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Olympics: Day 8 round-up

Michael Da SilvaAugust 14, 2016

On day 8 of the Olympics, Mo Farah defended his 10,000m crown with a stunning run, Monica Puig beat Angelique Kerber in the women's tennis final and Michael Phelps won his 23rd - and last - Olympic gold.

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Rio Olympischen Spiele 2016 13 08 - 10000 Meter Mo Farah Gold
Image: Getty Images/P. Gilham

Fantastic Farah defends 10k crown

Britain's Mo Farah recovered from a fall on the 10th lap to win gold in the 10,000m final, defending the title he won four years ago in London.

Farah was tripped by American training partner Galen Rupp, but got up and led the field at the bell. And despite a courageous effort by Kenyan Paul Tanui, who attacked with 300m to go, Farah stayed with him and took control on the home straight.

Rio Olympischen Spiele 2016 13 08 - 10000 Meter Mo Farah Gold
Mo Farah drops to his knees after defending his crown with a brilliant run in the 10,000m.Image: Getty Images/E. Shaw

Farah is the fifth man to claim successive Olympic 10,000m titles and if he also wins the 5,000m he would emulate Finland's Lasse Viren who won back-to-back doubles in 1972 and 1976. Farah is also bidding for a fourth big double in a row overall, following the 2012 Olympics and 2013 and 2015 world championships.

Jamaica's Elaine Thompson won gold in the women's 100m final in a time of 10.71 seconds. Tori Bowie of the USA won the silver medal, just ahead of London 2012 champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, also of Jamaica.

Jeff Henderson of the United States overtook Luvo Manyonga of South Africa on his last jump to win the long jump gold medal, with defending champion Greg Rutherford of Britain taking bronze.

In the final event on the track on Saturday, Belgium's Nafissatou Thiam claimed heptathlon gold ahead of Britain's defending champion Jessica Ennis-Hill, who needed to close a gap of 8.87 seconds in the 800m but narrowly failed to do so.

Puig claims historic tennis gold for Puerto Rico

Monica Puig produced a devastating final set to beat Angelique Kerber 6-4 4-6 6-1 in the women's final and claim gold for Puerto Rico, their first in Olympic history.

The 22-year-old claimed the first set as Kerber suffered a shoulder injury. But the German roared back in a close second, only for Puig to run away with the third.

Rio Olympischen Spiele 2016 13 08 - Monica Puig Tennis Finale
Monica Puig becomes Puerto Rico's only Olympic gold medalist after victory in the women's tennis final.Image: Reuters/T. Melville

Victory for Puig came in a dramatic seventh game of the final set when she saved six break points before taking gold on a fourth match point when a Kerber forehand sailed wide.

"Oh my God," she screamed before breaking down in tears and parading her national flag around centre court.

Del Potro joins Murray in men's tennis final

Juan Martin Del Potro beat Spain's Rafael Nadal to set up an Olympic final with Andy Murray.

Del Potro, still on the comeback from two years of injury problems and ranked 141st in the world, dropped the first set to Nadal. But the Argentinian fought back to win 5-7, 6-4 7-6 (7-5).

Britain's Murray, who beat Japan's Kei Nishikori in the first semi-final, is striving to become the first player to win two Olympic titles.

New team pursuit world records

Britain beat world champions USA in the finals of the women's team pursuit at the Rio Olympics, the exact same result from four years ago at the London Games.

The team of Katie Archibald, Laura Trott, Elinor Barker and Joanna Rowsell-Shand finishing in 4 minutes, 10.236 seconds, breaking its own world record of 4:12.152 set in the previous round.

The US team of Sarah Hammer, Kelly Catlin, Chloe Dygert and Sarah Hammer finished in 4:12.454.

Iran claim second weightlifting gold

Iranian Sohrab Moradi topped the podium in the men's 94kg category on Saturday to claim Iran's second weightlifting gold medal of the Rio Games.

Moradi, who previously served a two-year ban after testing positive for methadone, dominated the event with a combined total of 403kg.

Vadzim Straltsou of Belarus claimed silver on 395 while Lithuania's Aurimas Didzbalis took bronze with 392.

Moradi's success comes a day after compatriot Kianoush Rostami set a new world record of 396 kilograms in his 85kg weight class on his way to securing the gold medal.

Harting follows in brother's footsteps

Christoph Harting has followed in the footsteps of his brother Robert to claim Olympic discus gold for Germany. The 26-year-old threw a personal best to land a surprise win while compatriot Daniel Jasinski took the bronze.

Rio Olympischen Spiele 2016 13 08 - Christoph Harting Diskuswerfen
Harting followed in the footsteps of his brother Robert to claim Olympic discus gold.Image: Getty Images/Q. Rooney

Christoph's brother Robert, who was watching on in the Olympic stadium, won gold in the same event at London 2012, and on a sun-soaked morning in Rio, Christoph repeated the feat with a throw of 68.37m.

Robert was one of Germany's biggest medal hopes, but he struggled with a back injury in Rio and failed to make the final with his throw of 65.50m.

Phelps wins fourth gold of Games and 23rd of career

In the final night in the pool, Michael Phelps swam the third leg as the USA romped to gold in the 4x100m medley relay.

Phelps, who insists he will now retire from competitive swimming, put the US ahead on the butterfly leg and Nathan Adrian finished off the job, ahead of Great Britain in second and Australia third.

“I was more emotional after this relay than I was last time," Phelps said. "I’m just ready for something different. My swimming career might be over, but it’s time do something else.”

In another strong night in the pool for the USA, the women's 4x100m medley relay team - consisting of Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Dana Vollmer and Simone Manuel - triumphed to bring up the nation's 1000th gold medal in summer Olympics.