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Clarke, Mears and Laugher win surprise golds for Team GB at Rio 2016

Jack Laugher and Chris Mears came through an almighty battle to become Team GB’s first diving champions in the history of the Olympic Games after the men’s 3m synchro final.

The British pair clinched the title by a mere 4.11 points at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre, scoring 454.43 to finish ahead of pairs from USA (450.21) and China (443.70).

Joe Clarke stormed to Team GB’s second gold medal of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games following a sensational run in the final of the men’s K1 canoe slalom that simply overwhelmed his rivals.

The 23-year-old was considered an outside medal chance but held nothing back after reaching the final and a faultless run and time of 88.53 seconds propelled him into the gold medal slot.

Max Whitlock won Team GB’s first men’s individual all-around gymnastics medal since 1908, claiming bronze in a nerve-wracking evening in the Rio Olympic Arena.

Whitlock started as he meant to go on, recording what would be the best score on the pommel horse all night on his first piece of apparatus.

Top-five performances on the floor, rings and vault saw the 23-year-old finish behind reigning champion Kohei Uchimura of Japan and Oleg Verbiaiev of Ukraine.

Sally Conway won Team GB’s first judo medal of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games after a stunning day that ended with a well-deserved bronze in the -70kg category.

Chris Froome won men’s time trial bronze for the second consecutive Olympic Games, battling wet and windy conditions in Pontal.

The three-time Tour de France winner finished over a minute down on Swiss winner Fabian Cancellara, who also took gold at Beijing 2008, with Dutchman Tom Dumoulin finishing second. Geraint Thomas, Team GB’s second entrant, finished in ninth.

In the women’s race Emma Pooley struggled in the conditions to cross the line with the 14th fastest time. American rider Kristen Armstrong won her third consecutive Olympic Games time trial gold, finishing the 29km course in 44:26:42.

Team GB shooter Steve Scott defeated compatriot Tim Kneale to win the bronze medal in the men’s Olympic double trap in Deodoro.

After both qualified to face each other in the bronze medal match, Scott’s perfect score of 30 against Kneale’s 28 secured Team GB their second shooting medal of Rio 2016 after Ed Ling’s trap bronze.

Team GB’s men’s rugby sevens side advanced to the Olympic semi-finals following a dramatic 5-0 win over Argentina that came courtesy of a last-gasp try in extra time.

In the swimming pool, Andrew Willis just missed out on a medal in the men’s 200m breaststroke after finishing fourth while Duncan Scott was one place lower in the 100m freestyle.

Giles Scott proved he’s still the man to beat in the Finn Class after bouncing back from a disappointing first race on the water on day four to record second and first place finishes on day two.

The four-time Finn Gold Cup winner came home in 17th place in his opening race at Rio 2016, his current discard, and then third but was back on track a day later after dominating the field in wet and windy conditions to sit first overall after the four races.

Elsewhere, it was a strong day on the whole for Team GB’s sailing squad as Nick Thompson moved up to second in the Laser with a second and first while the mixed Nacra 17 pair of Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves made their Olympic debuts in the class, sitting third after two races.

Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark are sixth in the women’s 470 while the men’s pairing of Chris Grube and Luke Patience are 11th. Alison Young is up to 13th in the Laser Radial after finishing sixth and ninth in her two races.

Patrick Huston is already eyeing up Tokyo 2020 in four years’ time after the 20-year-old archer’s Olympic debut came to end at the last 32 stage in the Sambadrome.

Teenager Rebekah Tiler matched her British record to secure a top-ten finish in the 69kg category.

The 17-year old lifted 101kg for her third and final snatch before equalling her clean and jerk British record with a second attempt at 126kg.

The Brit’s final score of 227 saw her finish second in her group and tenth overall on her Olympic debut.

Fiona Bigwood, riding Orthilia, is third in the dressage standings after day one of the Grand Prix in Deodoro.

After a strong start earlier by Spencer Wilton, Team GB are currently in the bronze medal position in the team event behind Germany and the Netherlands.

Olympic newcomer Qais Ashfaq admitted a lack of experience cost him dearly as he lost his opening bout in the bantamweight division to Thailand’s Chatchai Butdee,

Team GB’s men’s quadruple sculls were forced to put their bid for an Olympic medal on hold as high winds forced a second cancellation of the rowing regatta at Lagoa.

No play was possible either at the Olympic Tennis Centre on Wednesday due to rain, with Jo Konta now set for her quarter-final and Andy Murray his third round on day six.

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