It’s medal Monday! Team GB win first TWO Olympics golds

Team GB have added a ‘fairy tale’ canoeing silver to Monday’s medal haul with Great Britain also picking up two golds, another silver and a bronze in the best day of the games for the country so far. 

Adam Burgess claimed second spot in the canoe slalom finishing behind France’s Nicolas Gestin this afternoon. 

It came after Tom Pidcock won mountain bike gold and the eventing team also retained their title. 

Tom Daley started the avalanche of success today by picking up second in the 10metre synchronized platform event this morning with Noah Williams.

Shortly afterwards Laura Collett sealed a first British gold medal at the Paris Olympics as the eventing squad won the team competition at the Chateau de Versailles. Hours later Laura then won a bronze in the individual eventing competition.

Tom Pidcock stormed back from a front puncture and reeled in Victor Koretzky, who had a 40 second lead, to take a second consecutive Olympic mountain bike gold. It is only 16 days since Pidcock pulled out of the Tour de France suffering from Covid.

The reigning mountain bike world champion had made this race his number one target all season, and his determination to deliver showed in the final two laps of a pulsating contest that included an extraordinary overtaking manoeuvre. But the French crowd booed him as he celebrated after he beat their favourite Koretzky.

Tonight Max Whilock, another Olympic great for Team GB, will fight for another gold in his final games in the team event. This afternoon he will also take part in the pummel horse. 

Experienced Whitlock, 31, becomes the first male gymnast to represent Team GB at four Olympic Games at Paris 2024. He already has six Olympic medals – three of them gold.  

Tonight he will compete in the men’s artistic team all-around final, alongside Joe Fraser, Harry Hepworth, Jake Jarman, and Luke Whitehouse.

The first medals began arriving at around 11am.

Tom Daley and Noah Williams picked up Team GB’s second diving medal of the Olympics with a silver in the men’s 10m synchronised event.

Nothing could separate Great Britain and Canada in the first two rounds, with both teams tied on 105.00, but a brilliant third dive from Daley and Williams saw them gain a 4.8 point advantage over the Canadians.

From there Great Britain extended the gap over Canada, consistently placing second in their remaining rounds.

China’s Hao Yang and Junjie Lian took gold on Olympic debut, while Canada finished third.

Silver completes the collection for Daley, who has three bronzes and one gold, and it is a first Olympic medal for Williams.

Laura Collett and London 52 then sealed a first British gold medal at the Paris Olympics as the eventing squad won the team competition at the Chateau de Versailles.

Collett and teammate Tom McEwen were both winning the title for a second time having triumphed in Tokyo three years ago, but it was a debut Olympic gold for Ros Canter, who was travelling reserve last time around.

With France starting the day in second, home fans were out in force hoping for a winning performance, resulting in an atmosphere to remember for Collett.

She said: ‘I’m on top of the world – riding into that stadium is an experience I don’t think I will ever have again, it was spine-tingling and then we just had to focus on trying to get the job done.

‘I’ve said it a million times, but I owe everything to him, he’s the horse of a lifetime and I’m so, so proud of him.

‘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.’

Following a record-breaking performance in the dressage on day one, Britain went into the third phase narrowly ahead of France after Canter incurred 15 penalties for a missed flag in Saturday’s cross-country stage.

The advantage was increased when the first French rider Nicolas Touzaint had two fences down, with Canter knocking down the sixth fence before McEwen jumped clear.

It was then down to Collett and while London 52 clipped the final obstacle and went marginally over the allotted time to add a further 0.8 penalties, it was more than good enough for gold.

Laura Collett then won a bronze medal in the individual eventing competition at the Paris Olympics.

After securing team gold earlier in the day, Collett went into the individual jumping round in third, with fellow Brit Tom McEwen 2.7 penalties behind in fourth.

Both jumped clear, but with German Michael Jung and Australian Christopher Burton also enjoying perfect rounds to take first and second respectively, Collett had to be content with third.

And Tom Pidcock stormed back from a front puncture to take a 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 take the win.

Pidcock was booed by the home crowds at Elancourt Hill, who had been ecstatic when Koretzky had attacked on the final climb of the race – the sort of territory where Pidcock would be expected to make a move – to take the lead late on.

But their hearts would be broken after Pidcock got his nose in front of Koretzky as the path narrowed before a tree, the decisive moment in a tense race.

After a relatively poor start, Pidcock had moved to the front on the third lap and then took control, only for things to unravel with a front flat tyre.

Pidcock was lucky in that it happened close to the pits but his team were not ready for him and it was a slow change, leading Pidcock down in ninth place, the gap to the front suddenly ballooning.

He caught back up to catch Koretzky with two laps to go, but the effort told as he could not shake off the Frenchman until the very last.