Adam Peaty was unable to join the great Michael Phelps in the record books after suffering his first individual defeat in an Olympics final in the men’s 100m breaststroke.
Peaty was seeking to become just the second male swimmer after Phelps to win the same event at three successive Olympics but Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi claimed a stunning upset victory from lane seven.
His time of 59.03 seconds was two hundredths of a second quicker than Peaty, who touched the wall at the same time as America’s Nic Fink, meaning they will share the silver medal.
Peaty’s silver was one of two medals won by Team GB on day two, as Kimberley Woods claimed a dramatic bronze in the women’s kayak final, while a dramatic comeback win from Andy Murray and Dan Evans in the men’s doubles as among the other standout performances on an eventful Sunday.
Peaty and Woods add to Team GB’s medal tally
Qin Haiyang was thought to be Peaty’s main rival but the Chinese finished a disappointing seventh. Qin hit the front in Sunday’s showpiece and led at halfway but Peaty – fastest in the semi-finals reeled him in, only to be pipped by Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Martinenghi.
“I did as well as I could,” Peaty said. “It’s not about the end goal, it’s all about the process and it doesn’t matter what the time says on the score, in my heart I’ve already won. I’m not crying because I’ve come second, I’m crying because it just took so much to get here.
“It was incredibly hard to win it once and to win it again. I’m trying to find new ways to do it. Everything that happened to this point I think has happened for a reason and I’m so happy that I can race the best in the world and I came joint-second.”
Adam Peaty finished joint-second and claimed silver alongside USA’s Nic Fink
Earlier in the day, Woods was sitting in third position with just one competitor who could knock her off the Paris podium in the kayak final – defending champion Ricarda Funk, the fastest finisher from the afternoon’s semi-finals.
But the German made a mistake at the bottom of the course to incur a 50-second penalty and finish 11th in 149.08 seconds, ensuring Woods’ 98.94 was good enough for her first Olympic medal behind first-placed Australian Jessica Fox and Poland’s Klaudia Zwolinska.
Kimberley Woods secured Team GB’s first medal of day two
“It feels absolutely incredible,” Woods said. “I can’t believe how long my journey’s been. Ricarda Funk coming down, I couldn’t watch. I was on my knees, I was head in hands not being able to watch and all of a sudden I heard the crowd shout something and there was a mistake and I was like, ‘oh my god, I can’t believe I’ve done it.'”
Who else impressed for Team GB?
Murray and Evans are through to the last 16 of the men’s doubles after saving five match points before defeating Japan’s Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori 2-6 7-6 (5) 11-9.
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Novak Djokovic wished Andy Murray the best possible farewell ahead of his last singles tournament and reveals how long he feels he has remaining in tennis.
In the men’s singles, Jack Draper beat Nishikori 6-1, 6-4, Evans defeated Moez Echargui 6-2 4-6 6-2, while fellow Brit Cameron Norrie pulled out through injury. Katie Boulter is out in the women’s singles after losing 6-4 6-2 to Slovenia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
In the pool, Duncan Scott and Matt Richards both qualified for the men’s 200m freestyle final, Angharad Evans qualified for the women’s 100m breaststroke final and Ollie Morgan made the men’s 100m backstroke final.
Team GB’s eventing team are set up for a successful final day on Monday, sitting top of the standings after the cross-country phase. Laura Collett is second in the individual standings, having picked up 0.8 of a time-fault during the cross-country to sit on 18.3.
Tom McEwen stays on his dressage score of 25.8 and is sixth after a clear run, while Ros Canter is currently 24th after being awarded 15 penalties during the cross-country and an appeal being unsuccessful.
In artistic gymnastics, Becky Downie, Abi Martin, Georgia Mae-Fenton and Ruby Evans qualified for Tuesday’s women’s team final after finishing top of their sub-division with a score of 160.830.
Mae-Fenton and Kinsella also qualified for the individual all-around final, while Downie, who missed Tokyo due to the death of her brother, qualified for the uneven bars.
Elsewhere, Evie Richards finished fifth in the women’s cross-country mountain biking and 25 seconds off a medal, while medal hopeful Chelsie Giles lost to Brazil’s Larissa Pimenta in the judo women’s 52kg round of 16.
Rosie Eccles was defeated in controversial circumstance by Aneta Rygielska in the boxing women’s 66kg round of 32, with Pat Brown also making an early exit after lost 4-1 on points in his heavyweight round of 16 fight against Brazil’s Keno Machado.
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Geraint Hughes explains Team GB’s Charley Davison and Rosie Eccles’ controversial boxing exits at the Olympics.
The women’s hockey team lost their opening game 2-1 against Spain, with Giselle Ansley scoring the side’s solitary goal, as the men’s team drew 2-2 with South Africa to continue their unbeaten start.
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