The Olympics saw something for first time since 1948 on Monday - as Team GB win their first gold medals of the Paris Games in equestrian and mountain biking
- Team GB clinched their first gold medals of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Monday
- The team eventing squad beat France to claim gold at the Chateau de Versailles
- Tom Pidcock impressively won the men's mountain bike race with a puncture
Team GB clinched their first gold medals of the Paris Olympics on Monday having got off to a flying start in the medal race over the weekend.
The Brits were celebrating their best start to an Olympic Games in nearly 40 years on Saturday, as Anna Henderson clinched silver in the women's time trial, while Yasmin Harper and divers Scarlett Mew Jensen took bronze at the Aquatics Centre.
As of Tuesday lunchtime, Team GB were seventh in the medal tally, having clinched a total of 10 medals - two gold, five silver and three bronze.
On Monday, their equestrian eventing team claimed Team GB's first gold of the games. Tom McEwen and his horse JL Dublin, Ros Canter and his horse
Tom McEwen and his horse JL Dublin, Rosalind Canter and Lordships and Laura Collett riding London 52 stormed to the top of the leaderboard to beat the hosts, France to claim gold at the Chateau de Versailles.
Team GB have clinched their first medals of the Olympic games, with Rosalind Canter, Laura Collett and Tom McEwen (L-R) winning the eventing team final on Monday
Tom Pidcock (pictured) won gold in the men's mountain bike race - defending his Tokyo 2020 title
Meanwhile, Tom Pidcock pulled off an extra-ordinary feat, despite being booed, after winning gold in the men's mountain bike race, despite suffering a puncture during the race.
The 24-year-old said: ‘It’s a shame the French were booing me. That’s not really the spirit of the Olympics. But I do understand that the French are very passionate, they wanted Victor to win.
‘That was understandable. But they didn’t boo the rock that made me puncture.’
Despite that, Team GB's equestrian team and Pidcock have jointly made history, with this being the first time in 76 years that the Olympics has heard the British national anthem 'God Save the King' be played on the medal podium.
Each country who wins gold at the Games has their national anthem played during the medals presentation, with the last athlete to win gold at the 1948 Games, when King George VI reigned.
King George passed away on February 6, 1952, just six months before the 1952 Olympic Games, with Queen Elizabeth II suceeding him, and reigning until she passed on September 8 2022.
It means that with with King Charles III now the King of the United Kingdom, Team GB's athletes will sing 'God Save the King' instead of 'God Save the Queen' for the first time since the 1948 Olympics, which were held in London and opened by King George VI.
The Prince and Princess of Wales issued their congratulations to Team GB's first gold medallists of the games. They wrote on X (formerly Twitter): 'Huge congratulations to the Equestrian Eventing Team and Tom Pidcock in the mountain biking on winning’s first gold medals! Here’s to more success ahead!'
Collett (pictured) and McEwen had also clinched gold in the same event at the 2020 Tokyo Games
Pidcock (pictured) remarkably still managed to win with a puncture in one of his tyres
It is the first time that 'God Save the King' has been played at an Olympic medal ceremony since 1948, when George VI (pictured) reigned over the United Kingdom
The Prince and Princess of Wales took to X (formerly Twitter) to issue their congratulations to the eventing team and Pidcock
"Doing it in front of my son who asked me to come back is so special. I now have one of every colour, I've completed the set."
Adam Peaty came agonisingly close to being Britain's third athlete to clinch gold at the games, after he missed out on winning the men's 100m final by 0.02 seconds behind Italy's Nicolo Martinenghi.
Elsewhere, Tom Daley clinched his fifth Olympic medal, claiming silver alongside Noah Williams in the men's synchronised 10m platform at the Aquatics Centre in Paris.
Daley had been selected, alongside fellow gold medallist Helen Glover, to carry the British flag at the opening ceremony on Friday night. They were named as the flagbearers at a special reception at the British Embassy in Paris last week, which was attended by Princess Anne - who participated in eventing at the 1976 Montreal Games - and Sir Mick Jagger.
Princess Anne, who participated in eventing at the 1976 Montreal Games, presented medals to the equestrian team at Chateau de Versailles
Addressing the Team GB athletes, Princess Anne stated: 'It is the process of getting here and some of you are getting here again and again and again and again.
She continued: 'That is extraordinary because it requires such inspiration and innovation to maintain those levels of excellence for an Olympic Games that says something enormous about your achievements and your skills.
'Thank you for your commitment and your support and I just wish you every bit of success and that it goes as well as you hope in every way.'
