Olympics roundup: Kohei Uchimura, Ines Boubakri, Team GB diving star on Day 5

Japan's men's gymnastics superstar Kohei Uchimura won all-around gold on Wednesday, while Ines Boubakri won Africa's first women's Olympic fencing medal and British diving scored a major upset.

Kohei Uchimura of Japan competing on the rings in the men's gymnastics Individual all-around final at the Rio 2016 Olympics. How Hwee Young / EPA / August 10, 2016

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Men’s Gymnastics

“Sweat and guts” are the secrets of Kohei Uchimura’s incredible success story, the Japanese gymnastics great said Wednesday after claiming a second all-around men’s title for a third Olympic gold.

A soaring horizontal bar routine saw the 27-year-old snatch the coveted individual title ahead of Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev, winning by just 0.099, in a thrilling final in the Rio Olympic Arena.

Britain’s Max Whitlock took bronze.

Uchimura had been behind his 22-year-old rival going onto the final apparatus but sealed gold with an acrobatic display involving spectacular swings and turns.

“I can’t really explain why I have maintained this supremacy,” said Uchimura, unbeaten since taking the first of his record six world all-around titles in 2009.

“It’s sheer guts and determination, I think,” he continued. “I have been pushing and pushing to continue and it has paid off.”

Uchimura made headlines at the start of the Rio Games after racking up a 500,000 yen (Dh18,114) bill playing Pokemon Go on his arrival in Brazil.

But it was down to business as he helped Japan on Monday reclaim the team title they last won in 2004, to add to the world title they won last year.

“After winning the team gold, it was tough to re-focus. I’m so exhausted right now,” he admitted.

Also see

• Rio 2016: Gold medals list for all 306 events

• Day 6: Five to watch – Gabby Douglas v Simone Biles in USA gymnastics battle

Fencing

Ines Boubakri won Africa’s first women’s Olympic fencing medal on Wednesday, dedicating her bronze to “the Tunisian woman, the Arab woman ... who has her place in society”.

Boubakri defeated Russia’s Aida Shanaeva in the individual foil third-place match.

“This medal, it’s historic for Tunisia. It’s incredible,” said the 27-year-old.

“I hope that this will be a message for all Tunisians, especially our youth, all Tunisian women, the Arab woman.

“A message which says that you must believe that women exist and they have their place in society.”

Inna Deriglazova of Russia won gold in the event. The 2012 champion, Elisa Di Francisca, almost grabbed her second consecutive Olympic foil title but the Italian’s valiant fight back ran out of time and she took silver behind Deriglazova.

Di Francisca staged a stunning rally in the final from a 7-12 deficit with 30 seconds on the clock, coming within a touch of levelling it as the final seconds ticked away.

Deriglazova said she was just trying to hang on.

“The thought running through my mind is that I would make it to the end,” she said. “Whatever it takes in those final two seconds, to run away, to fall down, I’ll do that.”

Hungary’s Aron Szilagyi meanwhile defended his Olympic sabre title on Wednesday to deny Daryl Homer what would have been America’s first men’s fencing gold in over 100 years.

Men’s Diving

Britain’s Jack Laugher and Chris Mears turned Rio’s green-water controversy to their advantage to win a first-ever British gold medal in Olympic diving by upsetting China on Wednesday.

The pair scored a narrow 3m synchronised springboard victory over American silver medallists Sam Dorman and Mike Hixon, as Chinese pre-event favourites Cao Yuan and Qin Kai settled for bronze in chilly and drizzly weather.

Laugher drew guffaws at a press conference by saying the Britons felt right at home in the inclement conditions and added that the unintentionally green pool – due to a chemical imbalance, officials say – aided visualisation of their dives.

“Being from the UK, we’re very much used to rain, wind and all that kind of stuff,” he said.

“We actually quite enjoyed (the green water). It’s different from normal, it’s very easy to see. I don’t think they intended it to be that way, obviously, but it did help us in a way, I guess.”

Women’s Swimming

Katie Ledecky swam a sensational anchor leg to claim her third gold medal of the Rio Olympics as the United States won the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay on Wednesday.

Ledecky overhauled Australia’s Tamsin Cook to take her team home in 7min 43.03sec, beating the Aussies into second place with Canada third.

“I was prepared for any circumstance, whether we were ahead or behind,” Ledecky said.

Ledecky was joined by Allison Schmitt, Leah Smith and Maya DiRado in the winning swim. Leah Neale, Emma McKeon, Bronte Barratt and Cook touched in 7:44.87, while Canada’s Katerine Savard, Taylor Ruck, Brittany MacLean and Penny Oleksiak clocked 7:45.39.

Ledecky added the relay gold to her individual triumphs in the 200m and 400m free. She also anchored the US 4x100m free relay team to silver behind Australia.

Men’s Swimming

Australia’s really young gun Kyle Chalmers won the Olympic 100m freestyle gold in Rio on Wednesday to end his country’s 48-year drought in swimming’s prestige event.

The 18-year-old, who was swimming in his school carnival earlier this year, stormed home to win in a junior world record of 47.58sec, 22-tenths of a second ahead of Belgian silver medallist Pieter Timmers’ 47.80 with 2012 gold medallist Nathan Adrian of the United States third in 47.85.

Adrian said he’d never heard of Chalmers until he finished second at the Australian trials.

Chalmers said that suited him just fine.

“I think I definitely flew under the radar,” said the teenager who won’t be able to stay out of the spotlight now after an electrifying Olympic debut that saw him duck under the 48-second mark for the first time in Tuesday’s heats.

Women’s Swimming

Mireia Belmonte-Garcia won Spain’s first gold of the Rio Olympics with victory in the women’s 200m butterfly on Wednesday.

Belmonte-Garcia, who claimed silver in London four years ago, pipped Australia’s Madeline Groves in a pulsating Rio final to touch in 2min 04.85sec, for a winning margin of just three hundredths.

Japan’s Natsumi Hoshi, the reigning world champion, clocked 2:05.20 to match the bronze medal she took in London after a disappointing swim.

It was Belmonte-Garcia’s second medal of the Rio swimming competition after the 25-year-old took bronze in the 400m individual medley earlier in the week.

Men’s Swimming

Beefy Kazakh swimmer Dmitriy Balandin put the former Soviet state on the Olympic map by winning his country’s first gold medal in the sport.

The 21-year-old, who resembles Dolph Lundgren’s character Ivan Drago in the movie “Rocky IV”, roared home from lane eight to win the men’s 200m breaststroke title, surprising even himself.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet that I’m an Olympic champion,” Balandin told reporters in Rio.

“I might need a week or 10 days to produce an adequate reaction. But for now this medal means everything. To make history for Kazakhstan is the best thing I can do for my country. It’s just unbelievable.”

Balandin produced a superb fightback after Japan’s fast-starting Yasuhiro Koseki had threatened to break the world record.

“You don’t win a race in the first 50 metres. You win it in the last 50 metres,” said Balandin, who burst onto the scene by capturing a breaststroke treble at the 2014 Asian Games.

“The Japanese guy went out too fast and ran out of power.”

Balandin’s victory brought Olympic credibility to Kazakhstan – once lampooned by the movie “Borat” and its bumbling main character squeezed into Soviet-era suits.

“I’m very proud to win a medal for my country, it’s a big honour,” he said. “The first Kazakhstan swimming medal – I think the whole of Kazakhstan is celebrating right now.”

Women’s Table Tennis

China’s Ding Ning won the women’s Olympic table tennis title on Wednesday, beating her team boss Li Xiaoxia to avenge the bitter defeat she suffered to her compatriot in London 2012.

Four years after losing the title in acrimonious circumstances when she became embroiled in a row with the referee, Ding, nicknamed “big baby”, finally won the gold she had hankered after so dearly.

The top seed prevailed in seven sets 11-9, 5-11, 14-12, 9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 to complete the grand slam of World Championship, World Cup and now Olympic titles.

China have won every women’s singles title since table tennis was introduced in Seoul in 1988, and are on course to complete a third successive clean sweep of golds after dominating in Beijing and London.

“I’m a little dazed by this,” said the hugely popular and charismatic Ding.

“I was able to forget the sad memory of that defeat in London. In the four years since I’m more experienced and seasoned.

“I feel like I am a lot more mature than four years ago and told myself before the final to ‘fight for my dreams’.”

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