Team GB’s Olympic stars have been on a medal blitz on ‘winning Wednesday’ adding two golds and two bronze medals to an ever-impressive haul.
The medal rush morning saw Team GB pick up two golds in the men’s triathlon and rowing and two bronze medals in the women’s triathlon and diving.
The quadruple triumph takes Great Britain’s total number of medals up to 16, with two for the canoe slalom, three for diving, two for equestrian and two for the triathlon.
Team GB are riding high on the medal table, with the USA, France, Japan, China, and Republic of Korea following in our wake.
First, Team GB star Alex Yee secured a superb gold medal with victory in the men’s triathlon at the Paris Olympics.
Then, Team GB’s women’s quadruple sculls made history after a late surge took them past the Netherlands to win the event for the first time at the Olympic Games.
Lauren Henry, Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson and Georgie Brayshaw had appeared destined for the silver medal in the closing stages of the race.
Their heart stopping triumph came shortly after Beth Potter came third in the women’s triathlon.
And earlier, Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix — daughter of TV chef Fred Sirieix — and Lois Toulson earned a hard-fought bronze medal in the women’s synchronised 10m platform event.
Team GB’s women’s quad sculls trailed the Netherlands with 250 metres remaining of the race at the Stade nautique de Vaires-sur-Marne.
A stunning finish to the race saw the crew dramatically close the gap to the rivals.
The rival teams crossed the finish side by side, with a photo finish required to separate the boats.
Team GB’s crew were soon able to begin celebrations after the photo revealed they had edged ahead of the Dutch at the finish.
The 2023 world champions finished the race in a time of 6min 16.31sec, ending just 0.15 seconds clear of their rivals to win gold.
Germany completed the podium places in 6:19.70.
‘The crew today, Georgie, Lauren and Lola were amazing,’ said Scott. We played it so cool up until the end.
‘We had the confidence, we have done so many hard miles in training.’
The result means Britain have already improved on their gold medal tally from the previous Olympics, after coming away from Tokyo with only one silver and bronze.
Social media users were quick to comment on the sensational wins today, with one saying Team GB is ‘on a roll’.
One ‘X’ user said: ‘Hasn’t it been amazing! Mum has had no meetings this morning so has been able to have it on in the background whilst she works in the garden. Team GB are on a roll now!’
‘Team GB’s Medal Rush Morning has been fantastic’ added another.
Another said: ‘What an emotional morning in Paris. The comeback, the sportsmanship, the sheer happiness and pride on the podium. Sport, at its best!’
Team GB’s Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix — daughter of TV chef Fred Sirieix — and Lois Toulson earned a hard-fought bronze medal in the women’s synchronised 10m platform event.
The pair jumped into second at the end of round two, but entering the more difficult dives, they could only post 60.3 in the third round, causing them to tumble into fifth.
They responded well in the final rounds, scoring a 77.76 on their final dive and following a nervous wait their spot on the podium was all but confirmed after nearest rivals Canada could only score 68.16 on their last dive.
Chinese pair Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan successfully defended their Olympic gold, while North Korea pair Jo Jin Mi and Kim Mirae earned silver.
Taking to ‘X’ following the dive, Fred Sirieix said: ‘What emotions! What a beautiful moment! How many tears!!!!
‘I’m bursting with pride, joy and happiness. Well done and congrats Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson.’
First, Team GB star Alex Yee secured a superb gold medal with victory in the men’s triathlon at the Paris Olympics.
Yee, forced to settle for silver in Tokyo three years ago, surpassed Hayden Wilde of New Zealand in the final stages of a thrilling race to snatch a last-gasp victory.
He finished in 1hr 43min 33sec to seal Team GB’s fifth gold of the Games in the French capital.
Yee was 14 seconds down on Wilde going into the final 2km of the run but caught Wilde and surged past the New Zealander, who crossed six seconds behind the Brit.
The bronze medal went to Leo Bergere of France.
Victory saw Yee emulate Alistair Brownlee as Britain’s second Olympic triathlon champion.
The 26-year-old won relay gold in Tokyo but had set his sights on individual glory in Paris.
And he achieved it in stunning fashion on the streets of the city. With less than a kilometre of the 10km race to go it looked as though Yee would again be left with the silver medal, although at one stage he was being challenged by Bergere.
But Yee put on the afterburners and sprinted clear as he realised his Olympic dream in one of the sport’s most memorable comebacks.
Yee looked exhausted after his triumph, with the gruelling 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run clearly taking its toll on the athletes.
The men’s race had been due to take place on Tuesday but was cancelled at only a few hours’ notice after water quality in the Seine was still deemed not up to scratch.
It was not confirmed that the races would be able to go ahead on Wednesday under the early hours, with the men pushed back to after the women’s race.
Organisers said samples taken showed ‘much lower’ levels of bacteria than the threshold for the event to take place, with the hope now that the future events in the river, the triathlon mixed relay and marathon swimming, will not face such uncertainty.
Having seen his compatriot Beth Potter take bronze, Yee dived into the Seine and managed to keep in touch with the leaders, heading through the first transition in 16th place and quickly joining a big front group for the 40 kilometre bike leg around the centre of Paris.
Wilde was in the second pack so Yee tried to help drive the pace rather than sit in, but the two groups came together with three laps to go.
Sam Dickinson, making his Olympic debut for Britain, led the way onto the 10km run, with Yee well placed in fourth, and the Tokyo silver medalist soon surged into the lead as his team-mate called for crowd support.
Yee is a former British champion over 10,000m, and he sped off into the distance but Wilde refused to let him get away and put in a big effort to catch up.
The New Zealander was not content to sit with Yee, though, and quickly passed him, with the British athlete seemingly unable to respond as temperatures rose into the high 20s.
Yee settled into second, comfortably holding off France’s Bergere behind him, but he had a final surprise in store as he surged to a second Olympic gold having also topped the podium as part of the mixed relay in Tokyo.
In the women’s triathlon, Team GB’s Beth Potter took home a brilliant bronze medal amid concerns the event would take place over the water quality in the Seine.
Potter emerged from the swimming leg of the race in the lead pack, and maintained her position in the cycling, with four women left battling for three medals in the 10km run.
She was alongside two Frenchwomen and a Swiss athlete in the final stages, with pre-race favourite Cassandre Beaugrand kicking for home to take a decisive lead and become France’s first-ever Olympic triathlon champion.
But Potter refused to go away, and managed to secure a brilliant third-place behind Switzerland’s Julie Derron after holding off France’s Emma Lombardi to earn Team GB their 13th medal of the Olympics.
Potter collapsed to the ground in exhaustion as she crossed the finish line after almost two hours of racing.
Reflecting on her performance, Potter told the BBC: ‘I’m so happy, I was going for the gold but Cassandre and Julie were just too good for me today but I’m super happy to come away with the bronze. I’ve come a long way in eight years and I am so happy to be here with a bronze medal.
‘I did it for me but I also did it for everyone who has helped me in eight years and believed in me from day one. It is for them back home as well.
‘I dug deep and found something else.’
Potter’s fellow Brits also performed well, with Georgia Taylor-Brown – a silver medalist in Tokyo – coming sixth, while rising star Kate Waugh was 15th.