Bradley Wiggins wins landmark Olympics gold for Britain

Aug 01, 2012
Bradley Wiggins wins landmark Olympics gold for Britain
Cyclist Bradley Wiggins claimed a British record seventh Olympic medal with a staggering gold medal performance in the men's time trial. The fresh Tour de France winner ran the 44km course in 50 minutes and 39 seconds, 42 seconds quicker than Germany's world champion Tony Martin, and 68 seconds faster than British team-mate Chris Froome. This gold medal puts Wiggins atop the all-time British Olympians: 1. Bradley Wiggins (cycling): 7 medals - 4 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze 2. Sir Steve Redgrave (rowing): 6 medals - 5 gold, 1 bronze 3. Sir Chris Hoy (track cycling): 5 medals - 4 gold, 1 silver 4. Jack Beresford (rowing): 5 medals - 3 gold, 2 silver 5. Henry Taylor (swimming): 5 medals - 3 gold, 2 bronze "I don't think my sporting career will ever top this now," said Wiggins. "That's it. It will never, never get better than that. Incredible. It had to be gold today or nothing. What's the point of seven medals if they're not the right colour? The main number is that is gold number four. So I have got to carry on to Rio now and make it five. Just to be mentioned in the same breath as Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Chris Hoy is very special." Wiggins' victory at the Tour, the first by a British rider, was already an achievement of historic proportions, but now he backed that up with a fourth gold medal, and that is in three different events, across three Games, something nobody else has done in cycling history. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics he was part of the team that won the bronze medal in track cycling, in the team pursuit event. Then, in 2004 in Athens, he became the first Briton in 40 years to win three medals at a single edition of the Olympic Games, before winning the pursuit and team pursuit in Beijing. With all these outstanding performances under his belt, Bradley Wiggins will probably become the recipient of British sport's next knighthood.
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