Rio Olympics 2016: Sir Bradley Wiggins record as GB win three golds on day seven

Cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to win eight Olympic medals as GB claimed three golds and three silvers on day seven in Rio.

Wiggins and the cycling pursuit team set a world record to beat Australia and put GB third in the medal table.

That followed two golds for Britain's rowers.

Heather Stanning and Helen Glover won the pairs, while Alex Gregory, George Nash, Constantine Louloudis and Mohamed Sbihi took the men's four.

Britain also claimed silvers in the dressage, trampolining and swimming.

British Olympic Association chief Bill Sweeney told BBC Sport that Team GB were on track to realise their goal of at least 48 medals in Rio.

"We are quite happy where we sit, but it is very much feet on the ground," he said. "There is a real breadth of talent there now, right across a breadth of sports, and that is really satisfying."

It was another exhilarating night in the pool.

• Britain's Jazz Carlin secured her second silver of the Games in the women's 800m freestyle, as American Katie Ledecky surged to her fourth Rio gold.

• Singapore's Joseph Schooling won his nation's first gold medal with victory in the 100m butterfly as Michael Phelps was denied a 23rd Olympic title. Phelps was one of three men to finish joint second and said afterwards this would be his last Games.

• Anthony Ervin, a gold medallist in 2000 who spent several years away from the sport, became the oldest ever Olympic swimming champion - winning the 50m freestyle at the age of 35.

Meanwhile, the heptathlon is set for a thrilling climax.

Defending champion Jessica Ennis-Hill narrowly leads after a dramatic opening day in which team-mate Katarina Johnson-Thompson broke the British high jump record but was fourth overnight.

History-maker Wiggins sets tongues wagging

Wiggins now has five golds, one silver and two bronzes to surpass fellow cyclist Sir Chris Hoy's tally of seven.

The 36-year-old cyclist combined with Ed Clancy, Owain Doull and Steven Burke to complete the 4km race in three minutes 50.265 seconds to secure Britain's seventh gold of the Games.

"When you have guys like that it makes your life easier," said Wiggins.

• Read more: Wiggo - the real hero behind the medals

Silvers add to Britain's haul

On a day of ups and downs, 25-year-old Bryony Page became the first British woman to win an Olympic medal in trampolining.

The dressage team also won silver, with Spencer Wilton, Fiona Bigwood, Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin beaten by world champions Germany.

Windsurfer Nick Dempsey, meanwhile, is guaranteed a second successive Olympic silver medal.

Elsewhere, defending champion Andy Murray reached the men's tennis semi-finals but needed a final-set tie-break to scrape past American Steve Johnson.

Murray and Heather Watson were knocked out of the mixed doubles, while Spain's Rafael Nadal - a potential final opponent for the Scot in the singles - clinched the men's doubles title with Marc Lopez.

High drama in the heptathlon

Ennis-Hill has just a 72-point advantage on Belgium's Nafissatou Thiam in second, with Johnson-Thompson only 100 points adrift.

Johnson-Thompson cleared 1.98m - a new British high jump record - to top the leaderboard after two events in the heptathlon, but dropped to sixth after a disappointing shot put.

Ennis-Hill threw a below-best 13.86m, while Johnson-Thompson could only manage 11.68m before winning the 200m ahead of her compatriot.

Jo Pavey, 42, finished 15th in the women's 10,000m as Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana smashed the world record by 14 seconds.

In shooting, Amber Hill, 18, went out of the women's skeet in the semi-finals.

Rowers excel on Lagoa Rodrigo

World champions Glover and Stanning, who won Britain's first gold of the London Games, led from the start and finished 1.2 seconds clear of New Zealand in a time of seven minutes 18.29 seconds.

The pair are unbeaten in 39 races, a run that stretches back five years.

Glover said: "The pressure was immense. London was a home Games and there was nothing more special but this is defending a title - it means so much."

In the men's four, Sbihi, Nash, Louloudis and London 2012 winner Gregory beat Australia in a time of five minutes 58.61 seconds.

It was Britain's fifth consecutive Olympic title in the event after wins in Sydney, Athens, Beijing and London.

Brothers Gary and Paul O'Donovan won rowing silver in the lightweight men's double sculls to give Ireland their first medal of the Games.

Empty seats as athletics starts

In contrast to the packed stands and noisy atmosphere that greeted day one of track and field at London 2012, crowds at the Estadio Olimpico were thin.

Organisers say 58% of available tickets were sold for day one of the athletics.

"We're not disappointed. Without heroes and local athletes, the public take longer to fall in love with track and field," said Rio spokesman Mario Andrada.

"There will be no problem when Usain Bolt competes on Sunday." said Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada

World record smashed

Ethiopian star Ayana obliterated the 10,000m world record in the opening track event of the Olympics.

She took nearly 14 seconds off the previous mark with her time of 29 minutes 17.45 seconds - beating the 29:31.78 set by China's Wang Junxia in 1993.

Pavey, the first British track athlete to compete in a fifth Olympic Games, said: "I found it tough out there. I'm so honoured to have competed at my fifth Olympics, but in reality I am getting old."

Britain's Michael Rimmer qualified for the 800m semi-finals, behind defending champion David Rudisha, who won their heat in 1:45.09.

Brit watch

World, European and Olympic champion Greg Rutherford survived a scare to qualify in 10th of 12 for the long jump final.

After two foul jumps, he leapt to 7.90m - enough to reach the final by just five centimetres - while leading rivals American Mike Hartfield, China's Xinglong Gao and Sweden's Michel Torneus bowed out.

"Going into the final round, I definitely wasn't as stressed as my family were at home," said a relaxed-sounding Rutherford.

The men's hockey team are out after drawing 1-1 with Spain in their final pool match.

Away from the action

• China's Chen Xinyi became the first swimmer to fail a doping test at the Rio Olympics.

• Poland's Olympic weightlifting champion Adrian Zielinski joined brother Tomasz in being sent home after testing positive for nandrolone.

• Work has begun on returning the water in the diving pool to its original blue colour after it went green. Britain's Tom Daley questioned why the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre was closed on Friday for training. Organisers said the water must be still for the pool to return to its blue colour.

• Germany's canoe slalom coach Stefan Henze is in a Rio hospital with life-threatening injuries after a car crash on Friday morning.

• Kenyan athletics official Michael Rotich suspended over corruption allegations.

And on day eight....

15:27 BST Rowing - World champions Great Britain in men's eight rowing finals. Women's eight have also made earlier final (15:06).

15:45 Athletics - Heptathlon long jump. Fifth of seven disciplines. GB's defending champion Jessica Ennis-Hill leads the event, with team-mate Katarina Johnson-Thompson close behind in fourth. 00:00 (Sunday): Javelin. 02:50: Gold decided in concluding 800m.

16:00 Athletics - 100m heats. First Rio race for star attraction Usain Bolt, who begins bid for an Olympic sprint golden treble treble. Rivals in final (02:25 Monday) likely to include Justin Gatlin.

16:00 Tennis - Men: Andy Murray v Kei Nishikori, singles semi-final. 17:30 approx Rafael Nadal v Juan Martin Del Potro. Women: 1900 approx Singles final - Angelique Kerber v Monica Puig.

20:53 Cycling - GB favourites in women's pursuit team final. 21:27 Becky James a medal contender in the keirin.

After midnight BST

00:50 (Sunday) Athletics - Long jump: Greg Rutherford defends title. Could there be a repeat of London's Super Saturday at the athletics?

01:27 Athletics - 10,000m: Mo Farah defends his title.

02:03 Swimming - 50m freestyle: Fran Halsall has a chance to win her first Olympic medal.

02:37 Athletics - Women's 100m final. Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce seeks third consecutive Olympic gold

03:04 Swimming - Men's 4x400m relay final. Gold medal winner Adam Peaty in GB team; USA have Michael Phelps in Olympic swimming farewell.