Olympics 2016 diary: Team GB finish second in medal table

Great Britain's astonishing Olympics ended with Team GB second in the Rio medal table behind the United States of America.

It's the first time that Team GB has finished above China since the People's Republic appeared in their first Games in 1984. On that occasion China amassed 15 golds to Britain's five, while 12 years later at Atlanta the Chinese won 16 to Britain's solitary gold, won by rowers Matt Pinsett and Steve Redgrave.

In a sign of how times have changed, Britain won three gold medals on Saturday alone. In total Britain (population 64.1 million) won 27 golds, 23 silvers and 17 bronzes in Brazil and China (population 1.357 billion) took 26, 18 and 26. It's the first time that a host nation has increased their medal total at the next Games and the British tally of medals was their best return since the 1908 games, when 146 were won, although there were only 19 competing nations compared to the 86 in Rio.

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"It's been outstanding," said UK Sport chief executive Liz Nicholl. "It shows that the system is working here in the UK. Yet those of us involved know that there's a huge amount more that can be improved, more potential to come. So, as we look ahead to Tokyo, it's looking really exciting."

Here's how the action unfolded over the final weekend:

Athletics

Mo Farah won his fourth Olympic gold as he became only the second man to retain the 5,000m and 10,000m titles. The 33-year-old is now Britain's most successful Olympic track and field athlete but he had to work hard to cross the line first in 13 minutes 3.30 seconds. "My legs were a bit tired after the 10,000m, I don't know how I recovered," said Farah, who in winning consecutive 5,000m and 10,000m titles has emulated the feat of Finland's Lasse Viren, who did the long-distance double at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics.

The Ethiopian pair of Dejen Gebremeske and Hagos Gebrhiwet did their best to wear down the Briton in the first half of the race but Farah kept near the back of the field before kicking for the line in the closing stages. "I was surprised by the first lap, I thought it was going to be a slow race," reflected Farah. "They had a plan. They wanted to take the sting out of me. But when I hit the front, I wasn't letting anyone past me." American Paul Kipkemoi Chelimo took silver with Gebrhiwet collecting bronze. Britain's Andrew Butchart finished sixth.

Meanwhile in the women's 4x400m relay, Team GB took the bronze behind gold medallists USA and Jamaica in silver. The British quartet of Eilidh Doyle, Anyika Onuora, Emily Diamond and Christine Ohuruogu finished in 3m 25.88 seconds to claim Britain's first medal in the women's event since 1992. "Today we had to stick in, stay focused and keep each other's spirits up," said Ohuruogu. "I am so proud of them, we got a good job done."

Boxing

Yorkshire boxer Nicola Adams successfully defended her flyweight title, winning a unanimous points decision over France's Sarah Ourahmoune. It's the first time a British boxer has retained an Olympic title since middleweight Harry Mallin 1924, and Adams was understandably delighted. "I can't believe it," exclaimed the 33-year-old. "I'm now officially the most accomplished amateur boxer Great Britain has ever had."

Adams dominated her opponent from the start of the final, winning the first two rounds on all three judges; scorecards and the Briton knew she had won gold when the bell tolled for the end of the fourth and final round.

Meanwhile Joe Joyce just lost out on a gold in the super-heavyweight final, losing in a split decision to French fighter Tiny Yoka. "It was the last medal for the Olympic Games and I thought the gold was mine so I will just have to watch it back and see where it went wrong," said Joyce. "I gave it my all, got the training right. I am just disappointed. Silver isn't that bad, I expected the gold but it wasn't to be."

Kayaking

Liam Heath became Britain's most successful Olympic paddler by taking gold in the men's kayak single 200m sprint. Having won a bronze medal four years ago in London, the Englishman then took a silver in Rio alongside Joe Schofield in the K2 200m. On Saturday he completed a full-house by holding off France's Maxime Beaumont to claim gold in a time of 35.197 seconds. "It has been in my mind every single day for the last four years, but I felt that I went into automatic pilot," said the 32-year-old. "It is worth every ounce. I want to thank everyone here and at home."

Triathlon

American Gwen Jorgensen underlined her dominance in women's triathlon by adding the Olympic title to her world championship crown. But there was reason to celebrate for Team GB with Vicky Holland taking bronze behind Nicola Spirig of Switzerland, the 2012 Olympic champion.

Holland, the first British woman to win an Olympic triathlon medal, edged out compatriot Non Stanford in a sprint finish for the podium, coming home third by just three seconds after the 1.5k, swim, 40km bike ride and 10k run.

"I think the first thing I said to [Non] was 'I'm so sorry'," Holland said. "I knew it would come down to me and Non, which was the worst thing ever because I wanted it to be us together."

Taekwondo

Bianca Walkden took bronze in the over 67kg weight to cap a successful Games for Britain's taekwondo team. Following the gold of Jade Jones and Lutalo Muhammad's silver, Walkden's third place finish confirms Britain as a serious player in the sport.

Walkden beat London 2012 champion Milica Mandic of Serbia 5-0 to progress to the semis but she wasn't strong enough to get past China's Zheng Shuyin. Zheng then won the gold medal by beating Mexican Maria Espinoza in the final. "I came here for gold but my coach said to me you have to go out there and fight for it," said Walkden . "It's still an Olympic medal. In Tokyo I'll be trying to go a little bit further and try to get gold. It's only four years away."

Olympics 2016 diary: More gold for Usain Bolt and Team GB

19 August

The medals kept on coming for Team GB on day 13 of the Rio Olympics, with three more golds, two silvers and a bronze to add to the nation's amazing tally.

Elsewhere Usain Bolt won his sixth individual Olympic gold medal as he cantered to victory in the 200m final, he is now one race away from a historic 'treble treble' - victory in the 100m, 200m and relay in three successive Games.

Here's how the action panned out:

Brownlee brothers out in front...

Alistair Brownlee underlined his reputation as the greatest Olympic triathlete of all-time by retaining his title in punishing conditions in Rio. The 28-year-old beat younger brother Jonny into second-place with Henri Schoeman of South Africa finishing third. Jonny had kept pace with his brother during the swimming and cycling but halfway through the 10k run Alistair shook off his 26-year-old sibling and finished six seconds clear.

"I was pretty confident we would get first and second but I didn't know which way round it would be," said Alistair. "I just had the edge on Jonny but he has killed me in training and I have been going through hell. It has been so hard. I have woken up in pain every day."

Jonny, a bronze medallist in the London Olympics, gave a rueful response when asked how it felt losing out to his brother again. "I'm used to getting beaten by him, but at the start of the day the dream was to get gold and silver and that is what we have done... maybe in four years if he is older and greyer he will be that bit slower. But maybe he won't!"

... but Jones keeps up

Not to be outdone by the Brownlees, Jade Jones also retained her Olympic taekwondo title by defeating Spain's Eva Calvo Gomez 16-7 in the final of the 57kg category. The 23-year-old Welsh athlete clinched the win with a couple of head kicks in the third round as she dominated her opponent from start to finish.

"I obviously knew I'd feel some pressure as the reigning Olympic champion but I didn't realise how much it would be," said Jones, who admitted she had cried before her semi-final bout against Sweden's Nikita Glasnovic because of the stress. "I was just so nervous and felt so much pressure. But I pulled it off when it mattered so I'm just so happy."

Sailing success

Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark finally got their hands on gold in the women's 470 sailing event having been made to wait 24 hours. The pair were unable to finish the job on Wednesday because of a lack of wind, but a breeze blew on Thursday and the Britons finished the race to confirm gold. New Zealand's Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie took silver with Camille Lecointre and Helene Defrance of France winning the bronze.

"I can't believe it, it has actually been the best feeling ever," said Mills, who along with Clark won silver four years ago at the London Olympics. The pair celebrated in ororthodix style by sailing up the beach to greet loved ones.

"We have forgotten all about London," added Mills. "We are so proud to come back after it and we've worked so hard to get the upgrade to gold. Thank you to everyone back home for the support."

Badminton bronze

Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge won Great Britain's first Olympic badminton men's doubles medal with a hard-fought victory over the Chinese pair Hong Wei and Chai Biao. The win over the world number five pair - 21-18 19-21 21-10 - was superb performance given that Ellis and Langridge are ranked 22nd in the world.

"When we got to 14-7 in the last game, I thought: 'We might win this! We are going to win this!'"exclaimed a jubilant Langridge. "Luckily Marcus was quite calm, which helped a lot." The gold medal will be decided later today when the Chinese pair of Fu and Zhang play Tan and Goh of Malaysia.

Paddle to the podium

Spain's Craviotto Rivero and Toro Carballo took gold in the 200m kayak double in a time of 32.075 seconds but there was a well-earned silver medal for Great Britain's Liam Heath and Jon Schofield. The pair edged out Lithuania by 0.014 seconds for second place, which went some way in erasing memories of the 2012 Games when Heath and Schofield just lost out on a silver in the same event. "We gave it a bit of a lunge for the line," said Heath. "We hit it as hard as we can."

Adams advances

Boxer Nicola Adams will fight Sarah Ourahmoune of France on Saturday to determine who wins gold in the women's flyweight final. The 33-year-old Adams, the first woman to win an Olympic boxing gold when she won the title four years ago, defeated China's Ren Cancan in the semi-final with a unanimous points decision. "I am excited, I can't wait," said Adams, who never looked in trouble over the four rounds of the semi. "It's what I have been training for."

Usain makes it eight

Usain Bolt cruised to victory in the 200m final in a time of 19.78 seconds to keep his 'triple-triple' within sight. The Jamaican sprint king runs in Saturday's 4x100m relay knowing that victory will make him the first athlete to win three consecutive Olympic titles in the 100, 200m and relay. It will also put him level with USA's Carl Lewis and Finland's Paavo Nurmi as the only track and field stars to win nine Olympic golds.

"I wasn't happy with the time when I crossed the line but I'm excited I got the gold medal, that's the key thing," explained Bolt, who finished ahead of Canada's Andre de Grasse and France's Christophe Lemaitre. "What else can I do to prove I am the greatest? I'm trying to be one of the greatest, to be among Ali and Pele." Britain's Adam Gemili posted the same time as Lemaitre but was just edged out of the medals by the photo finish.

Olympics 2016 diary: Bolt, Neymar and Team GB stars eye gold

18 August

It was a quiet day for Team GB at Rio on Wednesday after the success of Tuesday with no medals added to their tally on day 12 (as was the case at the 2012 Games). But they remain second overall in the medal table, just ahead of China, who have drawn level with Britain's gold medal haul but have won four fewer silvers.

Where's the wind

A windless Wednesday scuppered sailors Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark's chances of confirming their gold medal in the women's 470 class. Racing was postponed because of the docile conditions in Marina da Gloria meaning the British pair will return to the water today in the hope of securing their win. Leading the rest of the field by 20 points, Mill and Clark need only to finish the last race to take the title. "It was a disappointing day," admitted Mills. "We have had a marathon week. Conditions have been wacky, up and down, and to have no wind today is tough."

Hockey hopes

The British women hockey's team will face Holland on Friday to battle it out for gold. The Dutch are going for a third consecutive Olympic title but Team GB will fancy their chances after brushing aside New Zealand 3-0 in their semi-final. A brace from Alex Danson and Helen Richardson-Walsh's penalty stroke guarantees Britain at least a silver but coach Danny Kerry believes gold is within their grasp: "I think the final will be a tight, cagey affair," he told reporters. "The Netherlands have some talented players and they will probably start as red-hot favourites but we like it that way."

Bolt through, Gatlin gone

Usain Bolt is through to the final of today's 200m final but a couple of big names will be missing. American Justin Gatlin and Yohan Blake of Jamaica both failed to qualify from their semi-finals, but Britain's Adam Gemili did make it through as one of the two fastest losers. There was no such uncertainty for Bolt who clocked 19.78 seconds, his fastest time of the season, and looks nailed on for his second gold of the Games. LaShawn Merritt (who has run 19.74 this year) looks to be the only man capable of launching a credible challenge to the brilliant Jamaican, who even had time to share a joke with Canadian Andre de Grasse as they crossed the line.

Double delight

Bolt will be hoping to emulate compatriot Elaine Thompson won gold in the 200m to go with her 100m title from earlier in the week. The 24-year-old Jamaican clocked 21.78 seconds in the final to pip Netherlands' Dafne Schippers to the gold by 0.13sec. USA's Tori Bowie took bronze in 22.15, while Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith finished fifth in 22.31. "It is a very special and welcoming feeling for me," said Thompson. "I think my light has shined."

Football final

Neymar scored the fastest goal in Olympic football history as Brazil thrashed Honduras 6-0 to reach the men's Olympic final. Neymar's strike after 14 seconds set the tone for a semi-final that was horribly one-sided, but gives Brazil the opportunity to avenge their humiliation at the 2014 World Cup. Beaten 7-1 by Germany two years ago, Brazil will meet the Germans on Saturday in what will be their fourth Olympic final. The Samba Boys have lost their previous three appearances and must beat a strong German side that saw off Nigeria in their semi thanks to goals from Lukas Klostermann and Nils Petersen.

Robbed in Rio

According to The Guardian, a member of the British Olympic team "has been held up at gunpoint while enjoying a night on the town". The unnamed Olympian was unharmed in the incident that occurred in Rio on Tuesday morning but is in shock. Details of what precisely happened are sparse but the Guardian says the crime has prompted an "unprecedented warning" to Team GB members that they should remain in the village and certainly not travel into Rio wearing any clothing that might identity them as Olympians. A letter has also been sent to athletes warning them to avoid taxis because they "cannot be considered safe late at night... if you are planning on going out after dark and have no way of returning other than via taxi, do not go out.”

Olympics 2016: Kenny and Trott drive Team GB to 50 medals

17 August

Team GB have surpassed their medal target for the 2016 Olympics with five days of competition still remaining after another wonderful day in Rio. They now have an astonishing 50 medals, 19 of them gold, and lie second in the medal table ahead of China.

Once again it was the cyclists who led the way as Jason Kenny and Laura Trott cemented their place as Britain's golden couple, each winning another gold to make them the most successful male and female athlete the country has ever produced, while Becky James and Katy Marchant also won medals on the final day.

After being tasked with winning 48 medals in Brazil, one more than they managed in Beijing in 2008, Team GB have swept past that target and they are now aiming to match the 65 medals they won in 2012.

Here's how the action panned out on day 11:

Britain's golden couple

On the final night in the velodrome, Team GB bowed out in style winning two golds, a silver and a bronze to finish way clear of the cycling medal table. In total Britain won six golds, four more than the Dutch, who finished second in the table, and remarkably every member of Team GB's cycling squad leaves Rio with a medal of same description.

But there's no doubt the golden couple are Jason Kenny and Laura Trott who, when they marry next year, will boast ten Olympic golds between them. Kenny equalled Chris Hoy's British record of six golds by winning the Keirin in a tension-filled velodrome. Twice there were false starts and on the first it seemed that the 28-year-old Englishman might be disqualified. He wasn't, and he held his nerve throughout another false start to take gold ahead of Holland's Matthijs Buchli and Malaysia's Azizulhasni Awang.

"I'm proud to be part of the team's Olympic success and doing my bit," said Kenny, whose sang-froid was in contrast to the emotion of girlfriend Trott. She struggled to hold back the tears after winning her fourth gold medal, coming home first in the omnium. "I can't believe it, I didn't expect that at all," she exclaimed, moments after defending the title she won in London. American Sarah Hammer took silver with Belgium's Jolien D'Hoore collecting the bronze.

There were more medals on the track for Britain with Becky James taking the silver in the women's sprint and Katy Marchant winning the bronze. James was up against Germany's Kristina Vogel in the gold medal contest but the world champion proved too powerful and canny for James, winning the first two races in the best-of-three final. "I really wanted gold but Vogel is an incredible rider," said James. Marchant, a former heptathlete, only switched to cycling in 2013, beat Holland's Elis Ligtlee to the bronze. "All the hard work, sweat and tears has paid off. I cannot believe it," said the 24-year-old.

Scott claims Finn gold

Giles Scott continued Britain's dominance in sailing's Finn class on Tuesday by winning Team GB's fifth successive Olympic title in the event. Ben Ainslie ruled the waves in the last three Games and the vacuum left by his retirement has been filled by the 29-year-old Scott.

Already assured of gold going into the final medal race with three victories in 11 races, Scott finished second on Tuesday to give him a total of 36 points in a competition where the lowest score wins. Slovenia's Vasilij Zbogar took silver, with 32 points more than the English sailor, and America's Caleb Paine won bronze with 76 points overall.

Meanwhile Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark are guaranteed an Olympic gold in the women's 470 sailing - just so long as they finish today's medal race. The pair, who won the silver at the 2012 Olympics, hold a 20-point lead going into the finale and will clinch gold together barring a disaster on the water. "It's completely surreal," said Clark. "We've sailed out of our skin in a marathon event."

Another medal for diver Laugher

Six days after winning gold in the 3m synchro with Chris Mears, Jack Laugher added another Olympic medal to his trophy cabinet with a silver in the men's individual 3m springboard final. The 21-year-old Yorkshireman scored 523.85 points, good enough to beat Germany's Patrick Hausding into bronze but not enough to take the gold from China's Cao Yuan, who finished on 547.60.

"There are so many nerves, pressure and weather conditions around these Olympics, it is really hard to get on the board and do it," reflected Laugher, who had only qualified from his semi-final in the 12th and final position. "I had luck on my side and I was in that final - and that was when I could really let loose, there was no pressure, no nerves."

Nicola Adams wins opening fight

Defending Olympic champion Nicola Adams has guaranteed herself another Olympic medal after defeating Ukraine's Tetyana Kob. The flyweight now meets China's Ren Cancan in Thursday's semi-final, the woman she defeated to win gold in London four years ago. Having received a bye in the first round Adams was satisfied with her victory over Kob, with the Briton's powerful jab causing problems for her opponent.

"Once you get the first fight out of the way, you get rid of the ring-rust," said Adams, who is hoping to become the first British boxer to retain an Olympic title since 1924. "I wasn't at my best there but I'll improve as the competition goes on."

Gymnasts Tinkler and Wilson win bronze

Simone Biles of the USA underlined her dominance of women's gymnastics by winning her fourth gold medal of the Rio Games in the floor event, but from a British viewpoint Tuesday was all about Amy Tinkler's bronze medal. The 16-year-old, the youngest member of Team GB, became only the second British woman to win an individual gymnastics medal after Beth Tweddle in 2012, and the teenager could hardly believe it: "It has been incredible," said Tinkler. "I'm in total shock.

"I wasn't thinking about winning a medal. My coaches said I had nothing to lose and just to go out and enjoy it. I could hear a lot of cheers from the crowd and that helped me a lot."

And less than one hour later there was more reasons to be cheerful for the British team with Nile Wilson winning a bronze in the men's high bar. The 20-year-old was appearing in his first Games but produced a near faultless display to became the first Briton to win an Olympic medal in the high bar, and make it medal number seven for the Team GB gymnastics team. Germany's Fabian Hambuechen took gold with Danell Leyva of the USA third.

Buatsi wins Team GB's first boxing medal

Joshua Buatsi won Britain's first boxing medal of the 2016 Olympics with the 23-year-old Londoner collecting a bronze in the light-heavyweight division. Hopes of making it a silver or gold were ended by a semi-final defeat to Kazakhstan's Adilbek Niyazymbetov, who put in a dominant performance. Nonetheless it was an impressive Games from Buatsi, who won his first two fights with stoppages and then beat Algeria's Abdelhafid Benchabla comfortably in the quarter-finals.

Marathon swimmer disqualified

Britain's Jack Burnell was disqualified in a dramatic men's 10km open water swim as the appropriately named Ferry Weertman won gold. The Dutchman looked to have lost out initially to Spiros Gianniotis but the Greek swimmer was downgraded to silver with Weertman taking gold in a time of 1hr 52min 59.8sec. Burnell was one of three swimmers finishing in 1hr 53min 02sec, but he was soon pushed off the podium with France’s Marc-Antoine Olivier and China's Zu Lijun sharing bronze. To compound matters Burnell was then stripped of his fifth place and disqualified for what The Guardian described as "making unnecessary contact with other swimmers.

It is fair to say Burnell was less than impressed by the decision. "Absolutely outrageous," stormed the 23-year-old. "The whole thing is a joke...this is meant to be the pinnacle of our sport and there are referees who haven't a clue what they are doing."

Disappointment for show jumpers

There was no repeat from Britain's show jumpers in Rio as they failed to defend the title they'd won in London four years ago. The quartet of Nick Skelton, Ben Maher, Michael Whitaker and John Whitaker failed to make today's second round after a disastrous opening round in which no jumper went clear.

Bolt jogs to victory

Usain Bolt jogged to victory in the opening round of the 200m with the Jamaican legend posting a time of 20.28 seconds in winning his heat. The 100m champion stopped sprinting with 50m to go but still cruised home ahead of the field. "I hate the mornings so I am happy to have this out the way. It's a good start and I'm happy," explained the 29-year-old. Bolt will run again in Thursday's semi-final, as will Britain's Adam Gemili, who ran 20.20 seconds in finishing second in his heat. British teammates Danny Talbot and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake also made it through to the semis and the man who many consider Bolt's only serious challenger for the 200m title, American Justin Gatlin, clocked 20.42 to win heat five.

Olympics 2016 diary: Gold for Dujardin, silver for Cavendish

16 August

After the drama of Sunday, Britain's most succesful day at the Olympics since the 1920 Games, Monday was mellower for Team GB. Nonetheless there were still more medals to add to the collection, bumping the total up to 41, one more than this point in the 2012 Games.

Dujardin retains dressage title

Charlotte Dujardin ensured 'Sensational Sunday' wouldn't be followed by miserable Monday by winning gold in the individual dressage title. After Team GB's incredible five golds on Sunday, it was always going to be a bit of a comedown on Monday, a day when few medals were up for grabs, but the 31-year-old Dujardin continued Britain's golden Games with retaining the title she won in London.

Riding Valegro, Dujardin emulated Laura Trott in becoming the second British woman to win three Olympic gold medals. "I feel a little bit overwhelmed," said Dujardin, who also won team dressage gold at the 2012 Games. "It could be one of last rides on Valegro. There is talk of retirement for him so for me to finish it in this way, it's a really emotional time and I'm so happy."

The German pair of Isabell Werth and Kristina Broring-Sprehe took silver and bronze.

Cavendish makes the podium

Mark Cavendish finally got his hands on an Olympic medal as he took silver in omnium event. The Manxman, who over the years has won 30 stages on the Tour de France, along with four world titles, had made no secret of his desire to win an Olympic medal after failing to do so in the two previous Games.

Italy's Elia Viviani won the omnium, an event in which riders compete against each other in six different disciplines, with a score of 207 points. Cavenish was second on 194, two ahead of Denmark's Lasse Hansen, the 2012 Olympic champion. "I have got my Olympic medal,"said Cavendish. "It is really nice but gold would have finished the collection. I don't think I'll be going for Tokyo but you never know."

In the women's omnium, defending champion Laura Trott leads the field at the halfway mark having won the individual pursuit and elimination race, and finished second in the scratch race.

The 24-year-old Briton has an eight-point lead over Jolien D'Hoore of Belgium, with Sarah Hammer of the USA in third.

Hammer thrower makes history

In an Olympics in which history has been shredded by Team GB there was another first on Monday with Sophie Hitchon winning bronze in the women's hammer in Rio. The 25-year-old threw a new British record of 74.54m on her final throw to leap from fifth to third and land Britain's first women's medal in the event.

Hitchon was some way short of Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk, who took gold with a new world record of 82.29m, with Zhang Wenxiu of China taking the silver medal with 76.75m. But the Lancastrian was understandably elated with making the podium. "To get a bronze medal, I am over the moon," said Hitchon, who finished fourth at the world championships in Beijing last year. "It was just incredible to see the number three there and a national record, I couldn't be happier."

Hockey hopefuls

Britain's women will play New Zealand in the semi-final of the hockey on Wednesday after beating Spain 3-1 in the last eight. Georgie Twigg, Helen Richardson-Walsh and Lily Owsley all scored as GB dominated the lowest-ranked team in the competition. "We can't go into the New Zealand game thinking emotionally," said Kate Richardson, the British skipper. "We believe we can get a medal but it's off in the distance and we are focused on the semi-final."

In the other last four clash, Germany will face the Netherlands, who beat Argentina to book their place in the semis.

Brazil Gold

Monday's athletics programme ended in dramatic - and for Brazil, dreamy - fashion with Thiago Braz da Silva winning the pole vault gold with a new Olympic record of 6.03m. Defending champion Renaud Lavillenie of France had looked set to retain his title after vaulting 5.98m but the 22-year-old Brazilian, roared on by the partisan crowd, cleared 6.03 to win only his country's fourth track and field gold, and the first since Maurren Maggi took gold in the women's long jump in 2008.

The pole vault was delayed because of rain and then interrupted because of a mechanical fault with the bar, but the wait was worth it for the Rio crowd, who watched as Da Silva added 11cm to his previous personal best.