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At least they had the grace to reverse their decision on appeal which meant Sarah Stevenson secured a bronze medal after all.But who knows how far she might have got if the original result had been judged properly??

Here's some just for you: The battle with the Russians is now over as they have inevitably pushed us into 4th place.Shame but predictable! At least we managed to hold onto that 3rd spot right up to the last day!! My worry now is holding onto the 4th spot! The Germans now seem to be creeping up on us with a late surge!

I just read this item on ITV's Teletext news: "London 2012 will unveil its blueprint to be the Cool Olympics with an 8 minute closing clot in the Beijing Closing Ceremony.Rock legend Jimmy Page and singer Leona Lewis will perform and footballer David Beckham will also be involved. The set will start with a London double decker bus circling the Bird's Nest stadium pursued by cyclists Chris Hoy,Victoria Pendleton and Shanaze Reade."

It seems that there are always some Australians,although not all (certainly not the ones I've met here on Gamesbids) who just love to belittle Britain and put us down at every opportunity.No doubt the newspaper will claim it was just meant to be a bit of harmless fun,and no doubt that is true to a large extent,but there does seem to be an undercurrent of real bitterness at play as well (eg.what was that snide remark about the Millennium all about?).It's as if some Australians cannot stand the thought of there being anything like a successful modern Britain (especially in sports) and that they can only live comfortably with the older idea of Britain as a washed-up country that doesn't seem able to compete at anything successfully in the modern world so that they can poke fun at us which is all rather sad really and does seem to tell you more about Australia than it does about Britain! Maybe I'm exaggerating but I would like to hear the opinions of some of the Aussie posters on here about this! In any case,I've got news for the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald and other like-minded Aussie publications...when it comes to poking fun at the Brits,nobody does it better than the Brits themselves.So back off!!!!

I'm still not clear what it was exactly that Bolt did that got under Rogge's nose??

A much needed extra gold from Tim Brabants in the kayak event! Well done Tim!! That's one more gold between us and the Russians as we desperately cling onto our 3rd spot.Although I expect we will get finally overtaken by the latter some time today or tomorrow,every little extra helps.(Such a pity our other gold medal hopeful Shanaze Reade couldn't have made it a double)!! But overall...it's been a great ride!!!

Shame,we could have done with that extra gold! Seriously,as she is the world champion,I don't think it was too much hype to hope she would add the Olympic title to her world title.Plus she had the fastest qualifying time.She was virtually neck and neck in the lead with the French rider Chausson and trying to overtake her on the bend when her bike hit the back wall and flung her off.Disappointing for her and for GB's medal hopes but hopefully she will recover quickly from her injuries,learn from her mistakes and be in better form for London 2012!!

I fully expect the Russians to overtake us into 3rd place at some point later today probably.It's been a great feeling having GB in 3rd position for most of this past week.I've kinda got used to it and it will be a bit sad if we finally lose it.But I always felt it was a bit unreal for us to be ahead of Russia,one of the trio of Olympic giants (along with the US and China) and always expected them to come back with a late surge which they now seem to be doing.(They have consistently been ahead of us on total medal count anyway). If we finally finish 4th it will still be a great achievement for us and will have fully justified the GB Olympic team's aims of finishing in that position in 4 years time in London!!

Is 16 the minimum age limit just for gymnasts? I ask because the British Olympic diver,Tom Daley is only 14 and there is no problem with allowing him to compete!

Why is that??

The IOC boss seems to be less than thrilled by Bolt than the rest of us! "Olympics boss Jacques Rogge has told Usain Bolt to show more respect for opponents after the Jamaican claimed the first sprint double for 24 years." Link to BBC article:

It's especially disappointing for British hopes as the men's 4x100 relay team were the defending Olympic champions! On the other hand,the GB women's team managed to qualify comfortably for their place in the final!!

Shouldn't she have received a lifelong ban in 2003? Why was she allowed to compete here at all??

It has a 24 hour licence!!

There's Usain Bolt and then there is everybody else.He is going to be one of those legendary athletes that will always stick in the memory!! Plus congrats to Tasha Danvers who took the bronze for GB in the women's 400m hurdles!!

Keri-Anne Payne and Cassie Patten both did their training in Stockport which is just down the road from where I live so I am especially proud for them! Agreed.Its beginning to look (at the moment) as if Russia is starting finally to close the gap on GB too.Oh well,even if we do finish 4th behind them,it has been a great ride!!

For me (so far): Gold: Michael Phelps.It has to be.To win 8 Gold medals in one Games is awesome beyond belief,just as it was when Mark Spitz won his 7 at Munich back in '72. Silver: Usain Bolt.It's not so much the fact that he won 2 Gold medals (other athletes have won more) but the way in which he did it! 'Lightning' Bolt indeed! Bronze: The GB Cycling Team.I fully agree with Stu here.Although GB's great showing in the medal table is remarkable by British standards,it is the Cycling Team's performance that is of truly international significance!

I thought at first you were being a bit rude there Beth! Didn't realise you were just referring to a character from Neighbours!! I'd better not say anymore.(Where's the icon for 'blush)'??

It seems achievable.But,as you say,it will all depend on whether each of these medal hopefuls will achieve their potential. But whether they manage to do so or not,this is turning out to be an amazing Olympics for Team GB! I don't understand what has happened to mighty Russia this time around.Have other nations been stealing their best medal hopes? I keep expecting that they must make a late surge this week and eventually overtake us to assume their usual spot at the top alongside China and the US! Fingers crossed that both will make an appearance on the medal table sometime this week!

Seems a tad unreal to me somehow.I keep thinking I'm going to wake up any second and think...damn, it was just another bloody dream!! It's such a refreshing change at last to see British sportsmen and women finally going a long way to achieving their potential.Long may it continue (or don't bother waking me up)!!!

Oops,sorry about that...I knew I'd probably miss out on someone.But he does seem to be an exception? Off the top of my head,there was Valery Borzov from the Soviet Union who won the 100 & 200m sprint events at Munich in 1972 and the British runner Alan Wells who won the 100m at Moscow in 1980.But maybe,like Cullen Jones,they are amongst the exceptions that prove the rule! Is it just a fact of life that...blacks sprint and whites swim??

I guess we'll have to keep our fingers crossed for Paula again and hope that London 2012 will prove to be third time lucky for her!!

Some info from her Wikipedia entry for you CAF: "She attended Sharnbrook Upper School and Community College with Dan Hall (pro footballer) and studied French, German and Economics at Loughborough University, gaining a first-class honours degree in modern European studies"

Well,this guy seemed pretty hairy for a swimmer! What I would like to know is....why do we never see any black swimmers (or is it just me)?

I liked it better when the fans used to sing 'God Save Our Gracious Team!' It always reflected the fans' true priorities and feelings for me.After all,its not the bloody Queen who's out there sweating her guts,fighting for national glory in the sports arena,is it!!! Whatever happened to that cheerful irreverence?? No doubt HRH (why has she been demoted from HM?) Queen Elizabeth will now weigh in to express her lack of amusement and chide me for my disrespect!!