Sport news in brief
Sprint silver makes Kenny Britain’s greatest Olympian
Jason Kenny has become Great Britain’s greatest Olympian after claiming silver in the men’s team sprint at Tokyo Olympics 2020 for his eighth total medal at the Games. Kenny draws level with Sir Bradley Wiggins, but goes top due to possessing one extra gold medal (six) compared to his former teammate. The 33-yearold, who also has one bronze, breaks a tie with another legend of
British cycling in Sir Chris Hoy, who has six gold medals from his total of seven. Team GB, with Ryan Owens and Jack Carlin alongside Kenny in pursuit of a fourth successive title in the event, were the underdogs against Netherlands in the final. And the race went to form with the Dutch able to set a new Olympic record in 41.369 seconds, ahead of 44.589 for Great Britain. Earlier on, Kenny’s wife Laura Kenny won her fifth Olympic medal in the women’s team pursuit, settling for silver after Germany broke the world record in 4min 04sec.
Kenny, who has two more chances in Tokyo to go clear of Wiggins outright, said: “It was really good, I think we poured our hearts into the second ride to get into the final, we knew we had some ground to make up. I had nothing in the final, I was rubbish, but we tried so hard to get there. It’s really special, every time you come back, it gets harder; you do your first Olympics and you get some momentum, but to repeat it and do it over and over again...”
Laugher wins bronze – and redemption – in 3m springboard
Harrogate diver Jack Laugher came through the “worst two years of my life” to claim a hard-won bronze in the 3m springboard at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre yesterday, to not only complete his Olympic medal set but also banish the demons that had plagued him since 2019. “I know it’s not a gold medal, it’s not as good as it was in Rio,” he said afterwards. “But for me, this bronze medal means 100 times more than any medal I’ve ever got.”
Laugher’s house of cards came tumbling down at the 2019 world championships, where he was leading and on course for a world record before tanking his final dive – the back 3½ somersaults in tuck that had always been the jewel in his crown. It left him mentally broken and set off a chain of events that threatened to end his diving career before the age of 26. “I had no confidence in myself, my anxiety was through the roof,” he said. “I was
physically scared to do the dive. I wanted to quit this year, quite a few times. It has been awful. I’ve hated it.” His girlfriend – fellow diver Lois Toulson – talked him out of quitting while his support team of coaches, psychologists, friends and family worked together to try and restore his confidence. Results, but more importantly his confidence, started to improve, and once he arrived at Tokyo 2020, he safely navigated the preliminary round and the semi-finals to reach another Olympic 3m springboard final. There, Laugher executed all six dives well – his total of 518.00 not enough to overhaul either gold medal-winner Zie Siyi or Wang Zongyuan in silver but well clear of Woo Haram in fourth place, with no calamities and the only missing colour of Olympic medal added to his collection.
Williams and Adams among six Lions changes for decider
The British and Irish Lions have reacted to their second Test defeat to South Africa by making six changes, including a revamped back three featuring Liam Williams and Josh Adams. Stuart Hogg and Anthony Watson have made way for the Welsh duo whose aerial expertise will be essential to hopes of winning Saturday’s series decider at Cape Town Stadium, but in a surprise move, Duhan Van Der Merwe keeps his place.
Dan Biggar continues at fly-half but he is rejoined at half-back by Ali Price in a repeat of the partnership that started the first Test. Conor Murray drops to the bench. Chris Harris is jettisoned at outside centre to make way for Bundee Aki’s promotion into the starting XV with Robbie Henshaw sliding to 13. Warren Gatland has performed major surgery to his front row in expectation of a renewed set-piece assault from South Africa by bringing in prop Wyn Jones, who has recovered from a shoulder issue, and hooker Ken Owens.
The second and back rows remain unchanged, meaning Alun Wyn Jones continues as captain to make his 12th consecutive Test appearance for the Lions. Gatland has also made three adjustments to the bench, where England captain Owen Farrell
loses out to Finn Russell, who has recovered from an Achilles injury, while Adam Beard and Sam Simmonds are included for the first time in the series. Kyle Sinckler is named among the replacements pending the outcome of Tuesday’s disciplinary hearing brought for biting in the 27-9 defeat.
Anderson ready for India Tests despite ‘not ideal’ preparation
James Anderson is raring to lead England’s Test attack against India but admits his preparations for the marquee series have been compromised by an emphasis on white-ball cricket. Anderson and new-ball partner Stuart Broad will carry a sizeable burden of expectation when they come face to face with Virat Kohli and company at Trent Bridge today, but the pair have been short of meaningful competition recently.
With the launch of The Hundred taking centre stage over the past couple of weeks, and counties contesting the Vitality Blast and Royal London Cup, both of England’s champion seamers have been more active in the commentary box than the field of play. Since the disappointment of a series defeat by New Zealand, Anderson has delivered just 22 overs for Lancashire while Broad has sent down only 19.1 overs for Nottinghamshire. Both have been broadcasting rather than participating in the new 100-ball tournament, leaving them catching up on net sessions where possible.
“It’s not ideal. It’s not been the normal preparation. But that’s just the nature of this summer, unfortunately. There’s not been much red-ball cricket at this time of year,” Anderson said. “We’ve had to manage the best we can and I got a couple of games in with Lancashire – well, one that didn’t rain – and the rest of the time I’ve been trying to bowl in and around other cricket that’s been going on. But we’ve had a couple of days here where the intensity has just gone up a notch. It feels like everyone is really excited and hungry for the challenge of Test cricket coming back and the last couple of days have really shown that in the intensity of practice.”
Want your views to be included in The Independent Daily Edition letters page? Email us by tapping here letters@independent.co.uk. Please include your address
BACK TO TOP