Comments from Team GB athletes following the penultimate day of competition at Tokyo 2020.
Modern Pentathlon
Comments from Team GB modern pentathletes Joe Choong and Jamie Cooke following the final events in the Tokyo Stadium. Choong joined Kate French in becoming Olympic champion for Team GB, the first time two athletes from the same nation have won two individual medals in the same Games in modern pentathlon.
Joe Choong
Age: 26 Hometown: London: Orpington
Result: Team GB's first men's individual modern pentathlon Olympic champion
On the delay to the Games
"Having the Olympics cancelled was a big blow, I was world number one at the time and my form was so good. It was a pretty dark time, I was unmotivated and didn't train for a few weeks."
On the pressure after Rio
"I definitely felt it. That was definitely not anywhere near my best shooting but it was better than Rio.
"My first shot didn't register for some reason but I gained from Rio because the same thing happened there.
"I just totally mentally went after that five years ago, I couldn't hit a shot. That's why I only finished tenth in Rio whereas here I kept my cool and hit the next five shots here."
On British success following Kate French's gold
"It's unbelievable. Just so many emotions going through my head, disbelief, shock.
"It just goes to show the staff we've got and how fantastic they've been, it breeds a culture of performance."
On his family
"My granddad passed away a few years ago after Rio and he wasn't well enough to watch and I knew this would have meant a lot to my grandma, she's been telling me she'd come out and see me win a medal and she was half right."
On his brother Henry, who competed for Team GB at the Youth Olympic Games at Nanjing 2014
"He always boasted he was the first Olympian in the family. He's the clever one and went to Cambridge and just did pentathlon for fun.
"He's two years younger than me but four years behind in terms of training. I think he can do it, he's got the same genes as me so why not?"
Jamie Cooke
Age: 30 Hometown: Gloucestershire: Cheltenham
Result: Ninth in the men's competition, won by Team GB teammate Joe Choong
On his emotions
"It's a mixed day. It's a little bit bittersweet. I've had some really good performances in the last few years and I really wanted to come here and put it all together, and I nearly did.
"There were lots of elements that went really, really well, and some elements which didn't go as well.
"But I've got to take my hat off to Joe and the other athletes, they were fantastic and it's a privilege to be alongside them and watch that success."
On his performance
"The fencing has been my weakest event since I started when I was 15, so 15 years later and I'm still struggling at it. But it's one of those things where, keep working, keep trying.
"I was just sat there in the infield just looking around because this could be me done now and what a stadium and what a place to do it in."
On the British success
"It's testament to the hard work and it's testament to the team that we have. The coaches here, the backroom staff, everyone back home. Everyone contributes to it, we're just the tip of the iceberg and hopefully we can perform on the day.
"Looking at Kate and looking at Joe, they absolutely smashed it. It's a real privilege to be part of this team."
On modern pentathlon's place in the Olympic Games
"I dare anyone to come and watch a pentathlon and go away unhappy.
"It is obviously slightly peculiar putting all the events together on the same day but what we have here as a group of athletes is a little family that travels the world together.
"The circus goes round the world together. You only have to see the passion, the excitement and the dedication that these athletes put in day in, day out. It's my favourite sport."
Cycling (Track)
Comments from Team GB track cyclists Jason Kenny and Jack Carlin following today's action at the Izu Velodrome. Both Kenny and Carlin progressed to the men's keirin quarter-finals, which take place on Sunday.
Jason Kenny
Age: 33 Hometown: Bolton
On qualifying through the repechage
"I felt a lot better in the repechage. I fluffed the first one up a little bit so had to go the long way round through the repechage, I'm chuffed and happy to be through and survive another day.
"The keirin is at the end of our Olympic programme so people are going for it and that's why we're seeing all the crashes.
"I'll keep chipping away, I don't like to give anything away easily. It gets away from you if you're not paying attention.
"I was happy with the repechage, I felt a million dollars and there were some really fast guys in there so I'm really chuffed with it."
On watching wife Laura win Madison gold with Katie Archibald
"It was mega, absolutely magic. There was only one team in the race right from the start. I'm dead chuffed for them, I've seen them working hard on it in Manchester.
"The luxury of having such a strong British team means they've been able to create races and match the speed to what they were expecting.
"It's that attention to deal, the same with the helmets [which were a different colour to help them identify each other] which put them on another level."
Jack Carlin
Age: 24 Hometown: Paisley
On two crashes during his keirin heats
"When someone clips your elbow, it takes your elbow sideways so you react, pull back, and as a result, I go up the track and was again.
"Buchli [Matthijs Buchli] came under me, I think it was Sahrom [Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom] who clipped my elbow. There's nothing wrong with that at the end of the day - it's racing, keirin's like that.
"If you look at all the racing today, there's been a lot of crashes and a lot of close calls. I think everyone's basically doing whatever it takes to get through."
On how he feels physically
"Legs are feeling good. I'm feeling good and slept well last night so I'll get back now and get a recovery shake and see what tomorrow holds."
"I'll be absolutely fine by tomorrow. I just have to rest up and get a good night's sleep."
Athletics
Comments from Team GB athletes following the evening session of athletics events at the Olympic Stadium.
Josh Kerr
Age: 23 Hometown: Scotland: Edinburgh
Result: Bronze medallist in a time of 3:29.05 in the men's 1500m. Gold went to Jakob Ingebrigtsen and silver was won by Timothy Cheruiyot.
After narrowly squeezing through the first heat
"It was time to go back and recalibrate, have a little think to myself about the way I wanted to present myself here. It wasn’t my day.
"I feel like I perform every single time I go to the track and it’s kind of annoying that the one off day in the last two years being the first round of the Olympic Games.
"But I snuck through and made sure that I didn’t take any step out there for granted.
"So I was very happy with the way I raced the semi-final and today in the final, but yeah maybe it’s a good thing."
On the changes he made
"There were changes between the rounds with our day off. Danny [Mackey, coach] had a little think, he’s one of the best coaches in the world and he was able to understand what was happening with me and made sure I got the work done between the rounds to make sure I feel more fresh and I did.
"This was never going to be easy, it’s the fastest Olympic Games there ever has ever been so what can you expect?
"I’m really fit and I was trying to tell everyone and media that I was fit and ready and that there was no excuses for that performance in the first round and it was time to go home, recalibrate and get to work."
On racing with the world's best
"It’s the first Championships I have raced in contact lenses and normally I can’t see anything – I have had some mistakes in the past and this is the first time I’ve ever worn them and I have been able to watch quite a lot so it has been fun.
"But it was a hard race, we knew it was going to be hard."
Jake Heyward
Age: 22 Hometown: Wales: Cardiff
Result: Ninth in a time of 3:34.43 in the men's 1500m final
On the race
"It was tough. The pace itself was very fast and my legs felt pretty heavy today off the back of two pretty quick rounds and that’s a new experience for me.
"I’m not strong enough yet, I still need to do a lot more training to get to that position, but it was a massive experience for me making the final and hopefully I can take that with me going into future competitions of what senior running is all about."
On what's next
"Now I just want to get back and see my family and friends. Overall, it’s been a positive Olympic experience, the heat went really well and in the semi final I ran a PB and I couldn’t do much more than that.
"So it’s definitely positive and a massive learning curve for me."
Jake Wightman
Age: 27 Hometown: Scotland: Linlithgow
Result: Tenth in a time of 3:35.09 in the men's 1500m final
On the race
"It’s pretty gutting, I had such a good opportunity and Josh showed that if you take that opportunity what can happen.
"I just committed a lot at the start and I don’t think I’m quite good enough for those quick races off the back of the rounds which showed today.
"So there’s a lot of stuff I hope I can take from this as we go forward, it’s just such a good opportunity missed."
Eilish McColgan
Age: 30 Hometown: Scotland: Dundee
Result: Ninth in a time of 31:04.46 in the women's 10,000m final
On her performance
"It was tough, definitely one of the toughest races I’ve ran, so I’m proud of myself for finishing.
"There were definitely points where I didn’t think I was going to make it, but I think mentally for me I just wanted to have a better race than I did in the 5000m, I was determined to bounce back and have a better run.
"I would’ve loved to have dipped under 31 minutes, so a little disappointed to not have had my eye on running my Mum’s [Liz McColgan] Scottish record,
"I would’ve loved to have sneaked under that and got a PB, but in those conditions I can’t ask for any more.
On what's next
"I definitely feel there’s more in me, so it’s definitely given me a lot of fire for the end of the season.
"I know a lot of people are excited to be done now but I feel like I’m so motivated now to come and try to do a quick 3k, 5k and maybe have one more 10k at the end of the season as well.
"I hope there’s a lot more to come. It was certainly a lot better than my 5k performance.
"I know I’m in the shape of my life so I’m a little bit disappointed, but I suppose I have to take into account the heat and humidity.
"It’s all fair and well saying I think I can run a PB and I can run fast, but the conditions were just so, so tough."
Jess Judd
Age: 26 Hometown: Essex: Rochford
Result: 17th in a time of 31:56.80 in the women's 10,000m final
On the conditions
"It was just so hard. I felt like I was doing the right thing at every point and then I don’t know, it just got even harder, and with 2k to go I just thought I’ve just got to finish.
"The hardest race I’ve ever done. I didn’t think I was going to get round, but I did, which is good.
"I was thinking, 'don’t do anything silly', you just realise you’re so hot, I was really overheating and then you try and tell yourself you're not hot, you'r fine, but I couldn’t have done any more."
On the pace of the race
"I wasn’t expecting the race to be ran that way. I thought it’d be slow, and I just remember thinking this is really hard, and then people were dropping out and I was on my own, so it was a mix of emotions but I’m really happy I did it.
"I just need to go back and work on my 10k but I enjoyed it."
The women's 4x400m team of Ama Pipi, Jodie Williams, Emily Diamond and Nicole Yeargin finished fifth in a time of 3:22.59 in the final.
Ama Pipi
Age: 25 Hometown: London: Edmonton
On the time
"It’s the fastest we’ve run in a long time and I think we have a lot of potential, and we are still getting better and growing as a team and we have a lot to look forward to in the future.
"This Olympics has been amazing, it’s my first one and we’ve made the final so lots to look forward to."
Jodie Williams
Age: 27 Hometown: Hertfordshire: Welwyn Garden City
On the Olympic experience
"It’s been a crazy Olympics. I’d have loved to have come out here and medalled with these girls, I know there’s potential to and we will do in the future.
"It was a great way to top off a pretty good Games, going out there with these strong women and just representing our country."
Emily Diamond
Age: 30 Hometown: Bristol
On the result
"It was bittersweet, I think. We have such a strong team at the moment, and we knew we were in a great position to turn a place in the top three and we went out there fighting today and all of us put everything on the line.
"It’s the fastest I think we’ve run as a quartet for a few years and we can’t be too disappointed, but it would have been nice to have taken home a bit of silverware.
"Being at the Olympics has been amazing and it was exciting to be involved in both the mixed relay and the women’s relay.
"It’s been a lot of fun and it’s sad that it’s come to an end now, but only three years to Paris!"
Nicole Yeargin
Age: 23 Hometown: Los Angeles
On the result
"It’s bittersweet you know, it actually came around fast, it’s crazy how fast the 4x4 goes by. There will always be next year, so we’ll just come back even stronger.
"I came out here knowing that it wasn’t going to be like NCAAs, where you can probably catch a big gap, so I just tried my best to hold on and I’ll continue to do that for next year."
Equestrian (Jumping)
Comments from Team GB jumpers Ben Maher, Holly Smith and Harry Charles following today's Jumping Team Final at Equestrian Park.
After the completion of the first two rounds, the decision was made to withdraw Team GB’s final combination, Ben Maher and Explosion W. A total of 24 faults despite well-crafted rides from Holly Smith and Denver, and Harry Charles and Romeo 88, left the team out of medal contention ahead of the final round.
Ben Maher
Age: 38 Hometown: Enfield
On his overall thoughts
"We started well enough yesterday. It’s a new format and it was all about getting into today, the guys did a good job and gave me a margin that didn’t put Explosion under too much pressure.
"We could have made a mistake and got in comfortably but today was different. We knew it was going to be tough, it was a tough course and there were a lot of horse-rider combinations making mistakes.
"Holly and Harry are young riders and have ridden incredibly tonight but unfortunately it has not gone our way as a team and Explosion’s welfare is paramount for me. I am not a quitter but we are an extremely long way off medal contention.
"We have done everything we can for Team GB this week but his welfare is a priority."
On whether his individual gold made a difference to the decision
"No, it makes no difference. He goes back as an Olympic champion, I always knew he was an incredible horse.
"This decision is based purely on the team as a whole.
"We had a discussion as a team and the horse’s welfare becomes a priority and this way he goes home one round less and saved for another day when we are in medal contention."
Holly Smith
Age: 32 Hometown: Leicestershire: Wymeswold
On her performance
"The result just isn't good enough. We're a great show jumping nation. It must be better than that.
"I started off really well I think actually, at the beginning of the round, it was great and was looking forward to the middle bit of the combination.
"He jumped a little bit to the right at the obstacle towards the water, he normally jumps to the left so the seven strides then became ridiculous long.
"It just unravelled a bit after that but we'll come back fighting from this. I'm tough, my team's tough, bring on Paris."
On what made the track hard
"I think it was an equal amount of jumping efforts. It's all a lot of very similar questions actually, the experience gets to them.
"It's like being in a tumble dryer in there. At the end of the day, they're animals."
Harry Charles
Age: 22 Hometown: Hampshire: Alton
On the Jumping Team Final
"The course today is very big and very technical, probably the most difficult one. It is his fifth day jumping.
"But he came out and jumped a cracking round. If that was day two or three, he would have jumped clear easily.
"I am delighted with how he has ended up and where we came from earlier in the week."
On whether Romeo 88 was tired
"Yes, but he is a great horse, a proper fighter. Coming into that double jump was difficult, some of the best horses in the world were finding that difficult.
"He would normally be fine but on the fifth day, he was a bit out of puff. He could not have done much more for me, I am delighted with him."
On the Olympics
"It has been absolutely incredible, I finished in the top 30 of the Olympics and that is the best of the best. Yesterday in qualifying was a confidence-builder and being around Ben, Scott [Brash] and Holly has been massive.
"Scott has helped me so much and it is such a shame we lost him. He took me under his wing in the past few days and helped me with everything."
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