Then, there’s the 10km run in the heat and humidity of Tokyo summer, an added challenge even with the extra measures in place to keep the athletes as cool as possible, for as long as possible. The 40km bike is fast, flat and technical, between skyscrapers and along the water’s edge, the eight laps including a long, fast, purpose-built ramp into transition. The 1.5km swim comprises two laps but, at 950m, the first is considerably longer and the water could be nudging 30C. The course and conditions that they will face are far from typical. Yes, there will be a first-time Olympic Champion this year but only at the end of a race with just one certainty: whoever comes out on top couldn’t be more deserving of the biggest prize in sport. The talent is deep, the podium potential vast, the absence of a past Olympic Champion notable. Their first came five years ago when rugby made its debut in Rio and they won the same title.Ī nation of less than a million people and considerably fewer resources than most of their rivals, Fiji's offloading and pace proved too potent for New Zealand as they ran in four tries.īristol's Semi Radradra, one of the best-paid players in the 15-a-side format, was an unused replacement as his less high-profile team-mates completed their title defence without him.Take a look across the men’s start list for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Triathlon and it is impossible not to get excited by what lies ahead once the athletes have dived into Odaiba Bay after the horn sounds at 6.30am local time on 26 July. Listen to the latest Olympics Daily podcastįiji beat New Zealand 27-12 to win only the second gold in their country's Olympic history.Ollie Lindsay-Hague scored after the interval for Great Britain, however Mendy's electric burst outside Alex Davis proved decisive. Great Britain, beaten 29-7 by New Zealand in their semi-final earlier in the day, had led inside 30 seconds of their final game as Ben Harris went over.īut Lautaro Bazan Velez broke blind to level before 21-year-old Marcos Moneta, the star of his side's extraordinary six-man win over South Africa in the last eight, stepped Dan Norton to cross. Times and channels for BBC's live coverage.
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Their training has also been disrupted by a series of lockdowns that some of their international rivals, New Zealand in particular, were less affected by.Īs an emotional Mitchell watched from the stands, the future of the sevens programme, supported since December by a short-term commercial partnership between the National Lottery and the English, Scottish and Welsh unions, looked no more certain. Great Britain's preparations were thrown into chaos when they were told to find other jobs last summer. I would trade all the medals in the world for the friendships that I have here." But we don't care about that really - we know what went on, we know how hard we worked to just get the team together. "It'd be lovely to have something tangible to show everyone and say this is what all that graft and hard work was about. "To be here in the first place is a bit of a miracle from where we were 12 months ago to now," added Bibby. Great Britain could not match their podium finish from Rio 2016 after a tough build-up to Tokyo The Rio 2016 silver medallists, who were without injured team captain Tom Mitchell, were denied a spot on the podium as Ignacio Mendy ran in a decisive late try in the third-place play-off. Rugby sevens is on the Commonwealth Games programme for Birmingham 2022, where the teams will compete separately instead of as Great Britain. The English, Welsh and Scottish unions all said in December that they were reviewing their sevens set-up for after the Olympics. But not all this wishy-washy absolute nonsense. "If they are not going to fund it, be grown-up about it, come out and say it. "You are asking us to play against a team like New Zealand with eight boys on not much more than minimum wage. Eight contracts is ridiculous," said Bibby. The team's central contracts ended in August as the Rugby Football Union cut costs amid a Covid funding squeeze.
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