Rio 2016 Day 10 round-up: Mark Cavendish takes silver as Charlotte Dujardin wins dressage gold

A comprehensive round-up of all the news and medals from day 10 in Rio

The medals just kept tumbling in, as if the British competitors launching their bids for glory were jet-propelled on the euphoria of what will always be known as the team’s Rio de Janeiro’s Super Sunday. For Mark Cavendish, it was a momentous occasion as he won his first Olympic medal taking silver in the men’s omnium.

The Manx man entered into the point’s race with his sights fixed firmly on Italy’s Elia Viviani who led the group table in gold position. But as the race wore on it became increasingly evident that gold was beyond reach as the Italian’s class shone through. For Cavendish, it became a matter of silver or bronze as he found himself caught in a tense battle with Denmark’s Lasse Hansen.

As the race approached its exciting conclusion, the Briton dug deep to hold off his Danish opponent and secure the silver spot. After years of trying, Cavendish has finally bagged himself an Olympic medal.

By the time the Chinese gymnasts Han You and Yan Liu took to the high bars in what had been thought a chance for the nation of 1.6 billion to ease ahead and displace Britain (population 60m) in second place on the medals table, horsewoman Charlotte Dujardin and hammer thrower Sophie Hitchon had struck radically different blows for Britain.

Dujardin defended her London Olympic title in the dressage on her 'best friend' Valegro, though her impatient fiancé did what he could to contend for that title, by writing a sign saying 'Can we get married now?' and putting it around his neck in the crowd. Timing is everything with these things. It was a ‘yes’ from Dujardin.

Dujardin’s ride, which scored her 93.857, was peerless and it took the British medal count into the 40s, 16 of them gold.

She’d won team silver with Carl Hester, Fiona Bigwood and Spencer Wilton on Friday, and by beating Germany’s Isabell Werth by over four percentage points to seal the title, takes her personal gold tally to three. Only cycling’s Laura Trott has accomplished that.

Valegro can be a sensitive soul. Just a touch of the horse with Dujardin’s leg in a previous performance had triggered a sharp reaction and, a little like fiancés, he needed careful handling. “Anything can happen, “ Dujardin said. “Today, trotting round the edge, I just felt like he picked up.”

Hitchon was engaged in a rather different challenge at the Olympic Stadium with a hammer and, beyond the confines of the Olympic Village, there had not been much hope that she would prevail, given that no Briton had ever won an Olympic hammer throw medal.

There was an inauspicious start for her, with a no throw, and her 73.29m second throw was subsequently eclipsed, knocking her out of medal contention. Then she secured an historic bronze medal with a big British record of 74.54m with her last thrown sparking huge celebrations.

She was up against Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk who set a world record of 82.29m for gold in the third round – smashing her previous mark by over a metre.

“I can believe it a little bit because training has been going so well,” the 25-year-old Lancastrain said. “But to do it in competition is a little bit different. I knew it was there if I pulled together and it is a bit special.

“I wanted to keep my mind quiet [going into the last round] and execute my technique, I have done it again, again and again in training but to do it in competition is a little bit different.”

The atmosphere in the Team GB camp is evolving, with some competitors whose Olympics have finished at outlying venues arriving to join support for the others. If anything, the challenge is to ensure that the euphoric medal winners do not celebrate too hard for the liking of those with competition still ahead.

“We have a significant number of sports that are just arriving and just starting their competition and need to give those athletes the opportunity to perform at their best and the same team dynamic,” said chef de mission Mark England. “We absolutely expect athletes to celebrate their success and celebrate the end of competition. But we'd also ask them to support other athletes during the day and that quiet time.” It’s a nice problem to have.