Usain Bolt is all smiles after winning gold in the men's 200m final
Photo: Getty Images
Bolt is officially a living legend
ATHLETICS: Jamaica's Usain Bolt became the first man in history to successfully defend the Olympics sprint double with gold in the 200m final this morning. The 25-year-old's time of 19.32sec was just outside his Olympic record but good enough to beat teammates Yohan Blake and Warren Weir in a Jamaican shutout on the podium.
Bolt, who reaffirmed his status as the fastest man on the planet with gold in the 100m earlier this week, is now inarguably the greatest sprinter the world has ever seen. He is also the first athlete to win five Olympic gold medals in track and field before the age of 26.
Meanwhile, Kenyan runner David Rudisha won gold in the men's 800m final in the astonishing time of 1min 40.91sec, breaking his own world record. Nijel Amos of Botswana took silver and fellow Kenyan Timothy Kitum also got on the podium in what was probably the fastest 800m race in history, with every athlete running either a personal best or a season's best time.
Australia's men's 4x400m relay team failed to make the final after finishing sixth in their heat in a time of 3:3.17. The Aussies, who were bumped up to fifth after the Dominican Republic were disqualified, were left to rue their baton changes.
The news was better for double amputee Oscar Pistorius, whose Olympics campaign is still alive after the South African team won an appeal to advance to the final despite crashing out in their heat. Teammate Ofentse Mogawane fell on the second leg but the IAAF ruled he was unfairly impeded by a runner from Kenya.
In the women's events, Caster Semenya is through to the 800m final after clocking the fastest time (1:57.67) of the semi-finals. The South African is making her Olympics debut two years after a gender controversy forced her to miss almost 12 months of racing.
Aussie men win K4 gold
CANOEING: Australia's men's K4 1000m crew stunned Hungary and the Czech Republic to take our sixth gold medal of the London Games on Thursday night. The only non-European boat in the canoe sprint final, the Aussies – Tate Smith, David Smith, Murray Stewart and Jake Clear – became the first-ever Australian crew boat to win Olympics gold.
Aussie duo face nervous wait for gold
SAILING: Australia's Malcolm Page and Mat Belcher will wait another 24 hours to contest for gold in the men's 470 dinghy class after the showpiece final was delayed due to poor wind conditions. Page and Belcher are in a straight shootout for the gold with British pair Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell, with the Aussies holding a slender four-point lead going into the final race. Patience and Bithell are confident the added delay will work in their favour, saying the Aussies might crumble under the pressure.
Teen Broben wins diving silver
DIVING: Gold Coast teen Brittany Broben took a surprise silver in the women's 10m platform final, while compatriot Melissa Wu finished fourth. Sixteen-year-old Broben, the youngest member of Australia's Olympic team, nailed a two-and-half somersault with a one-and-a-half twist on her final dive to lock up second place behind China's Chen Ruolin.
Stingers win bronze over Hungary
WATER POLO: Australia's women's team topped the Hungarians 13-11 in extra time to clinch the bronze medal. Gemma Beadsworth scored the only two goals of extra time after Hungary sensationally tied the scores at 11-11 in the final seconds of regulation play.
Dream over for Opals as USA triumph
BASKETBALL: Australia were knocked out of the women's basketball semi-finals with an agonising 86-73 loss to the USA. The Opals led at half-time but unravelled in the second half as the Americans rose to the occasion to steal their 40th straight win in Olympic competition. Australia will now play off for the bronze medal on Saturday.
Kookaburras crumble in semi-final
HOCKEY: Australia's men's team twice failed to protect a one-goal lead as Germany romped to a 4-2 win in their semi-final. The Kookaburras will meet Great Britain in the bronze medal match after the Netherlands thumped the hosts 9-2 in the other semi-final.
Willoughby, Young into BMX semis
CYCLING: World champion Sam Willoughby and fellow Aussie Khalen Young survived a day of carnage to progress to the BMX semi-finals. Teammate Brian Kirkham was not so lucky, failing to make up enough ground to reach the semis after being caught up in a massive crash on his first run.
American women win football gold
FOOTBALL: Carli Lloyd scored a brace as the United States defeated Japan 2-1 in the women's football gold medal match. Japan pulled a goal back through Yuki Ogimi in the second half but were unable to find a way past USA goalkeeper Hope Solo for the equaliser. Canada pipped France 1-0 to take the bronze medal.
Broken leg fails to stop relay runner
American Manteo Mitchell is being hailed as a hero after ignoring a broken leg to help his teammates reach the final of the men's 4x400m relay. Mitchell says he felt a popping in his left leg about halfway through the opening leg but ignored the pain and kept running, finishing his lap in 46.1 seconds.
"I didn't want to let those three guys down or the team down, so I just ran on it," he said after the race.
"I wanted to just lie down. It felt like somebody literally just snapped my leg in half. It hurt so bad."
A few hours later, doctors told Mitchell he had a broken left fibula. He says he is "amazed" he was able to split 46 seconds despite the injury.
Belgium send disgraced cyclist home
Gijs Van Hoecke is on his way home after photographs of the Belgian track cyclist looking drunk and being carried from a nightclub to a taxi were published in several British newspapers. "I made a big mistake," Van Hoecke told Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws. The 20-year-old came 15th in the men's omnium on Sunday.
Cambage issues Rice 'groupie' denial
Australian basketballer Liz Cambage has hit back at claims she called Stephanie Rice a "groupie" over the swimmer's friendship with Kobe Bryant. The towering Opals star took to Twitter to play down the story overnight.
"LOL media makes me laugh, I never named anyone? LETS GO BOOMERS, goodnight everyone xxx," she tweeted.
Cambage had earlier tweeted: "I love how Kobe has his wife with him at the Olympics, yet still surrounded by groupies! Some women need to get a grip, ASAP!" in an apparent dig at Rice.
Rice also took to Twitter to give her version of events, telling followers she and Bryant are "just friends".
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