Tokyo 2020: Sky Brown becomes Team GB’s youngest Olympic medallist

Brown rips up Olympic record books

An earthquake registering 6.0 on the Richter Scale shuddered Tokyo on Wednesday morning, but it was nothing compared to the tremors felt at the Ariake Urban Park where Sky Brown and her 12-year-old rival Kokona Hiraki proceeded to rip up the Olympic record books.

Aged just 13 years and 28 days, Brown won bronze in the women’s park competition, after a dramatic podium-or-bust final run of the competition in which she landed a move called the kick-flip indy that had been eluding her all day, and proved enough to make her Great Britain’s youngest Olympic medallist.

Incredibly, she was beaten by the even-younger Hiraki, who thus became the youngest Olympic medallist in 85 years, while her team-mate Sakura Yosozuma, who had qualified for the final in fourth place, nailed back-to-back 540s in the opening run of the final, for a score of 60.09 that proved enough for gold.

“I’m so stoked,” said Brown, who along with Hiraki is technically too young to make the lower entry requirements for the Youth Olympics.

“I can’t believe it, it’s like a dream. I thought I was going to get it (the trick) in the first or second run. I was little shocked and I was like, ‘am I going to make it?’

“My dad said, ‘it’s just a contest, if you fall it doesn’t define you’. So, yeah, honestly that made me feel better. It is just a contest. I just wanted to land it. I didn’t really care what place I got.”

On the hottest day yet of the baking Tokyo Games, with temperatures tipping 33 celsius amid stifling 90% per cent humidity, Brown exhibited maturity beyond her years, recovering from falls in each of her first two runs of the final to come good when it mattered, a score of 56.47 lifting her into a podium place.

Ranked third with one competitor, the favourite Misugu Okamoto, to go, Brown still faced the prospect of leaving the Games without a medal. But when Okamoto, the reigning world champion and leading qualifier, failed to go clean on her final run, the Briton’s ascent into the Olympic history books was confirmed.

More records broken as Mills and McIntyre take gold

Britain’s Hannah Mills became the most successful female Olympic sailor in history by winning gold with Eilidh McIntyre in the women’s 470 class in Tokyo.

Mills, who carried the British flag at the opening ceremony with rower Mohamed Sbihi, won silver in London and gold in Rio with Saskia Clark in the same boat.

Mills and McIntyre have dominated the regatta at Enoshima, winning two races and only twice finishing outside the top four, and they went into the medal race with a 14-point lead.

That meant they only needed to finish in the top seven to clinch gold and they were never in any danger, crossing the line comfortably in fifth.

There was a delay for the result to be ratified after a protest from France but that was dismissed, with Mills and McIntyre confirmed in gold.

The victory continued a hugely successful two days for Britain’s sailors, with Mills and McIntyre making it three gold medals after success for Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell in the 49er and Giles Scott in the Finn on Tuesday.

Maher roars to showjumping glory

Great Britain’s Ben Maher won individual showjumping gold at Tokyo Equestrian Park after eclipsing his rivals aboard the brilliant Explosion W.

Maher produced a dazzling display under the floodlights to give Team GB its second successive Olympic showjumping champion following Nick Skelton’s success with Big Star in Rio five years ago.

The 38-year-old helped Britain to London 2012 team gold alongside Skelton, Scott Brash and Peter Charles, and he added individual title glory after living up to his tag as pre-Games favourite.

Thirty combinations contested the final, with six going through to a jump-off before Maher triumphed from silver medallist Peder Fredricson, of Sweden, and Holland’s Maikel van der Vleuten in bronze.

Maher’s victory gave the Great Britain equestrian team a fifth Olympic medal in Tokyo, equalling their record haul achieved in London.

His win followed gold for the eventing team and Tom McEwen’s individual eventing silver, plus team dressage bronze and Charlotte Dujardin’s individual dressage bronze.

De Grasse downs Team USA in 200m final

Canada’s Andre De Grasse stormed to victory in the 200m final.

The 26-year-old added the gold medal to the bronze he won in the 100m on Sunday after running a national record of 19.62 seconds.

World champion Noah Lyles was third behind USA team-mate Kenneth Bednarek.

De Grasse overtook Lyles and Bednarek as they closed in on the line and held off the challenge of Bednarek to improve on the silver medal he won in Rio five years ago.

The USA’s Erriyon Knighton, a possible heir to Usain Bolt’s 200m throne at just 17, came fourth. He ran 19.84 seconds in the US trials to beat Bolt’s under-20s record.

Before De Grasse took the title in Tokyo on Wednesday the USA’s Shawn Crawford was the last man to win the 200m, other than Bolt, in 2004.

Whittaker sorry after missing out on gold

Ben Whittaker insisted he meant no disrespect by putting his Olympic silver in his pocket at the medal ceremony, revealing he felt like a “failure” after losing in the men’s light-heavyweight final.

The 24-year-old was in tears on the podium after being outclassed by Cuba’s Arlen Lopez, who was awarded a split decision win to become a two-time Olympic champion, having gone all the way at middleweight at Rio 2016.

However, Whittaker’s actions afterwards overshadowed what was a fine performance by the slick southpaw, who won on four of the five judges’ scorecards at the Kokugikan Arena, with the Briton refusing to wear his medal.

Whittaker, who put the medal around his neck when speaking to the media, had no complaints with the decision and seemed regretful at what he had done moments before, admitting he was still feeling the pain of his points defeat.

“I was doing it for everybody at home and I felt like a failure,” he said. “At the time, I should have put this beautiful silver medal round my neck and smiled because this is not just for me, it’s for the country.

Whittaker’s defeat came hot on the heels of Frazer Clarke missing out on a place in the final of the men’s super-heavyweight category, with the 29-year-old stopped in the third round after a nasty cut opened above his right eye.

While GB Boxing are guaranteed six medals – their best haul since the 1920 Games – their hopes of bringing back a gold now rest with men’s flyweight Galal Yafai and women’s middleweight Lauren Price.

Yafai takes on Kazakhstan’s Saken Bibossinov in their semi-final on Thursday while Price goes up against Holland’s Nouchka Fontijn, with a place in the gold medal match at stake.

McLaughlin sets new world record

The USA’s Sydney McLaughlin broke her own world record to clinch the 400 metres hurdles gold medal.

The 21-year-old clocked 51.46 seconds having previously set a world best of 51.90secs to become the first woman to break the 51-second barrier in June.

Dalilah Muhammad was second in 51.58s – which also broke McLaughlin’s previous record. The Netherlands’ Femke Bol claimed bronze.

Meanwhile, Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s medal hopes ended as the world champion pulled up injured in the heptathlon 200 metres before picking herself up to jog across the line.

The 28-year-old went down after completing the bend but refused treatment and completed the race but was disqualified because she left the lane.

She had been sitting fifth after the shot put but, given her injury-ravaged build-up, will be a massive doubt to finish the heptathlon on Thursday.

She is still due to compete in the long jump, javelin and 800m.

Her disqualification ruins what had been a promising first day and left her hopes of securing a medal in tatters.