Birtley boxer Pat McCormack has taken Olympic silver in the welterweight final in Tokyo.

The 26-year-old from Washington was beaten by Cuban Roniel Iglesias, who won gold at London 2012 and bronze at Beijing 2008.

McCormack was ranked as the top seed in the category but lost on unanimous points over the three rounds.

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Hi twin brother Luke was at ringside, cheering him on after he was eliminated from the men's lightweight competition at the weekend.

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Birtley Boxing Club, where the brothers train, said they had "done their club and country proud" and described Pat and Luke as "true heroes of the North East".

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Boxer Pat McCormack is about to be going for Olympic gold.

The boxer, from Birtley, will take on Cuban Roniel Iglesias in the welterweight final in Tokyo.

McCormack's twin Luke was eliminated at the weekend but he'll be ringside cheering his brother on.

Image source, Reuters

Their older brother Martin who says he's "nervous but confident" will be cheering on from their mum's house in Washington.

Martin said: "It's weird not being there, I would've liked to have been, but I'm confident he's going to do the business."

Mum Michelle, who works at Sunderland's Royal Infirmary, says staff at the hospital are hoping to watch the bout too.

She said: "It's nice they're supporting us."

The final is at 11:05 BST.

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Cumbrian hockey star Fiona Crackles - a member of Team GB - is a step closer to winning an Olympic medal in Tokyo.

The 21-year-old Durham University student from Kirkby Lonsdale was in the side that beat Spain on Monday, in a tense quarter-final that had to be decided by a penalty shootout.

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Katie Benter, Crackles' former team-mate at Lancaster Hockey Club, said: "Fiona was excellent and what has been so good about Fiona and the rest of the squad has been the transitions, we have rolling substitutions in hockey so we can switch on as often as we like and every time she was on she just got on with her job.

"I would love her to score her first international goal when we play the Netherlands tomorrow."

The semi-final match against the Netherlands is at 02:30 BST on Wednesday.

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Local Democracy Reporting Service
Nic Marko

City leaders in Sunderland have confirmed the Stadium of Light will be able to host more than 48,000 supporters in the coming season.

Fans are keen to be welcomed back at the stadium which has not been able to operate at capacity since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Supporters returned to the Stadium of Light for the first time in more than a year on Friday as Lee Johnson’s side picked up a 2-1 win against Hull City in a friendly.

Sunderland kick-off their League One campaign with a home game against Wigan Athletic on Saturday, the first league game with the ground at full capacity since 7 March 2020.

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Sunderland World War Two veteran Len Gibson has died aged 101, just days before the launch of his memoirs - which are due to be republished for a North East charity.

Mr Gibson's birthday was in January, and belated celebrations were held in Herrington Country Park in May when hundreds turned out to enjoy a Spitfire flypast.

He served in Singapore in 1942 when he was captured by the Japanese and forced to work on the infamous Death Railway in Burma.

After liberation in 1945 he returned to Sunderland and became a teacher.

During that time he inspired a number of young people to take up music, including his neighbour Dave Stewart who went on to form the band The Eurythmics.

At his birthday celebration in May, Stewart paid tribute to his former mentor in a video message.

He said: "I was such an admirer of you and your family and it's inspired me and helped form the foundation of the fact that I wanted to be a musician."

Mr Gibson was awarded a British Empire medal in 2019.

In recent years he was a prominent fundraiser for "Daft As A Brush", and proceeds from his book "A Wearside Lad in WWII" which goes on sale tomorrow, will go to the cancer patient care charity.

Charity founder, Brian Burnie, described Len as “the greatest gentlemen I have even met”.

Mr Burnie said: "Our thoughts are with Len’s family and friends at this time."

It's been four years since six-year-old Sunderland football fan Bradley Lowery died from a rare form of cancer. His story touched the lives of many people, including his hero Jermain Defoe.

The BBC's North of England correspondent Fiona Trott met his mum, Gemma. She explains how the foundation, set up in Bradley's name, is building a holiday home for other children with life-limiting illnesses.

(Photo credit: PA)

Former Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Liverpool and West Ham winger Stewart Downing retires at the age of 37.

A woman is being treated for multiple fractures to her arm after the car she was driving was involved in a collision in Middlesbrough.

The driver of other vehicle, believed to be a dark grey VW Passat or similar, did not stop after the crash in the College Road and Tomlinson Way area.

It happened at about 15:45 on Saturday.

The 58-year-old woman who was driving a Ford Fiesta remains in Middlesbrough's James Cook Hospital.

Police are asking anyone who saw what happened to contact them.

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Stanley Miller had multiple bank accounts and a property portfolio after evading tax, police say.

Washington boxer Pat McCormack is guaranteed at least a silver medal in the final of the men's welterweight competition at the Tokyo Olympics.

He will fight in the men's welterweight final against Cuba's Roniel Iglesias tomorrow after Ireland's Aidan Walsh pulled out of their semi-final with an ankle injury.

Watching at home on Wearside, his mum Michelle said: "Pat is on fire, he's boxing well and enjoying the tournament so hopefully it continues."

Image source, PA Media

Pat's twin brother Luke said his own defeat by the two-time world champion Andy Cruz in the last-16 of the men's lightweight tournament had left him "wounded".

Michelle said: "Such mixed emotions, delighted for Pat but devastated for Luke.

"Andy Cruz is probably the best boxer in the world so we knew it was going to be a tough fight, but Luke fought hard and was brave and we're so unbelievably proud."

Image source, Reuters