Black Thursday for Team GB

Thursday, August 14: On a day when rain and wind put paid to the rowing and whole swathes of the outdoor programme, Team GB suffered a series of bleak defeats in the events untouched by the Beijing weather.

None was worse than the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay. Britain had been expected to challenge for a medal, but failed to even reach the final after they rested Caitlin McClatchey and gold-medalist Rebecca Adlington. The weakened team finished sixth in their heat and missed out on qualification by a mere tenth of a second.

Neither could Mark Foster, the veteran swimmer chosen to carry the Union Jack at the opening ceremony, progress in the Water Cube. He could only thrash his way to sixth in his heat of the 50m freestyle, a disappointing end to a distinguished career.

So it was for hyperactive badminton star Gail Emms. “I'm really going to cry now", she said. Emms had partnered Nathan Robertson to mixed doubles badminton silver four years ago in Athens, but they were outplayed in the quarter finals by an impressive South Korean pair.

It was also a terrible day for British fighters. Two judoka, Michelle Rogers and Peter Cousins, went down narrowly in their fights - further disappointments in a miserable competition.

In boxing, 18-year-old Billy-Joe Saunders, the first Romany gypsy to represent Britain at the Olympics, was outclassed by a Cuban. He accepted the defeat, but was less than impressed with the judging: “The scoring here is so bad for an Olympic Games it is unbelievable. I should have scored six or seven [more] points with body shots. You might as well do fencing if they are going to do that."

His team-mate and namesake, Bradley Saunders, was picked off by Alexis Vastine of France. "I beat him seven months ago quite easily. I didn't study him as much as I should have. He obviously studied me. I was thinking too far ahead in the competition," Saunders reflected.

On a day which also saw an end to medal hopes in the team dressage and women’s archery, victories were few and far between. But Adlington did set an Olympic record in qualifying for the final of the 800m freestyle, the women's hockey team perfectly executed a short corner routine to beat New Zealand, and the track cycling – Britain's forte - is fast approaching.

FIRST POSTED AUGUST 14, 2008