Team GB has won its second gold medal as Tom Pidcock won his second consecutive Olympic mountain bike gold in dramatic fashion at the Paris Games.
Pidcock’s race was in danger of unravelling when he suffered a flat front tyre on the fourth of eight laps, shortly after he had taken control of the 35km race with an attack which split the pack.
Having fallen 40 seconds behind French hope Victor Koretzky, Pidcock fought his way back to reclaim the lead with a lap and a half to go.
But the pair traded blows in the last couple of kilometres – dramatically touching wheels – before Pidcock burst forward to secure the win.
Team GB won its first gold in the team Eventing competition earlier in the day.
The team then secured its second gold in the Games hours later when Tom Pidcock won the men’s mountain bike race.
Laura Collett, Tom McEwen and Ros Canter chalked up record scores for the dressage stage as a group.
Riding on London 52, Collett also set an Olympic record for lowest dressage score with 17.5 penalties. The record had been held by American David O’Connor, who scored 19.3 at Sydney 2000.
Collet, 34 from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, described herself as being “on top of the world”.
She told ITV News: “I’ve never, ever, ridden into an atmosphere like that. Luckily London 52 is one trusty partner. So are my teammates as well, we brought it home.”
She added that London 52 was a true “true professional” not being distracted by the roaring British fans cheering Collet on.
“The noise was unreal but it didn’t distract him at all. He’s a true professional and I think he knew what was at stake. I wouldn’t want to have sat on any other horse.
“It’s very cool to win the first gold of the Games and long may it continue, it’s pretty special to be the first.”
Adding to her haul, Collett also won a bronze medal in the individual eventing competition.
Collett suffered a near-fatal accident in 2013 after a heavy fall from her horse where she needed to be resuscitated five times and given an emergency tracheotomy by paramedics.
She suffered a fractured shoulder, broken ribs, a punctured lung, lacerated liver and damage to her kidneys – a fragment of her shoulder bone also travelled to her right eye through her blood stream and damaged her optic nerve.
It follows Tom Daley and Noah Williams taking silver in the men’s 10m synchro finals after a tightly contested volley of dives with the gold medalist China.
For Daley, it was his fifth Olympics, after debuting aged 13 in Beijing 2008, and his fifth Olympic medal, rounding out the full set after securing bronze in London and Rio, and gold in Tokyo.
Nothing could separate Great Britain and Canada in the first two rounds before a brilliant and risky third dive from Daley and Williams pushed them ahead of the Canadians.
From there, they continued to press their advantage, consistently placing second in their remaining rounds.
Following the podium finish, Daley said: “It’s just so special. This time last year, deciding to come back, not knowing whether I would make the synchro team, let alone qualify for a spot at the Olympics, and now to be here in Paris, diving in front of my son, who is just right there and actually asked me to come back.
“It’s just so special. It completes the set. I now have one of every colour.”
Diving partner Williams added when the pair began to feel the pressure: “For dive four [felt the pressure], not really for dive six. That’s one of my better dives. The fourth dive, I’d say pretty much last year was my worst dive.
“But it was Tom’s best, so obviously we have to use it. I’ve come a long way in the last year, just practising that, and I’m really glad it paid off.”
And, with day three of the Paris Olympics well underway there are high hopes for Team GB to win a number of medals.
A total of 18 medals were up for grabs at the beginning of the Games’ third day – four more of which can be won in the pool, after Daley and Williams’ podium finish.
Swimmers Duncan Scott and Matt Richards have also secured their place in the men’s 200m freestyle final.
Freya Colbert and Katie Shanahan will also be competing in the 400m freestyle, which starts with the heats on Monday morning.
British audiences may also want to tune into the canoe slalom, gymnastics and the finales for archery, fencing, judo and shooting.
It comes after Sunday’s showcase had Adam Peaty secure a silver medal in the men’s 100 metres breaststroke final.
For so long, Peaty has been his country’s banker.
A place in the record books alongside Michael Phelps as the only male swimmers to win Olympic gold in the same event at three successive Games beckoned in the French capital.
But Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi claimed an upset for the ages, denying Peaty a ‘three-peat’ by 0.02 seconds, with the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 champion finishing joint second alongside America’s Nic Fink.
Peaty was emotional in the aftermath as he reflected on a difficult time in and out of the pool since winning in Japan in 2021 as he struggled with his mental health, and took a break from competing last year due to burnout.
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