Keri-Ann Payne and Cassie Patten show off their medals. Photograph: PA

Spandau Ballet profit from British success

The stunning number of British gold medals has been a delirious surprise to us all, but surely no one has revelled in the success more than Spandau Ballet. After all, barely a day goes by without some overworked and under-brained TV producer choosing the synth-pop clarion call Gold! (Gold!) as a soundtrack to a hastily cobbled montage of yet another British victory.

So imagine the excitement in Tony Hadley’s household this morning as Britain’s Keri-Anne Payne and Cassie Patten led the 10k women’s swim with just 50m to go. Perhaps now he would have the royalties to invest in vital research for a seven-blade razor that might finally get rid of the permanent fuzz of stubble on his top lip? And imagine the howls of frustration in the Kemp household as the Russian world champion Larisa Ilchenko sneaked past both Payne (silver) and Patten (bronze) at the line to win in a time of 1hr 59min 27sec.

No wonder both British swimmers were wondering what might have been - if only they’d been a bit less haphazard. “The course was really flat and one of the best I’ve ever swum,” sighed Payne. “But I got weeds stuck in my costume and in my face.” Patten admitted: “I swam into a large orange buoy. Every part of my body was aching but I tried pushing for gold.”

Meanwhile, never underestimate the effect Sunday night 80s soap Howard’s Way has had on the medal table. Today Bryony Shaw secured Britain’s fifth sailing medal of the Games, finishing second in the RS:X women’s windsurfing medal race to claim a bronze in Qingdao. For everyone else, however, today’s focus is firmly on Usain Bolt who goes for a sprint double at 10.20pm (3.20pm BST). That he will win is a 1-20 certainty according to the bookies; whether he can shatter Michael Johnson’s 200m record of 19.32sec is the great unknown.

Latest news

Bryony Shaw wins windsurfing bronzeBryony Shaw fought hard to take bronze in the women’s RS:X windsurfing event in Qingdao.

Brits claim silver and bronze in marathon swimKeri-Anne Payne and Cassie Patten extended Britain’s medal haul to 35 after finishing second and third in the 10km open water swim.

Reade into semis despite crashShe may have wiped out on her first attempt, but Britain’s BMX gold medal favourite Shanaze Reade still qualified with the second fastest time.

Cycling chief offers help to other sportsBritish Cycling’s chief executive, Peter King, says he’s quite happy to share his team’s expertise with Britain’s other, less successful, sports.

Wednesday’s DiggerMatt Scott provides the stories behind the stories in Beijing.

Day 12 from Beijing - live!For all the latest news, follow our brilliant minute-by-minute report.

Best of the blogs

Time to leave off OhuruoguLawrence Donegan explains why we should follow Sanya Richards’ example and forgive and forget Christine Ohuruogu’s missed drugs tests

Corner of a foreign field that is cringe-making LondonThe British curse of causing embarrassment abroad has been eagerly taken up by the London Development Agency in Beijing, writes Marina Hyde

It’s not all about winning, ChinaAfter Liu Xiang’s injury, the Chinese should start embracing its heroic losers not just its winners, says Jonathan Watts

Weightlifters bring fire and fury to the GamesThe strongest men at the Olympics were on show last night, and their theatrics didn’t disappoint Andy Bull

Argentina and Brazil do battleWill Buckley went to watch the two South American giants do battle last night, so couldn’t understand why most of the 53,000 fans were supporting China

Bei-watch

There have been some odd questions asked at press conferences, none more so than that offered up by one Japanese journalist to weightlifter Viktors Scerbatihs, the Latvian bronze medallist in the men’s +105kg category. Scerbatihs is an MP for the Latvian Farmers’ Union party, but something must have got lost in translation. “I understand you are a member of the Green Party, so you must be a vegetarian,” the question went. “How do you get your protein?” Scerbatihs, 5ft 11in and 23 stone, chuckled in baffled bemusement before issuing a categorical denial of the accusation.

Concerned over a lack of attention in a country mad for the sport, table tennis authorities have been looking for a way to draw bigger audiences. Their solution? Sexier clothing. “We are trying to push the players to use skirts and nicer shirts,” said ITTF official Claude Bergeret, before digging himself even deeper into his hole by adding: “not the shirts made for men, but ones with more curves.”

Talking of sexy clothing, the New Zealand women’s hockey manager, Kevin Marr, was banished to the grandstand for his team’s must-win group match against Germany because officials objected to three of his players wearing black underwear beneath their white shorts in an earlier match.

What’s coming up

All today’s fixtures and results

Boxing (1.46pm BST/8.46pm Bei)Middleweight James DeGale can guarantee at least a bronze medal, emulating his Great Britain team-mates David Price and Tony Jeffries, when he faces Kazakhstan’s Bakhtiyar Artayev in his quarter-final bout.

Athletics (3.20pm/10.20pm)Usain Bolt goes for the sprint double and a possible assault on Michael Johnson’s world record in the 200m final when he will be up against the defending champion, Shawn Crawford.

Swimming (2am/9am)David Davies will be seeking to continue Britain’s success at the Ming Tomb Reservoir in the men’s 10km swim marathon.

Cycling (3.30am/10.30am)Despite a tumble in her opening run, Crewe’s Shanaze Reade is the favourite for gold in the women’s BMX.

Beach volleyball (4am/11am)Misty May and Kerri Walsh of the US take on the Chinese pair in the women’s final.

About this articleCloseThe Beijinger: day 12 This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Wednesday August 20 2008. It was last updated at 08:50 on August 20 2008.

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