Day 6 BBC Two: 13.00-13.40 Olympics

Had afternoon. Wow! The main man has got a top view of this spectacular

city in our Rio morning today. The Winter School has passed and all is

calm. The weather is playing ball where we have had two days blown off

the schedule at the rowing, but we are going rowing at last. Good

afternoon to you. Everything is calm and everything is loosening off, the

pressure is lifting a bit down by the beach for very good reasons. For

the first four days here in Rio, Great Britain claimed six medals and

then in an extraordinary three-hour spell yesterday, they claimed six

more, sprinting up the medal table into ninth place, two of them gold.

You probably shared all that and we will be reflecting on some of those

momentous moment a little later on. There is the promise of much more

today. Fingers crossed. The appearance of golf in the Olympics

for the first time in over a century and with it two major British

winners, and of course a bumper day of rowing finals. Who knows, good

things may come to those who wait and wait and wait...

And maybe for Catherine the great Granger, a late addition to these

games, with her partner Vicky Thornley, renewed hope of defending

her skulls titles today. Another action in the men's double sculls,

Johnny Walker and Stephen Collins hoping to get onto the podium. The

awesome Kiwi duo unbeaten for seven years but all good runs come to an

end. The first medal will be won in the men's Quad sculls. They came

through the repechage to reach this final for Great Britain. After the

brilliant surprise gold for Joe Clarke, Richard Hounslow and David

Florence all fired up in the canoe double. This is our timing over the

next six hours or so, I'm sure there will be a few surprises to throw in

along the way but primarily rowing dominates our agenda, with those

finals to come. We've got the Quad sculls, the men's pair, and Granger

Thornley. -- and Grainger and Thornley. Some really special stuff

on this six day. We've got the six finals at long last in the rowing

and we've got the women's all-around, Simone Biles the

standout attraction in that from 8pm. Can Hounslow and Florence

upgrade their double two canoe gold? We've got the mens rea Bese Evans

starting at 6:30pm, Great Britain in action against South Africa at Devon

B. And there could be an all action showdown between two of the USA most

decorated swimmers, Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, in the men's

individual medley. It all gets under way in the velodrome as well, and we

are positively bursting with excitement here. Ours is a watery

focus for the first few hours, as you would expect, with rowing. If

you want to do stay on dry land you can certainly do that, if you want

to head off to watch the first golf in the living programme since 1908,

you can do that as well. An awful lot of focus on who's not in Rio,

but let's talk about those people who are the Michelle Wie?

COMMENTATOR: Surprise surprise, the golf will continue on BBC Fore!

Thank you, Peter. I've just received some news about the pairings,

Padraig Harrington and Matteo Manassero. This is bringing back

memories from earlier in the summer! Danny Willett and Matt Kuchar are

paired together, Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer, Sergio Garcia playing

alongside Martin -- Patrick Reed and Rickie Fowler has got Justin Rose

for company, that will be a good one to watch. Henrik Stenson, the Open

champion, playing alongside Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand. We

wish them well in an historic moment for golf at the Olympic Games. We

have lost two days did wind and rain in the rowing. It has frustrated the

living daylights out of us. Diamonds are forever but the spectre of gold

is a very, very precious thing. For your eyes only now I think we can

get down there to two men who really are licensed to thrill...

COMMENTATOR: We think this is the most brilliant setting for a James

Bond movie. Another day in sporting paradise.

Spectacular venue for rowing. This takes it to a new level, doesn't it?

Isn't that where the villain is going to live?

Well, Job alongside me enjoyed seeing that! Delighted to be here

with what is a fantastic morning for us here in prospect. -- Oddjob. It

has to be more serious. I have to call you Jaws because I could never

get a word in edgeways! Hazel was talking about Catherine date --

Katherine Grainger and in a sense it's her date with destiny today,

was it worth all the agonising whether to go back to rowing or take

the soft option and work in the media? Today is the day we will find

out if it was worthwhile. Absolutely, an Olympic final

justifies being back in the sport and giving it a great go. Huge

day-to-day with six finals and semifinals. There is a lot of

pressure on individuals, some of them didn't perform very well in

their heats and they are being asked a few questions. In case you're new

to rowing or you watch a lot and you think it's a pedestrian event and

someone gets out in front and they never get caught, just watch what

happened a few moments ago. Like in all sport, any kind of accident can

befall anybody at any moment. This is the Chinese women's double sculls

who literally just stopped in the middle of their semifinal. They

actually did manage to come through to finish in third place and they

were perhaps one of the favourites to win that race. No guarantees in

this sport, at any moment catastrophe can befall you. With

medals at stake today, a lot of you are watching rowing for the first

time in this Olympics and you may not have seen all the action here

and Lagoa, so here is James Cracknell's guide to the course.

This is Roderigo DeFreitas Lake, where the battle for the Olympic

medals will take place. Unlike the World Championships where it is

decided by the quality of the water, the Olympics have to balance the

demands of over 20 sports, so some compromises on venues will have to

be made. Is this the perfect rowing lake? No, but in terms of an iconic

venue, it is. The majority of Olympic regattas are effectively

held in a 2000 metre long swimming pool where the outside lanes are no

longer than ten metres away from the bank. Here it is far bigger which

creates the potential for the wind to have a much greater impact. The

way to offset those problems is to have a tree-lined course which

breaks up the win division and evenly, whereas this course is

surrounded by mountains which can produce turbulence and some are

unfair conditions. Which is OK unless it's windy, which is when the

problems can occur, because one lane could be faster than the other. With

margins of victory decided by hundreds of a second, the difference

between a good lane and a bad lane could be a gold medal or no medal.

The best way to combat that is make sure you win your heat, your

semifinal and then you will be in one of the best two lanes for the

final. This is the Olympic podium, where the medals will be presented,

in front of the grandstand. That is the big difference between here in

Rio and London four years ago, the size of the grandstands will stop

they are much smaller, so the crews will be not running into the same

wall of noise as they were four years ago. They will have to find

that extra bit of internal motivation. Once they cross the

finish line, the work is not done, because it is very close to the end

of the lake. Once they cross the finish line, they will have to slam

the anchors on! STUDIO

Well, that is the view that everybody has been talking about as

the iconic image of the Rio Olympics, perhaps. There are Will

Fletcher and Richard Chambers. This is our first live action here from

Rio on this Thursday morning. Our commentary team is James

Cracknell and Gary Herbert. COMMENTATOR: Eight years ago, Hunter

and Purchase won the gold medal in this event and eight years on it's

down to Will Fletcher and Richard Chambers Great Britain. The first

semifinal under way, Germany up there in lane number one, the United

States of America in two. France, the world champions, in lane number

three. Undefeated in the last year, world champions last year and

two-time winners at the World Cup this year. We have Ireland, the

Donovan Brothers, Gary and Paul, in lane number four. European champions

looking to add the Olympic gold medal to that title. What a season

they've had. -- the O'Donovan brothers. Here they are in lane two,

one of the favoured lanes. Will Fletcher and Richard Chambers

sitting in lane number five, a good start from them as they go through.

Richard to the right of your picture. Nice and competitive from

the British in the first 300 metres. China in lane number six. The

British have started well as you would expect, but the one criticism

of them, they have high speed but they made the race faster than it

needs to be in that first 500 metres, and sometimes in such a

competitive field that can cause a problem in the semifinal. But they

are in a perfect position with a strong Irish crew to their right and

the world champion French crew a lane further to their right. If they

can stick with the French, they will be in the semifinal. -- in the

final. No surprise with the French a quarter of a length up on the rest

of the world, now into the second 500 metres. They are just scurrying

along. This is a transition you wouldn't necessarily see what is

going on here but because it's so competitive, they will be off the

initial Sprint and still quite high. 38, now coming down to 37 strokes

per minute, the French, so into their race rhythm. The next 100 so

important here. Length and written, easy boat speed is at the halfway

mark, all of these boats will start to turn the screw and look to commit

to the second thousand and look to start to commit to fight for a place

in an limbic final. What the crews need to do now is almost focus on...

The Irish are coming through them and the Irish are not perform crew

but they are a sing well. The Brits need to focus on the Americans or

the Irish and hold them off and just race one other crew to reach the

final. They need to pick their opposition and don't let them come

through. If they start inching then very soon those inches turn to feed

and feet 20 yards and you're in a bit of trouble. The United States of

America into second place at the halfway mark, from Ireland, out in

front as they did through the 500 metre mark, they continue to lead at

the halfway mark. The French pair, 22 and 27 years of age, both World

Cup regattas this year. Undisputed champions last year. They went

through the season winning everything and they are the class

crew in this event. Great Britain's Will Fletcher and Richard Chambers,

they are in fourth at the halfway mark. They were second behind France

after 500 metres. When they went through the halfway mark in about

three minutes 20 seconds, the world record is ticks .0 five.

Talk us through the first 500 metres, James. If you are in fourth

place, what have the British crew got to do here Fletch and chambers?

They have to start going for it. You've got to make the third five

like you... I would say from 800 metres to go is when they start

building for home otherwise they will find themselves with too much

to do, they're not out of it at all but they almost need to start back

on loading their race now, race to 1800 metres because if you can kill

people off early, you can get them. You don't want to leave it too late

if the final is in reach. We approached the last quarter of this

semifinal. They continue to lead and the United States of America are

inching back on France. The USA, France lead by half a length and

there is a massive battle here between Will Fletcher and Richard

Chambers of Great Britain and the O'Donovan brothers of Ireland for

that final qualification spot. One of the crews in the mix here will go

home very unhappy. This is where the first 100 may pay

for the British. That lactic acid build-up will be hurting the British

boys now. They are only two or three feet down on the Irish. They have to

focus on the Irish and it is now or never for them. They have to go for

it now. Everything that Great Britain's Fletcher and Chambers have

one before is irrelevant. They have to put everything into the closing

150 metres which we are well and truly in here. France are leading.

The USA in lane number two coming under considerable pressure from the

O Donovan brothers from Ireland. The last few crucial strokes in this

first semifinal and the O Donovan brothers now have just rode away.

They have got away from Great Britain. They do so by Clearwater

over Fletcher 's and Chambers. The United States of America coming

into second place and the O Donovan brothers, Gary and Paul from

Ireland, what a year they are having. What that does show is the

crucial part of pacing your race right. I think the Brits went out

too hard. The lactic build-up was too much for them. Yes, they put

themselves in a good position but they didn't have anywhere to go. The

Irish had that sprint finish and that is what got them across. Great

Britain's Fletcher and Chambers, that hearts have been destroyed by

the O Donovan brothers. That is how close it is. That was the distance

that their dreams were destroyed. They go to the B final.

That is our first disappointing performance, would you go along with

James and say you agreed with their tactics. I interviewed Richard. They

did not get into a rhythm. They looked to be in control of their

pace but they're cruising pace was not good enough. You could see they

were putting so much more effort in them the boats around them and their

boat not moving fast enough for it. James was very much spot on. We

should say congratulations to the O'Donovan brothers from Ireland. The

press room is full of our colleagues from our TE so they will be hugely

encouraged by that. Sadly the British duo do not go into the

final. We have been racing here for an hour or so already today. The

first race out for Helen Glover and Heather Stanning in the winning's

pair. They have been unbeaten in four years and years and years but

in their race three days ago, they only beat the Danes by the narrowest

of margins, so today would be a real test to see how they could pick up

on that. Romania have gone through the

halfway mark five seconds off of the USA.

Very impressive, James? Yes, they obviously thought long and hard

about what they did well and what they did not do well in the heat.

They did not drop their shopping, they came back. They did not

crumble. I think a more powerful controlled rhythm, that is what they

are doing now. I think in their heat they were higher than the Danes

going at the same speed, here they are raising the same as the

Americans. Their boat is moving probably a good length further than

the Americans and the South Africans. Helen Glover was 48 races

unbeaten and Heather Stanning was 37. It was a narrow margin in their

heat. A couple of calls from Helen Glover in the bow seat. They are not

having to dig deep like they did in their heat but they are still going

to be putting down some power. The USA coming back through from South

Africa. We are now at the three quarters mark in this semifinal.

1500 metres, the pictures say it all.

What they are doing now, they will not race it home. There are two

things. They will make sure the American and Kiwi coach sees them

not looking tired but they will send a message out to this crew, they

will keep the intensity right on it. They can nail the gold medal over

the Americans today by distancing them in the semi. They can

re-establish the Americans' ambition for second place. We are seeing

here, albeit a semifinal, we are seeing the Olympic champions coming

down. The Americans where the standout crew in the heats. The

Kiwis won their heat. They have more races this week than the opposition.

What the Brits need to do now is extinguish any belief that the

Americans have that they can beat them for gold and I think they have

done that incredibly. Right from the first stroke they went off like

scalded cats. 100 metres now, it is Great Britain over the United States

of America. 75 out now. The Americans continue to push hard on

the line but they will not catch Great Britain who are now squeezing

it out. The boat is just running up to the line here. Great Britain from

the United States of America, from South Africa. Those three boats

through to the final. Now that Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, they

are one race away, one big race from the defending their 2012 medal. For

Team GB it is all looking pretty good.

A resounding and emphatic performance. Maybe a few seeds of

doubt were sown in their minds after a couple of days ago but they will

have vanished today and they are in good shape going forward to their

final on Friday afternoon. Let's have a look at another of our main

gold medal hopes which is the men's four. These names are hoping to

carve their name into the record books like Vincent, Cracknell,

Foster and so many of our other winners. Mohamed Sbihi is a real

powerhouse, he is the most extraordinary athlete.

The feeling on the water is unparalleled with anything I have

ever done. When you look at the boat race and our team, you build a bond

for life. My first rowing stroke, I was 15. It was hard. I kept falling

in. There were many moments when I wanted to quit because I hated the

sport. How are you? Not so bad, and yourself?

On that first day, you got me in the River... Within 45 seconds! Lets go

and look at the gym. It has not changed much. It has still got that

rocky four feeling to it, nice and cold. A back to basics style of

training. It was not common in my school for people to row. The common

sports were football, basketball and tennis. I thought there could be a

prejudice, there were these stigmas that you could row and be public

school. It is not true. The first moment when the penny dropped was in

2003. I won my age division and it was something that made me think, I

can do this. I was born being a Muslim and it has also been my

personal choice growing up to carry on with that faith.

There has been no produce against me about being a Muslim. It has been

very accommodating as they sport to allow me to fast, and I like the

fact that I am an ambassador for the religion. I don't like the fact that

I am one of the first, but hopefully, that is for the next

generation. One of the great sites for the

Olympic Games is the final of the men's eights. In the lead up to 2012

we had two medals in the World Championships so you go in with high

expectations that you will win a gold medal. They slip back to

bronze. It was gut-wrenching. There is not one picture of us smiling.

Looking back at 2012, it was a big learning curve and I'm fortunate

that I have got another Olympics to write my wrong is, as such.

He is a very imposing figure, Moe Sbihi. Let's have a chat with James

Cracknell. When he walks into a room, there is almost a shadow cast

across it because he is such a huge figure and that power is such a

driving force in that four? Sorry, John, I was just finishing off the

commentary. I could hear you talking about mauve. Every boat needs a

massive engine and we were lucky to have one with Matthew Pinsent.

Everyone can get the best out of themselves and if you have one in

the middle of the boat you want to get the best out of him. If there is

one worry, if it is flat conditions, no problem, but I think this British

crew rose better than any British group so far throughout the Olympic

medals we have got so far and I am sure they will secure the fifth. We

have the two semifinals coming up in a minute. We will see the race that

Great Britain are not involved in first. A lot of people tend to come

to the rowing at the Olympic Games when the medals are up for grabs and

that is what is happening today but for the four it is a semifinal. For

the men's for, what are the distinct and preferential roles each person

have to play? If you start from the bow which is the first person across

the line, in a boat without a Cox, you are the only crew member who can

see the other three, see you like the coach in the boat. The others

have to trust that you are telling the truth and not doing things

badly. The two man, that is the powerhouse, two and three, not only

in charge of sending down the big strokes but also transferring the

rhythm from the straight man, and the three man has two mirror the

straight man exactly. They have to have a cool head and a consistent

rhythm whether it is paddling, sprinting or the steady state, the

majority of your training. You need to maintain the same pattern of

rowing whether it is paddling or racing flat out. That is what

Louloudis does. Then you have the guys in the middle, Moe and George

Nash who are putting the power down. They have all the elements of a

fantastic crew. If they can blend it together we should have something

special today and tomorrow. Yes, it is a semi, but you can win the final

by winning the semi. They have got to do that here. That is the second

semifinal coming up in a few moments time, not surprisingly, after the

first. You can see the solitary Russian boat taking part at this

regatta. What can we expect from them, Garry?

It is a combination of cruise which came through the qualification

spots. They are in lane one which should not deter the USA,

particularly. They are coming under starter 's orders.

Into an increasing crosshead breeze. The first semifinal of the men's

heavyweight coxless four. The crews to watch are the Italians and

Australians. Australia, the world's silver

medallist last year. The Italians take it on high, they settle high,

they come in high and they just hope in between that they have a bit of

speed! They entertain the crowd and they will do that from lane four.

Leading the Italians down lane number four, Giuseppe Vicino. All

these crews are now focusing on winning the semifinal and as you can

see the water just coming up here, it's all about winning and just

getting through, James. Well, it's about getting through, yes, but for

the Australians it's not about winning but sending another message

to the British that they have been in a couple of tussles with this

year and come on the wrong side of them that they are actually going to

challenge them and start making sure that the other crews don't challenge

them silver and gold, they stick to the bronze medal. The Italians,

though, these aren't the right conditions for them to use their

flat out and keep going flat out tactics. The Americans, it's their

top flagship boat, the men's eights, going -- not going to set the world

on fire, and if an American team will get a medal it will be in the

men's four. Before Great Britain came along and dominated this event

at the Linda games since Sydney 2000 it was Australia in 92 and 96. This

is the top Australian boat, stroked now by Alex hill going through our

picture and leading out the rest of the field being pushed hard by the

United States. The Italians, the world champions, they are in amongst

it all and they make life so hard for themselves, they've been dropped

in this first thousand here and they've been dropped big style by

the Australians in lane number three. Look at the conditions here

but by just shy of one length it is Australia over the United States of

America and the world champions have clawed their way back into third

place. They've clawed their way back but there is still clear water to

the Australians. John asked me before the race what makes a good

four and the power of Mo Sbihi but no Australian is more powerful than

any of the British in our four. That's how much armoury the British

have and it's about transferring it across. It was a length up after 500

gun, a length up after a thousand. Australia, hill, booth, Dunc Lee

Smith and Lockwood leading the first semifinal of this first men's

heavyweight coxless four. Now long and loose and lengthening out into

the hundred metres. Gone are the days when the United States used to

focus on and win the men's eight, here they are in the four, back off

the Australians. The Australians smooth and look at that, and easy

rhythm. The boat is gliding over the top. The fight is on for the third

qualification spot right now as we go through 12.50. It is South Africa

closest in that last shot, to Italy, and the world champions are in third

but it's not looking great for the Italians, because they will be

pushed hard to the line. Look at the line there across the buouys. South

Africa taking it on and coming through the South Africans and

oblivious to all of that is Australia out in front, they've got

their own troubles and looking to the United States in lane two. There

is the Americans, pushing on hard. They are thinking about improving on

every aspect of their rowing, the Australians. The Americans are

racing well but they are scrapping for a bronze medal. As I said at the

start, not the perfect conditions for the Italians. This race being

ten or 20 seconds longer than normal, they can't use their sprint

flat out and keep going because the track is too long for them. The

South Africans sneaking up on the outside, they will race very well

and if they can put the Australians -- the Italians out that would be a

massive feather in their cap. They're all about 38 strokes per

minute. The one standout as it always is in the closing stages,

it's Italy, and the Italians are up at 43 strokes per minute! They are

taking a clear five strokes per minute more than everyone around

them here and they are now coming back and seeing some dividends from

that because the United States are going left as we look at that. You

don't want to go there, you want to go right and fast. Here come the

Italians, pushing on against South Africa, upfront by clear daylight is

the Australian group looking to qualify in this first semifinal here

at as we look back at the crews, the Americans at the top of your

picture, their race is over. How brave the Italians are, going at 45

strokes per minute, they've been doing that for the last 30 seconds

and this is a brave painful way to race. The Americans put their top

four blokes in the coxless fours. Very impressive from the Australian

pairing here and South Africa in the second thousand came through strong

and they are through in second place and the world champions is

absolutely give the crowd a delightful performance. They were

languishing at the field in the first 500 metres and they had to

whip it along in the middle thousands and they had us all on the

back row seat for the last five. Led by Giuseppe Vicino, the world

champions will entertain us again come the Olympic final, they qualify

in third place, but that's what it's taken out of them, James. It has

taken out of them and I thought they were cooked with 80 minutes to go

because the race was longer than they are normally used to. -- with a

few minutes to go. But they practice, they train like that and

they hold their hands on the flame. They obviously like lactic acid!

They seem to feed off it in ways that other crews don't. The

Australians have set themselves up well for a battle with the British,

who I'm assuming we'll win the second semifinal. Rowing in eight is

different to rowing in four, it is powerful, flat-out, dynamic. Some

are good at eights and don't transfer it well to a four. I say

put your best for blokes in the boat you learned to row in. -- your best

four blokes some point we're just waiting for the final confirmation

of the results. The first semifinal of the men's heavyweight four,

Australia, South Africa and Italy, and more remarkable for South Africa

they were 13th at the World Championships last year and what a

difference 12 months makes, they are now in the Olympic final. Their time

there was 6.11. Six minutes and 11 seconds and a world record is 5.30

seven. Eight 30 second longer race than ideal. That is where I thought

they might struggle, where they found the extra energy for the last

30 seconds, I don't know. If the conditions are fast in the final,

they will do well. Great Britain coming down in the second semifinal

here and the crowds here quite early hoping for good racing and they are

starting to see that now. There is the starting line-up. For the men's

second semifinal. France, Canada, Gregory, Sbihi. We await with such

anticipation. Good afternoon to BBC One viewers,

we are watching events in the rowing, Great Britain in the second

semifinal of the men's four lining up as they attempt to win a fifth

gold medal in a row in this event. For those of you watching this on

BBC Two, we would now ask you to switch over for

20,000 square miles of rugged coastline,