Alistair Brownlee has congratulated men’s triathlon champion Alex Yee, telling him to “take a bow”, as Team GB gathers medal momentum on the fifth day of the Paris Olympics.
Around 15 minutes after Yee’s success, Great Britain’s women’s quadruple sculls crew – featuring Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson, Georgie Brayshaw, and Lauren Henry – claimed gold in a dramatic race to the line with the Netherlands.
Earlier on Wednesday, Beth Potter won bronze in the women’s individual triathlon and Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson also came third in the women’s synchronised 10m platform dive.
Yee went to the ground after completing the race, with second-placed Hayden Wilde, from New Zealand, sitting down next to him and wrapping an arm around Yee’s shoulder.
Brownlee posted a story to Instagram after the race with the caption “Take a bow @lixsanyee”.
Less than an hour before, Fred Sirieix was among an emotional crowd of Team GB supporters as he celebrated his daughter’s bronze medal in the women’s synchronised 10m platform dive.
The First Dates star, 52, cheered with both hands in the air as Spendolini-Sirieix and Toulson secured third place at the Aquatics Centre.
Toulson’s partner – Great British diver Jack Laugher – was in tears in the stands as it became clear that the pair had sealed a spot on the podium.
Early on Wednesday morning, the first triathlon race kicked off with the women’s individual event which saw Potter, from Glasgow, win a bronze medal.
In the same event, Team GB’s Georgia Taylor-Brown came sixth and Kate Waugh 15th.
Taylor-Brown’s boyfriend, French triathlete Vincent Luis, posted a selfie of the couple to his Instagram story and said he was “so proud”.
Waugh’s school hosted a breakfast watch party for the early morning event – with students, parents and teachers arriving at 6.45am for the screening, which was complete with a Parisian breakfast spread of croissants and pain au chocolates.
Angela Ponton, director of sport for Royal Grammar School Newcastle, told the PA news agency: “It was just brilliant to have people here celebrating Kate and her achievements.”
She added: “I think she’ll be disappointed because she wants to do the best she can, she wants to win but it’s a phenomenal achievement and getting there to the Olympics, getting to Paris 2024 is unbelievable.
“So to get 15th is amazing, is really, really good, and I think it’s only just going to spur her on for Los Angeles 2028.”