Tokyo 2020 – Day 16: cycling and boxing golds cap off Team GB campaign
Team GB won two more gold medals on the final day of the Tokyo Games to move their total to 65, equalling the number won at London 2012. With these medals, Jason Kenny cemented his name in the British history books and Lauren Price consolidated British boxing’s record best showing.
Kenny has become the most decorated British Olympian ever after winning his seventh gold medal in the men’s keirin cycling final. The cyclist comfortably won the final, making an early move to leave the leading pack trailing and then sprinting clear with three laps remaining. Malaysia’s Mohd Azizulhasni Awang and Dutch rider Harrie Lavreysen won silver and bronze respectively. Kenny now has nine Olympic medals.
Price was guaranteed at least silver going into the middleweight final, but she completed a unanimous points victory over China’s Li Qian to win gold. The Welsh boxer took the opening round easily with a dominant performance, and controlled the second to the extent that her opponent needed a stoppage or knockout in the final round to win. Price stormed to victory with a near-flawless performance in the final round, with a 30-27 winning margin on four judges’ scorecards and a 29-28 victory on the other. Team GB ends the Tokyo Games with two golds and six medals in total, a record haul.
The final tally for Team GB was 65, equalling the London 2012 total and coming just two below the Rio 2016 total. Despite finishing fourth in the final medal tally, Team GB chef de mission Mark England hailed the medal haul in Tokyo as “the greatest achievement in British Olympic history”. He said: “Not only has the team made history but it has probably made history on the back of the most complex and most challenging and difficult environment that we will face certainly in my lifetime. It has been against all the odds and I think it is the greatest achievement in British Olympic history. It has been the miracle of Tokyo.”
In the velodrome, the USA’s Jennifer Valente won omnium gold – Laura Kenny was unable to place for a medal. The USA also succeeded in the women’s basketball, taking their seventh successive gold with a dominant 90-75 win over Japan. The Irish boxer Kellie Harrington beat Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira to win gold in the women’s lightweight final, while Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge became the first athlete to defeat an Olympian marathon title since 1980, crossing the finish line one minute 20 seconds ahead of second-placed Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands.
The Games concluded with an upbeat ceremony in the National Stadium, where the athletes thanked the people of Japan by making a heart gesture with their hands. They marked the exceptional circumstances under which these Games have taken place, and then an air display painted the colours of the French tricolore across the sky to pass the baton to Paris for 2024.
Medal table:
- USA
Gold (39), Silver (41), Bronze (33), Total (113)
- China
Gold (38), Silver (32), Bronze (18), Total (88)
- Japan
Gold (27), Silver (14), Bronze (17), Total (58)
- Great Britain
Gold (22), Silver (21), Bronze (22), Total (65)
- Russian Olympic Committee
Gold (20), Silver (28), Bronze (23), Total (71)
Comments