The Magnificent Seven for golden GB: Kate cheers them on... and then gives our discus hero his medal

• Mixed coxed fours win gold at Eton Dorney
• Team of David Smith, James Roe and 'blondes in the boat' Naomi Riches and Pam Relph scoop first gold of day 4
• Weshman Aled Davies wins gold in the Men's discus as Paralympics GB passes Beijing athletics haul
• Anthony Kappes and Craig MacLean win all-British tandem pursuit final
• Double joy in equestrian with wins for dressage team of Lee Pearson, Sophie Wells, Deborah Criddle and Sophie Christiansen and an individual gold for Christiansen
• Teenager Jessica-Jane Applegate swims to gold in 200m freestyle, while wheelchair racer David Weir caps off golden day with win in 5,000m

By DAVID WILLIAMS, TOM KELLY and LOUISE ECCLES

PUBLISHED: 13:25, 2 September 2012 | UPDATED: 23:34, 2 September 2012

The Duchess of Cambridge gave the royal seal of approval to another glittering day for Britain at the Paralympics yesterday.

In a series of inspiring performances, the GB competitors picked up a further seven golds – one of which was presented by the duchess herself.

The 80,000 packed into the stadium cheered when Kate hung the medal around the neck of discus thrower Aled Davies.

Golden touch: Aled Davies holds the Union Jack aloft (left) while a  beaming Duchess of Cambridge presents him with his gold medal in front of a packed Olympic stadium

Making waves: Britain's Pamela Relph, Naomi Riches, Davis Smith, James Roe and Lily van den Broecke celebrate on the podium after they win gold in the rowing LTA mixed coxed four

Earlier Kate cheered with delight as Britain's mixed coxed fours crew - David Smith, James Roe, Naomi Riches, Pam Relph and cox Lily van den Broecke - pulled away from their German rivals and crossed the finish line first at Eton Dorney.

In all, there were medals across athletics, rowing, dressage, table tennis, swimming and cycling yesterday – taking the overall total to 16 golds, 24 silver and 14 bronze. It puts Paralympic GB in second place in the medal table, with 54 in all. 

The cyclists led the way with a gold for Anthony Kappes and pilot Craig MacLean after victory in an all-British tandem final. Neil Fachie and pilot Barney Storey took the silver.

With extraordinary grace and control Britain’s Paralympics dressage team won gold for the fifth consecutive Games.

It means Britain has come out on top in every Paralympics since the event was introduced in Atlanta in 1996.

Champions: Victorious British rowing crew members Pamela Relph, Naomi Riches, David Smith, James Roe and Lily Van Den Briecke hug after receiving their their gold medals

We've done it! The Duchess of Cambridge holds her arms aloft as the British crew take Paralympic glory. She watched the rowing at Eton Dorney with Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and Lady Louise Windsor

Making a point: The Duchess of Cambridge talks to Lady Louise Windsor as they watch the rowing finals at Eton Dorney

By royal appointment: A tracksuited Kate Middleton was the guest of honour at Eton Dorney today

And it was a day of double glory for one of the dressage team when 24-year-old Sophie Christiansen won individual gold in Grade Ia, the category for riders who have the highest level of disability.

Fellow team members Sophie Wells and Deborah Criddle also won silver in their grades adding to the gold won by Natasha Baker and silver won by Lee Pearson on Saturday. The performance confirmed Britain’s dominance in the sport following the gold won by the dressage team at the Olympics. 

Christiansen, who has cerebral palsy, did not hear about the team victory until she had completed her individual event because her coaches feared extra pressure could affect her performance.

Afterwards, Christiansen, who took up riding as a form of physiotherapy aged six, said: ‘I’m so pleased, it’s amazing. I’m welling up. All our riders are among the best in the world – we deserve gold because of them and our support staff.’

Rowers Pamela Relph and Naomi Riches shed tears as they celebrate winning gold (left) before being joined by fellow winner Lily Van Den Briecke (right)

Double joy: Sophie Christiansen of celebrates winning gold during the individual dressage, grade Ia, while a team gold was to follow

Laughter: The Duchess of Cambridge (right), Countess of Wessex (left) and Lady Louise Windsor (centre) share a joke during the rowing finals

Cheers: Kate joins Prince Edward and his daughter Lady Louise Windsor in the crowd

Success in the velodrome: Anthony Kappes (left) and Craig Maclean celebrate winning Gold in the Men's Individual B Sprint at the Velodrome

All GB final: Anthony Kappes and Craig Maclean with their gold medals after beating fellow Brits Neil Fachie and Barney Storey who claimed silver

Her individual gold follows a silver in dressage and a gold in freestyle at the 2008 games and a bronze at Athens in 2004.

The sixth gold of the day was claimed by 16-year-old Jessica-Jane Applegate, who has Asperger’s syndrome,when she swam to gold in the women’s 200m freestyle.

The victory was met with joy and relief among a passionate, partisan and royal crowd after a disappointing morning on the water.

The golden day was capped of in the athletics stadium when David Weir confirmed his status as the greatest Great Britain wheelchair athlete ever after clinching his third successive Paralympic Games gold medal with a magnificent victory in the men’s 5,000m TS4.

The 33-year-old Londoner wrapped up a day of sporting drama with a stunning surge of power down the final straight to claim victory ahead of Australia’s Kurt Fearnley.

Proud supporter: Lady Louise Windsor waved a Union flag as she watched the rowing events with her father and the Duchess of Cambridge

Captivated: The Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Edward watch one of the thrilling races at Eton Dorney

Royal approval: Sophie, Countess of Wessex took in the action with her son Viscount Severn (left) and applauded at the end of the race as the Duchess of Cambridge punched the air (right)

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson told BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘That was a supreme effort . He was in control. Weir just looked amazing and I’ve never seen him celebrate like that. I’m so so pleased for David Weir.'

Golden moment: Gold medallist Jessica-Jane Applegate poses following the medal ceremony for the Women's 200m Freestyle

Back in cycling there was silver too for Rik Waddon, Darren Kenny and Jon-Allan Butterworth in the sprint final and a bronze for Aileen McGlynn and pilot Helen Scott in the women’s individual pursuit.

And there was a silver in the table tennis for Will Bayley, a former school mate of pop singers Adele and Jessie J. He collapsed to the floor in tears after losing his final in four sets.

Elsewhere Stef Reid, 27, who has one leg, won silver in the long jump,

Earlier Tom Aggar lost his Paralympic title and his five-year unbeaten streak as he finished fourth in the AS men's single sculls final.

Nick Beighton and Samantha Scowen, who only came together in the TA mixed double sculls last year, also had to settle for fourth after being edged out of the medals in a tight finish.

Four times Olympic gold medallist Matthew Pinsent cheered the fours across the line. Speaking after their victory, he said: 'I'm so proud of them. 

'That was such a tough race but they rode a really nice race, put the Germans under pressure and just moved away at the last bit. It was a really important for British rowing that.'

Relph broke down in tears as the team were presented with their gold medals.

The 22-year-old from Aylebury and her teammate, 29-year-old Riches were nicknamed the two 'blondes in a boat' ahead of the event.

Wrapping up the success: David Weir caps of a stunning day for Great Britian as he storms to gold in the 5,000m

She took up rowing after her career in the Army was cut short by worsening arthritis which had affected her from the age of seven.

She said: 'It was really strange for me when they said I classified for the Paralympics.

'I didn't really feel like I was disabled, because I had probably made the assumption that you need to be in a wheelchair or have had a limb amputated.

'Within a week of being discharged from the military I was qualified as a Paralympic athlete.'

Riches, 29, a partially sighted jewellery designer, said: 'In 2004 GB needed girls in the Paralympics crew and I ticked all the boxes – I was quite tall, I had tried rowing at college and I was visually impaired.

'Four months later I went to my first world championship. I absolutely took to it and got hooked on the sport.'

The Duchess of Cambridge smiles as she presents a gold medal to men's discus champion Aled Davies

Men's discus champion Aled Davies celebrates after having his gold medal presented by the Duchess of Cambridge

The Duchess of Cambridge applauds during the medal ceremony for discus thrower Aled Davies

Britain's Aled Davies celebrates after winning gold in the men's discus

Better than Beijing

Aled Davies took Great Britain's athletics team past their gold medal haul from the Beijing Paralympics on just the third morning of competition at London 2012 with a dominant discus victory.

The 21-year-old, already a bronze medallist in the shot put, added a third British gold with a European record of 46.14 metres to take the F42 crown.

That effort came with his final throw, by which time he was already guaranteed gold. The Welsh athlete received a huge ovation as he walked into the circle before launching the disc to deafening cheers.

He knew it was big straight away and raced off in celebration before draping himself in the Union Flag for a lap of hour.

The Welshman's victory followed triumphs over the first two days by Hannah Cockroft and Richard Whitehead and a silver medal for Stef Reid in the long jump. 

The 27-year-old set two new Paralympic records only to be denied gold by a whisker.

Reid, who lost her right leg below the knee in a horrific boating accident aged 15, launched herself out to 5.28m.

It was actually 90cm further than gold medallist Kelly Cartwright, but with points rather than distances determining the final standings in the combined class F42/44 event, she finished agonisingly short.

Reid, a F44 athlete who competed for Canada in Beijing, finished with 1023 points, while her Australian rival, in the F42 class, achieved a world record for 1030 points.

She had her life saved but lost her leg after it was caught in the propeller of a motor boat.

'I was so thankful to have my life saved, but then to find out I was going to be an amputee it made me question - I don't really know if I want to continue on like this,' she said.

'When they pulled me back on the boat, you could see it in everyone's face, this is not good, there is too much blood. I remember lying in the ambulance and eventually they took me to a local clinic.

On her way to silver: Britain's Stef Reid competes in the Women's Long Jump F42/44 Final athletics event during the Paralympic Games

Triumph: Stef lost her right leg below the knee in a horrific boating accident aged 15

'At that point, my parents have come down. I remember being furious with the doctor because he sent my parents in and I knew what he was doing - he sent them in to say goodbye because nobody thought I would ever make it.'

She credited the harsh but realistic words of a nurse in a Toronto hospital with picking her up.

'In the end, it ended up being an amazing gift as a 16-year-old to realise what really mattered in life,' she added.

Jumping to success: Stef Reid during her record breaking jump, which claimed her a silver medal

'It's funny, I was thinking, as I was on there (on the long jump runway) I was terrified.

'But then I thought, 'You know what, I have been up against boat propellers - and I won. This is not going to be that difficult.'

Elsewhere there was disappointment on the track for wheelchair racer Shelly Woods' Paralympic medal hopes in the T54 5,000 metres ended in a sprint finish at the Olympic Stadium this morning.

The Blackpool athlete, who was met with a huge roar from the crowd whenever she hit the front, had to settle for eighth place in 12 minutes 29.26 seconds.

The 26-year-old, who was paralysed from the waist down after falling from a tree aged 11, did not have the strength to live with a 52.59secs last lap as she finished 1.39s behind gold medal winner Edith Wolf of Switzerland.

She told Channel 4: 'The way I was feeling I thought I could shake them up a bit but I didn't have enough. I gave it everything I had so I can't complain. I gave it my best shot.

'I could have raced it another way by hanging back, but I am not the best sprinter.

'I have got quite a few races left, the 1500m and 800m and the marathon at the end.'

Elsewhere, sprinters Graeme Ballard and Ben Rushgrove, who have cerebral palsy, cruised into the T36 100m final, but Tracey Hinton, competing in her sixth Games, went out in the semi-finals of the T11 200m.

More tandem gold for Paralympics GB in the Olympic Velodrome

Tandem gold: Great Britain's Anthony Kappes (right) and his polit Craig Maclean celebrate winning Gold in the Men's Individual B Sprint

Anthony Kappes and Craig MacLean won Paralympic gold in a stunning all-British tandem sprint final on the fourth and final day of competition at the London 2012 velodrome.

Kappes, who is partially sighted, and his pilot MacLean claimed a 2-0 win in the best of three final against team-mates Neil Fachie and his pilot Barney Storey.

In the second bout, Kappes and MacLean accelerated to overtake their rivals with a lap and a half to go before swooping down to the racing line.

Storey and Fachie nearly lost control behind them and sat up, settling for silver.

It was a second successive tandem sprint gold for Kappes, who won the title alongside Storey in Beijing in 2008.

Britain won both golds in the tandem sprint events, after Fachie and Storey won one-kilometre time-trial gold, when Kappes and MacLean did not finish due to mechanical trouble.

Team GB just missed out on another cycling gold in the mixed C1-5 team sprint - but Darren Kenny, Rik Waddon and Jon-Allan Butterworth had to settle for silver.

China won in a world record of 49.454, with Britain second in 49.519.

It was Butterworth's third silver from three events, with two to come on the road at Brands Hatch next week.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2197119/2012-Paralympics-Kate-Middleton-cheers-mixed-coxed-fours-presents-gold-medal-champion-discus-thrower.html#ixzz25M7kBEhf

Dressed to thrill! Dujardin claims second gold of the Games

By MIKE DICKSON

PUBLISHED: 16:05, 9 August 2012 | UPDATED: 21:16, 9 August 2012

Land of Hope and Glory gently wafted across Greenwich Park as Charlotte Dujardin walked, cantered and trotted her way into the ranks of Britain’s finest female Olympians with a staggering display of nerve on the horse she calls Blueberry.

It had been cleverly segued with the theme from The Great Escape, which was what a somewhat aggrieved Dutch team felt they had witnessed as she edged out their own Adelinde Cornelissen for a second gold within three days.

Look, I've got another one: Charlotte Dujardin celebrates winning her second medal

By adding yesterday’s individual dressage title to the team event won on Tuesday, Dujardin, virtually unknown outside the cognoscenti before this week, elevated herself into the most distinguished company.

Only Rebecca Adlington, Laura Trott and Dame Kelly Holmes have picked up a brace of golds at the same Games, and all that from a discipline that had never even produced an Olympic medal of any kind prior to this year.

Not bad for a girl who left school at 16 and was only able to afford her first grand prix horse due to a small inheritance left by her grandmother, which her mother then diverted towards her daughter’s ambitions.

These were utterly fulfilled in this kind of horse-and-human version of Strictly Come Dancing with a performance of flair that just about convinced the seven judges that she was the best of the 18 finalists.

Dujardin, seeded as the last rider out because of her top-ranking display in the team event, had to endure an agonising wait before she and the officially named Valegro stepped out before the 23,000-strong crowd at this stunning venue.

By then she knew that an Olympic record would be required to secure middle spot on the podium, as Cornelissen on Parzival had lifted the bar intimidatingly high with a hoof-perfect test that had secured an average mark of 88.196 per cent.

And in technical terms she was unable to match that, a slight slip in transition from passage to piaffe raising the hopes of her main rival that the British team’s gold rush in the equestrian events would be halted at the last.

Yet it was felt that her quirky mix of moves to very British themes that also included Live and Let Die and the chiming of Big Ben was so artistically outstanding that it more than compensated for any mechanical shortcomings in her freestyle routine. An overall 90.089 was awarded, lifted by an enormous 93.429 for artistic merit.

With Laura Bechtolsheimer securing the bronze, two places ahead of Dujardin’s mentor Carl Hester in fifth, it was the event which signalled GB’s 50th medal of the Games, and in another sport a bat might have been raised towards the Olympic Stadium just visible in the distance.

As ever the victor was keen to give credit to her horse Valegro who, while sounding vaguely like a dodgy old British Leyland product of the seventies, is a Rolls- Royce among animals. So much so that if the mooted decision to sell him is carried through by joint owners Hester and Roly Luard is likely to attract bids in the region of £10million. 

‘He did feel very tired, he has been here since last Sunday and is only 10 years old but he gave me his all,’ said Dujardin. ‘It didn’t bother me when I saw the scores of Adelinde, I just knew I had to go out there and do my best.

Hands up who won two gold medals: Charlotte Dujardin was the star of the show at Greenwich on Thursday

First up: Laura Bechtolsheimer waves to the crowd after being awarded her bronze medal

Third: Laura Bechtolsheimer on Mistral Hojris

‘I suppose with that slight mistake it was the great escape in the end — I made it when he got a bit tense and misunderstood me, but I wouldn’t have cared what medal I had got because my horse gave me everything.

‘At an event in Germany I realised the organisers had The Great Escape playing as background music to my test and I just thought it’s really cool, I want that. It is fantastic to ride to.’

In contrast to Bechtolsheimer, raised in Britain by wealthy German parents, Dujardin comes from a more modest background and has had to scrape for everything en route to the top of her sport.

‘My parents don’t have a lot of money and it was only when my mum’s mum died that we could buy Fernandez, my first grand  prix horse. Before that we had to produce ponies and make something out of them because we never had the money for top ones. Luckily, Mum was very good at spotting a cheap one that was also good.

‘No decision has been made about selling Valegro so I’m not going to worry about it. If they do then I’m going to miss him like mad but it’s out of my hands.’

Maarten van der Heijden, the Dutch performance director, felt that his top rider could have been treated more generously by the judges, although they are evenly spread among nations and included one each from the most competitive nations Holland, Britain and Germany.

‘We are a bit disappointed about the result, I thought we deserved the gold,’ he said. ‘Adelinde did an incredible test. After Valegro made those mistakes at the end we thought we had won the gold.

‘Maybe the judges thought that Valegro’s performance was softer and lighter — and we are in England.’

Regardless, it was only the third time the 90 per cent mark has ever been broken in this event, and it rounded off a remarkable equestrian event for Britain which has seen a final haul of three golds, a silver and a bronze.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-2186083/London-2012-Olympics-Charlotte-Dujardin-bags-second-gold.html#ixzz235MREukX

British riders claim glory in dressage as Team GB pass Beijing mark with 20th gold

By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 16:17, 7 August 2012 | UPDATED: 16:58, 7 August 2012

Great Britain's dressage riders won gold and landed their first title in Olympic history.

Barely 24 hours after the British showjumping team clinched a first gold medal for 60 years, the dressage trio of Carl Hester, Laura Bechtolsheimer and Charlotte Dujardin also triumphed at Greenwich Park.

Britain had never previously won an Olympic dressage medal, which underlines the magnitude of their achievement.

Give us a wave: Hester celebrates after competing in the team dressage grand prix special

Heart-stopper: Charlotte Dujardin celebrates after riding her horse, Valegro, to team dressage gold

Reach for the stars: Laura Bechtolsheimer rises her arm after her ride on Mistral Hojrisin

What is dressage?

In dressage, the horse performs a carefully choreographed routine of movements that showcases the animal's training: prancing trots, extended strides, twirling pirouettes and a move called the flying change, which looks like the horse is skipping. 

And the comprehensive victory gave Britain a total of 20 golds at one Games, a post-war record that eclipses the haul in Beijing four years ago.

Britain went into the Games as team title favourites, given their outstanding run of form during the past 18 months.

And they delivered by the bucket-load in today's grand prix special - the second part of the team test - as Hester broke Dutch star Anky van Grunsven's Olympic record on Uthopia, before his training partner Dujardin bettered his score just 90 minutes later.

Rule Britannia: The crowd at Greenwich Park show their appreciation for yet another British gold medal

With Bechtolsheimer delivering a solid performance in between, Britain proved uncatchable, with Germany second and Holland third.

Britain finished on a score of 79.97 per cent - the team scores from both team tests are averaged out to give the final result - while Germany posted 78.21 per cent and Holland 77.12 per cent.

It meant that Germany's run of seven successive Olympic team titles came to an end.

Hester told BBC 1: 'Both those girls are cool customers.

On the hoof: Germany's dressage rider Helen Langehanenberg performs with her horse, Damon Hill

Glory: Team GB claimed their 20th gold of the Games at the Equestrian venue in Greenwich Park

'Charlotte is unbelievable for the amount of time she's been riding, and the horse is also unbelievable - he's the best horse in the world.

'As with every sport that has won a gold medal at this Games, it has just shot our sport into a totally different league.

'This is my fourth Olympics, and it's actually a very weird feeling for me, because three Olympics I've gone with no expectations and it's actually quite easy to ride like that.

Looking good: Judges watch Dujardin riding Valegro in the team dressage grand prix special

'To come to an Olympics where we were possibly expected to get a gold medal gave me a frightening feeling, and I quite enjoyed it.

'I am looking forward to it all being over, to get the individual competition out of the way now, but it's a truly special minute for everyone in British dressage.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-2184976/London-2012-Olympics-Great-Britain-dressage-team-win-gold-medal.html#ixzz22sPoE7PU