Olympics day five as it happened

1230: "(see 1216) Five gold medals for Steve Redgrave over 16 years, a feat unsurpassed by any other athlete. Yep, we sure do have a 'ridiculously low' benchmark for our sporting heroes in Britain."
Anon via text on 81111

1228: That win by British archer Alan Wills over Marco Galiazzo deserves another mention as the Italian was actually the defending Olympic champion. A great achievement by Alan (which should not be ignored Dirsy!).

1225: Japan's Masae Ueno wins gold in the women's 70kg judo. Anaysi Hernandez of of Cuba took silver while Edith Bosch of the Netherlands and American Ronda Rousey won bronze medals.

1220: "I note that Chris Bevan is your 30 minute lunchtime fill in. Is he on work experience? What does he do for the rest of the day?"
Pete in Bristol via text on 81111

Well, I start the day by giving Ben his alarm call and cooking his breakfast, then I carry his bags into work. He demands I massage his back every 30 minutes too.

1218: Britain's Gregor Tait has just finished second in his heat of the 200m backstroke in 1:57.03 - he is the fifth-fastest into the semi-finals. A good swim by the Scot.

1216: "Why do people in our country delude themselves with theories that Steve Redgrave is the greatest Olympian? Redgrave is a great Olympian but he is definately not the greatest and there is quite a few ahead of him in that category. Our level for great achievement/benchmark in this country is ridiculously low."
supergunner07 on 606

1212: Hmmm. Roger Federer was in spot of bother for a moment there in his second set against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic - dropping his serve to trail 0-3. He has just broken back to 2-3, however, and looks on course once more.

1207: Greetings. How nice of Dirsy to sign off with a mistake to take some of the heat off me. Although British archer Alan Wills did beat Mauro Nespoli earlier (see 1155), his latest win actually came over another Italian, Marco Galiazzo. Chew on that, Ben.

1201: I'm off for a sanger. Chris Bevan will take you through some swimming heats - let's see if he can last 30 minutes without attempt to claim Michael Phelps is actually from Abergavenny.

1200: A round-up of the men's football now and Cameroon and Italy are both through to the last eight after drawing 0-0 in their final Group D match. The Netherlands are also into the quarter-finals after beating Japan 1-0 and Nigeria join them in progressing from Group B after they saw off the United States 2-1.

1155: Some archery news: Alan Wills is our sole remaining competitor after he defeated Mauro Nespoli of Italy. Simon Terry and Larry Godrey crashed out in the individual elimination rounds. I stand corrected: Ben Ainslie is not going for his third successive Finn gold, he of course won gold in the Laser class in 2000.

1154: Things are looking good for Roger Federer so far. The Swiss world number one has just taken the first set of his third round match against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-3.

1153:Georgia's Manuchar Kvirkelia won gold in the 74kg Greco-Roman wrestling. China's Chang Yongxiang won the silver. Yavor Yanakiev of Bulgaria and Christophe Guenot of France won bronze medals.

1146:Fran Halsall wins her heat by 0.6 seconds in 53.39, that's a very impressive swim indeed. A McClatchey update - she's pulled out of the women's 100m freestyle and is being rested for the women's 4x200m freestyle relay. She's saving herself for the final, which is tomorrow night. The Brits have got a chance of a medal in that.

1141: The second session of the swimming is about to get under way. The British news is that Caitlin McClatchey, who goes in the seventh women's 100m freestyle heat, has pulled out of the women's 4x200m freestyle relay which is later this evening. Her team-mate Fran Halsall goes first in heat five of the women's 100m free.

1137:British sailor Ben Ainslie, chasing a third successive gold, is entwined in a tight battle with America's Zach Railey in the Finn class. Ainslie is the leader with three of 10 races left but is just six points ahead of Railey. "That lead is nothing in these conditions so there is still a long way to go," Ainslie said.

"Can you tell me why there isn't a spare seat at the women's beach volleyball?"
Sam, Cornwall, via text on 81111

1135: Bad news for Britain's Michael Whitaker, who is out of the showjumping competition after his horse Portofino 63 became lame. The 14-year-old bay mare, owned by Gillespie Equestrian, was sound during pre-export quarantine in the UK and on arrival in Hong Kong but has developed a problem in the last 48 hours. The reserve horse, Russel, ridden by Nick Skelton, now comes into the squad of four.

1130: "Why can't all the world's ills be determined by two women from each protagonist playing in the sand?" texts J. The Flight of the Conchords duo put it best: "If every soldier in the world put down his weapon and picked up a woman, What a peaceful world this world would be..."

1125: I did wonder to myself why the Beeb were showing women's beach volleyball - originally I just thought the director needed a livener - but I've just noticed it's Russia v Georgia. Georgia rallied from one set down to win this game. "We had to give extra for the Georgian people," said Cristine Santanna after she and fellow Brazilian Andrezza Martins beat Alexandra Shiryaeva and Natalya Uryadova. It has not been confirmed whether either of them could have pointed to Georgia on a map before they started playing volleyball for them.

1121: Spanish basketball player Jose Manuel Calderon has defended a photo in an advertisement showing him and his team-mates using their fingers to apparently make their eyes look more Chinese. "We felt it was something appropriate and that it would be interpretated as an affectionate gesture," said the Spain point guard, who plays for NBA's Toronto Raptors. Apparently Chinese organisers are planning to present the Spaniards with a crate of oranges instead of a medal if they finish in the top three.

1118: Swiss cyclist Fabian Cancellara seems pretty pleased with his return from these Olympics, and you can hardly blame him. He pocketed gold in the men's time trial today, to go with his unexpected bronze in the road race on Sunday, and said: "Now is the moment to enjoy and to be happy and proud that I won. I am very proud to go home with two medals." Good lad.

1113: I've got a Phelps fact for you: if he were to melt down all the medals he's won so far, he still wouldn't have enough gold to make sovereign rings for every member of an average Basildon family. Here's women's beach volleyball! Kiss my face!

1110: Bad news on Fiona Pennie - with 15 to qualify for the semi-finals, she's currently 15th with two women left to go. The German lady comes down clean and Pennie is eliminated. She was ranked number 12 in the world coming into this event, and fifth of those competing. Roger Federer has just started his match against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, with a place in the last-eight up for grabs.

"Re. Phelps trivia: Phelps has exactly the same number of medals as his age when he was 13. Incredible."
Paul, Haslemere via text on 81111

1105: Fiona Pennie has finished her run in 13th, and there are four paddlers left to go in the women's K1 - but only 15 qualify for the semis... fingers crossed for Fiona, who is mentored by Olympic legend Sir Steve Redgrave.

"Vamos Rafa! An Olympic medal (hopefully gold) for Nadal will make an already incredible year for him that little bit more special! Really hope he can pull it off - he deserves it!"
Sara in Bristol via text on 81111

1100: Better news from the sailing comes in the Yngling class, where the Team GB crew of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson finished second in race seven and remains top of the standings. Ben Ainslie has also maintained his overall lead in the Finn class after finishing second behind Croatia's Ivan Kjalkovic-Gaspic today and Penny Clark is up from ninth to fifth in the Laser Radial after winning race three. Poor visibility has resulted in the second races of the day in the Laser, Laser Radial, Finn and Yngling classes being postponed so that is the last we will hear of our British sailors today.

1057:Fiona Pennie is due out on the rapids in a few minutes. The Scot had a poor first run in the women's single kayak, but has every chance of moving through the field and qualifying for the semi-final - there are plenty of pitfalls on the course and lots of her competitors are struggling.

1055:France's Steeve Guenot has claimed gold in the men's 66kg Greco-Roman wrestling. Kanatbek Begaliev of Kyrgyzstan won the silver. Armen Vardanyan of Ukraine and Mikhail Siamionau of Belarus won bronze medals.

1052:Rafael Nadal has just won his third round match against Russia's Igor Andreev 6-4 6-2. We will find out soon whether Roger Federer will join him in making progress but it will not be straightforward for the Swiss star, who faces world number 20 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in his match. Berdych has form at the Olympics against Rog, famously making the Swiss superstar cry when he beat him in Athens four years ago.

1049: The GB women's eight are through to the final after finishing in the repechage, behind Canada and the Netherlands. They were left standing at the start but managed to muscle their way back into it. It's all plain sailing for Britain's rowers at the moment, which is more than you can say for GB's sailors...

1043: As I was saying, Brits we've got coming up include: Liverpool's David Price in the boxing super-heavyweight category at around 1200; Jane Gregory in the individual dressage at around 1300; plenty of swimmers, including Liam Tancock in the men's 200m individual medley and Caitlin McClatchey in the women's 100m free and Gregor Tait in the men's 200m backstroke; and the Murray brothers take on France's Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra in the men's doubles tennis.

1040: A quick reminder of what Brits we've got coming up... hang on a second, it's the women's eight repechage! I'm all over the shop here, this is what it must be like being Cheggers. The Brits are in this, and they'd like to win it to signal their intent for the final.

"Is there some kind of comp to produce the most pointless Phelps medal haul stat? If so, I have a contender: Phelps now has 13 Olympic medals, that's one for every letter in his name."
Neal, Milton Keynes via text on 81111

1031: We have diplomatic incidents exploding all over Beijing at the moment, with judges accused of incompetence in diving, boxing and gymnastics. Aussie shooter Russell Mark has now gone one louder, alleging that Chinese judges, influenced by a boistrous home crowd, helped local hope Hu Binyuan win the double trap bronze medal. Mark, the Atlanta Games gold medallist who finished fifth this year, told Australian media that local judges had awarded a hit to Hu even though he missed the target. Hmmm...

1024: News from our own Matt Slater - he's on a mission to watch as many sports as he possibly can in a single day and is up to 11. He's just ticked off archery, tennis (I'm surprised he didn't get shot...) and hockey and he's just off to see a bit of swimming.

"Fantastic news about the rowing. Hopefully the ladies can bring home the gold in the quad too."
Vicky, Coventry, via text on 81111

1020: News from the men's tennis where Rafael Nadal has just taken the first set 6-4 against Russian world number 23 Igor Andreev in his third round match.

1018:British 49er crew Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes remain well out of medal contention after being disqualified from race seven of their event for crossing the start line too early. They finished third and second in the next two races but are still only eighth overall. Paul Goodison's challenge in the Laser class is also faltering, after he finished 15th in his only race today.

"Well done, Michael Phelps. I wonder how many Carl Lewis would have won if there were medals for running in slightly different, inefficient ways."
Jon, Cambridge via text on 81111

1015:British sailing duo Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield have moved up to third place overall in the men's 470 after finishing ninth and sixth in today's races. Not such good news in the women's 470, however, where Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark are down to 11th after finishing 15th and 13th in races five and six.

1011: Brad Pitt is out of the heavyweight boxing event! Outpointed by Mohammad Arjaoui of Morocco, 11-6. Big shock that, he looked very handy in Fight Club and ruddy brilliant in Snatch. I'll have some sailing chat for you in a minute...

1007: Shocks galore in the second semi of the men's four - Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Germany go through, the Dutch and Italy are out. Tom James, Steve Williams, Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge were two seconds quicker than Slovenia, Sir Steve Redgrave reckons they're nailed on for the gold.

"Michael Phelps has won more gold medals in his life than Mexico has ever won in all their Olympics combined. And he's only 23!"
Rob A via text on 81111

1000:WORLD RECORD - Liu Chunhong has set a new world record in the women's 69kg weightlifting class with a total lift of 277kg. And of course, that's another gold for the hosts. Russia's Oxana Slivenko won the silver and Natalya Davydova of Ukraine the bronze.

"China's culture and history has always been based on honour, discipline and obedience. Us westeners find it hard to comprehend that this is also implemented within China's sports body. Maybe it's time for us to keep an open mind on the matter and accepting that those cultural differences instead of brandmarking it."
Anon via text on 81111

0956: What a race! The Brits surge through in the last 1000m of their men's four semi-final and lead Australia and France into the final. That makes them red hot favourites for the gold, although the Dutch might give them something to think about in semi-final two. World champions New Zealand finished fourth, Ireland last.

0953:Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara takes gold in the men's time trial. He has produced a sensational finish to take gold by 33 seconds ahead of Sweden's Gustav Larsson. Levi Leipheimer of the United States takes bronze and Steve Cummings of Great Britain finishes 11th.

0951: Sweden's Gustav Larsson is home in one hour, two minutes and 44.79 seconds. He looks absolutely shattered - and is now off his bike and lying on the road in agony - but he has set the time to beat.

0949: It's the men's coxless four now, and GB are in semi-final one. They've got France, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and USA - the winner of this race is widely expected to go on and win the final.

0944: Plenty of claims of questionable officiating so far, but now the Aussies - not ones to mince their words - have accused judges of cheating in the double trap shooting. More on that in a minute because Wells and Rowbotham have qualified for the final of the men's doubles sculls. It looked heavy going to be honest - they finished behind France and Estonia and will have an outside lane for the final. They were faster than the Aussies in the first semi, however.

0942: The battle for gold in the men's time trial is going to go to the wire. Gustav Larsson is still fastest after the third time check but Fabian Cancellara, the world champion lest we forget, is just six seconds back. Alberto Contador is third but is slipping back and looks like he has shot his bolt.

0939: Bad news for Britain's Steve Cummings. As expected he will not be getting a medal in the time trial because Spain's Sam Sanchez has just finished in the fastest time, meaning our man drops to fourth. He will be doing well to finish in the top ten, realistically, but that is still a tremendous display given the strength of this field.

0937: We've got GB's Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham going in the men's doubles sculls in just a moment. The Aussies looked very impressive in the first semi-final, while pre-face favourites New Zealand only just scraped through.

"I think you are being a bit naive if you think we can invest in sport in the same way as the Chinese. They are willing to sacrifice the livelihood and welfare of their people in order to excel at the Olympics. I don't think that is what sport should be about."
David T via text on 81111

0932: I think the point I was trying to make about countries not even bothering to compete against China in a few years time is that many will simply look at the way China's government functions, the sheer volume of people, the systems and programmes in place and think to themselves, what's the point? You can also throw ethics into the mix and ask yourselves what lengths the Chinese will go to to ensure their athletes are the best and whether your own country is right to do the same. Did you see that diver the other day? She admitted she hadn't eaten dinner for a year.

0931: Back to the men's time trial, and Sweden's Gustav Larsson has just set the fastest time at the third time check at 36km. Plenty of men down the road will be looking to better his mark of 49 minutes 52.82 seconds though.

0924: "If Michael Phelps was a country he would be fourth in the medal table," Gordon from Mansfield texts in to say. If Michael Phelps was a country, his feet would be an autonomous state.

0921: Oh my giddy aunt, Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara, known as 'Spartacus' to his mates, is right in the mixer for time trial gold too - he has turned a 28 second deficit on Alberto Contador at the first time check into a 15 second lead at the halfway mark.

0920: The big names are reaching the 23.5km time-check now in the time trial now and Britain's Steve Cummings' hold on the bronze medal is looking even more vulnerable. Cummings had a storming start and was fastest at this point but Alberto Contador and Gustav Larsson have just smashed his time out of sight at the halfway mark of the race.

"Guess what? Another gold medal on its way for China. Liu Chunhong has just smashed the world record in the snatch in the women's 69 kg class, lifting 128 kg. Clean and Jerk to come and she leads by a massive 13kg. IOC president Jacques Rogge is here looking suitably impressed as he presses the flesh with assorted dignitaries."
BBC Sport's Andrew Cotter at the Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics Gymnasium

0912: WORLD RECORD - In women's 69kg weightlifting, Liu Chunhong if China has hoisted 125kg in the snatch. AND AGAIN! 128kg! That's just showing off, no need for that.

0910: Spain's Alberto Contador - the 2007 Tour de France winner - has blazed a trail to the first time-check and is the fastest man at that point now. He is absolutely flying and has blown Australia's Cadel Evans and Germany's Stefan Schumacher away in the early stages. Levi Leipheimer and Gustav Larsson are looking like Contador's main rivals for gold at the moment.

0905: Fabulous from Alan Campbell out on the lake - the Brit leaves it late, is very nearly hunted down by the Greek, but comes storming back to finish second and reach the final of the men's singles sculls. The Czech Republic's Ondrej Synek goes through in first, three-time world champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand just pips the Greek.

"The point is that other countries should raise their game to beat China. If this country realised there are more sports out there than just football and put as much money into those sports as football then Great Britain would be leading the medal tables."
Anon via text on 81111

0900: Three more riders, Sweden's Gustav Larsson, Levi Leipheimer of the United States and Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen, have posted a faster time than Britain's Steve Cummings after the first time-check at the top of the mountain - his time trial medal hopes are disappearing fast. Germany's Stefan Schumacher - who won both time trials at this year's Tour de France - and world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland are out on the road now too.

0858: Now it's time for GB's Alan Campbell in the men's singles sculls semi-finals. He's got three-time world champion Mahe Drysdale in his semi, it's asking a lot for him to get through to the final. It's kicking off all over Beijing - the US women's gymnastics team have blamed officials for putting one of their competitors off on the balance beam.

0856:Britain's Steve Cummings is still holding on to bronze in the cycling time trial and it will take riders from the third and final wave to deny him a medal now. Cummings has been fastest at the first time-check up to now but he has just been beaten by Spain's Sam Sanchez - who won the road race on Sunday - and that does not bode well.

0851: Oooh, get you, the Aussies have got out of bed the wrong side this Olympics: the women's water polo team (or the 'Aussie Stingers'...) have called the referees "stupid" after a draw with Hungary. "The referees are ********," added Australian coach Sir Les Patterson... sorry, I meant Greg McFadden. I think the rest of the world have got together and decided to stitch the Aussies up for giving all of their teams undignified nicknames.

0848: One of China's biggest sporting heroes, boxer Zou Shiming, has started his Olympics with a win over Venezuela's Eduard Bermudez Salas. There were more than 8,000 fans at the Workers' Gymnasium to watch the light-flyweight - who took bronze in Athens - win his bout 11-2.

0846: I don't think there is a cycling fan in Britain who would say Emma Pooley didn't deserve her silver medal in the time-trial today after she had worked hard to help Nicole Cook win gold in the road race on Sunday. So what were Pooley's tactics that meant she got her hands on a medal? There weren't any. "There's no secret," the Londoner says. "You just have to make it hurt. Imagine a friend sitting on your wheel, shouting at you." If I had a friend sitting on my wheel and I was trying to climb up a very steep hill, I'd probably elbow him in the neck.

0838: News from BBC Sport's Matt Slater in Beijing - he's on a mission to see as many sports as possible in a single day. Five hours in now and the last time I spoke to him he was watching a spot of ping-pong. He's going to take a stroll down to the water cube in a minute, then drop in on the fencers, but he's not sure he'll make double figures before he melts like a Funny Foot in a sauna.

0834: It's China gold, Russia silver and Ukraine bronze in the men's 3m synchro. GB's GB's Nick Robinson-Baker and Ben Swain finish seventh overall. That's China's fourth gold in diving, Lord alone knows how many they've got overall. Do you think there's a chance that in a generation's time, all the other countries will just shrug their shoulders and go, "is there any point in even trying to compete with China in anything?"

0830:China's Chen Ying took gold in the women's 25m pistol shooting. Mongolia's Gundegmaa Otryad won the silver and Germany's Munkhbayer Dorjsuren the bronze.

0823: Only 12 more riders to go in the men's time trial, and we've got Denis Menchov of Russia out on the course at the moment. It's a Canada one-two at the moment, Svein Tuft and Ryder Hesjedal leading the way ahead of Steve Cummings of Great Britain.

"Have you seen page 75 of today's Daily Mail? The Aussies say we Brits only win in sports that involve 'sitting down'."
Normski in Reading via text on 81111

0815: In cycling, Steve Cummings of Great Britain has been bumped down to third in the men's time trial. But we've got big guns to come, so he'll be lucky to hang onto a medal. Bradley Wiggins might have gone down a bomb in this event, but he's got the individual pursuit, team pursuit and 50km madison relay on his mind.

0812: Another druggie's been thrown out - Taiwan baseball infielder Chang Tai-shan has tested positive for a banned substance and missed his team's opening Olympic win over the Netherlands.

0804:GB's Nick Robinson-Baker and Ben Swain are fifth after their third dive in the men's 3m synchro diving. Still struggling to come to terms with the judging of the diving, as BBC pundit Leon Taylor has just revealed on telly that the men and women that matter don't, like us, get to see the dives on replay. So a dive that might have looked quite good might not actually have been that good after a second, slow-motion viewing? Weird. It's like buying a car on the back of seeing it only once when it was driven past at 150mph.

"Did you see the Aussie coach's comment about Brits and soap? In 2012 we ought to house their athletes in Wormwood Scrubs."
Duncan via text on 81111

0750:GB's Nick Robinson-Baker and Ben Swain are seventh after two dives in the men's 3m synchro. Four rounds of optional dives to come, and this is where it gets a lot more competitive. Three and a half somersaults for their third dive, but Robinson-Baker doesn't quite complete and they score 76.26, which is good but no cigar.

0748: Some rather horrific news from weightlifting, where Hungary's Janos Baranyai has torn his right elbow attempting to hoist 148kg for his final snatch attempt, his right arm buckling and getting caught out of position behind him as the weight came crashing back down on his limb. Whatever you do, don't watch that with your porridge.

0740: "I do wish people would stop calling Phelps the best Olympian ever. Yes he is brill but Steve Redgrave is still the best because he won his medals consistently over twenty or more years, which surely shows more stamina to keep coming back.
Marlene in Oldham via text on 81111

0734: Morning darling. Still knee deep in the men's time trial but the feed has just gone down so I can't tell you if Steve Cummings of Great Britain is still leading or not. I'll endeavour to find out for you. In the meantime, let's head over to the Water Cube, where British divers Nick Robinson-Baker and Ben Swain are competing in the men's 3m synchro.

0724: Right, my time has come. Time for the quite delicious Benjamin Dirs to step in. I'll be back later.

0715:Steve Cummings is still leading the men's time trial. Long way to go though.
Looks like GB's performance director Dave Brailsford has got his team in good form for Beijing. All bodes well for the action on the track in week two doesn't it?
Text 81111 or get involved on 606.
Join the debate on 606

0712: "Cummings is leading the mens TT - dont think we should get to excited about it though"
TFBTFGB on 606
Join the debate on 606

0702: GB's Steve Cummings leads the men's time trial...for now. It's been a cracking couple of days for the British cyclists.

0700: Result of a women's Group B basketball match. Spain beat Czech Republic 74-55.

0649: "I'm testing the credentials of these "green Games" with a bike ride around the Beijing venues. I'm three hours in and onto my fifth sport, the prudes' volleyball (they keep their clothes on for the indoor version), watching Russia beat Kazakhstan. Just seen Kazakh volleyball's 'Petr Crouch'."
BBC Sport's Matt Slater at the indoor volleyball

0644: In the men's time trial, GB's Steve Cummings sets off.

0639: More top chat from silver medallist Emma Pooley - who only turned professional two years ago. She said: "I raced as well as I could. There's no secret, you just have to make it hurt. Imagine a friend sitting on your wheel, shouting at you."

0636: It's time for the two wheels again with the men's time trial. GB's Steve Cummings up shortly.

0627: After getting silver in the time trial, Emma Pooley was asked if she had a race plan. She replied: "No, you just have to ride like you never have to breathe again."

0625: What's coming up? In 10 minutes at 0630 BST watch out for China's boxing star Zou Shiming in the light-flyweight prelims. GB's Steve Cummings goes in the men's time trial. The sailing is on now. GB's Alan Campbell and the men's coxless four begin rowing from 0800, the men's 3m synchronised diving final is at 0730 (GB's Nick Robinson-Baker and Ben Swain are in action) and the Murray boys will be waggling their tennis rackets from about 0900.

0618: Time to catch our breath a little and give you a quick update on the medals table. China on top with 14 golds (22 medals), second is USA with 10 golds (27), third is South Korea with 5 golds (12) and Italy are fourth with 4 golds (10). Britain are ninth with 2 golds, 2 silver and 3 bronze.

0612: GB's Emma Pooley looks like someone who's just been given a horse for Christmas, as she steps up on the podium to collect her silver from the women's time trial.

0609: A result in the baseball men's preliminaries. Taiwan beat Netherlands 5-0.

0606: Fencer Richard Kruse loses 10-9 to German world champion Peter Joppich. That seems like a top effort from the Brit.

0557: You might be wondering what happened to Nicole Cooke. She finished 15th in the time trial. GB's Emma Pooley got silver and Switzerland's Karin Thurig won bronze. The champion Kristin Armstrong calls it the "most amazing day of her life".

0553: It's a silver medal for Emma Pooley in the women's time trial. Fantastic stuff. Gold goes to US rider Kristin Armstrong.

0548: "Can you tell me, at what distance are the archers shooting at?"
John in Glasgow via text on 81111
The answer is 70m John.

0542:GB's Emma Pooley slips down into silver position, after Kristin Armstrong from the US puts in a strong ride in the women's time trial.

0540: GB's Winston Gordon loses in the judo.

0535: GB's Nicole Cooke is looking tired as she is off the pace in the women's time trial. Is Pooley on for gold here?

0527: And there you were thinking we'd forgotten the handball. Not a chance. Romania beat France 34-26 in their pool game.

0524: Emma Pooley still leads the time trial. And just to confirm the archery result, GB's Larry Godfrey lost 114-109 to Russian Bair Badenov.

0521: Back to the women's artistic gymnastics. The US won silver and Romania grabbed bronze.

0518:China win gold in the women's artistic gymnastics team event. Well done the hosts.

0516: GB's Olympic road race champion Nicole Cooke is under way in the women's time trial.

0513: GB's Emma Pooley still leads the women's time trial after clocking 35:16.01.

0512: More bad news for Britain's archers. Larry Godfrey is out.

0510:South Korea's men's hockey players have beaten their Chinese hosts 5-2 in the second match of the day, following Australia's earlier 10-0 thrashing of South Africa.

0501:GB's Emma Pooley puts in a great time in the women's time trial, clocking 20:46.99. Nice one Emma. It's a long way to go but the Brit leads the racers so far.

0456: "Mark, can you or anyone tell me how Team GB are doing compared to what was expected?"
wooderbeen on 606
Join the debate on 606

Thanks for the question wooderbeen.

GB 'to meet' Olympic medal target

0458: In the archery, Britain's Simon Terry is no more. He narrowly loses 105-104 to Finland's Matti Hatava.

0451: A little update on what's going on and what's coming up. The women's team gymnastics is going on now. The sailing starts at 0600 BST. GB's Alan Campbell and the men's coxless four jump into their rowing vessels from 0800, the men's 3m synchronised diving final is at 0730 (GB's Nick Robinson-Baker and Ben Swain are in action) and the Murray boys will be waggling their tennis rackets from about 0900.

0445: Coming up is judo. The women's -70kg and men's -90kg finals get going from 0500 BST.

0442: Back to the fencing. Richard Kruse beat Romania's Virgil Saliscan 15-6 in the first round of the men's individual foil. He now needs to get past German world champion Peter Joppich to reach the quarter-finals.

0441: British cyclist Emma Pooley sets off in the women's time trial.

0437: Great work on the piste for Richard Kruse in the fencing. He's won his opening round - next up is the world champion.

0436: "It has been a morning of smashing what I thought were unbreakable records. Britain are progressing all the time but so are the rest of the world."
Former GB Olympic medallist Steve Parry on BBC Radio 5 Live

0434: Quick fact. 16 world records broken in the pool at this Olympics. Six of those have been broken today.

0431: That's another gold for Phelps with the US team winning the 4x200m freestyle relay, beating Russia and Australia. It's the first time the seven minute barrier has been broken in a relay. Britain's men finish sixth in a new British record time.

0428: How much do you want a medal then you British boys?

0426: The Americans are flying in the men's 4x200m relay. And the Brits have woken up - they've slipped into third place. It's tight and very exciting.

0423: While we wait for the relay boys to finish up in the pool (and it won't be long with Phelps in action), South Korea have equalised on the stroke of half-time against China in the men's hockey - it's now 2-2 going into the break.

0420: It's the men's 4x200m relay. Phelps goes again. Hope he's changed his goggles. Perhaps he logged on to the internet and did a goggle search? Oh dear. Back to the swimming.

0419: Cripes. Gold medallist Rice beats Kirsty Coventry by something very small. Natalie Coughlin and Katie Hoff trail behind.

0417: Who wins the women's 200m individual medley then? Australian Stephanie Rice wins and grabs a new world record.

0412: More swimming medals up for grabs. It's the women's 200m individual medley.

0411: "Phelps & Spitz both getting the medals in swimming does suggest that its easier to get multiple medals in the sport...as to the greatest - given that their medals included the premier medals of all the 100m - Jessie Owens and Carl Lewis have to be up there"
ROS on 606
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0408: Phelps is jumping about on the podium to pick up his 10th Olympic gold medal. And just to clear things up, there was initial concern with Phelps looking a little frustrated after winning the 200m butterfly. Phelps says there was water leaking into his goggles. The smile returns to the American's face.

0404: "Michael Phelps? Brilliant at what he does. greatest Olympian? No. Sir Steve Redgrave. Brilliant Olympian? Yes. Greatest ever? No. Daley Thompson. The BEST Olympian ever! Thompson excelled in 10, different, events whereas the above only excelled in their own, specialized, event. Not only that but he did it twice. Who could, possibly, claim a greater achievement?"
djrickyb on 606
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0400: The swimming's still going on. It's the heats of the men's 200m breaststroke. Brit Kristopher Gilchrist struggles.

0355: A good day for Russia's women so far. They have beaten Brazil 28-19 in the handball, and Belarus 71-65 in the basketball.

0350: The heats are set to start again. I've just about got my breath back. Apparently a set of leaky goggles was the reason for Phelps to be rubbing his eyes.

0341: "With Phelps only at the age of 23 surely the best is yet to come from him. When Phelps does hit his peak he'll be even more unstoppable than he is now! A very scary thought!"
GBRK on 606
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0337: As the swimming heats continue, the heat is building with the Phelps debate. (Bad link sorry)
"If Phelps does get 8 golds in this Olympics, I don't think there will be any argument against him being the best ever Olympian"
Manufan87 on 606
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0334: Is Phelps the greatest Olympian? Get texting now on 81111. Phelps. 10 golds. Do you think he's the greatest? Or you can get chatting on 606.
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0332: "Phelps greatest Olympian ever???? Although he has won more Golds than anyone else not many sports allow you to win more than 1. Can you not say Redgrave is better as he won over more Olympics which is harder to keep it at the elite level for so long..."
EdinOz on 606
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0330: GB's Jemma Lowe finishes third in the women's 200m butterfly semi-final. Good effort.

0328: "Has the pool water been mixed with energy tablets?? These performances are out of this world. Well done to all performers"
James in via text on 81111

0324: Take a breath. For about eight seconds anyway. What's this about the greatest ever Olympian? I hear you say. Phelps has now won 10 Olympic golds. And he did it by winning the 200m fly in a new world record of 1:52.03. And he's only 23. Mummy Phelps must be a very proud lady.

0322: Michael Phelps wins the 200m butterfly. He's the greatest ever Olympian. I doff my swimming cap sir.

0320: Back to the women's 200m freestyle. Gold won by Italy's Federica Pellegrini. Silver won by Sara Isakovic. Bronze won by Pang Jiaying.

0318:Phelps up in the 200m butterfly. If he wins, he'll become the greatest ever Olympian. No pressure Michael old boy.

0316: Right, there's no let up with this swimming. In the 200m freestyle final, GB's McClatchey finishes sixth, with Italy's Federica Pellegrini winning gold in a new world record.

0311: Wake up - there's a Brit in the pool. Well almost. Caitlin McClatchey is about to go in the 200m freestyle final.

0309: Hi carrumba. The 100m freestyle world record has gone again. Aussie Eamon Sullivan gets it in 47.05s. Nice.

0307: "What a race from Bernard! Fantastic time from the Frenchman!"
GBRK on 606
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0306: No Brits in the 100m free semis, but Caitlin McClatchey goes in the women's 200m free final in about 10 minutes.

0304: And a world record has been toppled already. France's Alain Bernard wins the 100m freestyle heat in 47.20s. Good start.

0302: The pool is in use. Official. It's the heats in the men's 100m freestyle.

0300:Men's archery starting very soon. Simon Terry is a big hope for GB. He won bronze at Barcelona '92 then became a truck driver, but he came back into the sport and he's reached another Olympics. His first round in the men's individual tournament is against a Finnish gent and Terry, ranked 10 in the world, is expected to win comfortably. Larry Godfrey and Alan Wills are also in action this morning.

0258: The women are in action in the beach volleyball. Russia take on Georgia. Check out the video streams.

0256: "I predict Phelps will romp to a victory with another record und