Best of the Day
Great Britain took five days to strike gold and two medals came along in an afternoon. We pick out our favourite moments from the fifth day of action in London. Share your thoughts on what we've chosen... and what we've missed out
Last Updated: 01/08/12 10:16pm
Yellow to gold for Wiggo
Bradley Wiggins became Great Britain's most decorated Olympian by winning gold in the men's time trial, the seventh medal of his career, placing him one ahead of rower Sir Steve Redgrave.
It completed a remarkable few weeks for the 32-year-old from Kilburn after he became the first Briton to win the Tour de France.
Wiggins underlined his position as favourite as he produced another dominant performance against the clock, winning by 42 seconds from world time trial champion Tony Martin of Germany, with Team GB's Chris Froome also on the podium in third, a further 26 seconds back.
It was the fourth Olympic gold medal of Wiggins' remarkable career, with a silver and two bronzes also on his CV.
"To go out there today and put a performance like that together nine days after the Tour and win another Olympic title in another event, it is never, ever going to get any better than that," Wiggins said.
"There is almost slight melancholy. I realised on the podium that that's probably it for me. I don't think anything is going to top that."
Rowers start gold rush
Helen Glover & Heather Stanning broke Great Britain's gold-medal drought in emphatic fashion as they powered to rowing gold at Eton Dorney.
The women's pair led from start to finish to become Britain's first ever female Olympic rowing champions, and get the host nation really involved on the medal table with the first gold of London 2012.
After setting a new Olympic record in making the final, Glover and Stanning shot out of the start and quickly moved ahead of a high quality field - taking a lead they never looked like losing.
Glover appeared to be smiling in the last quarter of the race, but she said: "It was probably a grimace. I don't remember smiling because I remember never, ever, ever thinking we've got this."
She added that she hoped the performance would inspire others. "If I can do it, just take the chance - not just rowing, anything. If you work hard, and try your best absolutely anyone can do anything."
Glover, 26, a former PE teacher from Penzance, Cornwall, has been rowing for only four years. Stanning, 27, from Lossiemouth, Moray, is a Royal Artillery captain and the women were paired together just three years ago.
The race of his life
Britain's Michael Jamieson won the silver medal in the 200m breaststroke behind a world-record swim from Hungary's Daniel Gyurta. Japan's Ryo Tateishi won the bronze.
Gyurta held on to beat Jamieson in a desperate finish to win in a time of two minutes 07.28 seconds.
The 23-year-old Scot was second in 2:07.43 after making up half a second in the final 50m and almost drawing level with Gyurta approaching the wall.
Jamieson said: "It was so much easier to swim tonight with a bit of confidence back. I've received so many messages of support and I was desperate to get on the podium to thank everyone for their support."
The 23-year-old Scot had lowered the British record twice en route to the final to become the eighth fastest swimmer in the event in history.
Mears' tears of joy
Chris Mears' parents were left in tears in the Aquatics Centre grandstand after their 19-year-old son made his Olympic debut - three years after he almost lost his life during a junior competition in Australia.
Mears and springboard synchro partner Nick Robinson-Baker produced one of the performances of their careers to claim fifth in a high-quality final.
While world champions Qin Kai and Luo Yutong nervelessly clinched yet another diving gold for China, the emotion of the Britons' performance was plain to see at the end.
Mears was given just a five per cent chance of survival when he collapsed during the Youth Olympic Festival in January 2009 after rupturing his spleen performing a dive the previous day.
He spent a month in an Australian hospital as he slowly made his way back to full health before beginning his journey to the Olympic Games and a performance to remember.
"My parents are up there and they were crying," Mears said. "I know it means a lot to them and it definitely means a lot to me. To have come from where I came from in 2009 and now being in the Olympic Games and coming fifth in the world - I can't quite believe it actually.
"It is in the back of my mind and I think 'that's a really great achievement' but there's no negative input in that. I've come this far from pretty much rock-bottom and this is where I am now. I'm just so happy."
Lifting a nation
Rim Jong Sim triumphed in a thrilling women's 69kg final to take North Korea's weightlifting gold medal count to three and continue the nation's remarkable surprise performance.
The weight category was wide open after Russia's gold medal favourite Oksana Slivenko, world and European champion, was forced to withdraw last week due to injury.
And the competition proved just as unpredictable as expected, with Rim's gold being confirmed on the penultimate lift while merely bodyweight alone separated second, third and fourth place.
The session belonged to Rim, who delighted the raucous 6,000-capacity crowd at the ExCel Arena when she somehow managed to nail her third attempt, also at 146kg.
With the tension mounting, the North Korean seemed to freeze her legs as the jerk went up. Silence descended for a couple of seconds before she slowly edged her feet level, to the roars from the spectators and her coaching team.