Rio 2016 | Michael Phelps bids farewell with another gold; Mo Farah defends title on Day 8

On track, Mo Farah, who won gold in 5000m and 10000m at the 2012 London Olympics, became the first British track and field athlete to win three gold medals at Olympics by defending his title in the 10000m. The 33-year-old fell on the track after a collision with USA’s Galen Rupp on lap 10, but kept his composure to continue the race, and produced a trademark surge in the last 100 meters to take the gold with a timing of 27:05.17.

In tennis, Spain’s Rafael Nadal’s hopes of a winning a second gold at the Rio Olympics went up in smokes yesterday after Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, who knocked out Novak Djokovic in the first round, once again becoming the giant-killer. In a thrilling semi-final encounter, De Potro, who won a bronze four years ago, lost the first set 5-7, but produced an excellent comeback to stun the 2008 Olympic champion, winning the match 5-7, 6-4, 7-6. In the other semi-final, reigning champion Andy Murray remained on course to defend his title after defeating Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-1,6-4.

On day 8, the USA continued their dominance at the top of the medal tally and added three more golds to increase their tally to 24, while  China is second with 13 golds. Great Britain is currently third in the table with 10 golds, followed by Germany at fourth and Japan at 5th.