London 2012 - August 7th Highlights



Equestrian 10am

Monday saw Team GB win gold in the team showjumping, beating their Dutch rivals in a jump-off. Great Britain's Nick Skelton, Ben Maher, Scott Brash and Peter Charles won Team GB's first equestrian gold in London 2012 and the country's first showjumping gold in 60 years. Germany, who are currently dominating the sport's medal table, will try to extend their lead in today's individual dressage and the team dressage.

Diving 10am

The men's 3m springboard semi-final and final will take place in the Aquatics Centre. With China dominating the diving medal table as expected, the favourites to collect the gold are He Chong and Tom Daley's big rival, Qin Kai.

Track cycling 10am

This is the last day in the velodrome and it will host one of the most exciting and keenly anticipated events at the Games. Sir Chris Hoy races in the men's keirin final with a chance to grab his sixth gold medal. Sir Chris will be up against the second favourite, Germany's Max Levy, who took silver behind the Scot in the World Track Championships in April. So far Britain have dominated in the velodrome and the golden performances look set to go on right to the end.

Athletics 10am

The athletics continues with the qualification rounds in women's javelin, the men's triple jump and women's long jump. There will be first rounds of the men's 110m hurdles, women's 5,000m and men's 200m, as well as semi-finals in the men's 800m and women's 200m and finals in the men's high jump, men's discus and men's 1500m. Team GB's Goldie Sayers competes in the women's javelin and her compatriot Andrew Osagie will attempt to sail through the men's 800m semi-finals.

Triathlon 11:30am

Saturday's women's triathlon, which saw Britain's world champion Helen Jenkins finish fifth, drew large crowds in and around Hyde Park. Today it is the men's turn. Great Britain have not won a triathlon medal since the sport was introduced at the Olympics at Sydney in 2000. The brothers Jonathan and Alistair Brownlee are favourites and are hoping to end that sequence on home soil. The world No1 Alistair and the world No2 Jonathan – at 22 the younger by two years – have been warned by the sport's world governing body they will be disqualified if they try to cross the finish line simultaneously in an act of brotherly love.

Beach volleyball 6pm

After battling their way out of the group stages to the semi-final, April Ross and Jennifer Kessy of the USA will play Brazil's Juliana Silva and Larissa Franca, below, who have not lost a set so far. China also play another USA duo, dubbed the "queens of the beach" – Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings – for a chance to compete in the final and prevent an all-American showdown.

Football 5pm

Having beaten Stuart Pearce's Team GB on penalties, South Korea now face Brazil – who have never won the Olympic gold medal – at Old Trafford at 7.45pm. Brazil look favourites after scoring 12 goals in four games. The first of the day's matches sees Mexico against Japan at Wembley. Mexico will be hoping Tottenham's Giovani Dos Santos can continue his fine Olympic form.

Brits to watch

Phillips Idowu
Athletics, triple jump
10.45am
Phillips Idowu finally begins his hunt for gold in the men's triple jump qualification today. Idowu has been a source of mystery since before the Games began after it was thought he was "missing". However, he reassured fans saying: "I'm in London where I have been for the last few weeks, finalising my prep and receiving therapy." Idowu arrived at the athletes' village yesterday, quashing rumours that an injury would end his London 2012 dream. He grew up in Hackney, a stone's throw from the Olympic Stadium, and it is there he will strive to obtain gold after a 5cm difference from Nelson Evora pushed Idowu to the silver medal position at the Beijing Olympics four year ago. He has won world and European championships in recent years.
Victoria Pendleton
Cycling – Track, sprint
4.00pm
Victoria Pendleton's gold in the women's keirin helped to make up for her disappointment at being disqualified from the team sprint, despite setting a world record. Today could see Pendleton pick up her second gold of London 2012 in the individual sprint. She won gold in this event in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, making her the defending champion this time. In the course of qualifying Pendleton smashed the Olympic record with a personal best time of 10.724sec. The 31-year-old's most serious rival is Australia's Anna Meares, who came second in the heat, and the two will meet again if both reach the final of this event. Pendleton is retiring after London 2012 and nothing would give her a better send-off than another gold medal.
Lawrence Okoye
Athletics, discus
7.45pm
Relatively unknown but tipped to be a star, Lawrence Okoye is 20 years old but finds himself in the final of the discus in his first Olympics. He was not among the favourites to go through but threw 65.28m with his final throw of qualification. Okoye is the British record holder in the event after throwing 68.24m at the Hallesche Werfertage meeting in May this year. He also won gold in July last year at the European Under-23 Championships. Okoye has deferred his place at Oxford University to study law in order to give athletics his undivided attention. He said: "The two years I've spent doing this would have gone down the pan if I didn't get through." Okoye has a chance of getting a medal if he can throw close to his best today.

Tuesday, 14 August 2012 by Lisa Collier
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