Great Britain’s women have sealed a place in their first ever Olympic final with an emphatic 3-0 triumph over New Zealand.
A pair of goals from Alex Danson, either side of Helen Richardson-Walsh’s penalty strike, secured the historic semi-final victory in a ruthless performance from Danny Kerry’s team.
The Black Sticks were in the ascendancy in the first half but went into the half-time interval behind when Danson pounced to score on the rebound from Crista Cullen’s penalty corner shot. A sweeping move, again involving Danson, resulted in Helen Richardson-Walsh running clear on goal and getting upended by New Zealand goalkeeper Kayla Whitelock. Richardson-Walsh dusted herself down and converted the penalty shot, but was clearly still suffering following the goal.
Danson doubled her tally from the penalty spot to put the exclamation mark on a resolute performance to ensure the London 2012 bronze medallists will definitely upgrade their result from four-years ago when they face top seeds the Netherlands on Friday, the only question which remains unanswered is whether it will be silver or gold.
More highlights from day 12 included:
Athletics
Adam Gemili will line up alongside Usain Bolt in the Rio 2016 200m final.The 22-year-old ran a superb 20.08 in a speedy heat, coming in behind Bolt, in 19.78, and Canada’s Andre De Grasse, who ran a national record of 19.80.
Gemili faced an anxious wait to see if he would progress as a quickest loser, and his time was good enough to qualify ahead of the likes of Jamaica’s Yohan Blake and USA’s Justin Gatlin. Nethaneel Mitchell-Blacke and Danny Talbot ranked joint 11th, both running 20.25.
There were three Brits competing in track finals on day 12, with Dina Asher-Smith posting a strong time of 22.31 in the 200m final to cross the line in fifth place. Sisters Tiffany Porter and Cindy Ofili lined up on the start line of the 100m hurdles final, with Ofili running 12.63 as she was edged off the podium by 0.02 seconds. The USA took a one-two-three, while Porter ran 12.76 to finish seventh.
Three-time Olympic champion Mo Farah came through a physical heat to qualify for the 5000m final, where he will be joined by fellow Brit Andrew Butchart.
Farah almost came a cropper after a tangle of legs early in the race but came through to seal automatic qualification in third place with a time of 13:25.25. In a much faster paced heat two, Butchard dug in to cross the line in fifth place, a time of 13:20:08 securing his spot in Saturday’s 15-man final.
Shelayna Oskan-Clarke and Lynsey Sharp advanced to Thursday’s 800m semi-finals. Oskan-Clarke finished third behind South Africa’s Caster Semenya but her quick time of 1:59.67 put her through as a fast loser, while Sharp took victory in heat 1 in 2:00.83.
A pair of Brits gave a good showing in the long jump final; Jazmin Sawyers finished eighth with a jump of 6.69m and Lorraine Ugen placed 11th in 6.58m.
Canoe – Sprint
Liam Heath and Jon Schofield laid down a marker in the K2 200m semi-finals, setting the pace with the fastest time of 31.899 to send a message and qualify for the final in style. Rachel Cawthorn had to settle for a place in the K1 500m B final after a semi-final time of 1:58.410 resulted in a sixth-place finish in her heat, having qualified for the semi in 1:56.612.
Equestrian
Ben Maher and Nick Skelton booked their places in Friday’s individual showjumping final. Maher, on Tic Tac, recorded only a single time fault in an otherwise clean round to progress, while Skelton, on Big Star, accrued four penalties and a time fault for finishing just behind the team allowance.
Badminton
Raj Ouseph’s Rio 2016 run came to an end in a quarter-final defeat against Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen 21-12, 21-16. After falling behind early in the first game, Ouseph put up a strong fight but the Dane played at a high standard to take the second game.
Boxing
Savanah Marshall went into her quarter-final fight with the Nouchka Fontijn knowing a victory would guarantee her a first Olympic medal but the Netherlands’ boxer came out on top following a unanimous decision.
Cycling – BMX
The Rio 2016 BMX event opened on day 11 with seeding races ahead of Thursday’s quarter finals. Britain’s world champion Liam Phillips raced around 10th fastest, +0.478 off the pace of France’s Joris Daudet, who led overall. Kyle Evans placed 21st overall, +1.159 off Daudet’s 34.617.
Diving
A wonderful round of dives by Tonia Couch resulted in a fifth place overall finish in 10m platform individual qualifying. Couch, who recorded a fifth-place finish alongside Lois Toulson in the synchro final, put down a score of 332.80 to qualify for Thursday’s semi-final.
Sailing
Gold medallists elect Saskia Clark and Hannah Mills were out in Guanabara Bay, ready to complete the medal race and return Olympic champions, but the British pair were forced to wait one more day.
Unsuitable weather conditions prevented the start of the race, and the whole day’s schedule was eventually postponed. Clark and Mills lead the 470 class fleet by 20 points heading into the medal race, so they just need to get around the course to upgrade their London 2012 silver medals to gold.
Luke Patience and Chris Grube were due to go in the 470 men’s medal race as well, so the duo, who enter the finale 10th in the overall standings, will also be back out on the water on Thursday.
Click here to Look Ahead to day 13.