Badminton: China’s Chen Long stepped out of compatriot Lin Dan’s shadow to spoil Lee Chong Wei’s hopes of a golden Olympic Games swansong and win the men’s badminton title, yesterday. The Malaysian’s conqueror at successive World Championship finals in 2014-15, rangy Chinese Chen was majestic in the 21-18, 21-18 title-decider, soaking up fierce pressure and smashing through Lee’s defences at a heaving Riocentro.
Taekwondo: Cheick Sallah Cisse, of the Ivory Coast, clinched a stunning victory against Great Britain’s Lutalo Muhammad with a spin kick to the head in the last second of their gold-medal taekwondo bout. After trailing the British fighter by four points to six until the waning instants of the match, Cisse scored another four points, the most available in a single manoeuvre, with a spectacular reverse turning kick to Muhammad’s head. The victory, in the under 80kg category, gave Ivory Coast its first-ever gold medal in Olympic history.
Boxing: The first woman to win an Olympic boxing gold medal became the first to repeat the feat yesterday when Britain’s Nicola Adams retained her flyweight title by beating France’s Sarah Ourahmoune. Adams, 33, became the first British boxer to win two successive golds since London policeman Harry Mallin won the middleweight division at the 1920 Antwerp and 1924 Paris Games. Women’s boxing was introduced to the Olympics at the 2012 London Games, with Adams the first of three champions.
Rio results
Waterpolo – Men’s bronze medal match
Italy vs Montenegro - 12-10
Football – Men’s bronze medal match
Nigeria vs Honduras - 3-2
Volleyball – Women’s bronze medal match
United States vs Netherlands - 3-1
Handball – Women’s gold medal match
Russia vs France - 22-19
Basketball – Women’s gold medal match
United States vs Spain - 101-72
[attach id=527357 size="medium"][/attach]
Canoeing: Liam Heath (picture) brought home another gold medal for Britain yesterday, winning the men’s K-1 200-metre sprint in a neck-and-neck battle with France’s Maxime Beaumont. Heath, 32, claimed victory in 35.197 seconds, just 0.165 seconds faster than silver medallist Beaumont. Spain’s Saul Craviotto and Germany’s Ronald Rauhe tied for bronze, with identical finishing times down to the thousandth of a second.