Saturday 11 August 2012

Olympics Day 15: Go, Mo!

On the penultimate day of the Olympics, Britain had two of its biggest stars going for medals. And both delivered. There are still events tomorrow, but today it felt like the UK had won the whole Olympics.

First there was Mo Farah's astonishing 5000-meter race, which he really wasn't expected to win. But then he wasn't supposed to win the 10,000 meter race last weekend either. And now he's a double gold medallist. I think the entire nation screamed in unison as he executed a beautiful victory.

Second was poster boy Tom Daley, who dove at Beijing 2008 when he was just 14. Now 18, he had been the face of the Games for the past four years. So no pressure then when he faced off against the formidable Chinese and American divers in the 10-meter final tonight. He won bronze - not gold but still a major achievement.

Of course a lot of other countries won medals today, and so did some other Brits, but these two things sent the home nation into an even more massively celebratory mood. Stephen Daldry's closing ceremony tomorrow night can hardly fail to increase the ecstasy.

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