A brother and sister won Olympic medals within minutes of each other yesterday on a ‘Super Saturday’ for Team GB.
During a sensational day at the Games, Britain’s Olympians cemented their position in the top five with six more medals to add to their haul.
The rush began early as Emily Ford took bronze in the women’s eight rowing – just 20 minutes before her brother Tom won gold in the men’s eight.
Emily, 29, revealed she was once ‘petrified of water’ and had been terrified of falling in when she first stepped into a boat near the family home in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire.
Tom, 31, joked: ‘You would understand if you have ever seen her in a swimming pool.’
But it was their elder twin brothers Ed and John, 34, who inspired them both to row and who witnessed their triumph yesterday.
Emily Ford took bronze in the women’s eight rowing – just 20 minutes before her brother Tom won gold in the men’s eight, in Britain’s Olympic ‘Super Saturday’
Emily and her teammates Annie Campbell-Orde, Holly Dunford, Lauren Irwin, Heidi Long, Rowan McKellar, Eve Stewart and Hattie Taylor took bronze behind world champions Romania and Canada
Emma Wilson continued Team GB’s medal haul with a bronze in windsurfing
Speaking of her bond with Tom, Emily said: [We] know each other inside out, we have followed the same path in life – we’ve had support from each other, our parents, our family, and our friends. And we have so many of them here today.’
Their father Paul, 66 – who was in the stands with Ed, John and their mother Christine – joked: ‘It wasn’t a bad day in the office really. They have done really well, and the whole family is here.’
He added: ‘We are so proud because you go through all the highs and lows along the way. I think every parent will understand that. There is so much hard work that goes into winning those medals.’
Their mother, 65, quipped she ‘had some sleep to catch up on’ after a restless night. She added: ‘It is just absolutely amazing. You just hope they achieve what they want to achieve. Today, they have done that and more.’
Ed added: ‘You cannot put into words how you feel, just super proud of everything they have achieved.’
Emily and her teammates Annie Campbell-Orde, Holly Dunford, Lauren Irwin, Heidi Long, Rowan McKellar, Eve Stewart and Hattie Taylor took bronze behind world champions Romania and Canada.
Tom and his teammates Morgan Bolding, Sholto Carnegie, Jacob Dawson, Tom Digby, Charlie Elwes, Rory Gibbs and James Rudkin, saw off the Netherlands and USA to top the podium. Cox Harry Brightmore jumped to his feet in celebration as they crossed the finish line at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium east of Paris.
British gymnast Jake Jarman won a bronze medal for his floor routine
Britain’s pommel horse hero Max Whitlock missed out on the podium last night after previously taking home medals at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020
Team GB’s medal haul continued minutes later when Emma Wilson won a women’s windsurfing bronze. However, having dominated the opening rounds, the 25-year-old was visibly emotional not to have won a gold.
In the afternoon it was the turn of the gymnasts. Years ago, Jake Jarman was playing on the monkey bars in his local park when a coach spotted him and told his grandmother Sheila to take him to gymnastic lessons.
She did – and yesterday the pint-sized Team GB star won an Olympic bronze for his floor routine.
He said: ‘It is mad. I talked to my nan about this. I was on the monkey bars apparently, I was really young, I don’t even know how old. If I didn’t have my career start like that, I wouldn’t be a gymnast. Fate brought me here.’
Jarman, 5ft 2in, spotted his father Tony and mother Ana in the crowd after his routine at the Bercy Arena. ‘I’ve never seen my dad so happy before,’ he told the Mail.
The 22-year-old, who still lives with his parents in Peterborough, said he would be celebrating with them later. He added: ‘To be walking away with an Olympic medal, I feel like I’ve skipped a step.’
There was disappointment for Britain’s pommel horse hero Max Whitlock, who won gold at Rio 2016 and at Tokyo 2020, but missed out on a medal last night.
But there was another medal for GB’s equestrian team in the dressage – performing without Charlotte Dujardin. The rider, who quit the Games when a video emerged of her repeatedly whipping a horse, was replaced with Becky Moody at the 11th hour.
Dujardin’s mentor and teammate Carl Hester, 57, said the medal was important ‘because of how much [Dujardin] won and contributed to the team. I think a lot of people felt that if she wasn’t on the team we would not be successful.’
Team GB’s equestrian team took home another medal in the dressage without Charlotte Dujardin
Sprinter Daryll Neita narrowly missed out on a medal after finishing fourth in the women’s 100m final
Dina Asher-Smith missed out on the 100m final for the second Games in a row
Among the spectators was rapper Snoop Dogg in a dressage tailcoat and hard hat.
There was further success on the track as Team GB won a bronze medal in the 4x400m mixed relay.
Sprinter Daryll Neita just missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in the women’s 100m final. St Lucia’s Julien Alfred took gold in the race – to win the Caribbean island’s first ever Olympic medal.
But there was heartbreak for Dina Asher-Smith, who missed out on the 100m final for a second Games in a row.
The medal haul, which takes Team GB’s tally to 33, marks Britain’s finest ever start to an Olympics. Officials say half the world’s population will watch the events at Paris 2024, with analysis of viewing figures so far showing over four billion people from across the globe will tune in to the action over the fortnight.
