Mixed fortunes for Team GB as sailing pair suffer postponement

The wind went out of Team GB's sails on a day of mixed fortunes at the Olympics in Rio on Wednesday.

After riding a wave of success in the velodrome, the nation's gold rush was halted when sailing duo Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark were made to wait for their coronation in the 470 class competition.

The regatta was postponed due to light winds, meaning the pair will compete in the final race on Thursday needing to simply cross the finish line in order to win the gold medal.

Mills, 28, told the BBC: "We have had a marathon week. Conditions have been wacky, up and down, and to have no wind today is tough."

Clark, 36, added: "We were looking forward to getting a good night's sleep."

The delay also meant Luke Patience and Chris Grube will have to wait for their final 470 sailing race even though they are out of contention for a medal.

There was some success across other events such as athletics, where Mo Farah qualified for the 5,000m final by finishing third in his heat despite suffering a stumble with 200m to go.

British showjumpers Nick Skelton and Ben Maher both qualified for Friday's individual Olympic final following strong performances in Deodoro.

Liam Heath and Jon Schofield qualified for the A final in the men's kayak double 200m at Lagoa Stadium.

There was disappointment in the boxing ring as former world champion Savannah Marshall lost her middleweight quarter-final on points to Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands.

The 25-year-old said: "I thought it was close. I thought I'd won the second round and the last round, but when I looked at the scores in the end it wasn't even close.

"I didn't win a round. I didn't even get a vote in the third. She's a brilliant fighter so she deserves the medal.

"What can I say, I haven't got one; I'll probably carry on after this though."

All three of Team GB's participants - Chris Bennett, Mark Dry and Nick Miller - crashed out of the hammer throw at the qualifying stage, with Bennett the highest-placed Briton in 19th.

Rajiv Ouseph was knocked out of the men's badminton singles in straight games by quarter-final opponent Viktor Axelsen, of Denmark.

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