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On This Day: Team GB flag carrier Sir Chris Hoy lands fifth gold medal

The Scot achieved the feat at the London Olympics, with a sixth gold medal later seeing him overtake Sir Steve Redgrave's record.

Sir Chris Hoy was in the spotlight at the 2012 Olympics in London after leading out Team GB as the flag carrier at the opening ceremony.

Hoy was also out to take Sir Steve Redgrave's Olympic record of five gold medals after cycling success at Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.

The Scot's fifth gold medal came on August 2 as Great Britain's men's sprint team – which also included Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny – won in a new world record time of 42.6 seconds.

Great Britain's Chris Hoy celebrates winning the men's keirin final
Great Britain's Chris Hoy celebrates winning the men's keirin final (Andrew Milligan/PA)

"You can't overstate what this means to us in front of a home crowd," Hoy said. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Hoy became Britain's most decorated Olympian five days later by winning a sixth gold medal in the keirin event.

He retired in April 2013 and later embarked on a career in motorsport, competing at the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours race.

On the day Hoy equalled Redgrave's record, American swimmer Michael Phelps also created Olympic history.

USA's Michael Phelps celebrates after winning the men's 200m individual medley final
USA's Michael Phelps celebrates after winning the men's 200m individual medley final (Tony Marshall/PA)

Phelps secured his 16th gold medal by winning the men's 200m individual medley with a time of one minute 54.27 seconds.

The victory saw Phelps become the first male swimmer to win the same event in three consecutive Olympics.

Phelps ended his Olympic career at Rio in 2016, where he took his Games gold medal haul to 23, and 28 overall.

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Olympic medal table header
CountryGold medalSilver MedalBronze MedalT
United StatesUnited States13141037
ChinaChina136928
JapanJapan134522
Olympics flagOlympic Athletes from Russia810725
AustraliaAustralia821020
Great BritainGreat Britain57618
Today's Olympic highlights header

Thursday's key events


ROWING
· Comeback queen and super-mum Helen Glover goes for her third Olympic gold alongside Polly Swann in the women's pair final (1.30am)
· There is also a medal on offer for GB pair Emily Craig and Imogen Grant in the lightweight women's double scull final (2.10am)

SWIMMING
· As second-fastest qualifier for the final, Team GB's James Wilby is among the medal contenders in the men's 200m breaststroke (2.44am)
· Alys Thomas takes part in the women's 200m butterfly final, although he faces a difficult task to challenge for the medals (3.28am)
· Caeleb Dressel of the USA has been touted by some as the successor to Michael Phelps, and he has the chance to notch up a fourth Olympic gold in the men's 100m freestyle final (3.37am)

RUGBY SEVENS
· After Team GB's men narrowly missed out on a medal, the women get their campaign underway against the Russian Olympic Committee (3am) and New Zealand (10.30am)

HOCKEY
· It is a Great Britain vs. Netherlands double-header, with the men up first in Pool B (4.15am)
· Most eyes will be on the women's showdown between the two nations, though, as Netherlands - the world's best team - look to gain revenge on GB for defeat in the 2016 Olympic final (11am)

CANOE SLALOM
· Mallory Franklin takes part in the women's canoe semi-final, and will hope to do enough to qualify for the final later in the day (6am-8.45am)

ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS
· With Simone Biles now out of the women's all-around final, the competition has been blown wide open. Team GB twins Jessica and Jennifer Gadirova are among those taking part (11.50am-2.05pm)

> Today's schedule in full
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