A GOLDEN day on surf and turf for Team GB.
Andy Murray wins gold and silver on the grass at Wimbledon while at sea off Weymouth Ben Ainslie adds a FOURTH gold medal to his glittering collection.
Just three weeks after losing in the Wimbledon final, Andy takes his revenge by destroying Swiss ace Roger Federer in straight sets on Centre Court.
Britain’s first tennis gold for 104 years, takes just one hour 56 minutes as Andy smashes Federer 6-2, 6-1, 6-4. As the 15,000 capacity crowd leap for joy, Murray drapes himself in the Union flag. He praises the supporters, admitting: “They helped me get a few extra miles an hour on the last couple of serves.”
Mo Farah’s 10,000m win the night before has also played its part too.
Scot Andy, 25, says: “The way Mo won gave me the inspiration to win.”
An hour later, Andy teams up with 18-year-old Laura Robson in the mixed doubles final. Despite having hardly ever practised together, they put in a strong showing but Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi of Belarus are just too strong. At Weymouth, Ben Ainslie takes gold in the Finn class to become the world’s greatest-ever Olympic sailor. He punches the air as his flimsy dinghy – nicknamed Rita – crosses the line and Rule Britannia blasts out on the seafront where 5,000 wildly cheering fans line the shoreline.
Ben, 35, from Cornwall has won a medal at every Games since 1996 and has now taken gold at the last four Olympics. After the early races, he was in trouble and lost his gold slot but fought hard in the final five to win the series from Dane Jonas Hogh-Christensen.
Ben, who started sailing as an eight-year-old, says: “This ranks as the best of my five Olympic Games.”
A shift in the wind 20 seconds away from the finish line costs Iain Percy and team-mate Andrew “Bart” Simpson gold.
Their Star keelboat lurches as the wind changes, allowing Swedes Freddy Loof and Max Salminen to cross the line first and the Brit pair have to settle for silver.
