Team GB’s Bradly Sinden has taken silver in Tokyo after losing to Uzbekistan’s Ulugbek Rashitov in the men’s 68kg taekwondo final.
Rashitov beat Sinden 34-29 at the Makuhari Messe Hall on Sunday, meaning Sinden narrowly missed out on Team GB’s first gold medal of the Games.
The 22-year-old reigning world champion was guaranteed a silver after beating China’s Zhao Shuai in the semi-finals earlier in the day.
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Sinden and Rashitov fighting for gold
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Rashitov, 19, celebrates his win
But despite his 19-year-old opponent being seeded 17th in the world, Sinden was overtaken in the last few seconds of the final match.
Appearing tearful afterwards, he spoke of his “disappointment”.
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‘We’re all sad he didn’t get gold’
“It was my gold medal to give away,” he said. “I made a few mistakes, but that’s taekwondo.”
Sinden’s was the second British medal in Tokyo, after Chelsie Giles secured the first by winning bronze in the 52kg judo earlier on Sunday.
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Giles, 24, with her bronze medal
The 24-year-old from Coventry came third after beating Switzerland’s Fabienne Kocher in the repechage, having been given a shot at third place following her defeat in the quarter-finals.
The first two medals followed huge disappointment for Team GB earlier in the day when double Olympic champion Jade Jones lost in the first round.
Jones, 28, was vying to become the first ever British woman to secure three golds at three consecutive Games.
But she was denied even a bronze in the repechage when the Refugee Team’s Kimia Alizadeh beat her in the semi-finals.
Commenting on the result, Jones said: “I’m absolutely gutted. It’s not how I planned the day to go and just really frustrated with myself, I wasn’t the best today so I just have to take it on the chin and congratulate the other girl.”
She added that the lack of spectators and family support was a “struggle”.
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Jade Jones lost in the first round to miss out on her triple Olympic gold record
There was further upset for Team GB in the early hours of Sunday when Sir Andy Murray announced he was pulling out of the men’s singles due to a thigh strain.
He was due to play world number nine Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, but was replaced by Australian Max Purcell.
Murray had been hoping for his third consecutive singles gold, but will now only play in the doubles with partner Joe Salisbury.
He said: “I am really disappointed at having to withdraw but the medical staff have advised me against playing in both events, so I have made the difficult decision to withdraw from the singles and focus on playing doubles with Joe.”
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Andy Murray has pulled out of the singles but will stay play doubles. Pic: AP
There was better news for Team GB swimmer Adam Peaty who powered through to the 100m breaststroke final with the fastest time on Sunday morning.
The 26-year-old world and Olympic champion won his semi-final comfortably in 57.63 seconds, slower than the 57.56 in Saturday’s evening heats but more than a second quicker than China’s Yan Zibei.
While way off his world record 56.88, it meant he now has the top 16 fastest swims of all time in the event.
Also on Sunday:
Lizzie Deignan finished 11th in the women’s cycling road race, with Austria’s Anna Kiesenhofer getting gold
British swimmers Max Litchfield and Aimee Willmott missed out in the 400m indiual medley
Team GB boxer Ben Whittaker beat Jorge Luis Vivas of Colombia to reach the last 16 of the men’s light heavyweight
Australian tennis player and Wimbledon champion Ash Barty was defeated in the first round by 48th-ranked Spanish opponent Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-4, 6-3
Ahmed Hafnaoui stunned by winning Tunisia’s second ever Olympic gold in the men’s 400m freestyle
Japanese swimmer Yui Ohashi won gold in the 400m indiual medley, touching first with 4mins 32.08secs
Yuto Horigome of Japan won the first ever Olympic gold medal in skateboarding
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It comes after 11 more coronavirus cases were announced at the Games, including three athletes.
Golfers Bryson DeChambeau of Team USA and world number one Jon Rahm of Spain were forced to pull out on Sunday after positive tests.
Rahm has tested positive for the virus twice in two months and was also forced to pull out of a tournament in Ohio in June.
It brings the total number of COVID cases since 1 July to 138.
Elsewhere, the International Olympic Committee has confirmed there will be no relaxation on mask-wearing rules in Tokyo.
Spokesman Mark Adams said: “It’s not a ‘nice to have’, it’s a ‘must to have’.”
He was responding to a question about several swimmers removing their masks during medal ceremonies.
The teams from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were also mostly mask-less when they paraded through the stadium at Friday’s opening ceremony, despite other national teams covering their faces in according with COVID-19 rules.
