London 2012: Day Five - rowing pair and Bradley Wiggins get gold rush underway

The gold rush began for the host nation on day five of London 2012 as Great Britain celebrated medals for rowing duo Helen Glover and Heather Stanning and road cyclist Bradley Wiggins.

Glover and Stanning destroyed the field in the women’s pair, winning by more than a length to make history at Eton Dorney as the first British female rowers to be crowned Olympic champions.

The British men’s eight followed up that stunning success by winning bronze in a thrilling final that was won by world champions Germany - their third gold medal of the Games.

Wiggins, meanwhile, became the first man to win the Tour de France and Olympic gold in the same year with an imperious victory in the individual time-trial.

The 32-year-old claimed his fourth Olympic gold and seventh medal in all, surpassing Steve Redgrave with a British-record haul of Games medals.

Fellow Briton Chris Froome finished third to claim bronze, and a silver medal for Michael Jamieson in the 200m breaststroke took Team GB’s haul for the day to five medals and nine overall.

That moved them into 11th in the medal table above Australia and South Africa.

Jamieson was beaten by Daniel Gyurta, who set a new world record as he secured Hungary’s second gold of the Games. They sit 12th, just behind the hosts.

In cycling women’s road race, Yorkshire’s Lizzie Armitstead - the country’s first medallist when she won silver in the road race on Sunday - finished 10th in the time trial, while medal contender Emma Pooley was left distraight after finishing sixth.

Northallerton’s Jo Jackson and Rotherham’s Becky Turner were part of the team that finished a creditable fifth in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

Rotherham’s Joe Roebuck finished seventh in the semi-final of the 200m individual medley, bringing his Olympics to a close.

Elsewhere, Paul Goodison braveley got his gold medal bid back on track in sailing’s laser, despite the defending champion struggling with a back injury.

Over at the ExCel, Hull bantamweight Luke Campbell says there is more to come after he made an edgy start to his first Olympic bout.

Campbell admitted the experience of fighting in front of a raucous, 10,000 capacity crowd - including Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield - contributed to his Olympic debut being a little too close for comfort.

The 24-year-old world silver medallist and former European champion was made to wait for his debut after receiving a bye through the first round.

He entered the fray last night and eventually prevailed 11-9 on points after three, three-minute rounds against Italy’s Jahyn Parrinello.

Campbell said: “It’s my first fight so hopefully it gets better as it goes along. I kept it tidy and kept popping him down the middle.

“It wasn’t my best performance but it was my first fight and my nerves were going.

“I always tell myself that I won’t put pressure on myself and I’ll enjoy the occasion, but you can’t get away from the pressure - it’s there.

Rotherham’s Amy Oliver claimed a major scalp in the first round of the women’s individual event as she knocked out Commonwealth champion and eighth seed Deepkia Kumari of India.

She suffered defeat in the second round however but can take an enormous amount from her first Olympic Games.

Doncaster’s Barry Middleton and Sheffielder Alastair Wilson were relieved to get a 2-2 draw in the hockey against South Africa.

Rotherham’s Fran Leighton and Catterick’s Fran Clayton were part of the GB water polo team who were overwhelmed 16-3 by Australia.

The heroic women’s volleyball team, featuring Sheffield’s Rachel Laybourne could not back up their historic win of late Monday night as they lost in straight sets to Italy at Earls Court.