Olympics: Kate French wins gold for Great Britain in modern pentathlon

Britain's Kate French was in fifth place going into the final laser-run discipline of the Modern Pentathlon and after the first lap of four, she took the lead and kept extending it lap by lap until she crossed the line to win the Olympic title.

Kate French of Team Great Britain crosses the line to win gold in the Laser Run during the Women's Modern Pentathlon on day fourteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Stadium in Chofu, Japan on August 06, 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)
Kate French of Team Great Britain crosses the line to win gold in the Laser Run during the Women's Modern Pentathlon on day fourteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Stadium in Chofu, Japan on August 06, 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)

Lithuania's Laura Asadauskaite sprinted to a finish to claim silver, and Sarolta Kovacs of Hungary bagged the bronze.

The four-discipline event saw French score a personal best (2:10.18) in the 200m freestyle swimming leaving her eighth-place in the standings heading into the fencing.

A solid performance saw her rise one place to seventh. The show-jumping event brought more joy for French as she finished the final discipline, before the combined laser run, in fifth place.

This is the second Olympic medal for Asaksite having won gold at London 2012 with an Olympic record score but she couldn't get close to the Brit whose focus finally loosened when she was metres from the line and the smile broke through on crossing the line.

Harrie Lavreysen wins gold in all Dutch men's sprint final

In a men's sprint final that came down to the third and last race, the Netherlands' Harrie Lavreysen has been crowned the Olympic champion in a close battle with fellow team member Jeffery Hoogland at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

The two-time world champion in the event became just the third Dutch cyclist to win the gold medal in the men's sprint and the first in 89 years - Jacques van Egmond won at Berlin 1932.

Hoogland had won the first of the three races before a close finish in the second saw compatriot Lavreysen just pip him on the line, sending the battle for gold to a final decider.

The deciding race saw Hoogland take the lead as both riders slowly made their way around the track at Izu Velodrome but Lavreysen came from behind in the final stretch to claim gold.

Great Britain's Olympic debutant Jack Carlin held off Russian Olympic Committee (ROC)'s Denis Dmitriev for the bronze medal.

Italian double delight as Antonella Palmisano wins gold in women's 20k walk

(L-R) Valeria Ortuno of Team Mexico, Erica Sena of Team Brazil, Antonella Palmisano of Team Italy and Shijie Qieyang of Team China compete in the Women's 20km Race Walk on day fourteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Sapporo Odori Park in Sapporo, Japan on August 06, 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)

Antonella Palmisano had already managed to grab an Italian flag in the last moments of the women's 20k race walk, which she draped around her shoulders ready to cross the finish line as Olympic gold medallist.

It was a very happy birthday for the athlete who turned 30 today as she dominated the race with not a technical infringement against her name.

Not so for those challenging for the silver and bronze medals behind her. Colombia's Sandra Lorena Arenas managed to squeak through to win silver, avoiding the final red card for technique infringement, which would have resulted in a penalty stop or disqualification.

Sadly for Erica Sena, she was shown a card in the last lap when she was in bronze medal position, the Brazilian slapping the road in frustration on realising her medal chances had disappeared on the last lap.

Instead it was defending champion and world record holder Liu Hong from China who capitalised on Sena's misfortune, coming through to complete the podium, which was predicted a Chinese 1-2-3.

ROC wrestler Zaurbek Sidakov wins men’s wrestling freestyle 74kg gold

ROC wrestler Zaurbek Sidakov has added the Olympic title in freestyle 74kg to his impressive portfolio after defeating Belarus’ Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau 7-0 in the final at Tokyo 2020.

The two-time world champion and European champion had faced a tough opponent. It was evenly-matched for most of the bout but with two minutes on the clock the 25-year-old stepped up a gear and went up 3-0. The 2020 European Championships 79kg winner valiantly fought back but he couldn’t hold off Sidakov who finished the match without conceding a point at the Makuhari Messe Hall.

The ROC athlete had also beaten Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Kaisanov 11-0 in the semifinal, and in the earlier rounds Uzbekistan’s Bekzod Abdurakhmonov 13-6 and Guinea-Bissau’s Augusto Midana 12-2. His gold medal was the third the ROC has won in wrestling at Tokyo 2020.

The first of the bronze medal matches between two world champions: Italy’s Frank Chamizo Marquez, who has the 70kg title and a bronze medallist at Rio 2016 and USA’s Kyle Dake, a 79kg world champion. The American athlete was up 4-0 in the first period and closed out the match in 5-0 to take home the medal. The second bronze was won by Abdurakhmonov who overpowered Kaisanov 13-2.

Tokyo 2020