Tom Pidcock headlined a stellar day at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as Team GB racked up a pair of golds and a number of minor medals.
Pidcock was favourite in the men’s mountain bike event but suffered a puncture in the second half of the race.
Over 35 seconds down on the leaders, the Brit fought his way back into contention and overtook home hero Victor Koretzky to snatch the gold. He crossed the line to booing from the French crowd.
“I knew that Victor was going to be super fast on the last lap and I couldn’t get rid of him so I knew it was going to be a big, big fight,” Pidcock said. “Then he left a gap and I had to go for it. That’s racing, some people might view it differently and I wanted to show what sport is – not giving up.
“It’s a shame that the French were booing me…”
Elsewhere in Paris Great Britain claimed eventing gold in Versailles while Laura Collett and her horse London 52 claimed individual bronze.
“I never thought this day would come,” Collett said. “I owe absolutely everything to that horse. The team have made it possible. I just want to say thank you to every one of them.”
There was also a brilliant silver for Adam Burgess in the canoe slalom.
In the Paris pool Brit Matt Richards came second in the men’s 200m freestyle behind Romanian David Popovici.
The reigning world champion Richards came second by just 0.02 seconds. Duncan Scott could muster only fourth.