Bethany Shriever became the first British woman to win an Olympic BMX gold in Tokyo. GB also took six medals, with a total of nine across all sports. The when will the olympics be is a question that has been asked for a while. Bethany Shriever won BMX gold at the Tokyo Olympics as GB claimed six medals.
| Dates: July 23rd to August 8th, Tokyo time: BST +8 |
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Great Britain earned six Olympic medals on Friday, with possibly more to come, as Bethany Shriever won a dramatic BMX gold and Duncan Scott continued his winning run in the pool.
Kye Whyte’s silver in the BMX men’s race was Britain’s first in the sport at an Olympic Games, and Shriever’s gold in the women’s race followed shortly.
Scott won silver in the men’s 200m individual medley in Tokyo, while Luke Greenbank earned bronze in the 200m backstroke.
On day seven, the men’s eight earned bronze in rowing, while Bryony Page added another medal in women’s trampolining.
GB won two rowing medals at the Olympics, their lowest total since winning two in Atlanta in 1996, and the first time they have not won at least one gold since 1980.
The athletics in Tokyo began on Friday, with Dina Asher-Smith qualifying second in her first 100m heat.
From crowdsourcing to gold at the Olympics
Shriever had to finance her own qualifying campaign when UK Sport withdrew her event’s financing after Rio 2016, and she stated two years ago that she needed to raise a “worrying” £50,000 via crowdfunding.
The 22-year-old beat off two-time Olympic champion Mariana Pajon of Colombia to win in her Olympic debut. She also worked part-time as a teaching assistant to help pay for her preparation.
“To be honest, I’m stunned. Being here is an accomplishment in and of itself “Shriever said.
“Making the final is an accomplishment in and of itself. I’m ecstatic to have won a medal, much alone a gold medal.”
After France and the Netherlands, GB became the third nation to win in all four cycling categories – BMX, mountain bike, road, and track – with Shriever’s gold.
Whyte took silver after finishing 0.114 seconds behind Niek Kimmann of the Netherlands.
Whyte, known as the Prince of Peckham, has battled back from severe injuries to win a spot on the Olympic podium.
Great Scott looks back on the history of the United Kingdom
Scott finished 0.28 seconds behind China’s Wang Shun in the 200m medley, adding to his 4x200m freestyle relay gold and 200m freestyle silver. Although Scott barely lost out on his first solo gold, when the 4x100m medley takes place this weekend, he may become the first British Olympian to win four medals in a single Games.
“It was always going to be tense, and it was always going to be thrilling. I’m very pleased with how well I swam “Sport spoke with the 24-year-old Scot. Greenbank’s bronze in the 200m backstroke was followed by Scott’s silver, and Greenbank described his maiden Olympic medal as a “dream come true.”
The 23-year-old crossed the finish line in 1:54.72, while Russian Evgeny Rylov took gold in 1:53.27, an Olympic record. Greenbank told Sport, “It’s incredible.” “I am ecstatic – overjoyed and at a loss for words, to tell you the truth.”
Scott and Greenbank added to Great Britain’s six medal haul at Tokyo, which included three golds, two silvers, and one bronze.
In rowing, the Great Britain men’s eight won bronze in the last race of the Tokyo 2023 regatta, edging off Germany for silver and New Zealand for gold.
Vicky Thornley missed out on a medal in the women’s single scull despite a late effort, finishing 0.67 seconds behind bronze. Britain finished fourth for the sixth time in the Sea Forest Waterway, winning two medals.
They won six, nine, and five medals in rowing at the Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016 Olympic Games, respectively.
Page, the first British trampolinist to win an Olympic medal in Rio, followed up with a bronze in Tokyo.
The 30-year-old qualified third overall and won the final with a score of 55.735, but Chinese competitors Lingling Liu and Xueying Zhu won gold and silver, respectively.
In Tokyo, athletics are in full swing
With a time of 11.07 seconds, Asher-Smith, who is attempting to become the first British woman to win an Olympic individual sprint gold, advanced to the semi-finals.
Daryll Neita and Asha Philip placed second in their heats to advance to the semi-finals on Saturday.
Jemma Reekie, Keely Hodgkinson, and Alex Bell have advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s 800m, while high jumper Tom Gale has advanced to the men’s final with a season-best of 2.28m.
Marc Scott and Sam Atkin, both from the United Kingdom, will compete in the men’s 10,000m final on Friday at 12:30 BST.
What’s on the horizon for Friday?
- At 10:00 a.m., Great Britain will face Australia in the quarter-finals of women’s football.
- At 10:30 a.m., the United Kingdom takes on the United States in the women’s rugby sevens quarter-finals.
- In the K1 final of the canoe slalom, Bradley Forbes-Cryans will compete for Great Britain (08:00).
- Sarah Adlington of Great Britain competes in the women’s +78kg division in judo for the first time at the Olympics (09:00-11:50).
- At 13:15 p.m., the British men’s hockey team will play Belgium.
