Paris 2024 day eight: Team GB claim tenth Olympic gold in men's eight rowing

Team GB scooped its tenth gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics with a win from the men's eight rowing team on Saturday.

Great Britain picked up six medals on day eight of the Olympics, securing their first athletics medal of Paris 2024.

British athletes also won medals in gymnastics, sailing and dressage, as well as a guaranteed boxing medal to come for Lewis Richardson in the men’s 71kg division.

But sadly there was no fairytale finish for Olympic champion gymnast Max Whitlock who had a disappointing end to his career, narrowly missing out on a medal.

Here we take a look back on another successful day in France for Team GB.

Rowing

Morgan Bolding, Sholto Carnegie, Jacob Dawson, Tom Digby, Charlie Elwes, Tom Ford, Rory Gibbs and James Rudkin withstood challenges from the Netherlands and the United States to win the men's rowing race in five minutes 22.88 seconds.

They came out on top on the final day of the Paris 2024 rowing regatta at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the women’s eight rowing team - consisting of Annie Campbell-Orde, Holly Dunford, Emily Ford, Lauren Irwin, Heidi Long, Rowan McKellar, Eve Stewart and Hattie Taylor - won bronze.

Windsurfing

Also on the water, Emma Wilson, from Nottingham, won a bronze in the women's windsurfing on Saturday morning.

The 25-year-old held a narrow lead at the halfway stage of the final but fell away dramatically before the third mark and finished well behind gold medallist Marta Maggetti of Italy and Israel’s Sharon Kantor in second place.

It was a crushing blow for Wilson who had dominated the windsurfing races at the Marseille regatta, winning eight of the 14 qualifiers to seal a direct place in the delayed final.

Gymnastics

Team GB's Jake Jarman won a bronze medal in the men's floor - his first ever Olympic medal.

The 22-year-old went into the final with the highest score in qualifying and also topped the floor standings during the men’s all-around final.

But his routine was not quite as clean as that of gold medallist Carlos Edriel Yulo of the Philippines, who scored 15.001, while Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat took silver, with Jarman just behind on 14.933.

That secured Britain’s first medal of the Games in artistic gymnastics, with Bryony Page having claimed gold in the same arena in trampolining on Friday.

Jarman’s team-mate Luke Whitehouse finished down in sixth with 14.466.

There was also disappointment for two-time reigning pommel horse champion Max Whitlock, who finished out of the medals in his first competition before retirement.

The 31-year-old - the most successful pommel horse worker in Olympic history - came fourth in Saturday's competition, with Rhys McClenaghan winning gold for Ireland.

Outside of Team GB, an "ecstatic” Simone Biles won her seventh Olympic gold medal and third of this Games in the women’s vault.

Equestrian

Team GB scooped another bronze medal on Saturday - taking the third spot in the dressage team Grand Prix Special in the continued absence of Charlotte Dujardin.

Great Britian's Carl Hester, Charlotte Fry and Becky Moody qualified in third place behind Germany and Denmark, but took an early lead after Moody scored 76.489% aboard Jagerbomb.

Hester was next up on Fame, slightly bettering Moody’s mark with 76.520%, with Charlotte Fry last to ride for Team GB with Glamourdale.

While she secured a score of 79.483%, it was only good enough for third behind Germany and Denmark.

Athletics

Great Britain’s 4×400 metres mixed relay team of Sam Reardon, Laviai Nielsen, Alex Haydock-Wilson and Amber Anning secured Olympic bronze and a new national record.

It was Team GB’s first athletics medal of Paris 2024, with a time of 3:08.01, after qualifying third-fastest on Friday night.

The United States, who set a world record 3:07.41 in the qualifiers, settled for second after the Netherlands’ Femke Bol laid down a 47.93 anchor leg to claim the title for the Dutch in a thrilling finish.

Meanwhile, St Lucia’s Julien Alfred won the gold medal in the women’s 100m final.

Daryll Neita came fourth, just missing out on a spot on the podium.

Sadly, Dina Asher-Smith & Imani-Lara Lansiquot fell at the semi-final stage.

Neita needed to be among the top two from the third group in the penultimate round at Stade de France, and was second-fastest in 10.97.

Two places were rewarded to the fastest of the remaining finishers, but Asher-Smith’s 11.10 was not enough to make the cut, a time that left the European 100m champion in 11th place overall.

Asher-Smith, who goes again in the 200m heats on Sunday, said: “I’m just disappointed because I’m in great shape and have been running great all season.

“I fully expected to make that final, the race wasn’t even fast. I am very disappointed. I have just felt great.

“There are no thoughts, you just run. I know I’m in a lot better shape than that

“I just go on to the 200m, but again I am excited to attack. I’m very disappointed. I fully should have made that.”

There was also disappointment for British sprinter Jeremiah Azu earlier in the day after the Welshman was disqualified from the 100 metres heats for a false start.

The 2022 European 100m champion said he “reacted to a sound” and subsequently lodged a protest, which might have led to him running solo for a berth in Sunday’s semi-final, but his appeal was dismissed shortly after the 23-year-old said he was optimistic officials would give him a second chance.

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