Super Saturday's sensational start! Team GB take TWO more golds as men and women rowers power to victory on water
- Andrew Triggs Hodge, Pete Reed, Tom James and Alex Gregory were victorious at Eton Dorney in the men's coxless four at Dorney Lake
- Great Britain's Sophie Hosking and Katherine Copeland took Team GB's gold medal tally up to 10 with an emphatic win in the women's double sculll
- Britain's Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter have won the silver medal in the lightweight men's double sculls
- In the athletics hopes are pinned on Jessica Ennis in the women's heptathlon and Mo Farah in the men's 10,000 metres
- Team GB's Helen Jenkins was a favourite to win gold in the women's triathlon, although she finished fifth
By JILL REILLY
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Super Saturday got off to a sensational start as Britain's rowers claimed two golds.
Cheered by an ecstatic crowd, the men's coxless four of Andrew Triggs Hodge, Pete Reed, Tom James and Alex Gregory led from the front extending Britain's dominance in the Olympic event to 16 years.
And just minutes later Kat Copeland and Sophie Hosking hugged each other, almost in disbelief, as they claimed gold in the lightweight event.
Delight: Beating Australia, Andrew Triggs Hodge, Pete Reed, Tom James and Alex Gregory led from the start to extend Britain's dominance over the Olympic event to 16 years
Double win: Just minutes later Kat Copeland and Sophie Hosking hugged each other and stood up, almost in disbelief, as they claimed gold in the lightweight event
Emotional moment: Katherine Copeland (left) and Sophie Hosking stand on the podium after winning the gold medal
The wins propelled the British team into third position in the medal table with 24 - ten gold, six silver and eight bronze.
Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter, the lightweight men's double scull champions in 2008, were less than a hundred yards into their race when a seat broke.
The rest of the boats stopped and after Purchase used a screwdriver to mend the seat, the race re-started.
It looked like the duo were remarkably going to hang on for gold only to be pipped in the final few yards by Denmark.
Victory: Great Britain celebrate after winning the gold medal in the men's four final A of the rowing event at Eton Dorney Rowing Centre in Eton
Team GB celebrate their win as the crowd look on cheering.For the third day out of four the sound of the British national anthem then echoed across the lake as British rowing fans belted out the anthem in support of their rowers.
Great Britain's Andrew Triggs Hodge, centre raises his hands in celebration and then men embraced when they returned to land
Triumphant: Great Britain take a bow in front of the crowd before receiving their gold medals
Winning team: The men smiled widely during the medal ceremony for the Men's Four Final on Day 8 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Eton Dorney
For the third day out of four the sound of the British national anthem then echoed across the lake as British rowing fans belted out the anthem in support of their rowers.
'We'd been under a lot of pressure to carry on the coxless four tradition and we've done it, this is wonderful, said'Britain's Alex Gregory.
'My son will be able to take the medal into school and say my dad's an Olympic champion.'
The men's coxless four crew led from start to finish to cross in 6 minutes, 3.97 seconds. Australia was a half-length behind in second and the United States took the bronze.
Victory: Great Britain's Sophie Hosking left, and Katherine Copeland celebrate after winning the gold medal
Did we win? Katherine Copeland looks in shock as Sophie Hosking raises her hand in celebration
On top of the world: Copeland and Hosking celebrate after winning the gold medal
Going well: Copeland and Hosking a roared onto victory by the Dorney crowd
Britain, the reigning world champion, maintained its dominance of the discipline that stretches back more than two decades to the days of rowing greats Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent.
The gold was Britain's seventh medal of the regatta - and third gold - to surpass its total from Beijing four years ago, making it the country's biggest rowing haul in the modern era.
Their victory also denied Australia's Drew Ginn a fourth gold in four Olympic Games - a feat that would have been a first for an Australian.
Triggs Hodge, the British stroke, repeatedly punched the air after sealing victory and the four crew members got in a huddle on the jetty after climbing out of the boat.
Winning: Great Britain's Mark Hunter, right and Zac Purchase sit back in relief after winning the silver medal in the men's lightweight double sculls final
The Australians and the British then embraced, a friendly ending to months of mind games and trash talk by the rival crews.
Ginn said Australia would turn the final into a 'drag race,' going out hard from the start, but it was Britain which took the early lead by 0.3 seconds after 500 meters.
The cushion was 0.6 seconds at the 1,000 and 1,500-meter markers and Britain held on comfortably as they were roared home by the crowd, winning by 1.22 seconds.
The coxless four crew was also cheered on by Lieutenant Reed's fellow sailors and Royal Marines who are embarked on HMS Bulwark providing Games security in Weymouth.Reed said: 'The hours we do, the pain - it was all worth it in the end.'
A bewildered Copeland said: 'I can't believe this is real - that we just won the Olympics.'
There are also chances for gold for Mo Farah, and the cycling's women's team pursuit.
Farah goes for gold in the final of the 10,000 metres after being pipped to the world title last year, with the race due to start just 25 minutes after Ennis could seal gold.
Bidding for glory: Great Britain's Women's endurance squad of (left - right) Wendy Houvenaghel, Joanna Rowsell and Dani King training at the Velodrome in the Olympic Park
Bidding for gold: Mo Farah of Great Britain will run today in the 10,000 metres while world champion triathlete Jenkins is one of the favourites going into the women's race having already won on the Hyde Park course a year ago
World champion Helen Jenkins came fifth in the women's triathlon.
Thousands of people crowded in to Hyde Park today to watch her aim to boost Britain's gold medal collection in the women's triathlon.
Crowds around the Serpentine were ten deep in some places to watch the start of the race.
Jenkins has previously said she was hoping similar crowds to the ones that roared Bradley Wiggins on to Olympic gold on Wednesday will help her stand on top of the triathlon podium.
The 27-year-old from Bridgend goes into the race as the reigning world champion and a dominant winner of the test event in Hyde Park 12 months ago.
Triathlon is one of the few events that is mainly non-ticketed, where crowds can line the route to cheer on the British team.
Joanne and James White travelled from Leeds to London for Olympic events this weekend and decided to get up early to watch Jenkins' bid for a gold medal.
Mrs White, 29, said: 'The atmosphere is amazing. We saw the crowds for Bradley Wiggins and Lizzie Armitstead and wanted to experience it for ourselves.
'We're really hoping we get to see Team GB get another gold. It's so exciting.'
THE PATHWAY TO GOLD: ANDREW TRIGGS HODGE, PETE REED, TOM JAMES, ALEX GREGORY
1979: Andrew Triggs Hodge born on March 9 in Aylesbury. Will go on to start rowing at Staffordshire University.
1981: Pete Reed born July 1981 in Seattle, United States. A Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, Reed will later take up rowing at the University of the West of England.
1984: Alex Gregory and Tom James both born on March 11. James will learn to row at Evesham while Gregory will take up the sport through the GB Rowing Start scheme.
2003: James makes his Great Britain debut in the eight, stroking the boat to bronze at the World Championships.
2005: Hodge and Reed win the Boat Race with Oxford and are part of the British four that wins gold at the World Championships.
2006: Hodge and Reed are part of the men's four that wins gold at the World Championships at Eton Dorney.
2007: James competes in his fourth Boat Race for Cambridge, tasting victory for the first time.
2008: Hodge, Reed and James beat Australia to win Olympic gold with a stunning late charge for the line.
2009: Hodge and Reed move into the pair and win silver at the World Championships. Gregory switches to sweep rowing and wins gold in the men's four.
2010: Hodge and Reed win silver at the World Championships, finishing just three tenths of a second behind New Zealand. Gregory is in the men's four crew that finishes a disappointing fourth.
2011: James returns to the GB squad and joins Gregory in the men's four that wins gold at the World Championships. Hodge and Reed again have to settle for silver behind the Kiwis.
2012: May - Hodge and Reed move back into the four alongside Gregory and James, winning World Cup gold at Belgrade and Lucerne.
June - The British four are beaten twice by Australia in the final World Cup regatta in Munich, taking silver.
August 4 - Britain win gold at the Olympic Games.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2183538/London-2012-Its-Super-Saturday-Team-GB-scoops-TENTH-gold-rowing-wins-busiest-day-Olympic-Games.html#ixzz22aTBWPWJ
