Rio Recap: Brilliant Bolt earns ninth gold, Germany claim women´s football crown
10,000m champion Almaz Ayana surprisingly faded late on and took bronze.
– Germany are Olympic women’s football champions for the first time after defeating Sweden 2-1 in the final at the Maracana.
– Two-time reigning champions Netherlands were stunned in the women’s hockey final, losing in a penalty shoot-out to Great Britain.
– The United States will face Serbia in the final of the men’s basketball competition, after the two nations inflicted respective defeats on Spain and Australia.
QUOTES OF THE DAY
“To win an Olympic medal is special. To win an Olympic medal with your wife standing next to you, taking the penalty [stroke] in the pressure moments, is so special and we will cherish this for the rest of our lives.” – Great Britain’s Kate Richardson-Walsh on winning gold in the women’s hockey alongside her wife Helen.
“It was pathetic. Nothing Australian about it,” – Joe Ingles reflects on Australia’s heavy loss to Serbia in the men’s basketball semi-final. Andrew Bogut added: “They [Serbia] kicked our ass from start to finish.”
“When we fenced one another we’d get really aggressive.” – Gold medal winner in the women’s modern pentathlon, Chloe Esposito, speaking about her brother Max, who is also in Rio competing in the men’s competition.
“I am going to dance and sing and it won’t matter if I’m a little bit out of key.” – Germany coach Silvia Neid after her side won the women’s football tournament.
UNSUNG HERO
Cheick Sallah Cisse made history by winning Ivory Coast’s first gold medal at an Olympic Games, and did so in stunning fashion.
The 23-year-old – competing in the final of the men’s 80kg taekwondo division – landed his winning kick on Great Britain’s Lutalo Muhammad with one second of their bout remaining.
Muhammad was leading 6-5 and looked to have the gold medal all but wrapped up, but Cisse had other ideas, spinning and delivering a three-point kick before running away towards the crowd in jubilant celebration.
Asked what he will do when he gets home, Cisse said: “I want to hug my parents, this is the first thing. And I want to hang the medal around the neck of our president.”
MEDAL WATCH
Cisse delivered his country’s maiden Olympic gold and Dilshod Nazarov did the same for Tajikistan. The 34-year-old won the final of the men’s hammer, making history for the Asian nation.
“The reaction back home is going to be hard to imagine. I’ve got hundreds, maybe thousands of ‘likes’ on my Facebook account, so I think the country were behind me tonight,” Nazarov said.
COMING UP
Hosts Brazil face Germany in the final of the men’s football tournament on Saturday, with Neymar and Co. looking to secure their nation’s first title in the competition. There is also the final round of the women’s golf, while Mo Farah will be looking for a fourth Olympic gold in the men’s 5000m and Caster Semenya is the favourite for the women’s 800m.
AND FINALLY
Estelle Mossely made history on her 24th birthday by becoming the first woman to claim an Olympic boxing gold for France, while her fiance Tony Yoka reached the men’s super heavyweight final.
Mossely recovered from a poor start in the women’s lightweight final on Friday to edge out China’s Yin Junhua on a tight decision.
Yoka, meanwhile, got the better of Filip Hrgovic and will face Joe Joyce for gold
