Day 8

A bonanza indeed. 'Super Saturday' was full of excitement, if not full of rowing gold medals. Another swimming gold for Rebecca Adlington, more cycling medals and Michael Phelps's seventh gold, then on to the rowing.

I found the W1x on Eurosport while the BBC were busy chattering, coming in at halfway when Knapkova was out in front. Once I'd recovered from the shock of a female commentator, it was clear that things weren't going Karsten's way for, really, the first time this Olympiad. Then Neykova through, and Guerette flying behind her. Predictions smashed again.

On to the BBC for the men's singles, and a real battle with the same men - including Belgian dark horse Maeyens - in the hunt all the way. It looked like Drysdale had it in the red buoys, but then suddenly both Tufte and Synek were through. For the first time in the last few years, Drysdale looked spent at the finish, and was stretchered off.

Through the pairs, with it really being a private match race between Australia and Canada in the M2-, won by Australia and the bowman was up and dancing in the boat, then a fantastically close race in the W2x, the medals all within a few hundreths of a second. Then another smooth performance from Australia in the men's pairs, and a surprisingly quiet performance from the vaunted NZ duo.

Coverage of the W2x medal ceremony was cut off for much guff about the 'iconic' coxless four then, at last, on to the real thing. The Brits won in a well-judged race, though for most of it Australia were out front, living the dream. Bronze to France, who were celebrating like they'd won gold.

Cue further ramblings about the 'iconic' coxless four (TM) and the 'legacy' of Redgrave and Pinsent, and the coxless four as the 'blue riband event'. Since when? What seems to have conveniently been overlooked is that the Sydney golden boys - Pinsent and Cracknell - were in the pair until their poor performances in 2003 saw them unceremoniously, and not uncontroversially, shoehorned into the coxless four as it was the event in which they were more likely to medal.

A day of the sport at its very best, though, and high hopes for tomorrow.

Only one of my predictions was correct, however: Synek's silver medal in the singles.

W1x 1: Czech Republic, 2: Belarus, 3: United States
1: Bulgaria, 2: United States, 3: Belarus
M1x 1: New Zealand, 2: Czech Republic, 3: Great Britain
1: Norway, 2: Czech Republic, 3: New Zealand
W2- 1: Canada, 2: United States, 3: New Zealand
1: Romania, 2: China, 3: Belarus
M2- 1: South Africa, 2: New Zealand, 3: Croatia
1: Australia, 2: Canada, 3: New Zealand
W2x 1: China, 2: Great Britain, 3: New Zealand
1: New Zealand, 2: Germany, 3: Great Britain
M2x 1: Great Britain, 2: Slovenia, 3: Australia
1: Australia, 2: Estonia, 3: Great Britain
M4- 1: Netherlands, 2: Great Britain, 3: New Zealand
1: Great Britain, 2: Australia, 3: France

Day 6

The rowing was rained off, there was still not enough wind for sailing and no swimming finals for Michael Phelps, so quite a quiet day all in all.

Good points were the pleasing, if unexpected, news that two Brits – Emma Hindle and Laura Bechtolsheimer – are through to the individual dressage final, and Rebecca Adlington setting a new Olympic record (and second-fastest time ever) in the 800m freestyle.

Elsewhere: Robertson and Emms out in the mixed doubles badminton … the Swedish bronze medallist in the Greco-Roman wrestling discarding his medal in protest at the ‘politics’ in the event … Federer run ragged, and eventually knocked out by James Blake (USA), and Serena Williams also out … various plucky but ultimately unsuccessful young Brits, most of whom are now being tipped for 2012 by the ever-optimistic BBC … Oh, and A levels are getting easier, apparently.

So, on to the totaliser:

GB medals by event
Men 0 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze
Women 2 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze
+ 1 bronze in team eventing (mixed team: four women, one man)

On points (gold = 3, silver = 2, bronze = 1)
Men 2
Women 10
Mixed 1

Or on total number of metal discs
Men 0 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
Women 2 gold, 1 silver, 6 bronze

Sports in which medals have been won
Men canoeing, eventing
Women cycling, swimming, eventing

Now to look at the trend across all nations …

Day 5

Sculling hero #1 Michelle Guerette secured her place in the final, three seconds ahead of Knapkova (the predictions are slipping even more). Zhang, of China, may well be unstoppable, posting a faster time than Karsten on the other side of the draw.

Hacker is out of the men's singles, with the Belgian Maeyens in, but all else as expected in terms of personnel if not in speed order, though I suspect collective powders are being kept dry.

Some predictions are definite duds: Croatia will be contesting the B final of the M2-, not getting a bronze, and there will be no New Zealand presence to pick up their bronze in the coxless four.

Two more golds for Phelps. What is the Baltimore Bullet having for breakfast? Still a lack of success for Katie Hoff, though, but Kirsy Coventry, the sounds-like-an-all-American-girl ('I'm super-excited') from Zimbabwe won her third silver. Simon Barnes, in The Times, reckons the double hats are for 'hydrodynamic efficiency'. Must be difficult to get the second one on, though; the Australians have a dedicated suit-zipper to get them into their speed suits.

In other news, the sailing was postponed owing to lack of wind, and the Murray brothers are out in the tennis. I blame Jamie Murray's haircut: he had been sporting a luxuriant McEnroe-esque 'do, complete with red headband, but had a pre-Olympic buzz cut and there's clearly some kind of Highlander/Samson thing going on.

Another medal, silver in the women's time trial. Will the Brit women outstrip the men? The totaliser is in development.

Quote of the day - Simon Barnes (again) on sychro diving:

Theirs is a sport not without beauty, but it always seems to have a
homoerotic whiff about it as well. It all looks like a wonderfully elegant gay
suicide pact.

Day 3

It seems that British women swimmers are back: they won the first gold medal since 1960, and underlined the fact by taking bronze in the same event, while the American Katie Hoff’s six-gold challenge was thwarted for the second time in two days as she had to settle for silver. Michael Phelps – curiously the only man ever to look more attractive when wearing a swimming hat – is well on his way. The 4 x 100 relay was quite extraordinary, not necessarily in outcome but in the way in which it was won - almost the whole field above world-record pace, and the incredible final length by Jason Lezak. You know it's good when even Michael Phelps has someone to look up to.

Phelps, along with a couple of other Americans, wears two swimming hats at once (why?). Aside from double hats, it’s all about the suits in swimming, with the vast majority in the new long-leg speed suit that looks almost like a wetsuit. All are seeking the advantage, so it has inadvertently levels the playing field. Not very stylish, though, given the odd grey patches, though the US have made an effort, and full marks to the guy in the bright orange one. At least he stood out.

In other tales of the unexpected, Andy Murray crashed out in the first round of the men's singles, and the synchro divers trailed in last despite the hype. Made worse by the rather unseemly spat afterwards, a huff that made one wonder which was the teenager and which the grown man.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was the GB men's eight winning their heat and going straight through to the final, beating the much-fancied USA while they were about it. No upsets in the men's and women's singles, though. That said, while the medals will be shared by the usual band, the likely finishing order is by no means a done deal.

Much hard work is still to be done, but there is the greatest sense of enjoyment at these Olympics, that the athletes are just thrilled to be there. Witness Mary King and Call Again Cavalier at the end of the cross-country: he had his ears pricked and was full of running, she was beaming and wiping away tears of joy.