pm BST

Lochte’s Rio timeline: how the story spiralled out of control

Related: Ryan Lochte's Rio timeline: how the story of a late-night robbery got out of hand

6.30pm BST

France’s Sarah Ourahmoune has beaten Colombia’s Ingrit Valencia Victoria in the other women’s flyweight semi-final on a split points decision and will face Nicola Adams in Saturday’s final.

6.23pm BST

The swimming competition may have finished several days ago, but there are now questions over whether the pool was up to scratch. Research and data suggests competitors on one side had a significant advantage due to a current affecting times. Full story below.

Related: Olympic pool 'current' may have skewed swimming results in Rio 2016

6.19pm BST

Serbia now lead the USA in the volleyball semi-final – the first time the Americans have been behind in the whole tournament. Serbia take the third set 25-21 and are one away from a major upset.

6.14pm BST

The quest to retain her Olympic title is a step closer. The Leeds fighter has beaten the 2012 finalist, Ren Cancan, 39-37 on all three scorecards. She will face Colombian or French opposition in the final.

6.12pm BST

Ouch! Liam Phillips, who had a big chance of a medal in the BMX, has had to withdraw from the competition after a nasty crash in the first run of the quarter-final. A disappointing end for Phillips, the 2013 world champion, but it highlights the danger of, arguably, one of the most spectacular sports at the Games.

6.10pm BST

Adams executes her jab excellently in the third round but Cancan also lands a couple of shots on the backfoot. The 2012 winner gets the decision unanimously again and leads by a point on all the judges’ scorecards heading into the final round.

6.06pm BST

The Briton responds aggressively and lands some impressive headshots. She starts and finishes the round impressively … and wins the round unanimously. It’s level heading into the third round.

6.04pm BST

The first round is even, with a lot of standing off each other. But all three judges score Cancan 10-9 – probably on the basis of landing a couple of good early punches. How can Adams respond?

6.01pm BST

Britain’s Nicola Adams, in the red corner and the very slight favourite for women’s flyweight gold, is about to take on China’s Ren Cancan, in blue. This is a meeting of the 2012 final and the loser here, no doubt, will be very disappointed. When they met in competition earlier this year, Cancan won. The head to head puts Cancan 3-2 ahead.

5.51pm BST

Potential shock alert! USA have been pulled back to 1-1 by Serbia in the women’s volleyball semi-final, winning the second set 25-17 after America took the opener 25-20.

5.48pm BST

While the sailing was finishing, Germany were beating the Netherlands 4-3 in the men’s hockey bronze medal match. Sander De Wijn missed his attempt for the Dutch, to give their neighbours third place.

5.41pm BST

Quelle surprise! The Russian boxer who controversially beat Michael Conlan in the bantamweight quarter-finals at the Olympic Games in Rio pulled out of Thursday’s semi-finals because of injury. Full story here.

5.40pm BST

Helen Pidd is at the scene. Here’s her

on the whistle
report.

Related: Great Britain’s Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark seal Olympics sailing gold in 470

Gold medal winners Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark have sailed to the beach to greet their loved ones #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/s5REluDGRm

5.39pm BST

Mills and Clark are overwhelmed. They the sail towards the beach, jump off and are met by family members and piles of photographers looking to capture some emotional scenes at Marina da Gloria. A union flag finally appears and there are hugs all round. This is not the Done Thing in sailing, apparently, but who could begrudge an Olympic champion the chance to celebrate?

5.35pm BST

It was a foregone conclusion before today’s delayed medal race courtesy of an unassailable lead but the 2012 silver winners – who were disappointed to let gold slip away then – have been confirmed as winners of the women’s 470 (dinghy) sailing. It is a role reversal with New Zealand’s pair, Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie, who pipped Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark in London four years ago. Camille Lecointre and Hélène Defrance of France take bronze.

5.32pm BST

Hello! What this Olympics has shown is that some sports are undisputedly better suited than others to TV. The first leg of the triathlon earlier, much like the marathon swimming, was a struggle because it was so hard to identify those in the water – why not give them hats specific to their nationality? – while other events that the average man and woman tends to watch only once every four years look brilliant, such as the BMX biking. Anyway, I digress because there is some sailing news …

5.29pm BST

Right, chaps - that’s about me. Thanks all for your company and comments, sorry I couldn’t use them all.

Here’s Alan Smith to guide you through the next little bit.

5.27pm BST

Enjoy the brothers Brownlee taking gold, though only if you’re in the UK, desculpe.

5.26pm BST

So USA win the first game in the women’s volleyball against Serbia, while in the hockey we’ve got a penalty shoot-out to decide who gets bronze.

5.21pm BST

Back at the volleyball, it’s 20-18 to Serbia, while at the hockey, Germany’s Butt misses a chance from all of two yards, with just five minutes to go. It was a good save, but the keeper oughtn’t to have smelled it.

5.17pm BST

“A day later than planned and British sailors Hannah Mills and Saskia
Clark are finally on the way to collect their gold medals in the 470
class. This unromantically named event - it’s the length of the
dinghies - has been dominated by the British duo, who came into the
final with such a point lead that gold was guaranteed. But the other
medals are very much still up for grabs. Looking out across the water
from the beach it seems that Team USA rounded the marker first: they
went into the final in third place. The Brits appear to be taking it
pretty easy at this point. As long as they don’t sink or get
disqualified they will definitely be occupying the podium top spot
later this afternoon.”

5.17pm BST

“Brazil’s first ever canoeing medallist Isaquias QUEIROZ DOS SANTOS is coming to terms with his rapid journey from zero to hero here in Rio. Since his silver in yesterday’s K1 1000m he’s been struggling to make it down the street as people stop him to ask for photos – a problem when you’re still in training for your 200m final the next day. ‘I’ve actually already felt a bit of that of being an idol in Brazil,’ he told the press after he took bronze here in a dramatic finish. ‘I was walking on the street yesterday trying to get to the gym and people would stop me to take pictures of me, so my coach had to drag me so I could move.

He threw himself into the water after crossing the finish line and bobbed up and down there while he waited for the final results to come in. ‘I can tell you that the water tastes salty,’ he said. ‘I lived in Rio for two years sometime back and I used to train on the lake and I noticed that the water is much cleaner now, it’s crystal clear. I even wondered if they had some kind of chemical product in it. When we were doing the test event last year I noticed that there was a lot of vegetation in the water, but not this time.’

5.15pm BST

It’s been a while, so here’s Scott Jenkins with a ripper, as it were: “After reading that horrible Rugby story from Ben Dunn I wanted to balance it with one of more mirth.

As is a common theme kids at my school had no interest in Rugby but PE teachers did, including one who had both the physical stature and permanent angry scowl of Martin Johnson. One PE lesson he was becoming increasingly irate by us 12 yr olds’ (used to the free form jazz vibe of football) failure to stand in the correct positions at a scrum. He started yelling ‘Why cant you morons get it! Scrum half here! Fly half there! ..... hold on a moment lads....’ he then squatted, pulled a grimace and let off a fart so loud I swear birds flew out the trees. Amazingly he then continued bellowing out positions oblivious to the fact 30 12-year-old boys were now rolling around in hysterics having experienced the greatest moment in their at that point brief lives. For the rest of the year boys in my class would use the words ‘scrum half here, fly half here!’ to proceed a loud blow-off, proof how sport inspires.”

5.12pm BST

If high- and low-fives were banned, could we have the Olympics done in a week?

5.10pm BST

The quarter-final is underway in the women’s volleyball, USA and Serbia locked at 11-11.

5.07pm BST

So the dingers are underway, with Mills and Clark of GB needing simply to finish to secure gold.

5.06pm BST

Pusarla of India is through to the badminton final...

5.04pm BST

Meanwhile, about to get underway is the women two-person dingy 470 medal race. I’ll level with you, the boat does not look as I expected.

5.02pm BST

Germany have equalised in the bronze medal hockey match, Mats Grambusch scoring from close range.

5.00pm BST

Gosh, we’ve not been to the golf for a bit, so: Marianne Skarpnord of Norway leads in the clubhouse on -7, thanks to a 66 today; Nicole Larsen of Denmark is also -7, playing the 13th.

4.57pm BST

Here’s Alistair Brownlee - “I’ve woken up in pain ever day - God that was so hard! ... Commit, commit, commit on the first lap - and we committed so hard .. I was pretty confident we were gonna get first and second ... I had the edge on Jonny but he’s been killing me in training ... I had to go through hell today and I did ... Don’t believe in the mental game, you can only go as hard as you can go ... I just have that little bit more an endurance-based engine ... that race was won on the first two laps of the bike, we went really hard.”

4.54pm BST

Goal for Netherlands in the hockey! And what a goal! Jorrit Croon makes a sort of Cruyff turn outside the circle, hares into the circle to the baseline, along the baseline, then megs the keeper from an acute angle. Superb.

4.51pm BST

Brownlee becomes the first man to defend the Olympic triathlon title.

4.50pm BST

He falls over the line, by which time Jonny Brownlee is there to join him. Henri Schoeman of South Africa takes bronze.

It is impossible to overstate what a piece of work that was by Brownlee. He is so much better than the rest as to be absurd, but the mental strength to keep pushing, caning his younger brother in the process, is disquietingly magnificent.

4.48pm BST

Alistair Brownlee hasa flag, his arms are spread. He slows to a jog, and walk, points around, what a man. What a man.

4.47pm BST

Sindu Pusarla of India is a game up and 12-10 up in the women’s badminton semi, playing Nozomi Okuhara of Japan.

4.43pm BST

Right, some discus decathlon updates:

Lindon Victor of Grenada’s 53.24 was competition’s best - it earned him 938 points. Kevin Mayer of France threw 46.78, to go third, Ashton Eaton’s 45.49 extended his lead, and Damian Warner retained second spot with 44.93. The gap at the top is now 115 points.

4.37pm BST

Alistair Brownlee is an absolute joker.

4.35pm BST

Oh and there he goes! Alistair has set off, leaving Jonny behind. Byeee, lil brar.

4.34pm BST

In men’s hockey, Germany and Netherlands are in the second period of the bronze medal match - it’s 0-0.

4.33pm BST

Meanwhile, the Brownlees have destroyed the field in customary style - they lead the field by 13 seconds, and it’s simply a matter now of deciding which of them wins. I suppose it’ll be nice if it’s Jonny and funny if it’s Alistair.

4.31pm BST

And strychnine! The murder weapon in Agatha Christie’s first novel! Never thought i’d see the day!

4.30pm BST

Just kids having fun; Ryan Lochte is 32! I believe the term is “privilege”.

4.27pm BST

And here’s more on the stranger than fiction hullabaloo that is Ryan Loche et el getting themselves into one hell of a pickle in Rio.

A Brazilian police official has said that American swimmer Ryan Lochte fabricated a story about being robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro. The official, who has direct knowledge of the investigation, spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak about an ongoing probe.

He said that around 6 am on Sunday, Lochte, along with fellow swimmers Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen, stopped at a gas station in Barra da Tijuca, a suburb of Rio where many Olympic venues are located. One of the swimmers tried to open the door of an outside bathroom. It was locked. A few of the swimmers then pushed on the door and broke it. A security guard appeared and confronted them, the official said. The official says the guard was armed with a pistol, but he never took it out or pointed it at the swimmers.

4.24pm BST

Here’s confirmation that the USA are appealing the disqualification of their women’s 4x100m team.

The United States are seeking to be reinstated into the final of the 4x100m, claiming that Allyson Felix was bumped by a rival runner just ahead of a botched handover.

The US team crossed the line well behind all other teams in their relay after Felix picked up the baton and handed it over to English Gardner. Replays showed how Felix lost balance just before the handover.

4.15pm BST

And so it begins …

1st Rio medal stripped for doping: Izzat Artykov of Kyrgyzstan loses bronze in weightlifting after positive test for strychnine

4.10pm BST

Boniface Mucheru of Kenya gets silver, Yasmani Copello of Turkey the bronze. Thomas Barr of Ireland smashes the Irish record again, but mmisses out on the podium by 5/100 of a second.

4.07pm BST

Clement leads, by a few metres coming off the curve, and he’s hanging on as Mucheru challenges! Clement of Ireland, who’s given himself every chance of a sprint finish, starts his charge, but can’t get Copello of Turkey on the line.

4.06pm BST

Away second time, Whyte’s away quickly, the two Kenyans on the outside going well too.

4.05pm BST

Javier Coulson false starts and is disqualified! Is that really necessary? Just to fit into telly schedules?

4.04pm BST

Back to that women’s 4x100m relay, as things stand, USA and Brazil are both disqualified - but presumably USA will appeal.

4.02pm BST

It’s pretty open, this. Kerron Clement is favourite, but not overwhelmingly so. And this track is not easy. Anyway, the line-up:

Rasmus Mägi Estonia

4.01pm BST

The boys are out for the centrepiece of this morning’s track - the final of the men’s 400m hurdles. The commentary box discuss whether it’s fair on the athletes to make them run early, and not in the proper atmosphere - the hope was to entice people to these sessions. Perhaps give the tickets away to local kids who couldn’t go otherwise?

3.59pm BST

““We’re not a team no more, we’re a family, and we’re gonna fight like a family,” says Richard Kilty. Christmas at his must be good.

3.57pm BST

GB blame lane 1 for their fourth position - they’ve been fast this year - and say that they reckon no one has ever run faster from the inside.

3.56pm BST

Japan’s top is an absolutely blinding colour, a kind of shining pinky-reddy-orange, almost luminous. If someone knows what it’s called, I’d be greatful to know, all the more so if you can refer me to a hoody in similar style.

3.55pm BST

Japan, who’ve been breaking their national record in practice, apparently, lead the field home in the 4x1 heat; Jamaica are a fairly distant second, so Bolt, when he comes into the team, will have work to do. Trinidad & Tobago are second, those are the qualifiers by right, and GB, who finish fourth, qualify too as a fastest loser, along with Brazil.

3.53pm BST

One of their mums is going absolutely ape, great stuff.

3.52pm BST

...meanwhile, in the triathlon, the brothers Brownlee are putting the rest through their paces.

3.51pm BST

GB have ten match points in the badminton...

3.49pm BST

17-10 to GB in a match that’s been going for quite sometime now; is it nearly done?

3.49pm BST

“Re funding grassroots or elite, it’s not a zero sum game,,” tweets Gary Naylor, citing the below - and he’s right - I was just making sure you enjoyed the life-affirming benefit of my view as to its purpose.

Related: How German football rose from the ashes of 1998 to become the best in the world

3.47pm BST

Morgan Lake loves pressure! She clears another height at the final attempt, 1.94m, and will compete in Sunday’s final, aged 19.

3.45pm BST

A gatlinless USA power to victory in the 4x1, China second, Canada third - and Turkey have to wait.

3.44pm BST

While the teams reset, back to the badminton where it’s 13-5 to GB. The commentator has never seen them play better.

3.43pm BST

Anyway, we’re ready to go in the men’s 4x100m heat - but someone false starts. Maybe it should be mandatory DQ, for giggles.

3.41pm BST

I’m certain I’ve recounted this anecdote before on a liveblog of some sort, but it good enough to bear a repeat presentation: my friend is the youngest of three, so by the time he was in secondary school, his parents were nipping off for mid-term holidays, leaving his much older sister in charge. His brother asked her for a letter to get off swimming which, being a benevolent sort, she duly supplied. Off he smugly toddled, presenting the note, which read: “Gabriel is unable to do swimming today as he has his period.”

Magnificent.

3.39pm BST

“An interesting aspect of the sports funding debate is that GB’s athletes are not funded in the main by the government but through the National Lottery, a great deal of Lottery funding goes into grass roots support. True a large amount is provided for elites to enable them to deliver at the top levels but I think the real reason for GB’s success lies in the support at the grass roots. There’s never enough in that area but the amounts invested since our dismal showing at Atlanta have made a huge difference.”

So says Philip Sutcliffe. And I wonder about this - if we’re seeing the correlation between grassroots investment and medals. Though to me, the point of grassroots isn’t to make champions, it’s to make kids happier and healthier.

3.37pm BST

GB have sprinted in away in the badminton, 7-2 ahead in the decider.

3.36pm BST

A heartwarmer from Evie: “The only thing I enjoyed at school was sprinting, everything involving balls I was so uncoordinated at that I wasn’t allowed to participate but had to sit on the sidelines and illustrate the matches or write about strategy.

Summer althetics was really exciting for me, even though all I contributed was enthusiasm. When I was about 13 we had trials for sports day and I went first in the 100m (we were running idividually). I didn’t know that my classmate who was in charge of the stopwatch forgot to press start as I began, and panicking pressed it when I was about halfway done.
This resulted in a time of 11.47 seconds for the 100m and much excitement from all staff, who had missed my flailing lurching down the track. I puffed up as I was clearly as awesome as I thought I was at running, finally a sport I could do! Once a suitable audience had gathered I was made to run again and demonstrate my amazing speed... 20 seconds later and my Olympic career dreams were dashed.”

3.33pm BST

USA drop the baton in the second relay heat! Big sniggers coming from the GB team, who fancy theirselves for a medal. They still finish though, once everyone else is in the icebath - the mistake was Allyson Felix to English Gardner - and they’ve gone. Germany win, Trinidad and Tobago second are through, the fastest loser is Canada - but USA, it seems, were disturbed by a Brazilian arm trespassing into their lane, so expect to see them reinstated.

3.30pm BST

The triathletes are on their bikes, the brothers Brownlee at the front and planning to work together until the run. These climbs look brutal.

3.28pm BST

And China take the second game 21-19; we’ve got a decider to decide who takes the bronze medal.

3.25pm BST

19-17 to the Chinese at the end of badminton set 2. They’re serving.

3.24pm BST

The women screech round the track, and Jamaica - without Elaine Thompson - are in charge from the start. GB are also going well, and they finish second, Ukraine the third qualifiers some way behind, while Canada will have to wait and see.

3.22pm BST

“I don’t know if it’s my pasty white skin or the hipster-doofus St Pauli T-shirt with the green, white and gold skull-and-crossbones on the front I’m wearing (be gentle, the finishing line is in sight and I’m running out of clean clothes), but while out on the Olympic Stadium concourse getting a bottle of water, I saw a girl with an Irish tri-colour draped over her shoulders. She made a beeline for me and enquired if I was Irish.

Having confirmed that I am indeed one of God’s chosen people, she asked if I’d seen other Irish folk around the stadium as she’s here on her own and was looking for like-minded folk with whom she could watch our boy in the 400m hurdles final.
I steered her in the direction of the only other Irish flag I’ve seen today, down behind the hammer and discus cage, which has been hung over a barrier by some people from Sligo. Here’s hoping she finds the owners and they all have a lovely day. Who knows, we might even get a wedding out of it.
The stadium is slowly filling up and the concession stands are doing a brisk trade out on the concourse, with lots of people enjoying an early morning beer. I enjoyed a few with some Guardian colleagues last night, but they were 2am early, rather than 11am. A lot of punters are drinking Skol, a beverage that always reminds me of Rangers Football Club for some reason. A former sponsor, presumably?”

3.20pm BST

GB have fought back in the second set of the badminton, though in the time it took to type that, thet went from 13-11 to 133. Meanwhile, on the track, the first of two 4x100m heats in the women’s relay is about to begin, while Lake Morgan of GB has just saved herself in high jump qualifying, clearing 1.92 at the third attempt.

3.18pm BST

More glorying in the pain of others from James Watt: “At school we were taught the scissor kick approach to the high jump to get us started on it and during his first attempts my best friend (honest!) went for a jump but landed with both legs either side of the bar. Of course this prompted much laughter from the rest of us and we didn’t think much else of it at the time.

However, he didn’t make it to school the next day so I went round his Mum’s house to see if he was ok. His sister answered the door to tell me in great detail about how he’d woken up in agony that morning and one of his testicles had swollen to the size of tennis ball. He’d had to go to hospital for an quick operation to untangle things which explained his absence and he never did the high jump again. I never forgot it though and I took great pleasure in telling this story at his wedding many years later just to finally complete the embarrassment in front of his wife.

3.17pm BST

We’ve a new leader in the golf: Minjee Lee of Australia is at -7, -5 for her round today playing the 11th.

3.15pm BST

“I’ll bet when you floated the question of school sport memories you didn’t think you’d be hosting a worldwide group therapy/group hug session,” emails Hubert O’Hearn. “Healing between medals, the power of sport blogs unleashed!”

Not at all, that’s why we’re here. When I was in 6th form, my school, not exactly renowned for its sporting programme - football was in the playground, tennis was in the playground, cricket was in the playground - went to play football against a boarding school. We won, spirited discussions eventuated thereafter, and there was shoving on Golders Green Road the following Saturday night; there really was (not involving me, i hasten to add). For anyone familiar with the milieu, it was even more ridiculous in its hilarity as you might imagine.

3.10pm BST

China are 8-5 ahead in the second set of the badminton, while Damian Warner, second overall in the decathlon, has put the shot 44.93m; the leader of the first group, Lindon Victor of Grenada, has 53.24.

3.08pm BST

“Not quite school sports,” emails Richard Morris, “but I was at college at the same time as Jon Ridgeon when he won silver at the World Championships for 110m hurdles. There was a rumour he was going to run in the university athletics cup, so I hatched a plot to enter the same, despite never having hurdled in my life, arranged a photographer to take my picture as I deliberately false started and so have a shot of me beating the silver medalist off the line. Sadly, Jon then pulled out - something to do with running in the Olympics or similar; so I pulled out too.

So nearly my finest hour in athletics; albeit that’s an amazingly low bar,”

3.06pm BST

“Regarding the somewhat exacerbated British nationalism,” emails Ricardo Martén, “the triathlon’s preamble has seen the BBC presenters wondering aloud why Alistair Brownlee is actually the one competitor who wants it more than anyone else. I mean, fantastic sibling story, but it seems the BBC is not only happy with the actual medal count, but is now coopting ‘desire’ as an exclusive national triumph.”

Oh, there’s nothing new about this - it’s why the British football teams do so well, for example.

3.04pm BST

Aaaand we’re off in the triathlon! You can follow that more closely here, with Lawrence Ostlere.

3.01pm BST

GB win the first set in the badminton, 21-18!

2.59pm BST

Story time with Luke Williams: “Judging by the things that have stuck in my memory, my school sports teachers were a worldly bunch. I recall as a 13-year-old, (mildly enthusiastic about sports, but rubbish at anything other than rugby) the whole class doing the rounds of all the athletics events. My go at the long jump, and I’m hurtling down my carefully-marked run-up when the teacher called out, in my final strides, “You look like a Sherman Tank, Williams!” Completely put me off, but he wouldn’t let me have another go, so my first and only recorded PB at the long jump was 8ft 6in….

About a year later, playing volleyball in the gym (must have been raining), I managed, in the follow-through of an energetic smash attempt, to slap myself firmly in the danglers. Luckily no serious damage, just a fair bit of greenness about the gills and a lengthy time-out, during which the teacher (a different one) displayed his sympathy by remarking that at my age I ought to be completely familiar with my own tolerance for hard handling in that area….

2.57pm BST

Three game points to GB in the badminton... but the first is quickly saved with a dipping service return backed up with a smash.

2.56pm BST

“Further to Sean’s update on the Triathlon, I can confirm from my beachside seat that it is inhumanly hot on Copacabana. Just typing these words is bringing small beads of sweat from my fingertips and thereby threatening to destroy completely my pathetically vulnerable laptop (laptop available from all Apple stores).

I just watched the Brownlees warming up, ie running into the sea and then out again. They look pretty happy, although I can also reveal this is the first time either has been in this bit of sea, having trained elsewhere for fear of infection.

2.53pm BST

Meanwhile, we’re getting towards the business end of the first set of the badminton. GB have just won an astonishing rally, defending through most of it, to lead 18-16.

2.52pm BST

Anyway, we’ve got the women’s 10m platform semi going on - Hyang Kim of North Korea leads after three rounds. Britain’s Tonia Couch is 110.6 behind in 18th.

2.50pm BST

Just switched on the diving to hear the phrase “Hashtag commentator problems”. Is this or this not worse than “commentator problems dot com”?

Though, in fairness, Leon Taylor’s enthusiasm has been a highlight of the BBC’s presentation.

2.48pm BST

“Good morning from Copacabana, where my morning walk to work involved a 25-minute walk along the beach ... well, someone has to do it. While strolling through the sand I saw the Brownlee brothers Alistair and Jonny jogging along, looking as relaxed as anything. Their aim today is to finish 1-2 on the podium. Such an achievement would make them only the ninth pair of brothers in summer and winter Olympic Games history to finish with a gold and silver medal in the same event. And A believes it is possible. “I’m feeling really good,” he says. “During the last few weeks, we’ve both put in some hard sessions, and I don’t think it could have gone an awful lot better, so we’re very happy. I will stand on that start line knowing I am not far off my very best.” The bookies have Alistair as a short-priced 8-11 favourite, which is probably about right. The big unknown is whether two lads from Yorkshire can handle the conditions, which are a lot hotter and more muggy than forecast.”

2.43pm BST

And that’s the final score: Jones 12-4 Bakkal. Jones has some seriously snappy power with those kicks.

2.42pm BST

Jones is pulling away now, another hump to the heed getting her three points. It’s 12-4, and she’s starting to flow.

2.40pm BST

Jones leads 8-4, while the badminton is 8-8.

2.36pm BST

The discus is about to get off the men’s decathlon. These poor souls are going to run 1500m a bit later.

2.35pm BST

Johnson goes 1-2 down, then snaps through a clunk to the head. 4-2.

2.35pm BST

Jade Jones opens with a hoof to the body, but then takes one back amidst much screaming, and it’s now 1-0. China have pulled three points back in the badminton; 4-4.

2.33pm BST

The GB pair have started the badminton bronze match well, 4-1-up on China.

2.33pm BST

Jade Jones, the defending champion in the women’s 57kg tae-kwon-do, is about to begin her campaign against Naima Bakkal of Morocco.

2.30pm BST

The given name of one of New Zealand’s shotputters is Jacko Gill. Got to love that. He’s 21 and nails the qualification mark with his last throw.

2.28pm BST

The men are out warming up, talking of which, the brothers Brownlee and the rest of the triathletes will be upon us for their little jaunt in thirty minutes.

2.22pm BST

Li can’t carry on, and Marin is not arsed, bellowing into a camera. Next up, we have the men’s doubles bronze match: China’s Chai and Hong v GB’s Ellis and Langridge.

2.19pm BST

Aaron Chahal emails apropos of the earlier funding discussion: “As a British Indian I keep an eye on India’s performance from afar and this Olympics has been a shocker for India they usually rely on medals in Boxing, Shooting and Wrestling with two out of the three failing substantially. Admittedly there has been a few bright sparks such as Dipa Karmarkar finishing fourth in the vault final being India’s first ever gymnast to reach the final. Sadly even her story illustrates why India do so poorly at the Olympics as she was persistently underfunded as she relied on using the discarded gymnastic equipment from the 2010 Commonwealth Games to train with. Whilst in Rio her own physiotherapist was considered surplus to requirements by the Indian Olympic association thus she had no physio throughout the Olympics to help her. So just looking into her story alone illustrates how money can breed about success and Indian gymnastics is still very far behind what I assume is the well funded British team which won all those medals this year.”

2.17pm BST

“In my humble opinion she should not be playing on,” says the BC summariser, apparently more aware of the pain Li’s in than Li herself. She’s going to have a shy at continuing, by the look of things.

2.16pm BST

Oh dear - injury in the badminton. Li of China, 0-1 down to Marin of Spain, in the women’s singles semi-final, leaps to play an overhead, lands awkwardly, and that looks like all she wrote to me. We’ll see...

2.14pm BST

Jorgensen of Denmark takes silver, Carrington of New Zealand the bronze. What a performance from the Hungarian!

2.13pm BST

Kozak of Hungary who we might have encountered earlier in the week, is starting to push, and she’s got a lead! She’s going to win!

2.12pm BST

The women’s kayak single 500m final is away - Belarus are the early leaders.

2.11pm BST

Hee Young Yan of Korea has birdied five of six holes this morning. She’s -5, so too Lu, who has dropped a shot.

2.09pm BST

The enormous Darlan Romani of Brazil nails his first put and qualifies for the final of the shot with a new national record, 20.94.

2.07pm BST

And another, from Ben Dunn - perhaps save it until later if you’re on dinner: “After a farcical house rugby tournament in which my house were humped mercilously by all others, we slumped off the park and straight to the stand-up urinals. We didn’t care. We were too cool for rugby and participated soley because it meant a day out of lessons. Next to me was my talkative friend, babbling on about the ridiculousness of rugby. My friend’s head whiplashed forward, and smacked the concrete wall in front. He had been pushed in the back by a rugby lad who could not comprehend people who did not take the love of his life seriously. My friend pulled his head back, to reveal his expression had changed. The small indentation he left in the wall was because his two top front-teeth had been severed at their roots.

Later, much later, when my friend was able to speak and not simply scream, he recounted that every breath he took was like biting into an ice-cream, which had the outer temperature of zero kelvin.

2.06pm BST

Peter Davies has a confession to make: “I was captain of our school rugby team for a while. We were a sorry shower, really, but I felt it was my duty to try to make up for it with enthusiastic leadership. One Saturday, we were as usual being hammered by the C team of the local public school, when our fullback made a desperate last-ditch tackle in an vain attempt to stop the 6th try going over, and then just lay there. I yelled at him in frustration to get up and ran off in a huff, after which it was pointed out to me that he was being stretchered off with what turned out to be a broken leg. I’ve been mortified by the memory ever since.”

2.05pm BST

Back to the golf, India’s Aditi Ashok is now sharing the lead with Taipei’s Teresa Lu, out on the course, and Aria Jutanugarn of Thailand, yet to get going today. All three are -6.

2.03pm BST

Qualifying is underway in the men’s shot - 20.65m is the required mark. And we’ve also got going in the women’s high jump qualifying.

2.02pm BST

“Justin Gatlin neatly resolved the debate about whether he should be booed at the 200m final by getting knocked out in the semis last night. That was a surprise for his rival Usain Bolt, who showed some sympathy while kind of insulting the American too.

‘Everybody’s in shock,’ Bolt said, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live about Gatlin’s early exit. ‘You can tell from the 100 meters he’s getting old. It’s a fact the older you get, the rougher it gets to double.’
For his part, Gatlin has said he hurt his ankle in the run-up to the Olympics, something that has affected his performance in Rio.”

2.00pm BST

Eaton makes a bit of a mess of his heat, clattering the third hurdle - this track is not at all easy for jumping, being as hard as it is. He fights back to come second, but it’s second to Warner, who was in second place overall - the winning time was 13.58 and the difference between that and Eaton’s 13.80 is 29 points.

Overall, we have:

1.57pm BST

“I was picked as U16 hockey goalie to play for the County of Somerset vs Bristol Schools in the 1970 West of England tournament,” says Fraser Thomas. “We had a very rare Easter snowstorm and it was postponed. I was not picked for the rearranged game. To this day I have no idea why.”

I demand an answer.

1.56pm BST

“I hated swimming and was scared of the water until the age of 7 when I finally managed to swim 10 metres and make it out of the baby pool,” says Hugh Murphy. “A couple of years later, I was nowhere near achieving any of the qualifying spots for the actual races for the Tameside and District Cub Scouts Gala, but was told I was entered into a second tier event called the Cork Bob, the aim of which was to retrieve as many wine corks as possible from the pool (they had been placed there specially - it wasn’t just a dirty pool). I was proud and honoured to be taking on such a responsibility on behalf of Akela, the rest of the 8th Stalybridge Troop and Yellow Six in particular, of which I was then serving with distinction as a Seconder. I was also however, a bit nervous about putting my face in the water and practiced diving to the bottom of the pool at the weekend to retrieve those corks. Obviously, I hadn’t realised that cork floats. I came fourth.”

1.54pm BST

Yordani Garcia of Cuba wins heat 3 of the decathlon hurdles in 14.25. Taiwo is third in 14.57. Next up, we have Ashton Eaton, leader and soon to be all-time great.

1.50pm BST

“There aren’t too many people in the Olympic Stadium, but those that are here are making a heck of a din. Home favourite Luiz Arberto de Araujo has just won his heat of the decathlon 110m hurdles in a seasonal best time of 14.17sec and was roared home.

You ha

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