Great Britain collected their first gold medals of the 2024 Olympics as part of a rush of medals on day three at the Paris Games.
The first gold of the games came in the team eventing as Team GB retained the title they won in Tokyo three years ago.
Not long after opening their account, a second gold quickly followed as Tom Pidcock dramatically overcame a puncture to win the men’s mountain biking.
On a fruitful Monday, Tom Daley and Noah Williams also won silver in the 10m synchronised diving, as did Adam Burgess in the canoe slalom and Matt Richards in the 200m freestyle, while Laura Collett collected bronze in the individual eventing.
Pidcock wins gold in dramatic final
The most dramatic victory undoubtedly came in the men’s mountain biking as Pidcock snatched gold from the grasp of France’s Victor Koretzky.
Favourite before the action started, the INEOS Grenadiers rider looked on course to win the title he won in Tokyo before a puncture stopped him in his tracks.
The 24-year-old slipped down to ninth and 40 seconds behind the leaders before he staged a stunning comeback.
He eventually battled his way towards the front and was neck and neck with Koretzky before overtaking the heavily backed Frenchman in the woods at the final stage.
How on EARTH 🤯
Tom Pidcock punctured his tyre. He slipped to ninth. He’s somehow won a gold medal for Team GB 🙌 Beast.#PARIS2024 #OLYMPICS #BBCOLYMPICS PIC.TWITTER.COM/5OHHN95EAA
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) JULY 29, 2024
Eventing team defend their crown
Team GB continued their dominance of the equestian events as they claimed gold in the team eventing.
Tom McEwen and Collett, who played a part in GB winning five out of six equestian events at Tokyo, were joined in Paris by Ros Canter, who placed well after the dressage and cross country phases.
They led going into the jumping phase but a jumping penalty against Center on Sunday meant their lead above France was just 4.7 penalty points.
But there were no such issues on Monday as the trio held their nerve to collect gold.
The top 25 in the individual standings qualified for the jumping final, which Collett won her second medal of the day in as she claimed bronze.
🥇🥇 That’s GB gold! 🥇🥇
Team GB have won the team eventing – their first gold medal of #PARIS2024 👏#BBCOLYMPICS #OLYMPICS PIC.TWITTER.COM/7NHYZXRH5U
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) JULY 29, 2024
Richards misses out on gold
Richards agonisingly missed the chance to become a gold medallist by two hundredths of a second but still took a stunning silver in the men’s 100m freestyle.
The Olympic debutant was narrowly beaten by Romanian David Popovic after touching the end mark by a fingertip, being beaten by the same margin Adam Peaty was 24 hours earlier.
In a closely-fought race, GB’s Duncan Scott was also beaten to bronze by Luke Hobson of the United States.
Burgess claims brilliant silver
Adam Burgess continued the slew of British medals after a brilliant ride to earn silver in the men’s canoe slalom, a day after Kimberley Woods claimed bronze in the women’s singles.
He qualified fourth before producing an excellent run of 96.84 seconds to place him at the top of the standings before the final racer took to the water.
That final racer was France’s Nicolas Gestin, who produced a stunning time nearly five seconds quicker than Burgess to take gold, but that did not stop the Brit from celebrating his silver.
Daley wins fifth Olympic medal
Tom Daley completed a full set of medals at the Olympics as he and Noah Williams took silver in the 10m synchronised diving.
The 30-year-old, who made his return after two years to compete in Paris, added a silver to with his gold and three bronzes he previously at the London, Rio and Tokyo Games.
Daley and Williams impressed in six of their dives at The Aquatics Centre but could not get past China’s flawless duo Lian Junjie and Yang Hao, who deservedly took gold.
