Olympics round-up

China dive for gold: China’s Qin Kai and Luo Yutong won the men’s 3m synchronised springboard gold medal yesterday to make it four Chinese victories from four events. Qin and Luo tallied 477.00 points from their six dives to win the event from Russia’s Ilya Zakharov and Evgeny Kuznetsov, who took silver, and the US pairing of Kristian Ipsen and Troy Dumais, who finished with bronze.

Federer on track: Roger Federer moved into the Olympic Games quarter-finals with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin yester-day. After securing a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title earlier this month, Federer is desperate to complete a career Golden Slam by winning a singles gold medal for the first time. In women’s singles, Kim Clijsters beat Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-4 to reach the last eight.

Other result: Kerber bt Venus Wiliams 7-6, 7-6.

Le Clos slept with medal: Chad le Clos slept with his gold medal on after edging out Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly final, his South Africa team-mate Oscar Pistorius revealed yesterday. Double amputee athlete Pistorius, dubbed the “Blade Runner”, saw Le Clos in the lift heading down to breakfast the morning after Tuesday night’s thrilling victory over Phelps. The 20-year-old swimmer was still wearing his gold medal and revealed he had not yet taken it off.

Molmenti’s special day: Italy’s Daniele Molmenti (picture) celebrated his 28th birthday yesterday as he snatched gold in the kayak slalom. The current European champion, who could only manage 10th in Beijing, won in a time of 93.43 seconds, ahead of the Czech Republic’s Vavrinec Hradilek in silver and Germany’s Hannes Aigner, who claimed bronze. Molmenti let out a large scream as he crossed the line, flexing his biceps for the cameras on the banks of the Lee Valley white water course.

Rowing in fishing boat: Niger’s first-ever Olympic rower trained in a fishing boat and fell into the water the first time he stepped into the real thing. Hamadou Djibo Issaka, who only took up rowing in May, has become a rock-solid fans’ favourite at the Olympics, despite finishing way off the pace in all three races so far. The 35-year-old is somewhat out of his depth at the Eton Dorney rowing venue. But the crowds have warmed to his Olympic spirit and gritty determination and taken him to their hearts, roaring him on to the finish line in the 2,000m single sculls.

Lifter rim grabs gold: North Korea’s Rim Jong Sim relied on her superior clean and jerk to win the women’s 69kg class yesterday, the reclusive nation’s third gold of the Olympic weightlifting competition. Rim, 19, recorded a combined total of 261kg after snatching 115kg and registering a best in the clean and jerk of 146kg. Romanian Roxana Cocos took silver with a total of 256kg, with Belarus’s Maryna Shkermankova claiming the bronze medal.