Gold Rush in Rio Review

Nick Hope looks back on a golden summer in Rio in Review

2016: Gold Rush in Rio.

Coming four years after a stunning London Games, Rio 2016 had

a tough act to follow.

And while the build up was far from ideal, with political scandals,

a financial crisis and worries about the Zika virus,

Brazil was always going to offer a spectacular setting

for South America's first ever Olympic and Paralympic Games.

There'd be plenty of time for selfies after the success,

and Team GB had big ambitions - hoping for their best

ever foreign Olympics.

Paralympics GB hoping to better their medal

haul from London 2012.

More on their success stories later, but first to athletics...

And Super Saturday, part two!

The stadium erupts!

Three Gold medals for GB!

What a night!

Sydney 2000 heptathlon champion Denise Lewis

was there in Rio as Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill

and Greg Rutherford bid to defend their respective

Olympic titles.

We were all looking forward of Super Saturday from London 2012.

We had Mo Farah going in the 10,000 metres.

Not without its drama.

Falls...

Fallen, clip there.

Bumps, barges...

But Mo still came through.

The atmosphere in the stadium was electric.

Mo Farah becomes the first British athlete to win three

Olympic Gold medals!

Jess Ennis-Hill was not going to have it all her own way

in the women's heptathlon, straight back from giving

birth to her son Reggie.

Could she retain her title?

She fought hard and competed with such valour.

To come away with Silver was a great achievement for a woman who has just

graced the tracks for so many years.

And so to Greg, desperate to try to retain his title.

With a jump of eight metres 29 it was only going to be Bronze.

Men's 5,000 metre final.

Mo going for the double double!

Could he do the double?

Farah wins!

Delivered on every count!

Gold for GB again!

Double double!

After the 10k my legs were tired.

Can't believe I did it!

Just every athlete's dream.

Hasn't sunk in yet.

British women had high hopes in the 4x1 -

could they actually come through and take a medal?

Yes they could!

GB for Bronze!

Doing a fantastic job to bring home a medal for Britain.

Medals in the 4x4, taking that Bronze.

And who could forget Sophie Hitchon in the women's hammer!

Bronze medal.

Totally unexpected.

But boy did she work hard for it!

Coming through on the sixth and final throw.

Overall, fantastic championships for British athletics.

A lot has to go to Mo!

Hi, I'm Vicky Holland, and in Rio I became the first

British woman to ever win an Olympic triathlon medal.

The race was tough conditions, interesting surf swim

followed by a hilly tough bike ride, flat run, hot humid sprint finish.

I came out with a Bronze.

Having watched the Olympics from six years old, in front of the tv,

Having watched the Olympics from six years old, in front of the tv,

to coming home and finally having a medal was everything I wanted.

Obviously triathlon has a couple of other superstars in the sport.

Alistair and Jonny did fantastically well to win Gold and Silver.

The pioneers of triathlon.

I'm so pleased to have won a medal alongside them.

The British success didn't stop there.

Golf made a controversial return.

But GB's Justin Rose loved his time in Brazil.

Becoming the sport's first Olympic Gold medallist for 112 years.

Andy Murray had an unbelievable year and defended his Olympic tennis

title after an epic battle with Argentina's Del Potro.

The tennis venue is the crown jewel of venue's in the Rio Olympic Park

and just a matter of metres away, the velodrome.

One of the most challenging and finished just weeks

before the Olympics began.

That said, any issues that organisers had paled

into insignificance next to the difficult build up GB Cycling

had ahead of the Olympics.

Performance manager Shane Sutton resigned after allegations

of bullying and sexist comments.

Results on the track had been mixed at best.

But once again they peaked when it mattered most.

Gill Douglas rounds up the action.

One Gold medal up for grabs on the opening day.

Men's team sprint.

For four years GB had struggled to fill the shoes

of Sir Chris Hoy in the anchor role.

But lead out by defending champions Phillip Hines and Jason Kenny,

another Scot, Callum Skinner rose to the occasion.

Towards the line!

Gold for GB!

Champions again!

The next day, all the focus was on one man, Sir Bradley Wiggins.

Could he become GB's most decorated Olympian of all time?

The British quartet of Wiggins, Ed Clandy and Steven Burke

and Owain Doull trailed all the way till the closing stages.

Britain?

Australia?

Certainly GB in record time!

Another day, another Gold.

This time a successful defence of the women's team

pursuit as Laura Trott, alongside Joanna Rowsell Shand,

Eleanor Barker and Katie Archibald became the first British women

to win three Olympic Golds.

Not to be outdone by his fiance, Jason Kenny retained his Olympic

crown in the individual sprint.

Beating compatriot Callum Skinner into Silver.

Becky James put more than two years of injury and illness

behind her to take Silver.

While Mark Cavendish's status as one of the all time greats

on the road is undisputed, at his third Olympic Games an Olympic medal

was still a big hole.

Many doubted the omnium would change that.

How wrong they were.

After all the effort...

Mark Cavendish has an Olympic medal.

Silver.

The sixth and final day brought more Gold.

Trott inked her way further into the record books

with an emphatic defence of her omnium title.

Becky James celebrated a second Silver in the individual sprint

and Katy Marchant showed promise for the future with Bronze.

Jason Kenny going for a British record...

In the final event, aiming to match Sir Chris Hoy's feat

and secure his third Gold of the Games.

And equal his predecessor's record total of six.

Golden hat-trick in Rio!

Jason Kenny!

British record equalling sixth Gold!

For the third Olympics in a row, GB dominated

proceedings in the velodrome.

Golden performance from the whole of the British squad.

And not to be forgotten out on the road, Chris Froome followed

up a third Tour de France victory with time trial Olympic bronze.

Swimming is undoubtedly one of the most popular Olympic sports.

But the British team had been noticeable absentees

from the podium among most sports at London 2012.

They missed the medal target, just three.

But four years on, led by a new generation,

results would be different.

Here's double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington's take.

It was a target of four-six medals going to Rio.

I think Adam Peaty got the ball absolutely rolling.

Brilliant.

Fantastic.

Adam takes Olympic Gold by a street!

Obliterated the world record!

Most of the time it's literally down to fingernails.

Winning by such a way over 100 is huge.

So surreal.

Team GB's first Gold.

This is a product of seven years of work.

More importantly, did it for my country.

So important.

Just to be one of those next to Adam Peaty who's just got

Gold, just lifts you.

For those boys, the relay, Silver, so impressive.

For me it shows the depth in British swimming.

We can back it up.

Men's 4x200, girls equally did well.

Jazz getting two Silvers.

I felt so attached, the events I used to do.

So pleased.

Rio was her moment.

Siobhan as well.

The fact she pushed the competition, scared her,

a sense of what's to come.

They're going to have an even better Tokyo Olympics.

Inspired by the success of the British swimmers, GB divers

aimed to make their own impact here at the aquatic park.

From a British perspective, it's no longer just about London Bronze

medallist Tom Daley.

He was here but he has talented team-mates!

So here come the Brits...

Jack Law and Chris Mears.

This pair are gunning for a medal.

Here they go.

Yes!

Good enough!

Yes!

Yes!

Yes!

This is the moment for Jack and Chris...

Yes!

Come on!

It is Gold!

Pure Gold for Jack and Chris!

Law and Mears have done it!

Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow.

This is going to have to be so good.

Last one.

Enough?

Going to be so close.

Wait and see...

Done it!

Daley and Goodfellow are Bronze medallists!

Jack Law...

Yes!

Get in!

Tremendous.

Silver to add to Gold.

Tremendous performance by Jack Law.

Hi everyone.

I'm Jade Jones and I won my second taekwondo Gold in Rio.

Relief more than anything.

Having all that pressure, number one, so much expectation.

Just amazing to do it on the day.

Nail it.

In good style.

Great Games for GB taekwondo.

You may remember this interview!

Half second from accomplishing my dream!

I don't want to cry on TV but I'm distraught!

He'll be back in Tokyo.

But another impressive medal.

Bianca Walkden claimed heavyweight bronze.

One more sport I like and GB happen to be good at is boxing.

Like me, Nicola Adams also defended her title.

Whilst there was silver for super heavyweight Joe Joyce

and Josh Buatsi took home bronze.

Rounding off the combat sports is judo.

Sally Conway claimed Olympic bronze medal in the -70 kilos division.

Still to come on the programme: We find out how the British rowing

team continued their gold-medal run which goes all the way back to 1984.

Hollie Webb gives us her take on that penalty which secured the GB

women's hockey team a historic first-ever Olympic title.

And we take a look at some of the record-breaking successes

for Britain's Paralympic athletes in Rio.

Next, to gymnastics, and a sport which from a British

perspective has undergone a massive transformation over

the last decade or so.

Back at the 2004 Athens Olympics GB had just one male

qualifier and won no medals.

They now have some of the best gymnasts in the world.

And here at the Rio Olympic Arena history would be made.

London 2012 bronze medallist Beth Tweddle watched it all unfold.

This summer was incredible for Team GB gymnastics.

I don't think ten years ago we could have ever dreamt of coming

home with seven Olympic medals.

Max Whitlock picking up double Olympic gold,

one of them being on the floor, which, to be honest,

I think I can openly say I don't think anyone would have expected.

He suddenly found himself in medal contention and I don't think even

realised when he had won the gold, I think his coach

actually had to tell him.

And then to put that behind him an hour later he had to walk out

into the pommel final with Louis Smith.

We knew it was going to be a close contest.

But Louis did the routine of his life and then Max Whitlock

also performed the routine of his life and took home that gold.

I have completely outdone myself, me and Scott can stand here very

proud, it's just incredible.

To come into the Olympic Games, I don't know what to say,

I'm just so happy.

To see one and two for Great Britain on that Olympic

podium was so special.

The next medal came from Amy Tinkler.

She's the only other girl that's won an Olympic medal

and she's only 16 years old.

Three weeks later she was picking up her GCSEs.

So it just shows how far British gymnastics are coming on.

Nile then went on to pick up that medal in the high bar,

the first-ever British medal for us on that piece of apparatus.

That is going to challenge, Nile Wilson.

We cannot forget about Max, he also picked up a third medal

with the bronze in the all-around.

Three Olympic medals for him.

And finally for trampolining, Bryony Page picking up

the surprise silver medal.

I don't think she could believe it.

What an achievement.

For me, to stand there in the stands being on the other

side of the stage I thought I was going to be a little bit

nervous, and a little bit, do I wish I were still out there?

But actually I was just proud to be British.

One of the major worry is heading into the real Olympics

concerned water pollution following the discovery of drug

resistant super bacteria in the Guanabara Bay

and some inland venues.

Would it impact athletes in some of Britain's most successful sports?

In short, not much.

Years of intense preparations clearly paid off as

David McDaid explains.

There are no guarantees in sport of victory for Helen Glover

and Heather Stanning comes pretty close.

They had gone five years unbeaten into the games

and ended their career together with another success,

defending their Olympic women's pairs title.

They are fearless, they are without equal,

they are history makers, Great Britain's Glover and Stanning

defend their Olympic title and they have done it in such style.

There would be gold medals, too, for the men's coxless fours

and the men's eight.

Many thought that Katherine Grainger would retire after London

but the temptation to return proved too strong.

Aged over 40 and after a long break from the sport it is perhaps little

surprise she and Vicky Thornley failed to impress in

the lead up to the Games.

But when the pressure was on the result was different.

It's a silver medal today.

Considering what we have been through the last couple of years I'm

so proud of what we have done.

That is a medal that not many people would have given us so I'm pleased.

Tokyo?

Mum and dad, I promise, I'll never put you through that again.

After the rowing, the lake was clear for the Sprint canoeists

and Liam Heath lived up to his billing as one

of the pregames favourites with victory in the K1 200.

He also partnered John Schofield to siler in the same

distance in the K2 category.

Few saw Joe Clarke as a medal prospect in slalom, but he produced

one of the shocks of the games with a near-perfect

run to claim K1 gold.

It was absolutely great.

David Florence secured a third successive silver of his career,

teaming up with Richard Hounslow to finish second in the C2 event.

Finally, to sailing, and there would be no

Sir Ben Ainslie in these games but his replacement in the Finn

class, Giles Scott, delivered a performance Ben Ainslie would have

been proud of.

To win his maiden Olympic title.

Saskia Clark and Hannah Mills also navigated the tricky Rio

waters to perfection, and upgraded their London

2012 silver to Rio gold.

The windsurfer Nick Dempsey took silver and became the first man

to win three career Olympic medals in this event.

Hello, my name is Hollie Webb and I was a member of the Team GB

women's hockey team that won a gold medal at the Rio games.

We knew that if we could get a good game under our belts in the first

game then we could use that momentum all the way through the tournament.

And the game is tough, as we expect against Australia,

but we managed to win that game.

Absolute beauty!

We topped the pool, and won all of our pool games and I can

remember thinking that night, gosh, we're going to have to win

every single game now to win the Rio Olympic Games.

So our next massive, massive focus was the quarterfinal.

What an easy finish for Lily Owsley.

We drew Spain.

We managed to win that game as well.

The semifinal we were up against the Kiwis,

who were ludicrously fast and so athletic and we

managed to win 3-0.

Our coach just said to us, OK, one more game.

Great Britain are in the Olympic final.

The Netherlands hadn't lost at the Olympic Games since 2004.

We knew it would be a big challenge.

The Dutch played out of their skins and were sort of all over us.

We had to fend for our lives.

Inside the circle, Maddie Hinch is down, the angle...

They had four chances and scored three.

It ended 3-3.

We were in a positive place going into the penalties,

and each person went, Maddie was making some incredible

saves, as she always does.

Maddie Hinch absolutely brilliant.

It came to the third one, and Helen scored hers.

Great Britain are off the mark in the shoot out.

If I scored my last one then that would be it, we would win.

So we went up, made sure I went really slowly

so the goalie was waiting for me.

Make sure I looked in the eyes and looked as big

and confident as possible.

Hollie Webb on her way, to win gold for Great Britain.

Webb...

Turns, scores!

That's the golden goal.

Great Britain have won the Olympic gold medal.

The best feeling in the world.

Hi, I'm Charlotte Dujardin and I won the individual gold and team silver

in the dressage in Rio.

Winning my individual gold meant the world to me

and it was the perfect way to finish my career with Valegro.

Showjumper Nick Skelton became Britain's second oldest Olympic

champion of all time.

He's done it!

Two other sports at the Diadoro cluster were rugby

sevens and shooting.

The men's rugby team took home silver in the sport's Olympic debut,

while GB shooters had two bronze medals to celebrate.

Ed Lling in the trap and Steven Scott in the double trap

claiming the honours.

Can you sum up what this incredible bronze medal means to you?

Easy, there you go, a smile.

Finally, to badminton.

GB secured their first medal in the sport since 2004,

with Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge claiming

men's doubles bronze.

Rio's breathtaking geography and spectacular seafront made

for a stunning setting but the city isn't without its problems and life

for disabled people here can be far from straightforward.

So the Rio Paralympics was seen as an opportunity to improve

accessibility and attitudes here in Brazil.

The British team were hoping to improve on their medal

success from London 2012.

Dame Sarah Storey already had an incredible haul heading into Rio

and that was further extended.

Three gold medals saw her become GB's most successful female

Paralympian of all time.

With 14 titles.

Other highlights included Jonnie Peacock sprinting his way

to a stunning defence of his 100 metre crown.

The historic 1-2-3 for the GB archers, an emotional table tennis

victory for Will Bayley, and brilliant hat tricks

for Hannah Cockroft on the track, Bethany Firth in the poll,

as well as for the equestrian stars Sophie Christiansen

and Natasha Baker.

There were countless others who also excelled.

Here's Kate Grey's take on the best of the rest.

The older more experienced members of

Paralympics GB delivered once again here in Rio.

But the young new stars have also made their mark.

The one standout performer was Kadeena Cox,

for whom one sport just wasn't enough.

Winning gold in both cycling and athletics.

That is so crazy!

It is just normal, but everyone seems

to think I have done something special.

It is amazing, the support and the warm welcome.

It makes you feel so special and grateful for

everyone that has supported me.

15-year-old Ellie Robinson and carrier Dunnigan were inspired by

London 2012.

Four years on they've now become medallists here in Rio on

their Paralympic debut.

It was also great to see the veterans of the

team still topping the podium.

Sasha Kindred and Jody Cundy both competing in their sixth Paralympic

games and both still winning gold.

But we can't ignore the fact GB's success has been helped

by the absence of Russia and the doping ban.

But considering there were fears that these games would

not even happen at all in the lead up, for 11 days the Brazilian people

have embraced the Paralympic spirit.

GB finished an impressive second in the medal table behind

China, with a stunning total of 147 medals.

Back to the Olympics now and away from the Golden performances of

the British team in Rio, there were of course many incredible

achievements by athletes from other countries as well.

Usain Bolt rounded off an unbelievable Olympic

career with the third sprint treble for Jamaica,

winning the 100 metres, 200 metres and the 4x100 metre relays.

I look on it as pressure, you know what I mean?

I enjoy pressure, I live for these moments, and for me

it is beautiful.

I came through and I was proud of myself.

From the greatest sprinter of all time to the

greatest ever swimmer, Michael Phelps has rewritten

the record books time and time again for the

USA.

And extended his honour list to an incredible 28 medals,

23 of those gold, from five Olympics.

He has said it before but insists he is now

retired for good.

Next to the host nation and from poverty to the

podium.

Raffaella Silva grew up in one of Rio's toughest

neighbourhoods, was disqualified in London, and labelled an

embarrassment.

A fairy tale turnaround was completed with an

emotional victory and Brazil's first gold of the games.

The title the hosts crave more than any came in

their favourite sport, never before have Brazil won

an Olympic football gold, but inspired by Barcelona star

Neymar, they finally completed football's grand slam of titles.

200 hundred million Brazilians scream with

delight!

There were also pretty wild celebrations from the Fijian rugby

sevens team, who won their country's first-ever Olympic gold, while

American teenage gymnast Simone Biles dazzled

with four gold medals, a star now and for the future games.

It was a golden games for so many nations,

but with 67 medals, 27 of them gold, it was a historic Olympics for Great

Britain.

They became the first nation ever to beat their total from

a home games and just four years later,

and finished second on the

medal table behind the USA and ahead of China.

Rio 2016 was an incredible games, it saw us say goodbye to

major names like Sir Bradley Wiggins and Jessica Ennis-Hill, who won't be

competing at the next Olympics.

But it saw the rise of new stars who will be looking to build

on their successes.

So from the road to Rio we are now on the Trail to Tokyo.

Good

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. Most

Good afternoon. Most of

Good afternoon. Most of us