Tokyo 2020 – Day 12: ‘Winning Wednesday’ for Team GB

A medal rush lifted Great Britain to fourth in the medal rankings of Day 12, with medals in the skateboarding, sailing, showjumping and boxing adding up to a successful day.

Sky Brown became GB’s youngest Olympic medallist ever after winning bronze in the women’s park skateboarding, Britain’s first-ever medal in the sport. She produced a composed final run with a kickflip indy to finish third in the event with a score of 56.47, recovering from mistakes in the first two of her three runs to win the medal. Japanese boarders took the other two medals – Sakura Yosozumi and Kokona Hiraki won gold and silver with scores of 60.09 and 59.04 respectively.

The duo of  Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre won a sailing gold in the women’s 470 class. They dominated the regatta, winning two races and recording a further six top four finishes to take a 14-point lead into the medal race. It was enough to ensure they only needed to finish in the top seven, and they sat in second for much of the medal race behind race winners Switzerland to claim the gold. After this win, Mills has become Britain’s most successful female Olympic sailor ever, adding to her Rio 2016 gold and London 2012 silver.

After a dramatic six-horse jump-off in the individual showjumping event, GB’s Ben Maher won gold on Explosion W. He completed his clear round in 37.85 seconds, beating Sweden’s Peder Fredricson by 17-hundredths of a second, while the Netherlands’ Maikel van der Vleuten took bronze. Of his partner, Maher said: “He grew wings for me – he’s a real athlete, he’s not a normal horse.”

These medals were followed by two in boxing – Ben Whittaker secured a men’s light-heavyweight silver and Frazer Clarke a bronze in the men’s super-heavyweight division. Whittaker lost on a split decision to Cuba’s Arlen Lopez, and was clearly devastated by the defeat, crying on the podium and stuffing the medal into his pocket. Clarke, meanwhile, was guaranteed at least a bronze, and won it after the referee stopped the fight due to a heavy cut around the Briton’s eye. With six medals guaranteed, this is Britain’s most successful Olympics in the boxing ring since 1920, when just 12 nations took part.

On the track, Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s bid for a heptathlon medal was over after she injured her Achilles in the 200m event. She was in fifth after the 100m hurdles, high jump and shotput, and started quickly in the 200m, but had to pull up as she rounded the bend and went into the straight. She picked herself up to jog over the line despite clearing being in pain, and was then disqualified for leaving her lane. It was later announced that Johnson-Thompson has withdrawn from the heptathlon altogether.

The GB women’s hockey team saw their gold defence come to an end after losing to the Netherlands 5-1, and will face India in the bronze-medal match on Friday. Sport climbing made its Olympic debut, while Alice Dearing made history as the first black swimmer to represent Britain at an Olympics, finishing 19th in the women’s 10km marathon event. In the women’s 400m hurdles, the USA’s Sydney McLaughlin smashed her own world record to win gold with a time of 51.46 seconds, while defending champion and compatriot Dalilah Muhammad claimed silver in 51.58.