James Magnussen
LONDON, England ● James Magnussen will get a chance to make up for the disappointment of missing out on a relay medal by winning gold in the men’s 100m Freestyle at the Aquatics Centre on Day 5 of London 2012.
Magnussen was a member of the Australia quartet that was strongly fancied to win the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay final on Sunday night, but the they finished in fourth place.
It was France who claimed relay gold at the weekend as Yannick Agnel flew past American Ryan Lochte on the final leg and 21-year-old world champion Magnussen will again have to try and get the better of Agnel.
Agnel will be eyeing a third gold medal of the Games after winning the 200m Freestyle on Monday night and American Nathan Adrian is also a threat, while Daniel Gyurta looks like the man to beat in the 200m Breaststroke final as he bids for his first Olympic gold medal.
China’s Jiao Liuyang will be aiming to go one better than her silver medal at Beijing 2008 when she lines up in the final of the women’s 200m Butterfly.
The USA’s Kathleen Hersey will have something to say about that and Japan’s Natsumi Hoshi is also expected to contest a place on the podium, while USA are the favourites to claim gold in the women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay.
After near misses in Cycling, Diving and Equestrian, Helen Glover and Heather Stanning have the opportunity to deliver Great Britain their first gold medal of the Games in the Rowing women’s Pair.
The home favourites are the crew to beat after recording three World Cup victories in 2012 and winning their heat in an Olympic best time.
Britain carry gold medal aspirations into the final of the men’s eight too, although Germany are the crew to aim for having not lost a race in four years.
Bradley Wiggins hopes to carry his Tour de France-winning form into the men’s Cycling Time Trial and in the women’s version of the Time Trial, fellow Team GB rider Lizzie Armitstead will aim to win a medal after her impressive ride to claim silver in the Road Race on Sunday.
The final of the men’s Individual All-Around Artistic Gymnastics competition sees Japan’s Kohei Uchimura aim to add the Olympic title to the three consecutive gold medals he has won in the event at the World Championships.
More gold medals are also up for grabs in the Canoe Slalom, Diving, Fencing, Judo, Shooting, Table Tennis and Weightlifting, while the men’s Super Heavy Weight Boxing competition starts and there is the last round of group games in men’s Football.
Another point of interest comes in the Hockey, where Australia forward and five-time world World Player of the Year Jamie Dwyer embarks on his bid to become his country’s all-time leading scorer against Spain – this after taking his tally to 179 goals with his hat-trick against South Africa.