British runners got off to a blistering start on the track at the Stade de France, following a fantastic Friday in Paris in which the British team won seven medals, including three golds.
Athletes who reached the top of the podium on the seventh day of competition included Bryony Page, who became Britain’s first Olympic trampoline champion, as well as the women’s lightweight double sculls and show jumping teams.
Swimming’s fourth medal secured Britain’s highest ever Olympic tally, with Ben Proud and Duncan Scott winning silver in the men’s four rowing and pool events, respectively, in the 50m freestyle and 200m medley.
Additionally, British golfer Tommy Fleetwood shot a 64 to move into first place in the men’s standings alongside two-time major winner Xander Schauffele and Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama.
With morale high, the athletics event got off to a serious start with a strong performance from Josh Kerr, who reached the Olympic 1500m semi-finals and shook off the sarcasm of Norwegian rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
The 26-year-old finished the first of three heats fastest in a time of 3min 35.83sec to book his place in Sunday night’s semi-final, although Ingebrigtsen last night dismissed suggestions the Briton had not competed in enough events to be considered a genuine contender.
Kerr, who beat the Norwegian to win the world title in 2023, confidently told reporters: “I’m listening, I want to define my career at the end of it. [and] I think we’re just getting started.
“I’m hoping for medals, fast times and some fun head-to-head battles. Everyone can have their opinion and I’m fine with that. And I hope I can be remembered for something a little different.”
European champions Dina Asher-Smith, Daryl Neita and Imani-Lara Lansicott also advanced to Saturday’s women’s 100m semi-finals. “I just wanted to get started. I’m just waiting, waiting, waiting. Tokyo has been strange in a lot of ways,” Asher-Smith said.
“There were a lot of English fans in the crowd, which was really heart-warming and I think it added to the great energy and atmosphere that the players could feel. We are energised by that kind of energy.”
Britain’s superb performance in Paris after seven days of competition was an improvement on either Tokyo or Rio at a similar stage and puts the team firmly on track for a record win of 70 medals, the expected limit for British sport.
Speaking after his trampoline victory at the Bercy Arena, Page, who overcame Lost Move Syndrome (LMS) early in his career – a psychological disorder which prevents athletes from performing moves that were previously automatic – shared his insight into the struggles and triumphs of top-level sport.
“I was having problems with my ankle,” said the 33-year-old. “I had to change my plans. I wanted to do a triple triple jump routine, like I did at the World Championships, but I had to change it to something easier so I could make it to the Olympics safely in time.”
“Then yesterday I had some neck pain and my ankle was hurting so I was starting to doubt myself. So I think the shock of actually making it through was just too much.”
Page, who won silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo, was able to add gold to her Olympic collection by defeating Belarus’ Vialeta Barzilovskaya, who won silver, becoming the first neutral athlete to win a medal.
Page also hinted that she might want to return to the Olympics in four years’ time, but reiterated her desire to join Cirque du Soleil as an acrobat.
“I feel amazing,” she said. “I’m just in shock right now. I’m shocked, I’m overwhelmed, I’m feeling every emotion you can imagine, and I’m a little sad that it’s over now.”
After missing out on a medal by just 0.01 seconds in Tokyo, lightweight double sculls team members Emily Craig and Imogen Grant bounced back – Craig has a copy of the photo finish hanging on her living room wall for inspiration.
“That was part of our story and these Olympics were the grand finale,” Grant said. “Not every Olympian starts off right and we didn’t do anything wrong in Tokyo. We’ve put in a lot of effort and we’re different and better people this time around. I think there was a certain inevitability to today’s race.”
Romania took silver, more than a second behind Great Britain’s time of 6:47.06. Greece came third.
The British show jumping team, with Scott Brush, Ben Maher and Harry Charles wearing bandaged arms from fractures sustained four weeks ago, won gold ahead of the US team. Host country France finished third behind the US after Julien Epaillard dropped one obstacle in the final round. “I’m speechless. I need a few more hours to reflect,” said Charles, from Alton.
Jack LaFleur and Anthony Harding completed the most difficult dive of the event to win the bronze medal in the men’s 3 metre synchronised springboard final, ensuring that the Paris Games will be remembered as the diving team’s most successful ever.
LaFleur, a four-time Olympic champion who has already won gold, silver and bronze medals, admitted he and Harding had been feeling pressured following the early success of the British diving team, which included his girlfriend Lois Toulson winning a bronze medal in the synchronised 10-metre platform.
“If I didn’t get it, and she got it, I would never have had to listen to that story,” the 29-year-old said.
Britain’s Kai White, who won silver in BMX in Tokyo, was in a terrible accident, was stretchered off in the semi-final and taken to hospital.
Meanwhile, the Hungarian Boxing Federation has protested against the International Olympic Committee’s decision to allow Algerian fighter Imane Kherif to compete in the Paris 2024 Games ahead of his quarter-final against a Hungarian boxing federation fighter.
Italy’s Angela Carini on Thursday pulled out of a fight with Kheriff after failing the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) gender eligibility test for the 2023 world championships, saying she “chose to stop for the sake of my health,” adding that she had “never felt a punch like this.”
Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting, the second boxer allowed to compete in Paris after failing the IBA’s gender test, also beat her opponent, Shitra Turdibekova of Uzbekistan, on points.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams said the IBA’s decision was “arbitrary” and that Kheriff was “born a woman, registered as a woman, living as a woman, boxing as a woman and has a woman’s passport.” He added: “Somehow there’s a misconception that it’s a man fighting a woman. Scientifically, this is not true.”
