Caught in the Mo-ment of glory! BBC commentators scream and jump with excitement as athletics ace Mo Farah crosses the finish line

By Daily Mail Reporter


Suspense: The BBC commentators on the edge of their seats as Mo Farah takes part in the 10,000m race

This is the moment BBC commentators went wild with excitement as athlete Mo Farah crossed the 10,000m finish line winning another gold for Great Britain.

The behind the scenes footage shows pundits Colin Jackson, Denise Lewis and Michael Johnson literally screaming and jumping for joy as Farah powered home to win the sixth gold medal of the day.

Lewis nearly broke her chair while Jackson held his head in his hands in disbelief at the day's achievements dubbed the greatest night in the history of British athletics.

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Joy: The commentators cannot stay in their seats as Farah races home to victory

Gold! Denise Lewis jumps for joy while Jackson and Johnson cheer Farah's golden win

It was the first time a British man has won in the Olympic 10,000m race.

The euphoria captured the mood of the stadium as the crowd roared home the long-distance runner to victory.

Farah, 29, collapsed to the floor after crossing the line and described the gold-winning race as 'the best moment of my life'.

The Somali-born athlete, who attended Feltham Community College and Isleworth and Syon School in London, then danced for joy around the track before greeting his heavily pregnant wife and daughter who joined him trackside after the dramatic win.

It capped off a fantastic evening for Team GB which won three gold medals in a row in the athletics.

Proud moment: Great Britain's Mo Farah crosses the finish line winning the 10,000m final

Jessica Ennis, the poster girl of British athletics, destroyed the field in the 800m to become Olympic heptathlon champion.

Denise Lewis, a former gold medal heptathlete herself, told the BBC: 'It's hard to find the words. We've witnessed greatness. She has been outstanding, she has been remarkable. She's by far one of the most popular athletes we've seen in a very long time.'

Long jumper Greg Rutherford claimed gold minutes later before Mo Farah powered to 10,000m glory late on.

Earlier, Team GB won two rowing golds and yet another in the velodrome as the women in the team pursuit claimed victory with another world record.


Leaping to glory: Long jumper Greg Rutherford claimed Olympic gold with an effort of 8.31m


Golden girl: Jessica Ennis triumphed in the heptathlon by storming to victory in the 800m


Golden streak: Team GB's triumphant women's team pursuit riders Dani King, left, Joanna Rowsell, centre, and Laura Trott celebrate after their world record victory


Delight: Beating Australia, Andrew Triggs Hodge, Pete Reed, Tom James and Alex Gregory led from the start to extend Britain's dominance over the Olympic event to 16 years

Double win: Just minutes later Kat Copeland and Sophie Hosking hugged each other and stood up, almost in disbelief, as they claimed gold in the lightweight event

More than 17million people tuned in to watch Mo Farah win the 10,000m - the biggest audience for the Games so far.

Overnight ratings showed 16.3million viewers watched Jessica Ennis race to victory in the 800m.

While 15.6million viewers watched Greg Rutherford's long jump gold.

Tonight is likely to be another ratings winner with coverage of the men's 100m final on BBC1 from 9.45pm.




source:dailymail

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Super Saturday continues: Team GB scoop SIX golds as rowers power to double glory before female cyclists, golden girl Ennis, long jumper Rutherford an

By Jill Reilly and Chris Parsons


Gold run: Mo Farah powered ahead of the field in the closing stages of the 10,000m to claim Britain's sixth gold of an extraordinary day

Great Britain's Super Saturday became a golden weekend as Team GB triumphed in six separate events at London 2012.

The gold rush on Britain's best Olympic day in a century started with the men's coxless four team and women's lightweight double sculls, who topped the podium in front of an ecstatic Eton Dorney crowd early in the day.

Their double gold became a triple triumph when the women's team pursuit cyclists stormed to victory in the Velodrome at world record pace, before GB's athletics stars capped a remarkable day in the Olympic Stadium.

Jessica Ennis, the poster girl of British athletics, destroyed the field in the 800m to become Olympic heptathlon champion, long jumper Greg Rutherford claimed gold minutes later before Mo Farah powered to 10,000m glory late on.

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Leaping to glory: Long jumper Greg Rutherford claimed Olympic gold with an effort of 8.31m


Golden girl: Jessica Ennis triumphed in the heptathlon by storming to victory in the 800m


Golden streak: Team GB's triumphant women's team pursuit riders Dani King, left, Joanna Rowsell, centre, and Laura Trott celebrate after their world record victory


Delight: Beating Australia, Andrew Triggs Hodge, Pete Reed, Tom James and Alex Gregory led from the start to extend Britain's dominance over the Olympic event to 16 years

Double win: Just minutes later Kat Copeland and Sophie Hosking hugged each other and stood up, almost in disbelief, as they claimed gold in the lightweight event

Earlier Team GB won two rowing golds and yet another in the velodrome as the women in the team pursuit claimed victory with another world record.

When Ennis's moment of triumph came the audience were ecstatic and she sat on the track and wept. She then broke into a huge smile, acknowledged the adoring crowd and wrapped herself in a huge Union flag marked 'Olympic Champion'.

Interviewed by the BBC, she burst into tears and said: 'I am so shocked, I can't believe it. I am so happy.'

Farah hugged his stepdaughter Rhianna and wife, Tania, who is pregnant with twins, as he draped himself in the Union flag.


Here come the girls: The gold medal won by the women's team pursuit riders was Team GB's 11th of a successful Games for the home nation

Emotional moment: Katherine Copeland (left) and Sophie Hosking stand on the podium after winning the gold medal

Talking to the BBC he said: 'This is the best moment of my life.'

The Somali-born athlete, who attended Feltham Community College and Isleworth and Syon School in London, danced for joy around the track.

Rutherford, from Milton Keynes, said: 'That is the most amazing feeling in the world.'

Away from the Stadium a sensational world record-breaking performance by women cyclists in the team pursuit, in the frenzied atmosphere of the velodrome, led to another gold.

Great Britain's female cyclists had fulfilled their lifelong dream by claiming a stunning team pursuit gold in a blistering world record.

Britain have now won four of the five gold medals on offer after three days of track cycling, with five events to come, after Joanna Rowsell, Dani King and Laura Trott clocked three minutes 14.051 seconds to triumph with a sixth consecutive world record in the three-woman, 3km event.


Flying the flag: Trott (front) and King cannot hide their jubilation after their world record win

Leading from the front: King, Trott and Rowsell dominated their gold medal race from start to finish, leaving their opponents in their wake in world record time

The wins propelled the British team into third position in the medal table with 29 - 14 gold, seven silver and eight bronze. And with strong gold medal contenders Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah to compete later tonight, Britain's could make it an unprecedented five golds in one day.

Over at Eton Dorney, the British national anthem was belted out for the third day in four as Team GB dominated the water once again.

Great Britain made history with two more gold medals and a silver on the final day of competition to confirm their status as the world's leading rowing nation.

With four golds - and an incredible nine medals in total from an unprecedented 13 finalists - London 2012 was Great Britain's most successful Olympic regatta ever.

The men's coxless four crew led from start to finish to cross in 6 minutes, 3.97 seconds. Australia was a half-length behind in second and the United States took the bronze.

Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase won silver, but lost their Olympic title in the men's lightweight double sculls to Denmark and were still inconsolable hours after a race of high drama.


Victory: Great Britain celebrate after winning the gold medal in the men's four final A of the rowing event at Eton Dorney Rowing Centre in Eton


Team GB celebrate their win as the crowd look on cheering.For the third day out of four the sound of the British national anthem then echoed across the lake as British rowing fans belted out the anthem in support of their rowers.

Great Britain's Andrew Triggs Hodge, centre raises his hands in celebration and then men embraced when they returned to land

In the Velodrome, Britain's newest cycling heroines paid tribute to the support team which keeps them ahead of the game as they won gold in a thunderous atmosphere in the velodrome.

Speaking after the success in the women's team pursuit - which not only saw the trio win gold but also set their third world record of the day - Joanna Rowsell said Team GB's preparation gave them an advantage over other nations.

She said that everybody from support staff to mechanics played their part: 'Other nations have really raised their game so it's great that we are leading the way.

'You never want to be complacent but we had had a great day and I felt we had more to give coming into the final race.

'The atmosphere was tremendous and the crowd helped drive us on.'

The trio completed a remarkable achievement as they set a third record of the day to take gold in the 3km competition.

They beat a strong US team in the final with a time of three minutes, 14 seconds. Canada took bronze.

Although Saturday was largely a day of celebration for Team GB, Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter's silver medal was tinged with disappointment as they were narrowly pipped to gold.

The seat broke on Purchase and Hunter's boat less than a hundred yards into their race, causing calamity for the British pair as the contest had to be restarted.


Triumphant: Great Britain take a bow in front of the crowd before receiving their gold medals

Winning team: The men smiled widely during the medal ceremony for the Men's Four Final on Day 8 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Eton Dorney

It looked like the duo were remarkably going to hang on for gold only to be pipped in the final few yards by Denmark.

Britain, the reigning world champion, maintained its dominance of the discipline that stretches back more than two decades to the days of rowing greats Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent.

The gold was Britain's seventh medal of the regatta - and third gold - to surpass its total from Beijing four years ago, making it the country's biggest rowing haul in the modern era.

Their victory also denied Australia's Drew Ginn a fourth gold in four Olympic Games - a feat that would have been a first for an Australian.

Triggs Hodge, the British stroke, repeatedly punched the air after sealing victory and the four crew members got in a huddle on the jetty after climbing out of the boat.

The Australians and the British then embraced, a friendly ending to months of mind games and trash talk by the rival crews.

Ginn said Australia would turn the final into a 'drag race,' going out hard from the start, but it was Britain which took the early lead by 0.3 seconds after 500 meters.

The cushion was 0.6 seconds at the 1,000 and 1,500-meter markers and Britain held on comfortably as they were roared home by the crowd, winning by 1.22 seconds.

The coxless four crew was also cheered on by Lieutenant Reed's fellow sailors and Royal Marines who are embarked on HMS Bulwark providing Games security in Weymouth.

Reed said: 'The hours we do, the pain - it was all worth it in the end.'

A bewildered Copeland said: 'I can't believe this is real - that we just won the Olympics.'

A little help from my friends: The cyclists were cheered on by Paul McCartney, following his appearance at the Opening Ceremony last Friday

THE PATHWAY TO GOLD: ANDREW TRIGGS HODGE, PETE REED, TOM JAMES, ALEX GREGORY

1979: Andrew Triggs Hodge born on March 9 in Aylesbury. Will go on to start rowing at Staffordshire University.

1981: Pete Reed born July 1981 in Seattle, United States. A Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, Reed will later take up rowing at the University of the West of England.

1984: Alex Gregory and Tom James both born on March 11. James will learn to row at Evesham while Gregory will take up the sport through the GB Rowing Start scheme.

2003: James makes his Great Britain debut in the eight, stroking the boat to bronze at the World Championships.

2005: Hodge and Reed win the Boat Race with Oxford and are part of the British four that wins gold at the World Championships.

2006: Hodge and Reed are part of the men's four that wins gold at the World Championships at Eton Dorney.

2007: James competes in his fourth Boat Race for Cambridge, tasting victory for the first time.

2008: Hodge, Reed and James beat Australia to win Olympic gold with a stunning late charge for the line.

2009: Hodge and Reed move into the pair and win silver at the World Championships. Gregory switches to sweep rowing and wins gold in the men's four.

2010: Hodge and Reed win silver at the World Championships, finishing just three tenths of a second behind New Zealand. Gregory is in the men's four crew that finishes a disappointing fourth.

2011: James returns to the GB squad and joins Gregory in the men's four that wins gold at the World Championships. Hodge and Reed again have to settle for silver behind the Kiwis.

2012: May - Hodge and Reed move back into the four alongside Gregory and James, winning World Cup gold at Belgrade and Lucerne.

June - The British four are beaten twice by Australia in the final World Cup regatta in Munich, taking silver.

August 4 - Britain win gold at the Olympic Games.





source:dailymail

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Redemption: Just one day after the heartbreak Victoria Pendleton powers back in triumph claiming the medal she's dreamed of for four years

•Dismay at team sprint disqualification all forgotten as she grabs keirin gold
•Pendleton is cheered on by 6,000 fans as she drapes the Union Flag around herself on victory lap
•Tears of previous disappointment are swapped for tears of exhilaration
•Individual sprint next week offers chance of another gold

By David Williams, Katherine Faulkner and Louise Eccles


Just 24 hours earlier, she was left sobbing when a basic error shattered her hopes of gold.

But an emotional Victoria Pendleton found redemption in the Velodrome last night, claiming the Olympic medal she had dreamt of for four years.

After the heartbreak of her effective disqualification on Thursday, one of the poster girls of London 2012 powered to a thrilling win in the keirin, to the delight of 6,000 frenzied home supporters.


She's done it! Victoria Pendleton celebrates after winning gold in the women's keirin


Wheels of fire: Victoria Pendleton flies the Union Flag after her gold medal triumph tonight

Sweet: Victoria Pendleton sends a message of love to her boyfriend Scott Gardner from the podium after securing keirin gold

There was ecstasy and relief as ‘Queen Victoria’ hugged members of her backroom team, a Union Flag draped around her shoulders.

A hug and kiss were lavished on her fiancé Scott Gardner, a sports scientist whose relationship with her has caused scandal. That was because he was on the staff of the cycling team and such liaisons were frowned on.

The fallout – which saw him quit his job – was forgotten last night as Pendleton powered home to gold.

Following her victory, she said: ‘I was searching for him desperately in the crowd, I didn’t know where he was ... I am so glad I found him.

‘I can hardly believe it, I just had to focus really hard and the crowd was fantastic, it really helped me. I didn’t look for their race, I just raced my own and showed what I have got.’

With remarkable understatement she added: ‘When it is your moment, you just have to go.’


Tears of joy: For double Olympic gold winner Pendleton, it was an emotional moment when she received her medal in front of her home crowd

Moment to treasure: Pendleton brushed off the disappointment of her team sprint disqualification to wrap up gold

The win makes the 31 year old the most successful British woman track cyclist.

Growing up in Bedfordshire, her father Max – a champion racer himself – first put her on a bike aged six.

When they went riding he would cycle far ahead forcing her to catch up. Pendleton, who has an elder sister Nicola, grew up competing with her twin brother Alex, which gave her a competitive edge.

While he was faster and better technically, he did not have her desire – honed and hardened from an early age under their father’s tutelage.

After graduating in sports science from Northumbria University, Pendleton became a full-time professional, winning her first national title in 1998.

Fourteen years later, she has said that this Olympics would be her last competition.

A champion in the Beijing Games of 2008, the charismatic, but sometimes moody, star of women’s cycling had been at fault on Thursday when she and Jess Varnish had been demoted for a technical error in the team sprint. Last night she was determined to make amends and there were no sign of nerves as the Velodrome, known as The Pringle because of its distinctive shape, became a cockpit of noise and excitement.


Last-gasp: Pendleton had snatched keirin gold by a fraction of a second ahead of Shuang Guo of China


Fight to the finish: An Omega photo finish shows just how small Pendleton's margin of victory was in the keirin

Double glory: Pendleton found redemption in the Velodrome tonight following her disqualification just 24 hours earlier. Afterwards she found a moment to embrace with fiance Scott Gardner

The keirin – in which six riders follow a motorcycle around until the speed reaches 45km an hour and are then released to race – is not Pendleton’s specialist event.

But she overtook her great rival Anna Mears of Australia and held off the Chinese rider Guo Shuang in a desperately tight finish.

Mears appeared to have sprinted too early and when Pendleton made her burst with barely two laps left the Australian was boxed in and unable to respond.

Competing in her third Olympics – she almost gave up after disappointing performances in Athens in 2004 – Pendleton has a final chance of gold next week in the individual sprint.

She and Mears are favourites to win the event which was claimed by the Briton four years ago in Beijing.

That victory brought fame and wealth and she has appeared on the front cover of dozens of magazines and in TV commercials as well as being photographed naked for a modelling shoot.

In her glittering career, she has won nine world titles – including a record-equalling six in the individual sprint – in addition now to golds in London and Beijing.

Take That’s the Greatest Day and Chariots of Fire rang out as she prepared to pick up her gold at the victory ceremony.

Pendleton formed a heart shape in front of her chest with her fingers as she waited behind the top step of the podium.

While the accredited seating areas soon emptied after the race, thousands of fans in the stands stayed waving their flags and cheering.


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Go Jess go! After shot put disappointment Ennis ends first day on a high in 200m and is back in gold contention in heptathlon

•Home favourite started bid for heptathlon gold with stunning 100m hurdles run and then cleared 1.86m in high jump
•She did sit top of the leaderboard with 2,249 points, a lead of 25 before finishing a disappointing ninth in shot put
•Best throw of 14.28 means she slides down to second overall with 3,062 points
•Thrilling 200m race puts her back in the driving seat with a lead of 184 points

By Paul Harris, Louise Eccles and Barbara Davies

Joy: Jessica Ennis raises her arms in celebration after finishing the 200-meter race in the heptathlon competition earlier today

Jessica Ennis sent the Olympic stadium into raptures yesterday with Act One of a stellar heptathlon performance – then she got set for gold.

The 26-year-old star brought a capacity crowd to its feet with a sensational start to the athletics, setting a British record in the event for the 100-metre hurdles.

Now she is preparing for Act Two today, with a chance to fulfil her dream, and with hopes of a gold medal weighing constantly on her slender shoulders.


Event four: Jessica Ennis claims a personal best in the 200m to put her back in the driving seat for heptathlon gold

Thumbs up: Ennis is leading the way in the heptathlon after the first day of action at the Olympic Stadium

In remarkable scenes before 80,000 spectators and a TV audience of millions, she jumped for joy... ran for glory... and won the support of a nation for the most important two days in her sporting life.

At one stage she was conducting applause from the track by raising her arms and turning 360 degrees around the vast Olympic stadium, creating the most electrifying atmosphere it has seen so far.

‘Go girl! Go Jess!’ they bellowed, chanting ‘En-nis! En-nis!’ until it reached a crescendo.

But the Sheffield-born champion was rendered ‘speechless’ when she saw her 12.54 second record for the 100-metre hurdles flash up on the scoreboard – a lifetime best, and equal to the gold medal winning time in the women’s hurdles in Beijing.



Close call: Jessica Ennis crosses the finish line of the 200 metre run


The end of the race: Jessica Ennis crosses the finish line in lane 7 with Jessica Zelinka of Canada in lane number six

Record run: Ennis ran a personal best in the 200m putting her on top of the leader board

The amazing performance propelled her instantly to the top of the leader board, precisely the kind of start she needed. And still the crowd cheered.

‘Show us yer abs!’, a lone voice demanded as she took off her tracksuit for the high jump. (The 2012 poster girl has come to be known as the Ab Fab pin-up because of her enviable six-pack abdominal muscles and torso, repeatedly grandstanded yesterday to the delight of front-row spectators).

Sometimes the crowd cranked up the volume so much it drowned out the names of the athletes as they were announced on loudspeakers. When they clapped and stamped their feet, it vibrated all through the stands.


High hopes: Jessica Ennis fell slightly behind in the heptathlon after a disappointing shot put, but is expected to claw back some ground in the 200m


Jumping for victory: Jessica Ennis during the Women's Heptathlon High Jump at the Olympic Stadium


Words of advice: Jessica Ennis listens to her coach Toni Minichiello as she competes in the Women's Heptathlon High Jump

Home support: The crowd inside the Olympic Stadium roared as the 26-year-old stepped up for her attempt

‘It just blew me away to be honest,’ Ennis said afterwards. ‘How much they got behind me was amazing. You try and prepare yourself but it’s nothing like you can imagine. It was a great start to the day.’

The athletics were conducted in breaks between a loudspeaker soundtrack that blared out hits from the Rolling Stones and David Bowie, among others – plus Bob Marley’s Sun is Shining when it pelted with rain for a few minutes, flooding uncovered areas in the stands and drenching lower-tier spectators in their seats.

Barely a single empty seat could be spotted inside the stadium when Ennis and her team-mates were in the arena.

Her parents Vinnie Ennis and Alison Powell were here – waving a Union Flag and cheering their daughter towards victory at every stage. ‘This is her dream,’ they said – then spoke of their hopes that she will achieve her ambition to win gold in front of a home crowd.

Spirit: Jessica Ennis congratulates Katerina Johnson Thompson as she competes in the high jump phase of the pentathlon

‘She has dreamed about this for so long,’ Miss Powell said. ‘It has been a long wait, and she has worked very hard.’

Elsewhere, crowds gathered at a giant screen in the Olympic Park, the Stratford equivalent of Wimbledon’s Murray Mount.

There was another in Sheffield’s Don Valley stadium, where she first ran as a 13-year-old. Her secondary school hosted a final ‘good luck’ celebration, and the city council appeared to have contingency plans to cope with a chaotic homecoming if she returns triumphant.

On the internet, Facebook mentions of ‘Ennis’ increased 600-fold around the time she chalked up her first stunning result.

But it meant Ennis, who was absent from Beijing four years ago through injury, is now under intense pressure to come up with a gold.

Uniquely in the public mind, and possibly in her own, winning mere silver would be regarded as failure. Tony Minichiello, her coach since childhood, said she was probably the only person in the British track-and-field team who, if she fails to win gold, it would be viewed as a loss.


Jessica Ennis made an explosive start to her 100m hurdles heat and raced away from the field to claim victory in a world best time


Ennis (left) earned 1,195 points from her time of 12.54 seconds, the fastest hurdles time ever run in a heptathlon


Ennis left the field trailing in heat five of the 100m hurdles, recording a time of 12.54 seconds


The hurdles event is usually one of Ennis's strongest, so she will have to sustain her form in the high jump, shot put and 200m later today


Sometimes I surprise even myself! Ennis reacts with a smile after her brilliant start to the heptathlon

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source:dailymail

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