Day 2 BBC One: 19.30-22.00

:00:23. > :00:27.Hello, and welcome back today to the Olympics here in Rio, for the

:00:28. > :00:32.viewers who have joined the coverage on BBC One, we are in the closing

:00:33. > :00:36.stages of the women's road race, it started over three hours ago, Lizzie

:00:37. > :00:41.Armitstead, with a horrible build-up to the race, having had to appeal to

:00:42. > :00:45.the Court of Arbitration for Sport, after her missed drugs test, she's

:00:46. > :00:49.been allowed to compete. She won a medal in the games in London, taking

:00:50. > :00:54.a silver. She had a puncture here earlier on,

:00:55. > :00:57.it's a very hilly course, conditions cooler than yesterday, now it is

:00:58. > :01:01.overcast. Very windy, the rowing was cancelled

:01:02. > :01:04.earlier. Known as join other commentators,

:01:05. > :01:08.who can update us as the race enters the closing stages.

:01:09. > :01:15.-- join the commentators. COMMENTATOR: They are on their final

:01:16. > :01:20.climb, Mara Abbott from the United States, Evelyn Stevens, and Longo

:01:21. > :01:24.Borghini from Italy. The South African Ashley Maughan and Emma

:01:25. > :01:27.Johansson from Sweden is hanging onto her coat-tails. Lizzie

:01:28. > :01:33.Armitstead, they are the leaders. Just going over the top of the road

:01:34. > :01:36.in front. Lizzie Armitstead is just losing contact with the leading

:01:37. > :01:42.group of this deep ramp of a climb, no surprise in a way -- steep ramp.

:01:43. > :01:46.There are better climbers than her in the peloton but she needs to

:01:47. > :01:49.limit the damage and claw-back if possible.

:01:50. > :01:53.About 20 seconds is the gap now, it does not look like much but they are

:01:54. > :01:59.doing less than 20 kilometres per hour, there is a lot of distance.

:02:00. > :02:03.They could use that one minute of descending to go back on, but it is

:02:04. > :02:11.dangerous, there are gutters at the side of the roads, she must use

:02:12. > :02:16.every bit to get back. Marianne Vos is not giving up the ghost either,

:02:17. > :02:22.and Olympic champion. What a race, the Polish rider is just in front of

:02:23. > :02:25.Lizzie Armitstead at the moment, Katarzyna Niewiadoma. This is the

:02:26. > :02:30.leading group, we knew that it was a key moment in the race. This climb

:02:31. > :02:35.and the situation in the race has changed rapidly. Back with the world

:02:36. > :02:38.champion, Lizzie Armitstead. That is Katarzyna Niewiadoma, now they are

:02:39. > :02:43.losing ground with every revolution of the pedals. This is not the front

:02:44. > :02:47.of the race, in front of Lizzie Armitstead, we have to go further

:02:48. > :02:51.ahead. We are currently riding with... Two others who have just

:02:52. > :02:56.been dropped. Now we are back at the front of the race. Seven riders left

:02:57. > :03:00.in contention, Lizzie Armitstead is really losing some time now. It will

:03:01. > :03:05.be very difficult for her to get back on terms but she will fight all

:03:06. > :03:10.the way. She's been thinking about this Olympic championship since she

:03:11. > :03:15.took the world title but she still almost in contact, about 15 seconds

:03:16. > :03:19.is the gap between them. The second half is not as steep if she can get

:03:20. > :03:23.back. Armitstead needs to keep fighting, there is a descent halfway

:03:24. > :03:28.up the climb, just under one kilometre long. A sharp and steep

:03:29. > :03:33.descent, then the second half of the climb is not as big in terms of, or

:03:34. > :03:36.not as difficult, in terms of the gradient.

:03:37. > :03:43.At the front of the race, Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands.

:03:44. > :03:50.Annemiek van Vleuten is there as well, Mara Abbott of the USA, Evelyn

:03:51. > :03:56.Stevens of the USA, Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy, MA Johansson of

:03:57. > :04:04.the silver medallist in Beijing, beaten to the line in the sprint by

:04:05. > :04:13.Nicole Cooke of Britain. -- Emma Johansson. Adams Ashleigh Moolman

:04:14. > :04:17.literally at the back of the group now -- and Ashleigh Moolman.

:04:18. > :04:24.Ashleigh Moolman and Stevens are struggling and beginning to be

:04:25. > :04:28.distanced here. Fantastic work is being done here. But Mara Abbott is

:04:29. > :04:32.the pure climber, no surprise seeing her at the front at this moment in

:04:33. > :04:39.time, twice the winner of the women's Giroud Italia. Dropping her

:04:40. > :04:43.countrywoman may not have been the best idea, she may be working

:04:44. > :04:48.inadvertently for the other teams. She is unlikely to be able to

:04:49. > :04:54.descend. It is possible but she is not known for her descending skills,

:04:55. > :04:58.this is as technical a descent as it gets. Emma Johansson struggling to

:04:59. > :05:02.stay with the group, it is whittling down, the thinning out process

:05:03. > :05:08.continues, Mara Abbott is doing all of the damage here. It does not look

:05:09. > :05:11.like much, but 6-7 seconds to Johansson, Lizzie Armitstead is

:05:12. > :05:15.further down the road. I do not think the world champion is looking

:05:16. > :05:19.like it at the moment, it looks like she will get back on terms... She

:05:20. > :05:23.has a descent in the middle, then less in the second half to this

:05:24. > :05:27.climb, they are not letting up at the front at all. They know that

:05:28. > :05:34.letting Armitstead getting back on terms would be a bad move for the

:05:35. > :05:37.sprint, for sure. She is not giving up. Lizzie Armitstead breading at

:05:38. > :05:42.the best pace she can muster to get over the top of the climb but the

:05:43. > :05:45.gap at the top is key. There is time to aim some ground -- going at the

:05:46. > :05:53.best pace. There is not much room for error,

:05:54. > :05:58.you make a mistake on the descent, and you are in trouble. They will

:05:59. > :06:02.start to finesse when they get down the descent and onto the flat roads,

:06:03. > :06:07.and they will think, I don't want to save myself for the sprint, that

:06:08. > :06:10.easing could allow others to get back into contention. It is all

:06:11. > :06:15.going to happen in the last few calamities of the race.

:06:16. > :06:21.Just 20 remaining now. -- few kilometres of the race. A big chunk

:06:22. > :06:25.is downhill and flat. It's a very select group year indeed, the Dutch

:06:26. > :06:33.are remarkably well represented, Anna van der Breggen was a

:06:34. > :06:36.favourite, and Annemiek van Vleuten is doing a superb right to be up

:06:37. > :06:42.there as well. Van der Breggen was who everyone thought could win.

:06:43. > :06:46.Megan Guarnier from the USA, many were talking about her. She has not

:06:47. > :06:54.managed to get herself to the frontier. -- frontier. Longo

:06:55. > :06:59.Borghini is potentially the most dangerous here. Found a broken is

:07:00. > :07:08.the favourite, I would say. A great descend as well. But Longo Borghini

:07:09. > :07:13.can sprint and descend, it will all be decided on the second half of the

:07:14. > :07:20.climb. This is their respite, Short as it is, this small descent, they

:07:21. > :07:26.are not taking it too hard. You can see how they dive into these narrow

:07:27. > :07:38.roads, almost dark and some of these trees. -- beneath some of these

:07:39. > :07:42.trees. 48 seconds we are hearing is the gap, that Lizzie Armitstead is

:07:43. > :07:49.behind. Not sure we have full confidence in these checks after

:07:50. > :07:53.what we saw before, but it reflect what we saw on the ascent. We still

:07:54. > :07:58.have the second half of the climb to come, although overall it is more

:07:59. > :08:02.gradual a climb down the first. It is not as severe, but there is some

:08:03. > :08:09.considerable ground for Armitstead to make up to get into medal

:08:10. > :08:15.contention. Here is the leading group, with Longo Borghini of Italy

:08:16. > :08:19.very much a part of it. They have started to look around, that is

:08:20. > :08:25.quite interesting. You do not have... They do not have the luxury.

:08:26. > :08:29.They have built the lead, it is not unassailable. They are beginning to

:08:30. > :08:35.look around. Mara Abbott is looking around, and so she should be. She is

:08:36. > :08:39.the best climber. Forcing this move. Lizzie Armitstead going through...

:08:40. > :08:42.On the downhill she is likely to be the least skilled of the group. If

:08:43. > :08:47.Lizzie Armitstead keeps going like that, she is not far behind Ashleigh

:08:48. > :08:53.Moolman or Evelyn Stevens. If those three get moving, they could manage

:08:54. > :08:57.to gain some ground although Ashleigh Moolman would be the one of

:08:58. > :09:02.the two who is prepared to do that. Emma Johansson of Sweden... They all

:09:03. > :09:07.fighting on, it is an individual race in every sense now. It might be

:09:08. > :09:13.a mass start but they are all going to their personal limits on this

:09:14. > :09:17.climb, she is getting back on terms. We said this second part was not

:09:18. > :09:20.quite as steep, she might be able to live with them in that section.

:09:21. > :09:23.Found a broken nose that she does not want anyone with her if she can

:09:24. > :09:30.help it. -- Anna van der Breggen. This is the

:09:31. > :09:36.steepest bit of the second section, and she is making every bit of it

:09:37. > :09:41.count. This is Annemiek van Vleuten making the attack at the moment. The

:09:42. > :09:47.Dutch woman. Mara Abbott cannot go at this pace at the moment. They are

:09:48. > :09:51.causing all sorts of difficulty for many of the riders behind. You are

:09:52. > :09:55.right, it is Annemiek van Vleuten who has made this bid to try and

:09:56. > :10:00.draw the sting from the others. Anna van der Breggen on the wheel of

:10:01. > :10:03.Longo Borghini, it does not look like the Italian has much more to

:10:04. > :10:07.give here. Mara Abbott tries to claw her way

:10:08. > :10:13.back to Annemiek van Vleuten. It is fascinating that van der Breggen was

:10:14. > :10:19.the prerace favourite, but when it comes down to it, she does not quite

:10:20. > :10:22.have it to give. Anna has given responsibility to her team-mate

:10:23. > :10:31.here. What a job she is doing with it. She rides for the Australia

:10:32. > :10:35.recover squad. 33 years old. Good form, fourth in a big race in

:10:36. > :10:38.Germany in a big race ahead of the Olympic Games, the tort of flounders

:10:39. > :10:48.as well. The ride of her life. This is the

:10:49. > :10:56.biggest win of the lot for her. -- Tour of Flanders. This is a great

:10:57. > :11:03.ride from Emma Johansson, in contention here. She could afford to

:11:04. > :11:06.take Mara Abbott here. I would probably say that Annemiek van

:11:07. > :11:09.Vleuten is the better sprinter and more likely to be the better

:11:10. > :11:16.descender of the two as well. We are seeing Anna's quality as a climber

:11:17. > :11:21.rather than her other abilities as a cyclist. She is not giving in, just

:11:22. > :11:26.two seconds between them. Fighting their way to the summit. Not far to

:11:27. > :11:30.go. Then, it is that highly technical descent that caused so

:11:31. > :11:34.much mayhem in the men's race. I hope that the television pictures

:11:35. > :11:37.give an indication as to how difficult this is. We walked this

:11:38. > :11:42.bit of because days ago, and goodness, it is steep. We are

:11:43. > :11:47.getting reports that Lizzie Armitstead is in a small group now,

:11:48. > :11:51.50 seconds, I think that her day is done, highly unlikely to get back on

:11:52. > :11:53.terms. This is what Emma Johansson has done with this group of three.

:11:54. > :12:03.Back into a medal with -- winning position here. She could

:12:04. > :12:06.get back in contact with these two. We saw yesterday that getting over

:12:07. > :12:10.the top of the climb up near the front did not really mean anything

:12:11. > :12:17.at all. Actually a lot of the real drama happened on the descent. More

:12:18. > :12:20.women have watched that, and learned lessons. Sometimes it takes more

:12:21. > :12:25.courage to back off rather than keep pushing because it is an unforgiving

:12:26. > :12:30.descent off the back of this climb. It might be the most important prize

:12:31. > :12:37.at all but it is only yours, as Nibali found out, if you manage to

:12:38. > :12:42.get to the line intact. He ended up in the middle-of-the-road with two

:12:43. > :12:48.broken collarbones, having crashed. Suddenly, the prospect of being an

:12:49. > :12:51.Olympic champions slipped from their grasp.

:12:52. > :12:55.At the front of the women's race, van Vleuten has company, Mara Abbott

:12:56. > :13:00.joins her at the runt of the race. Mara Abbott has done well to fight

:13:01. > :13:06.back. -- at the front of the race. Who would have thought that she was

:13:07. > :13:11.setting the pace? Lizzie Armitstead, number 27, still fighting away. She

:13:12. > :13:16.has ground to make up, she is about to join Evelyn Stevens and a couple

:13:17. > :13:26.of others. She has Ashleigh Moolman with her. And Katarzyna Niewiadoma

:13:27. > :13:31.of Poland. An impressive group of riders in terms of ability. I would

:13:32. > :13:36.not say that it is 50 seconds, I do not think she is yet out of the

:13:37. > :13:40.race. The descent is very technical. And there is the run to the finish.

:13:41. > :13:45.If they commit themselves and they look at each other, it is all to

:13:46. > :13:52.play for. This race is not done and dusted, it is far from a foregone

:13:53. > :13:56.conclusion that one of these two will win. As I said earlier, we need

:13:57. > :14:00.to take these graphics with a pinch of salt. We are on the technical

:14:01. > :14:07.limit, what you cannot see if they have a thick tree canopy all around.

:14:08. > :14:15.Not managing to get TV pictures through them... The GPS is slightly

:14:16. > :14:18.sketchy. I think that this race, you know, is still possible for about

:14:19. > :14:23.ten riders to take the prize. But these two are in pole position at

:14:24. > :14:30.the moment. Mara Abbott leads the way for the United States, the

:14:31. > :14:38.wiggle high-5 rider. Fifth in the women's Giro this year, she has won

:14:39. > :14:40.twice before. The winner of the Tour of Salvador as well.

:14:41. > :14:49.Hilly Touraine there. Mara Abbott going for gold in the Olympic Games.

:14:50. > :14:53.The time check is delayed, the race radio written on the board, then

:14:54. > :14:59.given to the riders, it is such a dynamic environment at the moment,

:15:00. > :15:03.we must accept that there are big gaps and see what we see in the

:15:04. > :15:10.distance. The gaps are sizeable, we have motorbikes between the riders.

:15:11. > :15:14.And these two are just driving away, trying to get themselves over the

:15:15. > :15:16.summit, they have just a couple of moments before it happens. They are

:15:17. > :15:27.so near to the top now. Then it will be Mara Abbott who has

:15:28. > :15:36.to struggle to stay in contact with Annemiek van Vleuten on the descent.

:15:37. > :15:45.The climb, whilst still far from straightforward, is more gentle, on

:15:46. > :15:50.the whole and it was before. The South African is being dropped from

:15:51. > :15:56.the Lizzie Armistead group. Katarzyna Niewiadoma is sitting on

:15:57. > :16:00.her wheel. She has got to, she is not going to get any assistance

:16:01. > :16:11.either through an capability or a team-mate up the road. Annemiek van

:16:12. > :16:15.Vleuten will be glad she is not having to press on and do it all on

:16:16. > :16:23.her own at the moment now that she has some company with Mara Abbott.

:16:24. > :16:28.Now it starts to ease off a little bit for the riders. But their

:16:29. > :16:34.concentration levels will have to stay at exactly 100% as they go over

:16:35. > :16:38.the top of the climb. They will have no time to enjoy one of the most

:16:39. > :16:45.spectacular views you could ever wish to see right across Rio. But

:16:46. > :16:50.the descent is tricky, twisty, tight, narrow, unforgiving. There

:16:51. > :16:55.are a few catch fences required, otherwise you would disappear off

:16:56. > :17:01.the side. And no Annemiek van Vleuten goes for it once again. She

:17:02. > :17:07.is trying to get rid of Abbott. It is too late in the day. She needs to

:17:08. > :17:12.try and maybe on hit her on the descent. She has lost the

:17:13. > :17:17.opportunity to break her on the climb. Abbott has had a chance to

:17:18. > :17:24.take a breather. This is the top of the climb. After they have descended

:17:25. > :17:30.a short wait, they will come to the Vista Chinesa. That is when it gets

:17:31. > :17:35.really technical, of course. The race is really on for the gold medal

:17:36. > :17:40.in the women's road race, less than 15 kilometres to go as they race

:17:41. > :17:46.back down from the mountain top, through the jungle, and into Rio

:17:47. > :17:50.itself and the finish at Copacabana. Abbott has got to produce the

:17:51. > :17:56.descent of her life. She cannot afford to let the Dutch man gets any

:17:57. > :18:00.lead here. It is such a balance because you want to push it as much

:18:01. > :18:10.as you can to maximise your chance of Olympic glory. But if you push it

:18:11. > :18:14.too far... It is going now. As we saw yesterday it is all about

:18:15. > :18:19.judgment now and that is a big part of taking this Olympic title. That

:18:20. > :18:26.is the Vista Chinesa from the pagoda, one of the great views of

:18:27. > :18:31.Rio. This signifies the start of the really technical part of this race.

:18:32. > :18:38.It is a treacherous descent. There is daylight between them. We knew

:18:39. > :18:44.this was going to happen. Abbott is not a great descender. Is that rain

:18:45. > :18:48.on the lens of the camera? That will make this descent treacherous.

:18:49. > :18:52.Hopefully they will be protected from light showers by the jungle

:18:53. > :18:58.canopy, but it certainly adds another element. Let's hope it has

:18:59. > :19:01.not started raining to any great degree because that would make it

:19:02. > :19:08.extremely treacherous for the cyclists. The gap is really opening

:19:09. > :19:14.and it is another game of brinkmanship on this descent. Who

:19:15. > :19:21.wants it the most? Shall I take a risk? Shall I hold back? We said it

:19:22. > :19:27.yesterday with Vincenzo Nibali. Judgment is a key part of it. Abbott

:19:28. > :19:32.has definitely backed off and I do not think she has the time trial

:19:33. > :19:37.ability to bring Annemiek van Vleuten back on the flat. I do not

:19:38. > :19:43.think this group is close enough to close up. Presumably everybody gets

:19:44. > :19:49.down safely, they could be sprinting it down for the bronze medal. There

:19:50. > :19:54.is Lizzie Armistead going around the hairpin now. If she can get down

:19:55. > :20:00.safely, she could still be a factor in this race. She could still be in

:20:01. > :20:06.the hunt for a medal. It is not over. The odds are in favour of

:20:07. > :20:12.these two taking the first two medals, but we have seen that before

:20:13. > :20:17.in these championships. It is not over and this descent could play a

:20:18. > :20:21.big part in making that decision. Abbott is wisely making sure she

:20:22. > :20:27.gets down safely. But Annemiek van Vleuten is no longer in sight at

:20:28. > :20:32.all. She has left the motorbike behind as well and we have no idea

:20:33. > :20:36.how far down the mountain she is at the moment because we are stuck

:20:37. > :20:44.behind the second rider. The spots of rain have stopped falling on the

:20:45. > :20:50.camera. That is where Richie Porte crashed into the fencing. It has not

:20:51. > :20:55.been repaired since yesterday. Here she is trying her best to get down

:20:56. > :21:02.as fast as possible. Can she hold onto a silver medal? This descent is

:21:03. > :21:08.unrelenting. As soon as you get around one corner there is another

:21:09. > :21:13.one. So many decisions to be made. You need a great deal of skill. It

:21:14. > :21:18.is not only that treacherous wheel track either side. The tarmac just

:21:19. > :21:24.drops right down at the side of the road. The camber is falling away

:21:25. > :21:32.beside it, pushing you towards that we'll trap. Emily Hansen is just

:21:33. > :21:38.behind Anna van der Breggen. And the rider in white in the front is Elisa

:21:39. > :21:47.Longo Borghini from Italy. She was so close there. Better to go into

:21:48. > :21:51.the bend too slow and exit fast rather than the opposite, certainly

:21:52. > :22:01.on a descent like this. Lizzie Armistead needs to take a chance.

:22:02. > :22:06.Anna van der Breggen looks like a better descender in this group.

:22:07. > :22:13.Longo Borghini is no mean descender herself. This is the leader. There

:22:14. > :22:22.is enough of a gap to put a motorbike in. Oh and she is down. It

:22:23. > :22:26.is an nasty crash. Anna van der Breggen, the leader in the women's

:22:27. > :22:32.road race. It is a horrible moment as she crashes on this descent. Mara

:22:33. > :22:36.Abbott, who has been far more cautious coming down off the

:22:37. > :22:43.mountain, rides past and is in the gold medal position. We have

:22:44. > :22:48.everything crossed that Annemiek van Vleuten is OK. That looked

:22:49. > :22:54.absolutely awful. She was not moving, that was a terrible crash.

:22:55. > :23:00.This descent is passed technical, it is dangerous. You flagged this up

:23:01. > :23:05.straightaway going into the weekend that you were greatly concerned

:23:06. > :23:10.about this descent and so it was proven in the men's race and now in

:23:11. > :23:14.the women's race as well. Now Mara Abbott by default finds herself at

:23:15. > :23:20.the front of the race, but it is of great concern the condition of the

:23:21. > :23:25.Dutch rider, Annemiek van Vleuten, who was riding for gold a few

:23:26. > :23:29.moments ago. Hopefully she will get swift medical attention at the

:23:30. > :23:34.roadside. We will stick with racing for the moment as Mara Abbott makes

:23:35. > :23:39.her way down into Rio. It is wider and safer here now as she heads down

:23:40. > :23:45.into the wider slopes of the mountain descent. It will be

:23:46. > :23:52.interesting to see how much of an advantage she has and how close the

:23:53. > :23:55.others are behind her. It is Anna van der Breggen and Elisa Longo

:23:56. > :24:01.Borghini who are the next riders on the road. And no surprise given the

:24:02. > :24:12.difficulty of the descent that we are unable to get any information of

:24:13. > :24:22.the gap. 9.1 kilometres to go. We are being told the gap is 38

:24:23. > :24:32.seconds. Johansson is with Anna van der Breggen and Longo Borghini. The

:24:33. > :24:39.distance is far enough on the flat when you get to the bottom that the

:24:40. > :24:42.leader could be chased down. I am finding it difficult to get back

:24:43. > :24:51.into the race after seeing that crash. She has to ride the time

:24:52. > :24:56.trial of her life with just eight kilometres to go. She must have a

:24:57. > :25:02.problem with energy if she is eating something now with just eight

:25:03. > :25:06.kilometres to go. Maybe she is running out of steam. 40 seconds

:25:07. > :25:12.sounds like a lot, but she has got a solid working group behind who want

:25:13. > :25:16.to take Olympic title. If they get word they are making inroads, it may

:25:17. > :25:21.motivate them to work together, rather than trying to pin their

:25:22. > :25:26.hopes on getting a silver medal. I'd say it is significantly less than

:25:27. > :25:31.that now. Are they working well together? Eight kilometres

:25:32. > :25:38.remaining, it is an awful long way on your own. They head towards the

:25:39. > :25:44.finish and Mara Abbott is at the front of the race. We are being told

:25:45. > :25:52.it is a 38 second gap to the chasing riders. Anna van der Breggen, Elisa

:25:53. > :25:58.Longo Borghini and Emma Johansson, all of them top riders. Johansson

:25:59. > :26:02.has done extremely well to hang in on their in decline. You can see the

:26:03. > :26:15.degree of effort it is taking for Mara Abbott. She is holding her own.

:26:16. > :26:18.I wonder if Lizzie Armistead is in with a chance of catching this group

:26:19. > :26:24.and potentially being in with a chance of a medal. There was not

:26:25. > :26:32.much of an advantage to those sitting behind. There is Lizzie

:26:33. > :26:36.Armistead! She has got some help and she is getting herself back into a

:26:37. > :26:43.medal winning position at the very least. A fantastic ride by her. A

:26:44. > :26:52.gutsy ride by Lizzie Armistead and Katarzyna Niewiadoma from Poland. I

:26:53. > :27:00.will look for confirmation as to who the other rider is. None of those

:27:01. > :27:04.riders are in a medal position. They can see in front of them the

:27:05. > :27:09.possibility of taking at least a silver medal. That is the difference

:27:10. > :27:15.between those two groups. Seven kilometres is a long way to go for

:27:16. > :27:22.her to hang on for the gold medal. Yes, it is. While they are fighting

:27:23. > :27:26.it out, she is edging closer and closer to it. They have got to

:27:27. > :27:36.commit, there is no time to mess about. That is Johansson and Longo

:27:37. > :27:42.Borghini. They are getting tantalisingly close. They have not

:27:43. > :27:46.closed the gap yet and the kilometres are ticking down. Six and

:27:47. > :27:51.a half remaining before they see the finish line in front of them and the

:27:52. > :27:59.possibility for Lizzie Armistead of taking at least a silver medal. Mara

:28:00. > :28:04.Abbott is doing an incredible ride to hold her own. I did not think she

:28:05. > :28:09.would be able to do this. She is a very slight figure and used to being

:28:10. > :28:15.the best in the mountains. This is not her territory, a powerful time

:28:16. > :28:20.trial along a straight stretch of road, but at the moment she is

:28:21. > :28:24.keeping them at bay. I do not think it is 36 seconds. I think they have

:28:25. > :28:31.come round a corner closer than that. Let's keep an eye on the

:28:32. > :28:35.cameras. If she wants to get a medal, it will need to be from the

:28:36. > :28:43.situation she is in now. There is no other choice. She is very unlikely

:28:44. > :28:48.to win a sprint in that group. This is how one shot. She did the

:28:49. > :28:56.pacemaking on the climbs and now she is in sight of getting an Olympic

:28:57. > :28:59.medal. This is Longo Borghini and Anna van der Breggen, who was highly

:29:00. > :29:06.fancied as a potential race winner, the Dutch woman. Emma Johansson from

:29:07. > :29:12.Sweden is up there as well. There is Lizzie Armistead, number 27. She

:29:13. > :29:17.hung in there, she did not panic under severe pressure on that Klein.

:29:18. > :29:23.The gap is coming down. We are hearing may the gap from the chasing

:29:24. > :29:31.group to Mara Abbott is 20 seconds and not 34. Chris, your intuition on

:29:32. > :29:39.that might be right. We have to watch the bends and how fast it is.

:29:40. > :29:43.Behind Lizzie Armistead's group, they are not making any inroads,

:29:44. > :29:47.they are holding at the same distance. These three will be

:29:48. > :29:52.starting to think about fighting for a silver medal. They do not want

:29:53. > :29:59.company. They have reignited the partnership and are working together

:30:00. > :30:08.now. Mara Abbott at the front of the race. She just needs to keep going,

:30:09. > :30:17.which is easily said and not so easily done.

:30:18. > :30:25.This would be the ride of her life, she has lost a little bit of time,

:30:26. > :30:31.but not much at all. It will be hurting now. Her legs will be

:30:32. > :30:36.screaming. 4.5 kilometres remaining, it is flat now, pretty much. The

:30:37. > :30:40.beach on her side, she would be taking in the view, that is for

:30:41. > :30:43.sure! This is the first chance we get to pan back and see the

:30:44. > :30:48.distance, it is significant, they are coming into view. I don't think

:30:49. > :30:52.they will close the gap... If they are still committed, there's the

:30:53. > :30:57.chance that they might. 28 seconds, ticking down, 27... I'm

:30:58. > :31:04.just not sure if they can do it. If they get within ten seconds it is

:31:05. > :31:10.closable in a sprint. Armitstead's group, with Jolanda Neff in there as

:31:11. > :31:14.well. Armitstead is out of the saddle. A bit of rain is beginning

:31:15. > :31:18.to fall, not quite reaching us here at the finish line yet. Here is the

:31:19. > :31:23.leader, Mara Abbott, I wonder what is going through her mind at the

:31:24. > :31:27.moment? The prize is so great and tantalisingly close, will it remain

:31:28. > :31:32.within her grasp? The longest for climate as she will ride in her

:31:33. > :31:36.life, every hundred meters must be ticking away, she has a computer in

:31:37. > :31:41.front of her, she can see it is getting closer. She knows these

:31:42. > :31:47.roads and how far it is to go. Still totally committed with the chase,

:31:48. > :31:51.Van Der Breggen, Johansson and Longo Borghini. These are long and

:31:52. > :31:55.straight roads, they have their prey in front of them, they can work

:31:56. > :32:00.through carefully. There is not much in this, they can fancy their

:32:01. > :32:06.chances of reeling her in. The clock is gone but we can see the cars in

:32:07. > :32:10.front. Showing 28 seconds still. She is still battling away and hanging

:32:11. > :32:16.on... What an unbelievable finish this will be to the women's road

:32:17. > :32:20.race. Armitstead's group has stalled at 12 seconds further back, they

:32:21. > :32:24.cannot quite get on terms, maybe they will have the chance to close

:32:25. > :32:28.up when the three think about medal sprints? The time is going so

:32:29. > :32:34.slowly, still three, to is to go for Mara Abbott. She is rolling across

:32:35. > :32:43.the road, doing everything she possibly can. Making inroads, but

:32:44. > :32:47.very slowly. Emily Anderson of Sweden, finishing second in the

:32:48. > :32:54.Olympic Games road race before, beaten by Nicole Cooke in Beijing...

:32:55. > :32:58.-- Emily Johansson. It is going to come down to the wire when the

:32:59. > :33:03.sprint starts, it could be enough to close the distance at this rate. It

:33:04. > :33:07.is going to be so close. It does not seem far to go for Mara Abbott but I

:33:08. > :33:11.still think it is a long way for her. They should clear some traffic

:33:12. > :33:17.out now... They are closing down and it would be terrible if the race

:33:18. > :33:23.traffic interfered in the result. 20 seconds now, here she is in front.

:33:24. > :33:27.Only 2.5 kilometres to do it in... What a chase this will be along the

:33:28. > :33:37.seafront. Then, around into Copacabana. As Mara Abbott tries to

:33:38. > :33:41.squeeze every last ounce of energy out of her body. She is digging

:33:42. > :33:46.deeper than she ever has before in her life, her legs will be

:33:47. > :33:50.absolutely screaming at her now. But the Olympic Games gold medal is the

:33:51. > :33:54.prize on offer. It is so close, just to climate is to go and she is still

:33:55. > :34:03.leading, still holding of the chasing group -- two kilometres.

:34:04. > :34:06.Lizzie Armitstead is in her little group and they cannot quite get

:34:07. > :34:13.across at the moment to contest the medals.

:34:14. > :34:16.At the current rate of attrition, 17 seconds, 1.9 kilometres to go, she

:34:17. > :34:20.will be caught on the line, it will come down to guts and heart, how

:34:21. > :34:23.much she wants it. If the sprint starts now, they will

:34:24. > :34:30.have the gap. When it gets to ten seconds, it will

:34:31. > :34:33.be hard for her to hold. Not far now, 1.7 kilometres to go, 15

:34:34. > :34:37.seconds is the lead. They had to make sure they are all doing the

:34:38. > :34:41.work, if it just is one of them, they blow their chances of winning

:34:42. > :34:45.the gold anyway. They need to make sure calculations are right and that

:34:46. > :34:49.they are all committed. It is tantalisingly close here, what a

:34:50. > :34:53.dramatic finish to the women's road race... The only chances are if

:34:54. > :34:58.these three think about the medal, one begins to soft-pedal and there

:34:59. > :35:03.is a momentary pause. That is all she needs, another two seconds

:35:04. > :35:06.advantage, ten seconds now. It will be so close, it will be down to

:35:07. > :35:10.these three, if they stay committed to the chase or begin to think about

:35:11. > :35:14.the sprint... If they stay committed to the chase it will be hard for

:35:15. > :35:21.Mara Abbott to stay away at this stage, can she do it? What a chase

:35:22. > :35:25.towards the line here. One, to go -- one climate at ago. She is right in

:35:26. > :35:29.front of them, I don't think she will do it unless these three begin

:35:30. > :35:33.to think about the sprint. It is possible, I think that they are

:35:34. > :35:38.close enough that she will be passed in the sprint. These are big level

:35:39. > :35:42.riders. The big prize is close enough, they must commit to putting

:35:43. > :35:45.themselves in with a chance in the shake-up at the end, no point in

:35:46. > :35:56.doing all of this work if you won't make the junction and catch the

:35:57. > :35:58.rider in front. It is so close but Mara Abbott will

:35:59. > :36:01.have the gold medal swiped away right at the very last moment.

:36:02. > :36:06.Despite using every ounce of energy that she can muster.

:36:07. > :36:11.500 metres to go, the chase is on behind her, Longo Borghini leads the

:36:12. > :36:16.way. They are drawing in, Mara Abbott now, looking behind.

:36:17. > :36:20.Abbott has two draw on reserves she did not know she had, she is not

:36:21. > :36:25.going to win the gold medal for my money, because Longo Borghini leads

:36:26. > :36:29.the other two alongside her now... And Anna van der Breggen makes the

:36:30. > :36:35.bid for glory, as Johansson tries to chase her down, Johansson does not

:36:36. > :36:38.yet have the strength to come past Van Der Breggen, and Anna van der

:36:39. > :36:42.Breggen takes the gold medal! For the second time in her career,

:36:43. > :36:46.Emma Johansson in Sweden is beaten in a sprint for the line in the

:36:47. > :36:51.Olympic Games road race and has to finish with a silver.

:36:52. > :36:55.She lost out to Nicole Cooke and has lost out to Anna van der Breggen

:36:56. > :36:59.from the Netherlands there. A beautiful sprint. Lizzie

:37:00. > :37:04.Armitstead just crosses the line... Longo Borghini lost it, I'm afraid.

:37:05. > :37:07.She sat on the front, Van De Burgh and was allowed to sit behind and

:37:08. > :37:12.wait and wait, and hopefully we will have some news of her team-mate, van

:37:13. > :37:19.Vleuten, and hear what kind of condition she is in -- Anna van der

:37:20. > :37:23.Breggen. What a brilliant ride from her team-mate, Anna van der Breggen

:37:24. > :37:28.timed it perfectly. Longo Borghini takes bronze for Italy. A silver for

:37:29. > :37:33.Sweden, and Emma Johansson. I don't have confirmation yet, but I think

:37:34. > :37:38.that Lizzie Armitstead may have come in fifth over the line. Armitstead

:37:39. > :37:42.chasing so hard off the top of the climb, down the descent on the other

:37:43. > :37:47.side and into Copacabana in itself. She could not quite bridge the gap.

:37:48. > :37:51.Here comes Marianne Vos. Of the Netherlands, leading the chase over

:37:52. > :37:58.the line, and she that her team-mate has one. Like Chris, I'm very

:37:59. > :38:01.concerned about van Vleuten. We will bring any news on the condition of

:38:02. > :38:07.van Vleuten, who was leading the Olympic road race when she crashed

:38:08. > :38:11.heavily on the descent, as soon as. Here is the photo finish, how close

:38:12. > :38:17.it was. The best part of a bike length in the end. Second again.

:38:18. > :38:23.Aamer Yamin son of Sweden. I think that given the nature of the cause,

:38:24. > :38:27.that is a superb ride from Emma Johansson. -- Emma Johansson of

:38:28. > :38:32.Sweden. What a talent, Longo Borghini, the Italian rider. She did

:38:33. > :38:37.a lot of work to finish the chase on Mara Abbott, spare her a thought.

:38:38. > :38:41.Mara Abbott was so close to becoming an Olympic champion but what a ride

:38:42. > :38:45.from Anna van der Breggen, many people thought she was the favourite

:38:46. > :38:49.for the race, and she showed her face at the front for the very first

:38:50. > :39:00.time. With the finishing line in sight. Megan Guarnier, such a good

:39:01. > :39:04.season for her, in 11th place. A good ride from Lizzie Armitstead

:39:05. > :39:09.as well. In contention, but her little group could not quite put

:39:10. > :39:15.themselves in a position to contest the medals at the end. This is the

:39:16. > :39:18.sprint for the gold medal once again, Anna van der Breggen

:39:19. > :39:23.committee would put money on her in that situation and Emma Johansson

:39:24. > :39:28.did everything she could. But, she was unable to claw back the gap

:39:29. > :39:35.before the line arrived. Longo Borghini takes the medal, and Paul

:39:36. > :39:42.rolled more Mara Abbott, -- poor old Mara Abbott, she led coming in, on

:39:43. > :39:47.the left of your picture, agonisingly out of the medal.

:39:48. > :39:51.Such is the nature of sport and bike racing. But she rode the race the

:39:52. > :39:58.way that she had to to try and win it. There was no other way for Mara

:39:59. > :40:04.Abbott, she would never win from a sprint but only through climbing

:40:05. > :40:09.against the others. A moment which Anna van der Breggen

:40:10. > :40:13.would, I'm sure, enjoy so many times in future. The moment she became the

:40:14. > :40:18.Olympic Games road race champion. The Dutch won it four years ago with

:40:19. > :40:27.Marianne Vos and they have won it again with Anna van der Breggen.

:40:28. > :40:32.CHEERING Fourth time a Dutch rider has won

:40:33. > :40:36.this race, only held since 1984, and for the fourth time in the nine

:40:37. > :40:45.editions of the Olympic road race, the gold medal goes to a rider from

:40:46. > :40:48.the Netherlands. Chris Boardman has hotfooted it down

:40:49. > :40:54.from the commentary here, as the riders come through the zone, a

:40:55. > :40:58.dramatic finish to a dramatic race, just as we saw yesterday? It was,

:40:59. > :41:02.I'm waiting for news personally, it is hard to concentrate on a bike

:41:03. > :41:05.race when you see a crash like that and we knew that descent was so...

:41:06. > :41:10.I'm quite angry because I looked at the road and thought, nobody can

:41:11. > :41:13.crush here and just get up, it's really bad.

:41:14. > :41:18.That is what we saw today. I'm worried about her but her team-mate

:41:19. > :41:22.did a phenomenal job, Anna van der Breggen lived up to her reputation,

:41:23. > :41:25.timing it beautifully and getting herself to the back with one

:41:26. > :41:31.plummeted to go. Longo Borghini with so much experience made a huge

:41:32. > :41:35.tactical error. Let me talk to Lizzie Armitstead, coming through 20

:41:36. > :41:40.seconds behind the Olympic champion. It was the chase of your life? Yes.

:41:41. > :41:44.I did exactly what I wanted to do in the race, I did not panic on the

:41:45. > :41:48.climb, I limited my losses and knew I could never follow the best

:41:49. > :41:53.climbers in the world. I never gave up. You certainly did, you worked

:41:54. > :42:02.hard on the climb. You always knew it would be a decisive feature in

:42:03. > :42:04.the race and we saw it happen yesterday too? Yes, I've been

:42:05. > :42:08.working on it for months, my climbing. I knew what I was capable

:42:09. > :42:11.of and what I had in my legs. I did the best I could. I am just

:42:12. > :42:15.knackered! I must ask what emotions I like having had the build-up to

:42:16. > :42:20.the race, where you write for it mentally? How do you feel that it is

:42:21. > :42:23.over now? I'm exhausted but looking forward to spending time with my

:42:24. > :42:27.family and getting back to the people who love me and care about me

:42:28. > :42:32.but to be honest I can't feel sorry for myself, this is sport and what

:42:33. > :42:41.it is about. You open yourself up to judgment and I never gave up, and

:42:42. > :42:44.for that, I can be proud. It is a deserving Olympic champion, for

:42:45. > :42:48.sure. Chris, as she said, she never gave up. She gave it her all.

:42:49. > :42:53.Incredible considering her small group is 12 seconds off the back

:42:54. > :42:57.that she managed to close it and win the sprint. I watched her on the

:42:58. > :43:03.climb and how brilliant she rode, and paced herself, you could see the

:43:04. > :43:09.calculations. She effectively time trial it and wrote the descent as

:43:10. > :43:13.best as she could, she got some allies on the bottom commission used

:43:14. > :43:17.it as best as she could, she did beautifully. Anna van der Breggen

:43:18. > :43:22.was the favourite going in. Everybody was watching her, she had

:43:23. > :43:26.the legs for the climb? Van Vleuten was a surprise attack, we thought

:43:27. > :43:29.that Anna van der Breggen would try to get away, and that van Vleuten

:43:30. > :43:34.would work for her, it went the other way and I think it was Abbott

:43:35. > :43:41.who was the surprise of the race for me, not with how she climbed, but

:43:42. > :43:45.she rode a solid descent, took her own judgment and with this rain,

:43:46. > :43:49.that made it a treacherous. The ride on the flat was incredible to keep

:43:50. > :43:53.in contention. Heartbreaking that she got so close and came away with

:43:54. > :43:57.fourth position. I cannot imagine how the Olympic champion would feel

:43:58. > :44:02.knowing that her team-mate had such an awful crash. We spoke before and

:44:03. > :44:07.saw ourselves in that race, should there be more barriers? Should there

:44:08. > :44:16.be more cushioning on the descent? I mentioned that I am past commenting,

:44:17. > :44:19.I'm actually quite angry about it. I went down there with you and we

:44:20. > :44:22.looked at the course, we saw the edge. We knew that it was way past

:44:23. > :44:29.being technical, this was dangerous. The designers of the course, they

:44:30. > :44:35.saw it and left it. So yes, it was a pretty... Devastating. Hopefully we

:44:36. > :44:39.will have a quick word with the Olympic champion, she is coming

:44:40. > :44:42.towards us so we will hopefully get a word on her team-mate who we saw

:44:43. > :44:47.having that horrendous crash and we will get the medal ceremony

:44:48. > :44:52.underway. I will be interested to see if she saw that? When you are

:44:53. > :44:55.raising your focus is the tarmac and making sure you keep as much

:44:56. > :45:04.traction as you can, she may not yet know. Here she is now, thank you.

:45:05. > :45:14.Many congratulations. Thank you. What a chase! Yes, what a chase. I

:45:15. > :45:18.was pretty shocked about it, I think that she crashed hard, we did not

:45:19. > :45:25.see, of course, but... I realised I'm the first in the team so I have

:45:26. > :45:30.to chase, and I did it for van Vleuten. It was really good, with a

:45:31. > :45:34.story, we knew that we had to do it. You had to be extremely careful on

:45:35. > :45:37.the descent, it must have given you all a shock and a sobering moment

:45:38. > :45:43.when you come pastoral team-mate like that? Of course, you think it

:45:44. > :45:46.is good because she is in front, and you are in third place at the

:45:47. > :45:51.moment, but suddenly, I saw her. It changes everything. But also, if you

:45:52. > :45:57.see her like that, it's... A big shock.

:45:58. > :46:02.I will let you go, you are being taken away for your medal.

:46:03. > :46:07.Congratulations. As she goes to celebrate she will be

:46:08. > :46:12.looking for information about her team-mate. Not many people know what

:46:13. > :46:19.the situation is and we will keep you updated as soon as we get any

:46:20. > :46:24.news. The riders are just coming in. We will bring you more from

:46:25. > :46:34.Copacabana when we get it. Holland having taken gold with Anna

:46:35. > :46:39.van der Breggen, clearly everyone is concerned as to the condition about

:46:40. > :46:45.Annemiek van Vleuten. As soon as we get word on that, we will let you

:46:46. > :46:53.know. We have got a very busy programme ahead, a variety of

:46:54. > :46:59.sports. Here is what is coming up. Richard Kruse has his eyes set on a

:47:00. > :47:06.Rio fencing medal. It would be Britain's first since 1964. He is

:47:07. > :47:10.going in the men's foil semifinals. The diving gets under way today with

:47:11. > :47:19.the women's three metres springboard. Rebecca Gallantree and

:47:20. > :47:26.Alicia Blagg are going in that for Great Britain. Britain's women beat

:47:27. > :47:31.Canada earlier today in the rugby sevens to make sure of their place

:47:32. > :47:34.in the quarterfinals. We will see their match against Fiji and

:47:35. > :47:37.hopefully we will be joining it live.

:47:38. > :47:43.And it is the turn of the British women in the gymnastics

:47:44. > :47:47.qualification, including cloudier frangipani who won four gold medals

:47:48. > :48:02.at the Commonwealth Games two years ago.

:48:03. > :48:18.Richard Kruse is fighting against the world number one. If he wins, he

:48:19. > :48:26.will be guaranteed a medal. If you would rather watch table tennis,

:48:27. > :48:34.that is on BBC Four. They will have the hockey action.

:48:35. > :48:42.In the Olympic Park we have a range of sports around us. It is overcast

:48:43. > :48:46.with a few spots of rain. Strong winds meant the rowing had to be

:48:47. > :48:52.cancelled. The wind has dropped and we are set fair for an evening of

:48:53. > :48:55.sporting action. But the International Paralympic Committee

:48:56. > :48:59.has taken the decision to ban rush out right for the Paralympics which

:49:00. > :49:06.starts on September the 7th in Rio. Sir Philip Craven, the president,

:49:07. > :49:10.was very strong saying it was not about individual athletes or

:49:11. > :49:16.individual federations making a decision like the IOC. He said it is

:49:17. > :49:21.not about individuals or individual sports, it is about a

:49:22. > :49:26.state-sponsored doping system. A state run system that is cheating

:49:27. > :49:30.athletes. I believe the Russian government has catastrophically

:49:31. > :49:36.failed its athletes. The medals over morals mentality disgusts me. Russia

:49:37. > :49:39.were top of the table at the Sochi Winter Paralympics with more than

:49:40. > :49:46.three times as many medals than any other nation. They will not be here

:49:47. > :49:50.competing at the Paralympics in Rio. The British team includes Ellie

:49:51. > :49:54.Simmonds, David Weir and Hannah Cockroft and Johnny Peacock and

:49:55. > :50:00.others. We are now focusing on the Olympics and diving, sport in which

:50:01. > :50:04.Great Britain have got strength and depth mainly thanks to the examples

:50:05. > :50:09.set by Tom Daley who won the bronze medal at London 2012. Now that team

:50:10. > :50:16.includes synchronised pair who we are going to see in the metres

:50:17. > :50:21.springboard. Rebecca Gallantree is 31 and considered retiring after

:50:22. > :50:25.London 2012. She has built on her partnership with 19-year-old Alicia

:50:26. > :50:29.Blagg and won a silver medal at the European Championships in London and

:50:30. > :50:35.they were seventh at the Olympics four years ago. The diving venue has

:50:36. > :50:40.no roof and is open to the elements and we will see if that effect how

:50:41. > :50:46.the divers react. It is straight into the finals with five dives and

:50:47. > :50:53.we are joining Leon Taylor and Bob Ballard.

:50:54. > :51:08.The first died for the Brits. They have opted to go for an inward dive

:51:09. > :51:27.with pike. That will not be far away from the

:51:28. > :51:41.magic 50. They normally go one, two, three, go. They just went go. No

:51:42. > :51:51.hanging around. Maybe Becky with just a little bit more height. There

:51:52. > :51:57.are the coaches. Will they get the magic 50? Nice outfits, they have

:51:58. > :52:03.not always fitted, but these ones do, fortunately. From until round

:52:04. > :52:16.three we will not see too much develop.

:52:17. > :52:25.These are the Brazilians. I am not going to say they are making at the

:52:26. > :52:36.numbers, but they get entrance because they either host nation.

:52:37. > :52:42.This pair have got fantastic results over the years. They had a real

:52:43. > :52:52.fight on their hands back in Australia with another fantastic

:52:53. > :52:59.pair. Only 23 and 20. Relatively early on in their careers. A little

:53:00. > :53:11.bit out on this incredible. The distance from the diving board was

:53:12. > :53:16.different. The rain is coming down a little bit more at the diving venue.

:53:17. > :53:24.It is not headed by any means, but it might get into the eyes of the

:53:25. > :53:45.divers. It is getting my start sheet completely soaked.

:53:46. > :53:57.Nice loud camping, you could not miss that one. They have the home

:53:58. > :54:02.support as you would imagine. I mentioned earlier that they got a

:54:03. > :54:10.buy as a host nation, so we are not expecting great things from this

:54:11. > :54:15.pair. The girl further from us is 35 years old, which is incredible to

:54:16. > :54:19.still be diving at this level. She has had a long and illustrious

:54:20. > :54:24.career and finishing off with the Olympic Games. They are already a

:54:25. > :54:31.few points behind the rest of the girls. All the marks with lines

:54:32. > :54:51.through them do not count. Here are pair of who are definitely

:54:52. > :55:16.in with a chance of a medal, the Canadians.

:55:17. > :55:24.And usually slightly out from the Canadians. Normally we are looking

:55:25. > :55:29.at very precise. That was passable. You can see maybe the nerves getting

:55:30. > :55:34.to them. Jennifer a little bit closer to the diving board. With

:55:35. > :55:44.Pamela, you could drive a bike through that gap. It is not

:55:45. > :55:48.perfectly synchronised. The Canadian coaching team are always very vocal,

:55:49. > :55:56.trying to maybe influence the judges. But the judges are not

:55:57. > :56:04.influenced in that way. The Canadians have work to do. Jennifer

:56:05. > :56:09.Abel was a bronze medallist from four years ago with another partner.

:56:10. > :56:15.A little bit behind on the opening dive. Now to the final pair in round

:56:16. > :56:50.one of five. Well, it is pretty ordinary from the

:56:51. > :56:56.Germans. That is a slightly weaker finish. Execution probably letting

:56:57. > :57:01.the Germans down more than synchronisation.

:57:02. > :57:11.Nora closest to us just hitting the water and throwing up too much

:57:12. > :57:17.splash. It is eight across the board. That is quite generous, but a

:57:18. > :57:21.fair reflection. Round one has been done. One more round of required

:57:22. > :57:44.dives to go. Only two got the magic 50. Britain

:57:45. > :57:50.are in joint third place. Not a bad start and we will be back to follow

:57:51. > :57:54.their progress. News on Annemiek van Vleuten who had a horrible crash in

:57:55. > :57:57.the women's road race. She is conscious and she has been taken to

:57:58. > :58:05.hospital and we will bring you further updates. Gold went to the

:58:06. > :58:09.Netherlands, her team-mate. Lizzie Armitstead did finish fifth, 20

:58:10. > :58:17.seconds behind the winner. Fencing was a favourite of the person who

:58:18. > :58:21.invented the modern Olympics and the current president is a former

:58:22. > :58:25.medallist and other enthusiasts include Winston Churchill and Neil

:58:26. > :58:31.Diamond. Great Britain have not won a medal in fencing since 1964 and

:58:32. > :58:36.they could do it here thanks to Richard Kruse. It is his fourth

:58:37. > :58:38.Olympics and he has already achieved more than at his previous three and

:58:39. > :59:08.this is how he has done it so far. Eighth in Athens. That is the touch.

:59:09. > :59:23.That is all Richard Kruse needed. He goes through. He said after London

:59:24. > :59:26.2012 that the was going to retire. Richard Kruse through to the

:59:27. > :59:33.quarterfinals has seen off a formidable opponent. Richard Kruse

:59:34. > :59:44.has to settle back down and finish this off. 14-13. Is that it? Richard

:59:45. > :59:49.Kruse waves to the crowd and punches the air and is an Olympic

:59:50. > :59:57.semifinalist. This could be the greatest of days for Richard Kruse.

:59:58. > :00:01.His semifinal has started and he is 3-1 up already and has made a good

:00:02. > :00:05.start in all of his bouts so far. Let's join commentary with Graham

:00:06. > :00:35.Bell. The other thing we see in foil is a

:00:36. > :00:40.white light come on, that is off target and it will stop the actual

:00:41. > :00:46.passage and they will restart where they left off. Sometimes, if a

:00:47. > :00:51.coloured light comes on and a white light, if it is the attacking fencer

:00:52. > :00:55.who gets the white light, no point is decided, it is not a question of

:00:56. > :01:00.whether you hit the target or not, it is whether you had the right of

:01:01. > :01:04.way, if you hit the target with the right way it does not matter if the

:01:05. > :01:10.other person hits you on target. I hope that makes it clear! That is

:01:11. > :01:21.foil. This is foil at its best, these two both won major events this

:01:22. > :01:26.season. Alex Massialas off the mark, his dad looking quite relaxed there,

:01:27. > :01:30.he is also his coach. Applauding calmly, it is early days. Greg

:01:31. > :01:39.Massialas is a former Olympic fencer himself. His sister, Alex's sister

:01:40. > :01:47.Sabrina is 20th, she did not make the very strong women's foil team,

:01:48. > :01:54.no hit, both off target. Alexander Massialas was the youngest athlete

:01:55. > :02:00.at any sport in the US team in London 2012. That gave him the

:02:01. > :02:08.experience to come here with already one Olympic Games under his belt.

:02:09. > :02:12.Conversely Graham, it is Kruse's fourth Olympic Games, I had a brief

:02:13. > :02:18.chat with the chef de mission of Team GB, he says that Richard is

:02:19. > :02:22.someone to look up to 14 members in all sports in Team GB. He has the

:02:23. > :02:30.experience and he likes to work things out -- for all team members.

:02:31. > :02:34.He speaks fluent Hungarian, when he is not fencing, he travels to

:02:35. > :02:39.countries, way off the beaten track. And he plays the bagpipes, I wonder

:02:40. > :02:46.if he has a set in the Olympic Village? That won't go down quite so

:02:47. > :02:53.well! Parried out by the American, hit with the riposte, drawing level,

:02:54. > :02:58.big support for the American by the sounds of things in this crowd. In

:02:59. > :03:07.the quarterfinal, Alexander Massialas had an absolute battle to

:03:08. > :03:13.get through against his Italian opponent, 14-8 down. Amazingly he

:03:14. > :03:18.came back through, it would have taken a lot of energy from him but

:03:19. > :03:28.also given a huge adrenaline pump going into the semifinals. Massialas

:03:29. > :03:36.sneaking ahead... Kruse got the better of the beginning but still

:03:37. > :03:40.early days. Massialas speaks fluent Mandarin, we are talking about

:03:41. > :03:49.Richard Kruse speaking Hungarian fluently, Massialas speaks fluid

:03:50. > :03:53.Mandarin. -- fluent. He won the Grand Prix recently, which is

:03:54. > :03:58.fantastic, he says his grandmother was there to witness it.

:03:59. > :04:03.A fabulous attack from Kruse, that takes years of training, to land

:04:04. > :04:09.that hit with such accuracy, and with a flick which, these days, is

:04:10. > :04:13.very tough to do in foil. It is harder now, if they have changed the

:04:14. > :04:18.waiting of the button at the end of the foil, the amount of time the

:04:19. > :04:26.foil hats to stay on the target for the kids to register is a bit longer

:04:27. > :04:31.than it used to be. Three apiece, one minute left in this first

:04:32. > :04:39.period. Three periods of three minutes with a one-minute break in

:04:40. > :04:44.between the two. That is one for Richard Kruse. Another stop it. That

:04:45. > :04:48.means it was not his turn to attack, he got in and got out the way, if

:04:49. > :04:54.you only put one night on the box, it is enough. It does not have to be

:04:55. > :05:01.your turn so long as you do not get hit -- one light on the box.

:05:02. > :05:05.Trying another... Does not land it this time, picking up the right of

:05:06. > :05:09.way, but a brilliant block from Massialas. You can use your sword

:05:10. > :05:13.arm as well as your sword to defend yourself. As you can see in the

:05:14. > :05:23.replay, Massialas brings his arm right back to block the flick from

:05:24. > :05:28.Richard Kruse. Four each. The flick to shoulder is not working, it may

:05:29. > :05:33.have smarted a bit on Massialas, totally accidental from Kruse but a

:05:34. > :05:36.counter attack from Massialas lands, you see him standing upright to stop

:05:37. > :05:42.the flick from going over the shoulder. A nice move from the

:05:43. > :05:47.Americans. Followed up with a very simple attack. Kruse has to keep his

:05:48. > :06:09.head in the game now. 6-4 to the American. Kruse finds the

:06:10. > :06:16.parried but Massialas is on a bit of a roll... He lands hit after hit

:06:17. > :06:21.after hit. What can Richard Kruse do now? He has to get back into his

:06:22. > :06:25.dancing footwork coming forward but what Massialas is doing is stepping

:06:26. > :06:32.in and immediately closing the distance write-up. For me, Kruse has

:06:33. > :06:38.juiced up and the distance, as he is doing right up -- has to step up.

:06:39. > :06:45.Massialas pressing, Kruse tries his hardest to come through. The referee

:06:46. > :06:49.called a halt there. 7-4 is still the score, 34 seconds left on the

:06:50. > :06:58.clock before the first of these breaks. Off target from Massialas.

:06:59. > :07:06.If Richard Kruse could take a medal here, it would... I think it would

:07:07. > :07:11.be the first British medal of the Rio Olympics. The first British

:07:12. > :07:16.fencing medal for over 50 years. If we are talking about fencing

:07:17. > :07:22.medals... Last time Britain won a gold medal, only time... That was

:07:23. > :07:28.Gillian Sheen in 1956 in Melbourne. That was 60 years ago, the last

:07:29. > :07:36.medal Britain won in fencing was a silver in 1964. Bill Hoskins in the

:07:37. > :07:40.epee 52 years ago. At the moment it seems Massialas is not going to

:07:41. > :07:46.worry about whether Britain will get a medal, he's on a roll his own. He

:07:47. > :07:52.wants the gold medal for sure. Time for a final attack... Yes. Was it

:07:53. > :07:58.off target? It was indeed. Kruse's attack, off target. Although

:07:59. > :08:02.Massialas hit on target committee does not register a point. We go

:08:03. > :08:11.into the first break with the American 8-4 up over the Britain,

:08:12. > :08:16.Kruse. Greg Massialas talking to his son,

:08:17. > :08:20.blowing heavily here, but he takes on some fluid. Kruse not looking as

:08:21. > :08:27.puffed out as Massialas. His coach is giving him some advice, he stayed

:08:28. > :08:31.fairly calm at the moment, I think Richard likes that. He does not like

:08:32. > :08:35.to be put on the high stress, he wants to fence his natural game, but

:08:36. > :08:39.Massialas with the lead could come out and try to finish this one off

:08:40. > :08:45.quickly. An intriguing second period to come up as we watch these

:08:46. > :08:51.beautiful slow motion replays. It was the coach who got Richard Kruse

:08:52. > :08:55.into fencing in the first place... Yes, Richard's mum was looking for

:08:56. > :09:00.something for him to do while he was a kid, he was a bit of a... He

:09:01. > :09:04.needed constant entertainment, and I think that she bumped into the

:09:05. > :09:08.coach, he was a neighbour of hers, in a supermarket. He said, bring him

:09:09. > :09:14.to my fencing club and I will look after him for a couple of hours.

:09:15. > :09:18.Here he is at his fourth Olympics. Well, one victory away from a medal.

:09:19. > :09:22.If he loses this, then he will fight off for bronze but I'm sure he's

:09:23. > :09:27.coming on to be pieced to do something about this 8-4 deficit. Up

:09:28. > :09:34.against the world number one in Alex Massialas, coached by his father

:09:35. > :09:40.Greg, fighter from San Francisco. I suspect Massialas is coming out on

:09:41. > :09:45.the attack. I'm sure Richard and his coach knew that would happen, they

:09:46. > :09:53.will have a plan to deal with that. Massialas is a whirlwind when he is

:09:54. > :10:05.on a run. Kruse is the master tactician. There is one back. Next

:10:06. > :10:10.one! He wants another Olympic success, the coach. He has been at

:10:11. > :10:15.multiple Olympics over the years. If Alex Massialas's body was a

:10:16. > :10:19.pincushion, all hits would be on the back of Massialas's shoulder. That

:10:20. > :10:24.is where Kruse is hitting most of the time. There is the other. They

:10:25. > :10:31.stop hit into the shoulder at the front this time. Drag Massialas just

:10:32. > :10:35.saying to his son... Alex, do not go so big in your first step on the

:10:36. > :10:44.attack, that is where you are vulnerable to the stop it of Kruse

:10:45. > :10:52.-- Greg Massialas. Pick your time, set it up! Take your

:10:53. > :10:58.time to set it up, do not rush in, Kruse is dangerous with the counter.

:10:59. > :11:04.Kruse has the experience, 33 years old against the 22 year rolled

:11:05. > :11:08.Massialas. And Kruse... I think Massialas found the beat and has the

:11:09. > :11:16.right of way. -- 22-year-old Massialas.

:11:17. > :11:22.Although Kruse headfirst, Massialas beat the blade, meaning it was no

:11:23. > :11:29.longer the attack of Kruse. The right-of-way changed hands. Take

:11:30. > :11:43.your time, set it up! The instructions keep coming from the

:11:44. > :11:55.Father, Greg will stop the Americans have won fencing gold in the past.

:11:56. > :12:06.Two golds in the women's sabre. They will be fencing in a couple of days'

:12:07. > :12:13.time in the stadium. Another point for Alex Massialas, confirmed by the

:12:14. > :12:20.video. Massialas is getting hit after hit. Richard Kruse is finding

:12:21. > :12:24.it difficult to find a way through. Massialas is showing why he is the

:12:25. > :12:28.world number one. He can fence at a very high intensity but Kruse has

:12:29. > :12:33.definitely got an influence on the speed of the match, Massialas

:12:34. > :12:37.matches up to him. Whoever wins this, it is looking a little bit

:12:38. > :12:49.more like it's going to be Alexander Massialas who will face Daniele

:12:50. > :13:04.Garozzo in the final. It's another hit for Alexander Massialas.

:13:05. > :13:13.What can Richard Kruse do now? The stop it has been working. But

:13:14. > :13:18.Massialas has just slowed the start of the attack, so Kruse has to come

:13:19. > :13:25.out on the attack himself -- stop hit. 12-6, does not want to take any

:13:26. > :13:30.risks, Kruse attacks, Massialas almost off the back line. Kruse

:13:31. > :13:37.keeps him under pressure... He needs the space... Another attack from

:13:38. > :13:41.Richard Kruse, not out yet. He needs to keep pressure on Massialas,

:13:42. > :13:48.Massialas has worked how to land the attack and he cannot afford for

:13:49. > :13:53.Massialas to build an attack. Kruse needs to get some more points on the

:13:54. > :13:58.board, if he wants to stay in contention, 15 is the target,

:13:59. > :14:02.Massialas now attacking... Kruse going past. He misses the first to

:14:03. > :14:08.the shoulder but somehow Massialas was unable to land, he turns his

:14:09. > :14:12.body a little and Kruse lands with a continuation of his riposte. Just

:14:13. > :14:17.looking at the video replay to see if Kruse stepped off the side of the

:14:18. > :14:28.piste before the hit actually landed...? That is set point.

:14:29. > :14:34.That is Massialas turning and Massialas who went past Kruse, he

:14:35. > :14:39.scores a valid touch. Within four he needs a couple more to make

:14:40. > :14:45.Massialas think a bit more. The patient approach from the American

:14:46. > :14:52.has been working in this fight. The riposte... Not given. They beat

:14:53. > :14:58.attack going through. Just blocked out the attack from

:14:59. > :15:01.Kruse. A bit too obvious from the British fencer there, already in a

:15:02. > :15:10.closed line when he tried to land the attack.

:15:11. > :15:15.Massialas is just two points away from booking a place in the final.

:15:16. > :15:22.Richard Kruse needs to do something now. Parry riposte off target for

:15:23. > :15:30.the British fencer. Massialas is not being given the chance to build his

:15:31. > :15:36.attack. Richard Kruse is working very hard, but he has got to stay

:15:37. > :15:44.right in this. That is a good one from Richard Kruse. Massialas had

:15:45. > :15:48.not started his attack, he was thinking about it. And Richard Kruse

:15:49. > :16:04.said, have that. There we go! Richard Kruse thought

:16:05. > :16:10.he had stepped in and blocked. Massialas is one away from fighting

:16:11. > :16:16.for gold in Rio at the Olympic Games.

:16:17. > :16:32.He has one foot in the final. And that is it. Massialas is through to

:16:33. > :16:35.the final. The Americans cheer. Huge roar from the young American. And it

:16:36. > :16:57.will be an Italy, American final. There is a chance for Richard Kruse

:16:58. > :17:03.to get a medal because he will be fighting for the bronze medal. If

:17:04. > :17:10.you were inspired by that, go to our website to find out more about

:17:11. > :17:12.fencing. We go back to the diving. Leon Taylor and Bob Ballard are your

:17:13. > :17:27.commentators. Great Britain are joint third at the

:17:28. > :17:36.moment going into round 34 Pelissier blank and Rebecca Gallantree. We

:17:37. > :17:44.have already seen forward one half somersault with one twist.

:17:45. > :17:54.Ever so slightly out of time. That will be a little bit annoying. This

:17:55. > :18:02.one is pretty solid for them. You can see the expressions on their

:18:03. > :18:06.face. The judges were penalised and quite heavily on the

:18:07. > :18:15.synchronisation. We can only be looking at sevens. She is explaining

:18:16. > :18:19.she had a new buckle which will explain her lack of height. That is

:18:20. > :18:28.annoying, but there is nothing they can do. Whichever one of the

:18:29. > :18:33.Italians it is, they are shutting out the noise and staying focused.

:18:34. > :18:41.We join the Australians for their first optional dive. These two need

:18:42. > :18:55.to get going because currently they are at the bottom of the pile.

:18:56. > :19:06.Right on cue, you did suggest they pick up a little bit. Their first

:19:07. > :19:09.two rounds were not so good. This was better. An in which two and a

:19:10. > :19:16.half somersault is in the pike position. Annabel closest to us made

:19:17. > :19:27.a bit of a mess up on her entry to the water. She will probably only

:19:28. > :19:33.get sevens on execution. The Australians are potentially closing

:19:34. > :19:42.the gap. They are a couple of points behind Great Britain.

:19:43. > :20:06.It looked like it was a little bit confusing. You do not need to be an

:20:07. > :20:12.expert at home to see that that was not quite as synchronised as the

:20:13. > :20:17.previous dive. They were twisting at different times which gives the

:20:18. > :20:23.impression they are out of time, but they hit the water at the same time.

:20:24. > :20:31.A little bit of jiggery-pokery going on. You can see it in slow motion.

:20:32. > :20:36.She goes sideways. You can really see in the slow motion it is a

:20:37. > :20:43.little bit wonky. They are delighted to be here, though. No great

:20:44. > :21:03.expectancy of them. We are expecting the Canadians to

:21:04. > :21:05.get into the groove and start clicking now. They need to do it now

:21:06. > :21:28.as well. Well, right on cue, Bob, you have

:21:29. > :21:32.invited the Australians to join the party and they did and you invited

:21:33. > :21:38.the Canadians to join the party, and they did. That is much better from

:21:39. > :21:44.this pair. You would expect them to get a medal in this event. They got

:21:45. > :21:49.a bronze medal four years ago. To be fair Jennifer is a bit of a banana

:21:50. > :21:56.as she goes into the water. For the Canadians that is a default setting.

:21:57. > :22:05.Whatever they do just shout. Tell the judges it is OK. They will stay

:22:06. > :22:12.probably a distant like they were after the first two rounds. Watching

:22:13. > :22:18.these two and the coaches, they respond the same way whether it is

:22:19. > :22:27.nine or five. Does it through the judges? Probably not by now. Now we

:22:28. > :22:49.move on to the Germans. -- doesn't fool the judges?

:22:50. > :22:55.Well, the Germans are really attacking the take-off and

:22:56. > :23:03.forgetting to come out of the dive in time. You can see the frustration

:23:04. > :23:08.on his face. It is a little bit scruffy and they both go way over.

:23:09. > :23:13.The synchronisation is OK, the execution has let them down. We are

:23:14. > :23:29.starting to see gaps appearing in this field. You go, the looks of the

:23:30. > :23:41.coaches. 16.30 is not what was required or anticipated. They have

:23:42. > :23:50.moved down the pecking order. China, Italy and Malaysia, a surprise

:23:51. > :24:02.pairing here. Germany pulled away quite badly in that round into

:24:03. > :24:08.seventh. It is a good atmosphere. She is on track for a fifth Olympic

:24:09. > :24:17.gold medal. 20 of support from the Chinese in the Aquatics Centre. It

:24:18. > :24:25.is quite cold. It is colder today, so the divers are trying to keep

:24:26. > :24:31.moving. It will be difficult for appearing number one. It will also

:24:32. > :24:37.get dark quite early year because it is winter into spring. We have got

:24:38. > :24:46.spotlights. The illumination is fine.

:24:47. > :24:53.Oh, not quite as bright as they would have hoped. Nowhere near as

:24:54. > :24:59.brilliant as I saw them perform in training. The spotlight was on them

:25:00. > :25:03.and they needed to make this count. Maybe they looks at the scoreboard

:25:04. > :25:10.and thought, oh, my goodness, we are in bronze. That will not be good

:25:11. > :25:21.enough to hold that spot. The dive was OK.

:25:22. > :25:29.That is ten points less than the third point dive. The door is open

:25:30. > :25:36.for the lesser medals. Who wants third? The second is wide open as

:25:37. > :25:42.well. The Italians have been OK so far. Here they are. This is the

:25:43. > :25:46.highest tariff we have seen so far from any of the pairings. A bit more

:25:47. > :26:10.risk and reward strategy. The steps for all ladies were all

:26:11. > :26:18.over the show. A bit of a kamikaze take-off. The spinning speeds were

:26:19. > :26:25.out. It is a little bit here and there as they go in. A bit of a

:26:26. > :26:32.mix-up. I think they will only get sevens at best on the

:26:33. > :26:37.synchronisation. Right on cue, the Italians who were comfortably in

:26:38. > :26:44.second, have also made mistakes. Now the door is even wider open. We are

:26:45. > :26:51.looking to see if anybody gets consistency here. We have seen a lot

:26:52. > :26:58.of patchy diving. Whether that is to do with the conditions or not,

:26:59. > :27:02.because we are outside. The conditions are it is the Olympic

:27:03. > :27:05.Games and a straight final and they are twitchy! We do not expect

:27:06. > :27:21.twitches from the Chinese. There you go, a tremendous died from

:27:22. > :27:27.team China. That has separated the field will stop right when they

:27:28. > :27:35.needed it, we are going to see a bag full of nine is from execution and

:27:36. > :27:42.synchronisation. This is how you do it. A beautiful fourth round dive.

:27:43. > :27:49.The judges do not see the replay. This is for our enjoyment and I am

:27:50. > :27:54.thoroughly enjoying that replay. High fives, they know they have a

:27:55. > :27:58.huge amount of daylight between them and the rest of the field. Unless

:27:59. > :28:02.something goes dramatically wrong in round five, they will hold onto the

:28:03. > :28:17.gold medal position. They have taken a little while to

:28:18. > :28:24.get into the top echelon of diving, but they are right up there.

:28:25. > :28:36.They have got some ground to make up, but they are not too far adrift.

:28:37. > :28:45.That needed to be good to get them back into contention. The

:28:46. > :28:50.synchronisation was bang on, the execution was a bit scruffy. We are

:28:51. > :28:59.looking for the vertical entry into the water. All the hard work had

:29:00. > :29:04.been done. Pelissier Blagg lost a bit of tension as she went in. Her

:29:05. > :29:09.left wrist is heavily strapped and she is working with the medical

:29:10. > :29:17.team. She will be going to surgery quite soon. Yes, that was a bit off.

:29:18. > :29:29.Precisely the same marks in round three and round four.

:29:30. > :29:50.The Australians are building a little head of steam.

:29:51. > :29:59.Well, the Australians have joined the competition. They are going from

:30:00. > :30:06.strength to strength. Beautiful synchronisation. Annabel was

:30:07. > :30:14.fractionally ahead of Madison as she entered the water. Will they get

:30:15. > :30:17.eight on synchronisation? I think a slight difference when they entered

:30:18. > :30:23.the water will prevent that from happening.

:30:24. > :30:33.The ones with the lines through them do not add into the score.

:30:34. > :30:41.The Australians are in behind the Malaysians in fourth place, they

:30:42. > :30:47.will be happy with that. The Canadian still to go as well.

:30:48. > :31:01.It's another big dive for this pair... In with 2.5, with a pike.

:31:02. > :31:06.She is loud! It looks like someone popped a court at the same time, all

:31:07. > :31:14.kinds of destruction is going on. That was, well,... -- cork. We

:31:15. > :31:19.aren't sure what happened, there were sirens going by, noise is going

:31:20. > :31:27.on, they needed a four meter springboard to complete the dive, it

:31:28. > :31:33.was definitely shonky, all the way through, the execution marks will be

:31:34. > :31:39.very low. Super slow motion. The water comes up too soon to meet

:31:40. > :31:48.them, no more room. They did not ask for a re-dive. It sounded like

:31:49. > :32:02.someone was opening champagne from the other commentary positions.

:32:03. > :32:09.Now, onto the Canadians. 3.1, my goodness me, this could project them

:32:10. > :32:15.right up the standings. It has an extra degree of difficulty. I often

:32:16. > :32:21.think, at 3.5, there is a lot going on here. The Canadians are waiting

:32:22. > :32:31.for the noise, there is a lot of music blaring from somewhere.

:32:32. > :32:39.A dear friend of mine, the Canadian coach, a fantastic dive in his time

:32:40. > :32:45.as well. I wonder where that music is coming from? There are no

:32:46. > :32:50.synchronised swimming is in... It is coming from somewhere in the Olympic

:32:51. > :32:57.Park. It is in-house. It looks like there is a technical hitch going on.

:32:58. > :33:03.Here we go, the judge letting everyone know that the scoreboards

:33:04. > :33:10.and the various recorders and all of their computers are settling down...

:33:11. > :33:15.OK, you might be onto this, around the back of the diving boards as we

:33:16. > :33:21.can see, are they going to get a re-dive? Let's wait and see. Will be

:33:22. > :33:27.within their rights, if you like, to ask for one, if something happens. A

:33:28. > :33:32.very famous opening dive, from Tom Daley in London, the flashes went

:33:33. > :33:39.off so Tom asked... Let's see. It looks like the Canadians are coming

:33:40. > :33:45.down... No, they are going back on. And resolved, eventually. 47.7

:33:46. > :33:50.counts for the Brazilians. Back to what we are talking about, this huge

:33:51. > :34:00.dive, it could get them a medal and take them completely out of the

:34:01. > :34:07.standings. That synchronisation was excellent! All the way through, just

:34:08. > :34:11.Pam, furthest from us, a slight over rotation, you can see her shaking

:34:12. > :34:15.her head and the frustrations getting to them, synchronisation

:34:16. > :34:19.good all the way through. When you have ground to make up, you want

:34:20. > :34:27.something that will score over 70, I think this is just shy of 70

:34:28. > :34:32.points... Wow, this is going to be really tight going into the final

:34:33. > :34:37.round. Of course, the Germans still to go in this round, before we start

:34:38. > :34:43.talking about the leaderboard, but it is squashed, very, very squashed!

:34:44. > :34:48.68.82 for the Canadians. They slipped just, and I do mean just,

:34:49. > :34:50.you will see what I mean in a few moments time, into third place.

:34:51. > :35:03.Behind China and Italy, Malaysia in -- inching in. Only four points away

:35:04. > :35:09.from bronze as things stand, Team GB. Taking the Germans into account,

:35:10. > :35:15.at the moment, Germany are in seventh. This has to be fairly

:35:16. > :35:24.spectacular. Again, it is a forward 3.5, as we saw from the Canadians.

:35:25. > :35:32.They got 68.82 on theirs... It is OK, it is possible from the Germans.

:35:33. > :35:36.-- passable. A complicated dive with a lot going on. You can see the

:35:37. > :35:42.different way of attacking this. He diver closest to us chopping the

:35:43. > :35:48.dive off, and giving the impression that she is miles ahead of her

:35:49. > :35:52.partner but they kind of hit the water at the same time, pretty

:35:53. > :35:57.ordinary is my summary on that one. We will find out what the judges

:35:58. > :36:10.think of that in a moment. It is incredibly tight from silver

:36:11. > :36:13.downwards at the moment. Tina Punzel and Nora Subschinski, out of

:36:14. > :36:19.realistic medal contention unless everyone falters badly. They stay

:36:20. > :36:28.exactly as they are, in seventh. Let's have a look at this, my word!

:36:29. > :36:32.The top six are all in medal contention, I think we can probably

:36:33. > :36:40.discount Brazil and Germany, Brazil at this stage with China, beaten by

:36:41. > :36:45.25. Looking at the round Agricola last round of dives, each pairs are

:36:46. > :36:53.opting for a 3.0 degrees of difficulty -- looking at this last

:36:54. > :37:00.round of dives. As predicted... Bob and I are sat

:37:01. > :37:05.here thinking, reflecting and wandering, whether it would be down

:37:06. > :37:09.or close going into the final round. As predicted, the Chinese are out in

:37:10. > :37:17.front, we expect for them to smash it. Where will the other medals go?

:37:18. > :37:23.There are five teams... Five teams basically going for two medals here

:37:24. > :37:27.in round five. The final round, six for the men, five for the women.

:37:28. > :37:37.This is the round that will sort them out. We have managed to do that

:37:38. > :37:46.so far, the Chinese are gold medallists. Silver and bronze with

:37:47. > :37:51.several countries all in with a chance. 2.5 somersaults with pike.

:37:52. > :37:59.What will we see? Feeling the pressure! That is a mishap, the

:38:00. > :38:07.first three rounds of dives were electric. Then, somebody shut down

:38:08. > :38:10.the power. 2.5 with a pike position, it looks OK... Until that

:38:11. > :38:15.all-important entry into the water. The diver closest to us landing

:38:16. > :38:20.short of vertical, execution marks for her will be lower than her

:38:21. > :38:25.partners, therefore the knock-on to be synchronised means that they will

:38:26. > :38:30.only get mid-60s at best on this. Let's have a look... A bit of a

:38:31. > :38:37.grimace, a big hug but a grimace to accompany it. 64.8 will not cut it.

:38:38. > :38:42.I do not think in round five... They need in the upper 60s, perhaps 70,

:38:43. > :38:57.to really narrow it down for a medal. That probably will not do.

:38:58. > :39:08.64.8 is their top mark. Can they get their Olympic gold medal? Four years

:39:09. > :39:12.ago, there were eight European titles, four Tania Cagnotto, the

:39:13. > :39:19.last in London was just a couple of months ago. It is an elusive medal,

:39:20. > :39:27.an Olympic medal potentially waiting for her. Tania Cagnotto and

:39:28. > :39:30.Francesca Dallape know... It could be good enough to secure them a

:39:31. > :39:38.medal but they will want to do better. The final dive for the

:39:39. > :39:43.Italians. They have held it together tremendously, a final tremendous

:39:44. > :39:48.dive for the Italian pair. I know Tania Cagnotto well, I have watched

:39:49. > :39:52.her and the heartbreak of coming so close, they know that they have

:39:53. > :39:57.thrown down the market. Let's see what the judges go with. They had

:39:58. > :40:02.six points going in, they have probably done it... That will be a

:40:03. > :40:07.medal for Italy, Tania Cagnotto following in the first acts of her

:40:08. > :40:13.father, Giorgio. Winning an Olympic medal, but not yet... -- footsteps.

:40:14. > :40:17.A great final dive and a terrific effort from these girls. And there

:40:18. > :40:23.is a hushed descending on the pool, we do not yet have the marks. Now

:40:24. > :40:31.they are arriving, the Italians know... We can see the marks. 74.70,

:40:32. > :40:33.the biggest mark we've seen apart from the Chinese. 76.5 was their

:40:34. > :40:40.best. Outside of the Chinese, 74.7. Tania Cagnotto and Francesca

:40:41. > :41:07.Dallape. Wu Minxia there, going for her fifth

:41:08. > :41:11.Olympic God metal, more records to her name than an Olympic car-boot

:41:12. > :41:25.sale -- gold medal. It's gold for China! The first of

:41:26. > :41:30.many. Potentially. What a dive to finish on, 2.5 somersaults in the

:41:31. > :41:37.pike position, they did not look so formidable today, this pair, but Wu

:41:38. > :41:42.Minxia, a record-breaking fifth gold medal, awesome diving, and what an

:41:43. > :41:46.athlete. I do not use the word "Legend" very often but in diving

:41:47. > :41:54.terms, Wu Minxia certainly wears that label. She has certainly earned

:41:55. > :42:02.it. What an athlete. And a smile there. From both of them.

:42:03. > :42:07.Incredible. Prior to today, six Olympic medals, that is number

:42:08. > :42:14.seven. Four Golds, Inga Max over, and one bronze prior to today. --

:42:15. > :42:19.one silver. Seven diving World Cup goals, she's

:42:20. > :42:26.pretty much done it all. Starting in Athens, 2004. On the three metres

:42:27. > :42:32.synchronised diving platform, all the way through, she has been right

:42:33. > :42:38.at the top of her game. If China have nailed down first place... And

:42:39. > :42:44.Italy might look like they have silver, the bronze is certainly

:42:45. > :42:52.still there. It is hanging tantalisingly for Alysia Blagg and

:42:53. > :42:58.Rebecca Gallantree. A big dive, 3.1, 3:5... A wonderful final dive from

:42:59. > :43:02.our girls. They have had a tough time out there today, in rounds

:43:03. > :43:08.three and four, faltering slightly. This is a classy finish, their most

:43:09. > :43:12.difficult dive marginally out on the spin speeds, as you can see clearly

:43:13. > :43:18.here. Ending up pretty much at the same time. A strong finish. Is it

:43:19. > :43:25.enough for a medal? I'm not sure it will be. Let's wait and see. A

:43:26. > :43:29.little too much to do. No, agonisingly it will not be, that

:43:30. > :43:35.puts them in fourth place by Malaysia, only just, but 66.03 is

:43:36. > :43:40.not quite enough. We are talking about halfway mark, basically,

:43:41. > :43:45.between third and fourth. 67 would have done it, 66 didn't, for Alicia

:43:46. > :43:54.Blagg and Rebecca Gallantree. Look at Alicia Blagg's face. Almost

:43:55. > :43:58.inconsolable at the moment. She knows how tantalisingly close they

:43:59. > :44:04.have come. A few more to go yet. They might make it academic anyway.

:44:05. > :44:16.They want to go... And interestingly -- interesting piece of counting.

:44:17. > :44:20.I'm not sure how Anabelle Smith managed to hang on there, all ten of

:44:21. > :44:24.her toes were over the diving board. My goodness, she nearly slipped off

:44:25. > :44:35.the edge but manages to wait and throw herself into the air. Wow. The

:44:36. > :44:40.Aussies finally getting it together, and still in contention for the

:44:41. > :44:50.bronze medal. They have done it as well, getting into third place. Wow.

:44:51. > :44:54.Here comes confirmation... 71.10, they beat Great Britain and Malaysia

:44:55. > :45:02.into third place, only Canada can stop them from getting a medal

:45:03. > :45:08.now... Not happy, they never are. Smiles on their faces now, they know

:45:09. > :45:10.that they have done the job. 42 in the second round. That nearly

:45:11. > :45:15.scuppered their chances but they have come back strongly. The

:45:16. > :45:42.Brazilians with their last dive. A big effort.

:45:43. > :45:58.It ended up OK. It is a big died. There was lots going on. Almost in

:45:59. > :46:02.time. The rotation speeds are good. Low on the water, the execution

:46:03. > :46:13.marks will be low. This is their best dive, the resilience, what they

:46:14. > :46:21.are finishing with. Put my teeth back in, hugs all around. They are

:46:22. > :46:30.in eighth place as predicted. Rounding off with their highest

:46:31. > :46:37.mark. 60.4 five. They get a great reception as indeed they deserve.

:46:38. > :46:46.Now, at the moment it is China, Italy and Australia, one, two,

:46:47. > :46:48.three. They will need eight to get the bronze here across the board.

:46:49. > :47:08.They are more capable of doing that. Well, there was a huge gap between

:47:09. > :47:15.them. You could drive a bus through that gap. My goodness me, what will

:47:16. > :47:22.the judges do with that? They did hit the water at the same time.

:47:23. > :47:27.Everything is good but there is a huge gap. Have the Canadians thrown

:47:28. > :47:35.away a medal? Will they sneak a bronze. Will it be Australia? Let's

:47:36. > :47:40.wait and see what happens. I have got my hands over my microphone as

:47:41. > :47:47.well. They have seen it. The confirmation mites. We are waiting

:47:48. > :47:56.and they are waiting, Australia do not know, Canada do not know. They

:47:57. > :48:09.have not done it. It means they fall shy of the bronze medal place by

:48:10. > :48:17.just one point. Ouch. So, Canada, by virtue of not getting into the upper

:48:18. > :48:21.60s, have handed the bronze medal to them. They cannot believe it. After

:48:22. > :48:22.the start they had they cannot believe they have got the bronze

:48:23. > :48:47.medal. I can't. But they have. Yes, finished off in style with

:48:48. > :48:54.their favourite dive. The Germans finishing strongly. Look at the

:48:55. > :48:59.emotion from the Australian pair. Not that the Germans could affect

:49:00. > :49:06.the results. They were diving pretty ordinary, the Australians. This is

:49:07. > :49:13.the German replay. The diving taking place here is a random style order,

:49:14. > :49:17.so it is a shuffle of the pack, so they are not diving in reverse order

:49:18. > :49:21.as in the individual. You do not see the best team diving last. The

:49:22. > :49:36.German team are seventh overall. We will wrap up things in terms of

:49:37. > :49:47.rank order and where the medals have gone. That was a real shuffle from

:49:48. > :49:53.start to finish. Every single round we had different people in second or

:49:54. > :50:03.third. The Chinese are celebrating on the far side. The Italians are

:50:04. > :50:07.celebrating a silver medal. And at last Tania Cognotto has an Olympic

:50:08. > :50:13.medal. She has everything else in her locker, European medals, world

:50:14. > :50:23.medals, but until now an Olympic medal has eluded her. I am delighted

:50:24. > :50:31.for Tania Cognotto. Francesca is on her telephone out of screen. She has

:50:32. > :50:36.had a long career, Tania Cognotto, and finally she get that elusive

:50:37. > :50:49.Olympic medal to join her father, who was a multiple Olympian himself.

:50:50. > :51:04.This is confirmation of the result. Another gold medal for Wu Minxia.

:51:05. > :51:12.Becky, what are your thoughts? It did not come together for us today

:51:13. > :51:16.and we are disappointed. It was great to compete out there and it is

:51:17. > :51:21.brilliant in Rio, but a little disappointed. You do not often died

:51:22. > :51:27.outdoors, what with the conditions like? It was cold and windy, but it

:51:28. > :51:33.did not affect me. I do not know if it affected you. We got into hot

:51:34. > :51:38.tub, we have got heated jackets and we did everything we could to stay

:51:39. > :51:44.warm. Like Becky said, it did not come together. In the majority of my

:51:45. > :51:52.dives I dropped, so it is my fault really. It is not, we are a team and

:51:53. > :52:00.we succeed together and we failed together. I did not say that we

:52:01. > :52:05.failed today, we just ended up where we are. It is unfortunate on the

:52:06. > :52:08.Olympic stage. But we have been a partnership for a long time and it

:52:09. > :52:13.is great to come to the Olympics and I love competing with her and it is

:52:14. > :52:19.great. You have kept very quiet about your wrist injury, it must

:52:20. > :52:26.have had some effect. In the past week I have had to have an injection

:52:27. > :52:30.on every single training session. It is just to numb the pain so I cannot

:52:31. > :52:36.feel anything. It has not been great, but that is not why I didn't

:52:37. > :52:40.dive well. I have missed a lot of training and competition is due to

:52:41. > :52:45.the injury and injections over the years, but I do not know what

:52:46. > :52:52.happened. I am having surgery on the 22nd of August and it will be over

:52:53. > :52:55.and done with. 2020 it is. It was a strange competition in lots of ways

:52:56. > :53:00.because nobody was consistent apart from the Chinese. I did not pay

:53:01. > :53:06.attention to what was going on in the rest of the competition. But

:53:07. > :53:11.looking at the scores at the end I was surprised it was only 299 for a

:53:12. > :53:15.medal which makes it even more frustrating because we know we could

:53:16. > :53:21.have done it. It is just so frustrating. But that is sport and

:53:22. > :53:26.sometimes it goes well and sometimes it does not and unfortunately today

:53:27. > :53:31.it didn't. You are sticking together in the next four years? We will have

:53:32. > :53:40.to wait and see what happens after rear. Definitely. Good luck,

:53:41. > :53:44.whatever it is. They are dejected, having finished

:53:45. > :53:48.sixth. Tomorrow you will get to see Tom Daley interaction with Dan

:53:49. > :53:54.Goodfellow, they are going in the ten metre synchro and they have

:53:55. > :53:58.picked up many medals together, silver and bronze, three of each so

:53:59. > :54:04.far. Great Britain are playing New Zealand in the hockey on BBC Four

:54:05. > :54:07.right now. Later on we will be watching Great Britain up against

:54:08. > :54:11.Fiji in the rugby sevens in quarterfinal action. But we will

:54:12. > :54:16.find them in a moment whether Richard Kruse can win Great Britain

:54:17. > :54:26.the first medal of the Olympics in fencing. Here is how it works. The

:54:27. > :54:31.aim of Olympic fencing is simple, to hit an opponent with a sword without

:54:32. > :54:36.being hit in the process. When a weapon makes contact with the target

:54:37. > :54:39.area, the hit is recorded electronically, using wireless

:54:40. > :54:45.technology and point is scored. There are three types of swords in

:54:46. > :54:50.fencing, epee, foil and sabre. Epee is a heavy thrusting sword. It has a

:54:51. > :54:54.large card and a stiff, triangular blades. It's our only scored with

:54:55. > :54:59.the point of the blade, but they can be to any part of the body. Foil is

:55:00. > :55:04.the lightest with a flexible rectangular blade blunted at the

:55:05. > :55:08.point. Points can only be scored with the tip and bust land within

:55:09. > :55:13.the target area, the torso. Sabre is similar in length and weight to the

:55:14. > :55:19.foil, but a fencer is able to cut with the blade and hit with a point.

:55:20. > :55:22.The target area is from the waist to the top of the head. In foil and

:55:23. > :55:29.sabre the rules of rights of way strongly favoured the fencer who

:55:30. > :55:32.attacked first. If both hit simultaneously, the point goes to

:55:33. > :55:37.the competitor who makes the first move. Each bout can last up to three

:55:38. > :55:42.minutes, that if a fencer makes 15 hits before the time expires, the

:55:43. > :55:47.bout finishes. In the team event there are three fencers per team and

:55:48. > :55:51.each one compete against everyone from the opposing team. The first

:55:52. > :55:56.bout finishes after someone makes five hits or three minutes. The

:55:57. > :56:01.second bout finishes after a team makes ten hits or the bout reaches

:56:02. > :56:08.three minutes, and so it continues. The score is cumulative, so a match

:56:09. > :56:15.will finish when a team reaches 40, 45, or after the night bout.

:56:16. > :56:20.Britain sent over three fencers for the foil competition and one is

:56:21. > :56:23.still standing, Richard Kruse. We saw him lose his semifinal, but that

:56:24. > :56:30.gives him a chance to win a bronze medal. It is happening over there.

:56:31. > :56:31.In case you wonder how you will recognise him, luckily the country's

:56:32. > :56:45.flag is on the face of the helmet. This is the men's individual foil

:56:46. > :56:59.individual about. It is great written against Russia.

:57:00. > :57:17.And there is Richard Kruse. He lost to Alexander Massialas in the

:57:18. > :57:25.semifinal. Now he has got to pick himself up for this bronze medal

:57:26. > :57:35.bout. His opponent is stony faced Timur Safin. This is his

:57:36. > :57:36.progression. He beat James Andrew Davies on the way through to the

:57:37. > :58:01.semifinal. Richard Kruse has had a slightly

:58:02. > :58:05.longer break than Safin. Safin came off the piste about 25 minutes ago,

:58:06. > :58:15.so he has had less time to pick himself up. The referee is from

:58:16. > :58:36.Poland. They prepare themselves and test

:58:37. > :58:50.their weapons. So, here we go, with the bronze

:58:51. > :58:57.medal match at the Carioca three Arena. This could be the chance for

:58:58. > :59:03.Britain to win their first Olympic fencing medal in 52 years and become

:59:04. > :59:11.the first team GB athlete to win a medal in Rio 2016. That is how much

:59:12. > :59:16.it means for Richard Kruse. This is his fourth Olympic games. He has the

:59:17. > :59:22.experience. Can he put that into practice. He is up against a Russian

:59:23. > :59:27.who is 24 years old and who has never fenced in the Olympics before.

:59:28. > :59:33.He is ranked 12th. Richard Kruse is ranked sixth. These two have not met

:59:34. > :59:41.in this Olympic cycle, so no previous history. Right on the back

:59:42. > :59:47.line, Richard Kruse showing how much he is up for this with a big fist

:59:48. > :59:54.pump. Timur Safin is cool, calm and collected. He has absolutely serene

:59:55. > :59:59.footwork and he can hypnotise an opponent. But Richard Kruse can beat

:00:00. > :00:05.anyone on his day because he is a master tactician. Safin has been

:00:06. > :00:07.fencing absolutely superbly and he is a real threat in this bronze

:00:08. > :00:20.medal match. James Davis actually had a good lead

:00:21. > :00:22.on Timur Safin, and a very good chance of knocking him out of the

:00:23. > :00:41.competition. He could give him some advice as to

:00:42. > :00:46.what to do against the Russian. He will have been speaking to the

:00:47. > :00:49.performance analyst to look at some videos of Timur Safin. Today, you

:00:50. > :00:55.really have to look at the attack of Timur Safin, he has been brilliant.

:00:56. > :00:59.The hit has been awarded to Timur Safin, Kruse calls for a video, I

:01:00. > :01:04.don't know if that is a good idea at this early stage. Here is the

:01:05. > :01:11.beach... Does he look for a second? -- beat. He might well have done. In

:01:12. > :01:14.that case, it is the right of way of Richard Kruse. He does find the

:01:15. > :01:25.blade first, but then there is another swish. He comes back to make

:01:26. > :01:29.his decision... And he gives it to the Russian. He gives it to Timur

:01:30. > :01:33.Safin. The hand up on the right-hand side signalling the point has gone

:01:34. > :01:38.to the Russian. One light on the box, if you are new to fencing,

:01:39. > :01:44.let's explain it quickly. Foil is the lightest and most accurate of

:01:45. > :01:47.the weapons, there are three, Sabre, epee and foil, Boyle has a

:01:48. > :01:53.right-of-way system, which is the same as Sabre, -- foil. The referee

:01:54. > :01:57.has to establish who is the attacking sensor, it does not matter

:01:58. > :02:02.who hits first, if two coloured lights come on, that means a hit on

:02:03. > :02:07.target, that was a single light on, that goes the way of Timur Safin

:02:08. > :02:12.making it 3-2. If two coloured lights come on, it does not matter

:02:13. > :02:18.who hit first but who had right-of-way, who started the attack

:02:19. > :02:22.first. Were they parried and was the riposte on target? The whole passage

:02:23. > :02:28.of play has to be decided by the referee. At the moment, Timur Safin

:02:29. > :02:32.makes it easy for the referee, single light hits, Kruse has been on

:02:33. > :02:34.the podium a couple of times in major events this season, a silver

:02:35. > :02:44.medal in the Tarentum -- touring Grand Prix. Timur Safin

:02:45. > :02:49.has had most recent success. He won the European Championships just a

:02:50. > :02:52.couple of months before the Olympic Games, a few weeks before the

:02:53. > :02:59.Olympic Games. Kruse claims that one... He's not going to get it...

:03:00. > :03:08.Timur Safin has had a mixed bag this season, he won the first World Cup

:03:09. > :03:14.in San Jose in October. Here he coming off the back of the European

:03:15. > :03:18.Championship win. He's looked absolutely superb today. His

:03:19. > :03:25.compound attack has been absolutely brilliant, breathtaking. The blade

:03:26. > :03:28.is found by Kruse but he hits off target and has the right-of-way,

:03:29. > :03:32.despite it being a white light and him not scoring a hit it means that

:03:33. > :03:38.Timur Safin does not get the green light hit. They reset where they

:03:39. > :03:47.were on the piste when the off target hit was awarded. Again,

:03:48. > :03:51.another off target hit. It's important, if you are attacking, to

:03:52. > :03:56.get a light on the box. If there is no light on and your opponent hits

:03:57. > :04:03.you, there will definitely be a point against you. The white lights

:04:04. > :04:06.are important. At the moment, Timur Safin has got the measure of Kruse

:04:07. > :04:12.to your committee has the distance right and is able to control it

:04:13. > :04:19.going forwards and backwards -- Kruse here. Kruse has to break Timur

:04:20. > :04:37.Safin's morale. Timur Safin is stonefaced. Showing very little

:04:38. > :04:39.emotion during the bout. Non-valid, it goes to Kruse, with a white

:04:40. > :04:52.light. Kruse with a stop hit, that is his

:04:53. > :04:57.trademark, he really likes that hit. He did not have much space to land

:04:58. > :05:00.it but he managed to get it on a single light, on the counter, he

:05:01. > :05:02.does not have the right-of-way, he must ensure he does not get hit and

:05:03. > :05:18.landed perfectly. It is possible to hit when it is not

:05:19. > :05:21.your turn. That was Timur Safin's right-of-way, he was off target,

:05:22. > :05:26.it's possible to hit if it is not your right-of-way, so long as you do

:05:27. > :05:31.not get hit? Yes, if you don't have the right-of-way, you must avoid

:05:32. > :05:42.your opponent's attack. A riposte from Kruse. Really, Timur Safin on

:05:43. > :05:47.the back line. This time, Kruse goes direct and lands the fourth hit,

:05:48. > :05:55.back within one. Just to explain the timings, this is fence, the timing

:05:56. > :06:02.is over three minute, 33 minute sections, we may not go to that, it

:06:03. > :06:06.is also the first to 15 -- three three minute sections. There is less

:06:07. > :06:10.than one minute to go to the break. Richard Kruse wants to go in level

:06:11. > :06:16.pegging, if he can score the next one? It is 6-4 to Russia. Seeing how

:06:17. > :06:20.the Russian is doing, he is able to take the Parry as he goes backwards

:06:21. > :06:26.and he is still able to land the riposte by reaching out as he goes

:06:27. > :06:29.backwards. It is a lovely hit from the Russian. Kruse finds a way

:06:30. > :06:36.through, on the arm, it is off target. An issue with the front foot

:06:37. > :06:46.of Timur Safin. He shaves that one off.

:06:47. > :06:57.Richard Kruse has the experience, he is a real thinker. He really likes

:06:58. > :07:01.to analyse. Kruse goes right over, he had an

:07:02. > :07:05.issue with his back earlier this season, is waving off a request from

:07:06. > :07:11.his coach to find out whether he is OK. He says he is fine, she does not

:07:12. > :07:15.have the measure of Timur Safin at the moment on distance, Timur Safin

:07:16. > :07:20.is definitely working on a beat of the blade, we did not see that much

:07:21. > :07:25.earlier in the day. He has decided that he has to get Kruse's blade in

:07:26. > :07:30.order to clearly establish the right-of-way. 30 seconds left on the

:07:31. > :07:36.clock before the first break. Kruse needs to get a couple of points

:07:37. > :07:46.back... Cannot let Timur Safin get too far ahead... That's another one

:07:47. > :07:50.to the Russian. This is so important for British fencing. It's been 52

:07:51. > :07:56.years since a British fencer last won an Olympic medal. It's just as

:07:57. > :08:01.important for the Russian Federation... They aren't in the

:08:02. > :08:05.gold-medal match today, but they want to try to get the best they can

:08:06. > :08:13.out of this. Timur Safin is doing a cracking job. Launches that running

:08:14. > :08:18.attack. A compound attack, beating the blade first, going low high,

:08:19. > :08:25.with Kruse unable to defend it at the moment. It will be Kruse crying

:08:26. > :08:33.out for this break in just under ten seconds. There is time for one more

:08:34. > :08:38.attack... Kruse, flipped over. The light came up afterwards. It was a

:08:39. > :08:46.continuation for Timur Safin. He hit is given to Kruse on the attack. --

:08:47. > :08:47.the hit. He is still in it. Six seconds are left on the clock before

:08:48. > :09:06.the break. Now, clearly looking at the video

:09:07. > :09:15.replay here. Was it Timur Safin who called? It must have been... They

:09:16. > :09:22.must have asked for it off-camera. Yes, it stays with Kruse. Not happy

:09:23. > :09:30.with that decision. The Russian coach is actually Italian. Pinch by

:09:31. > :09:35.the Russian team. We go into the break.

:09:36. > :09:43.Richard Kruse has an immense sense of fair play, doesn't he? There was

:09:44. > :09:47.one time when he was qualifying for the London Olympics can he did not

:09:48. > :09:53.realise there was another match he could go to. Another competition, a

:09:54. > :09:57.satellite event where he could clear up some points come he was against

:09:58. > :10:00.someone from another country and contact them, and said we have

:10:01. > :10:05.another competition to get some points. If we win that event... He

:10:06. > :10:11.alerted his competition to the fact he could score points, they both

:10:12. > :10:14.went there and his honesty paid off because Richard Kruse qualified for

:10:15. > :10:19.the London 2012 games, as he has done here with the British team.

:10:20. > :10:24.They qualified by rites of being the highest ranked European team outside

:10:25. > :10:31.of the top four in a massive season long tussle with Germany, and Russia

:10:32. > :10:37.qualified as a top four team. Timur Safin and he are fighting for the

:10:38. > :10:43.bronze. In a very strong position. The men's competition takes place on

:10:44. > :10:50.Friday the 12th. They come back, en garde, for this

:10:51. > :10:58.second period. Richard Kruse on the left, Timur Safin of Russia on the

:10:59. > :11:06.right. He gives it to Kruse. You could read the Italian's face here.

:11:07. > :11:13.The Russian coach... Giving it the old Italian shrug of the shoulders.

:11:14. > :11:24.They might be reviewing this one as well. There they are.

:11:25. > :11:27.This could be the second of Timur Safin's video appeals... He has

:11:28. > :11:32.changed it. That was a good call from Timur Safin.

:11:33. > :11:39.He does not normally insist on a video replay and less it is a dodgy

:11:40. > :11:46.decision from the referee. A big pressure now on Kruse. Unbelievable.

:11:47. > :11:53.Timur Safin tries to push Kruse over the backline. A riposte, parried,

:11:54. > :11:58.the counter riposte was parried, they got caught up. Trouble now for

:11:59. > :12:04.Kruse. It was a riposte for Timur Safin. A nice hit, Kruse is in a

:12:05. > :12:08.world of pain, trailing by six in the bronze medal match. Kruse, going

:12:09. > :12:13.for a flick over the shoulder and landing it but it was not his

:12:14. > :12:21.right-of-way. Timur Safin, 11-5, the target is 15. The referee called a

:12:22. > :12:28.halt before Richard Kruse made contact. Timur Safin had let go of

:12:29. > :12:35.his weapon. For me, Richard has to put a little

:12:36. > :12:38.more. Richard Kruse, Timur Safin is controlling the fight and he is

:12:39. > :12:46.staying on top of Richard, pushing him to the backline. The fences are

:12:47. > :12:52.just testing their weapons there. Back under way, that is difficult to

:12:53. > :12:59.call but he has given it to Kruse. Timur Safin uses up another one of

:13:00. > :13:04.his video requests. Of course, if overturned committee gets to keep

:13:05. > :13:09.it. The slow motion of that. -- overturned, he gets to keep it.

:13:10. > :13:13.The referee had to decide who advanced their hand first.

:13:14. > :13:19.Simultaneous to me, but the referee went with Kruse.

:13:20. > :13:30.He comes back, this decision is very important. Your attack stopped, he

:13:31. > :13:34.has given it to Timur Safin. He says that Kruse stopped on his attack.

:13:35. > :13:40.That is a big call and a great decision again by the Russian to

:13:41. > :13:46.call for a video. What could have been 11-6 is now 12-5 and a massive,

:13:47. > :13:50.almost insurmountable lead, for the Russian. It looks like he's marching

:13:51. > :13:54.his way to the bronze medal here. I don't want to write off Richard

:13:55. > :14:00.Kruse too early but this is not the king good for the British fencer,

:14:01. > :14:07.5-12. -- looking good. He is down against the Russian.

:14:08. > :14:15.Maintaining his composure... He needs to do that. Surely he is going

:14:16. > :14:19.to give that as a riposte? Really he should give the yellow card to the

:14:20. > :14:26.Russian for pushing his shoulder in. The Parry is clearly taken. Timur

:14:27. > :14:27.Safin is pushing himself, body to body, surely that is a yellow card

:14:28. > :14:37.offence? The Russian knows what he is doing,

:14:38. > :14:41.he can afford to be given a yellow and he has been for body to body

:14:42. > :14:46.contact. If he gets another yellow card it becomes a red card. He is

:14:47. > :14:51.not sent off but it means his opponent gains a point. A single

:14:52. > :14:53.light on the box, another point for Kruse.

:14:54. > :14:57.It could be the start of an amazing comeback. We have seen them in

:14:58. > :15:04.fencing many times before, and even here today... Two in a row for

:15:05. > :15:13.Kruse. He needs a couple more to make Timur Safin worried.

:15:14. > :15:26.Sabin looking for a Kruse's blade to establish the right of way. It looks

:15:27. > :15:32.like he is saying you need to beat and disengage. As the Parry comes,

:15:33. > :15:44.go underneath it. Let's see if he can execute it. A counter riposte.

:15:45. > :15:53.Kruse was quick to close the distance. He came down on his

:15:54. > :16:01.opponent's chest with his arm above his head. It is still a big mountain

:16:02. > :16:09.for Kruse to climb, five points down. A rushed attack by Safin. He

:16:10. > :16:15.was it over with and that could play into Kruse's hands. If you are going

:16:16. > :16:23.to run into someone's blade like that, you will only give the point

:16:24. > :16:35.the way. Kruse needs a couple of quick points. He needs to watch that

:16:36. > :16:43.riposte going forward. Safin was almost off the edge of the piste.

:16:44. > :16:52.Richard is now within three. Very tense moment for his contingent. And

:16:53. > :16:58.very tense moments for his coach. I am sure Richard Kruse will be pretty

:16:59. > :17:03.tense. But more importantly Safin, who looked like he was going to run

:17:04. > :17:15.away with this, has suddenly lost a whole load of points in a row. That

:17:16. > :17:20.last point was so crucial. A riposte with the disengage as instructed by

:17:21. > :17:30.his coach. Executed perfectly. He is one away from the bronze medal.

:17:31. > :17:46.It is cagey start because Kruse could not slip another point. Of

:17:47. > :17:51.target. It is so close. This is not the last chance for Britain to score

:17:52. > :18:08.fencing medals. The team event is coming up. That is a good one. A

:18:09. > :18:13.single light on the box. A counter attack, moving his back shoulder,

:18:14. > :18:19.moving the target out of the way. Safin thought he had it then. He

:18:20. > :18:26.just needs one more for the bronze medal. Another one for Richard Kruse

:18:27. > :18:38.in close quarters. He has stayed cool. If he gets another one... He

:18:39. > :18:45.needs another two to draw level. Just one more and Safin will start

:18:46. > :18:51.to jitter. They do say in fencing the 50 hit is always the hardest.

:18:52. > :18:56.And Safin is changing weapons and the referee is going over to him and

:18:57. > :19:09.saying, you need to get on with this. Kruse is very experienced and

:19:10. > :19:14.he will not let this rattle him. Safin is dripping with perspiration.

:19:15. > :19:35.Still no emotion shown by the ration. -- Russian.

:19:36. > :19:43.Oh, exceptionally close for the ration! How Kruse got away from that

:19:44. > :19:53.I do not know, but he did. He is on another sortie and this time it was

:19:54. > :20:05.Safin who skipped away. And that is Kruse's attack for me. Richard Kruse

:20:06. > :20:10.is edging his way back into this. Nervy moments for both of them, but

:20:11. > :20:25.Kruse has got the momentum with him. He cannot make any mistakes. Timur

:20:26. > :20:29.Safin's front foot slips away. Richard Kruse does not want this

:20:30. > :20:37.break to come. Still plenty of fencing time. Remember Safin just

:20:38. > :20:42.needs one more hit. 15 is the target. That was off target. We are

:20:43. > :21:00.going into the last ten seconds. We are on guard where we were after

:21:01. > :21:10.the of target hit. They did not reset the time. But time has run

:21:11. > :21:15.out. We are into the second of the one-minute breaks. Amazingly Richard

:21:16. > :21:22.Kruse has fought his way back into this fight. He is still one point

:21:23. > :21:32.down. 15 is the target and it is 14-13. All he will be thinking about

:21:33. > :21:38.is the very next hit. Kruse has fought superbly to get back into

:21:39. > :21:45.this. Timur Safin got to the line and he started to jitter. He comes

:21:46. > :21:50.out on the attack early on. His coach is saying, you have to push

:21:51. > :21:58.and keep changing the lines. The final connection has got to be a

:21:59. > :22:05.beta compound attack. Richard Kruse will be told to stick to the game

:22:06. > :22:09.plan, you are it well. If you can hit with the counter riposte, you

:22:10. > :22:16.could get the first Olympic medal for Great Britain in an awfully long

:22:17. > :22:25.time in a fencing venue. 52 years and it all comes down to two

:22:26. > :22:34.possible hits for Richard Kruse. And he has got it! He gets the bronze

:22:35. > :22:38.medal. Richard Kruse completely disappointed with that. It was

:22:39. > :22:49.unbelievable in the end. He forced Safin back. Safin was getting

:22:50. > :22:54.jittery. In the end the ration gets the bronze medal. Richard Kruse is

:22:55. > :23:00.amazingly sporting in defeat. That was edge of the seat stuff. You have

:23:01. > :23:04.had some fantastic results today and that was nearly the perfect

:23:05. > :23:09.comeback, but not quite to be. How do you look back on it? I wanted a

:23:10. > :23:15.personal best. A medal would have been great. I was eighth in Athens,

:23:16. > :23:22.so it was around further. I got the measure of him, but it was too late.

:23:23. > :23:27.I was a bit outclassed in the semis. But it was a good day's fencing, it

:23:28. > :23:33.could have been worse. The draw was not that easy for me. You had to

:23:34. > :23:36.overcome guys who have won world medals and I am sure you will take

:23:37. > :23:43.confidence from this. The crowd was behind you. It was a good

:23:44. > :23:46.contingent, we put on a good show. There were a few controversial

:23:47. > :23:54.decisions and overturns, how did you feel about that? He overturned a few

:23:55. > :23:58.against me and they were very close. It was hard to call. If they had

:23:59. > :24:03.gone the other way, it might have been different, but that is a part

:24:04. > :24:07.of our game. Next up is the men's team event and with the success we

:24:08. > :24:12.have had over the last couple of years, there is every prospect of

:24:13. > :24:17.you getting on the podium. Yes, the team has a better chance of getting

:24:18. > :24:21.a medal and now all eyes on the team. What would that mean for you

:24:22. > :24:27.and the team because it has been a long time since GB was up on the

:24:28. > :24:34.podium. It has been about 60 years, yes, it would be massive.

:24:35. > :24:40.Richard Kruse was so philosophical having come that close to a bronze

:24:41. > :24:45.medal and just missing out, a bit like Hannah Miley in the swimming.

:24:46. > :24:48.You have to pick yourself up and just go on. Let's bring you

:24:49. > :24:57.up-to-date with some of the headlines. Jazz Carlin impressed in

:24:58. > :25:03.the 400 metres freestyle, qualifying second-fastest for tonight's final

:25:04. > :25:09.behind America's Katie Ledecky who set a new Olympic record to top the

:25:10. > :25:14.pile. Andy Murray began the defence of his Olympic men's singles title

:25:15. > :25:24.with a straight sets win over Serbia's Viktor Troicki. Catherine

:25:25. > :25:27.Skinner won the Olympic trap shooting title to leave Australia

:25:28. > :25:33.sitting pretty at the top of the medals table, three gold medals and

:25:34. > :25:38.counting. They started better than they did in London.

:25:39. > :25:47.Kosovo are making their Olympic debut and they wasted no time in

:25:48. > :25:56.getting on the medals table, winning the 52 kilograms gold.

:25:57. > :26:02.Anna van der Breggen claimed gold in an eventful cycling road race in

:26:03. > :26:06.which a team-mate, Annemiek van Vleuten, was involved in a horrific

:26:07. > :26:09.crash was leading the race. The Dutch cycling federation later

:26:10. > :26:16.tweeted that she was conscious and OK. The Olympic News service have

:26:17. > :26:20.since said that she is stable, she is breathing and able to

:26:21. > :26:25.communicate, but we have not got any confirmation of the extent of her

:26:26. > :26:30.injuries. And William Fox-Pitt will be the leader in the individual

:26:31. > :26:37.standings going into tomorrow's cross-country, the British team in

:26:38. > :26:43.fourth, Germany ahead of Australia and France. Shortly we are taking

:26:44. > :26:47.you across to the Diadora Stadium to look at the Rugby sevens. Clive

:26:48. > :26:52.Woodward is therefore as now and Britain are taking on Fiji in the

:26:53. > :27:03.quarterfinals. Who would be the strongest? In the Fiji game? Can you

:27:04. > :27:09.repeat the question? Sorry, I was asking who would be the stronger

:27:10. > :27:14.between GB and Fiji? With the men we would expect it to be Fiji. No, Team

:27:15. > :27:20.GB were fantastic this morning and blew away a very powerful Canadian

:27:21. > :27:24.team and Team GB have played very strong. Fiji have done very well and

:27:25. > :27:29.they have only been playing for a short period of time, but they are

:27:30. > :27:34.not in the same league as the men. It will be a tough game for Team GB,

:27:35. > :27:38.but we expect them to go through to the semifinal to play probably New

:27:39. > :27:44.Zealand. They were fantastic this morning against Canada. Canada are

:27:45. > :27:52.no marks and the physicality of the Team GB we did not see it on

:27:53. > :28:02.Thursday, but the physicality today was great. And do Australia look the

:28:03. > :28:04.strongest side in the women's? On day one I thought they were

:28:05. > :28:08.marginally stronger than New Zealand. But today they did not look

:28:09. > :28:20.like the same team. The United States really got stuck in. The USA

:28:21. > :28:24.played very well this morning and that will be a very big game, but

:28:25. > :28:31.New Zealand will be the team to beat. If all goes well and if team

:28:32. > :28:34.GB can put away Fiji, we should see Team GB play against New Zealand

:28:35. > :28:40.which would be wonderful for the sevens team. That would be a

:28:41. > :28:45.fabulous match. We will let you go to the commentary box to join Eddie

:28:46. > :28:50.Butler. We will bring you coverage of that very shortly over on BBC

:28:51. > :28:54.Two. But as far as BBC One is concerned, we will be back a bit

:28:55. > :29:00.later, but for now it is goodbye from Rio.