Guildford Olympic kayak champion wins bronze in Tokyo
Liam Heath was defending his title
Last updated 5th Aug 2021
Team GB has had more medal success on day 13 at the Tokyo Olympics - with a bronze today for a defending Olympic champion from Guildford.
36 year old Liam Heath came third in the men's kayak 200-metres final.
It is Heath's fourth Olympic medal after successes at London 2012 and Rio five years ago.
He now says it is a case of "wait and see" whether he will continue his Olympic journey to Paris and a fourth Games.
Asked if Tokyo might be the final chapter, he said: "That's a question still to be answered and thought about very deeply.
"It's a decision that has got to be made between me, my family, and everyone at home in terms of the commitment that they put in and the support behind you.
"It is a unique position to be in because it's just another three years (to Paris). It seems to be just around the corner.
"The 200m is unfortunately stepping back as an Olympic event, but there are new opportunities both in the slalom and the sprint, with the K2 500m being reintroduced, which has a legacy in this sport already. That's something that I might turn towards.
"Those decisions still have to be made. You are on cloud nine at the minute, but you kind of forget all the hardship and sacrifices that people make and you make to get to where you are.
"It will take me a couple of weeks to look back, evaluate and see how happy I am to continue towards a fourth Games. We will have to wait and see."
Heath admitted that arriving at an Olympics as a defending champion had been an interesting experience.
"It is completely different," he added. "As much as you try to push it to the back of your mind, coming into an event as a defending champion with everyone looking at you is very much there.
"In your mind, you try and keep focus on what you want to achieve. I've had challenges with doing that, but at the end of the day I managed to sort my head.
"It is a bit of a mental game. You can prepare your body as much as you can, but the brain is generally the engine.
"I suppose it has weighed on me a little bit, but not an incredible amount.
"It is very flattering to have everyone look to you as a beacon of performance and try to emulate and beat you. That is a very privileged position to be in."
Heath clocked 35.202 seconds to finish third behind Hungary'sSandor Totka, with Italian Manfredi Rizza taking silver.
Drawn in lane three, he delivered a consistent performance after an uncertain start, but could not quite threaten the top two.
Totka and Rizza were separated by just 45-hundredths of a second, with Heath leading the charge behind them.
"The journey has been so incredibly long, so incredibly tough, and I am happy where I have landed," he said.
"The race could have gone a little bit better for me, but at the end of the day it is what it is and I am happy with the medal around my neck."
All the Team GB medal winners so far at the Olympics:
Jason Kenny - Gold
Jason Kenny became the most decorated Olympic cyclist of any nation, with gold in the men's keirin, taking his Olympic total to seven gold and two silver medals
Joe Choong - Gold
Joe Choong won gold in the modern pentathlon
Lauren Price - Gold
Lauren Price won gold in the Women's middleweight boxing
Galal Yafai - Gold
Birmingham's Galal Yafai celebrates after winning gold in the flyweight boxing at the Tokyo Olympics
Kate French - Gold
Team GB's Kate French wins gold in the modern pentathlon
Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald - Gold
Scottish cyclist Katie Archibald has claimed a gold medal winning the women's Madison at Tokyo 2020 alongside Laura Kenny who becomes the first woman in British history to win gold at three consecutive games. It also makes Kenny Team GB's most decorated female athlete, with six medals overall.
Matt Walls - Gold
Matt Walls won a gold in the track cycling, He won the Omnium event
Ben Maher - Gold
Ben Maher took gold on his horse in the Individual jumping
Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre - Gold
Team GB's Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre have won Gold in sailing's 470-class at the Tokyo Olympics.
Sailing - Gold & Silver
Team GB took home two golds and a silver within a few hours in the 3rd August. Giles Scott successfully defended his Gold from Rio in the Finn class, Stuart Bithell and Dylan Fletcher took gold in the 49er class and Anna Burnet and John Gimson took silver in the Nacra
Individual eventing - Silver
On the same day Tom McEwan won gold in team eventing, he also won a silver in the individual event!
Team Eventing - Gold
Laura Collett (pictured), Tom McEwen and Oliver Townend take Gold in the equestrian team eventing.
Charlotte Worthington - Gold
Charlotte Worthington from Chorlton in Manchester won the gold medal in the BMX freestyle in Tokyo - landing a historic trick in the final. She completed 360-degree flip in her second run - the first ever by a woman in competition.
Mixed 4x100 metres medley relay - Gold
Kathleen Dawson. James Guy (pictured), Adam Peaty and Anna Hopkin stormed to victory in the inaugural mixed 4x100 metres medley relay final in a new world record time at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
Max Whitlock - Gold
Max Whitlock's successful defence of his Olympic pommel horse title meant he took home the Gold
Mixed Triathlon relay - Gold
Jess Learmonth, Jonathan Brownlee, Georgia Taylor-Brown and Alex Yee took Gold in the Mixed Triathlon relay
Bethany Shriever - Gold
Bethany Shriever won Gold as she took the women's BMX racing title for Team GB. This is the first year Team GB has won any medals in the sport since it was introduced to the games in 2008.
Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay - Gold
Duncan Scott, Matthew Richards, James Guy and Tom Dean convincingly won the Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay for Team GB.
Tom Pidcock - Gold
Tom Pidcock, from Leeds, won gold in the cross country mountain biking.
Tom Daley & Matty Lee - Gold
Tom Daley, from Plymouth, and Leeds' Matty Lee also added to Team GB's medal count with gold in the ten-metre-synchronised diving, Daley finally winning Olympic gold after two bronze medals.
Tom Dean - Gold
Maidenhead's Tom Dean produced the performance of his life in the final of the men's 200 metres freestyle, clocking a national record time of one minute and 44.22 seconds to pip Tokyo 2020 flatmate Duncan Scott in a historic one-two for Team GB.
Adam Peaty - Gold
The first gold Team GB won was for Adam Peaty, from Uttoxeter, who created history by becoming the first British swimmer to retain an Olympic title.
Men's Madison - Silver
Ethan Hayter and Matthew Walls take silver in the Men's Madison
Men's 4x100m relay - Silver
There was only a hundredth of a second separating Team GB and the Gold medal, which went to Italy. Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Richard Kilty, Chijindu Ujah, Zharnel Hughes were in the team in the final. This medal could be set to be lost though as CJ Ujah's sample was found to have a banned substance in it, which could mean disqualification for Team GB.
Keely Hodkinson - Silver
Wigan's Keely Hodgkinson claimed a stunning 800 metres silver medal at the Olympics as the rising star smashed Kelly Holmes' British record. The 19-year-old clocked one minute 55.88 seconds to finish behind winner Athing Mu of the USA in Tokyo.
Ben Whittaker - Silver
Team GB's Benjamin Whittaker has won Silver in boxing's light heavyweight division at the Tokyo Olympics.
Men's Team Sprint - Silver
Jack Carlin, Jason Kenny and Ryan Owens took Silver in the Men's team sprint. It leaves Jason Kenny as the most decorated British Olympian of all time alongside Sir Bradley Wiggins.
Pat McCormack - Silver
Pat McCormack took Silver in the men's welterweight boxing
Team pursuit - Silver
Team GB broke a world record to get to the final of the women's team pursuit but couldn't quite beat the German team, who also broke the world record again 10 minutes after the Brits.
Weightlifting - Silver
Emily Campbell is the first British female weightlifter to win an Olympic medal - she got a silver in the women's +87 kg event.
Men's 4 × 100 m medley relay - Silver
Luke Greenbank, James Guy, Duncan Scott, Adam Peaty won Silver in the men's 4x100m medley relay. It made Duncan Scott has become one of Britain's most successful Olympians of all time taking four medals at a single Olympic Games.
Swimming 200m Individual Medley - Silver
Duncan Scott won his third medal of the Olympics in the 200m Individual Medley, taking Silver.
BMX Racing - Silver
Kye Whyte from London made BMX history for Great Britain on Friday morning as he won our first-ever medal in the BMX events. Moments after he won Silver, Beth Shriever took gold in her BMX race event
Georgia Taylor-Brown - Silver
Manchester's Georgia Taylor-Brown overcame a puncture to win silver for Great Britain in a wet women's triathlon at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Taylor-Brown went into the race as the reigning world champion and one of the favourites for the title but had to play catch-up on the 10 kilometres run after getting a flat tyre on the last lap of the bike leg.
Men's Quadruple Sculls Team - Silver
Harry Leask, Angus Groom, Tom Barras and Jack Beaumont celebrate Team GB's first rowing medal at Tokyo 2020. They won silver in the Men's Quadruple Sculls.
Mallory Franklin - Silver
Windsor canoeist Mallory Franklin won Team GB's 18th medal after taking silver in the women's single slalom, also known as the women's C1 event
Lauren WIlliams - Silver
Lauren Williams, from Blackwood in Wales, won Silver in Taekwondo at Tokyo 2020.
Bradley Sinden - Silver
Bradley Sinden, from Doncaster, won Silver for his Taekwondo performance at Tokyo 2020.
Duncan Scott - Silver
Duncan Scott became Scotland's first medallist as he got the silver in the men's 200 metres freestyle narrowly missing out to teammate Tom Dean for the gold
Alex Yee - Silver
Lewisham's Alex Lee won silver in triathlon at Tokyo 2020
Josh Kerr - Bronze
Josh Kerr took home bronze in the men's 1500 metres
Tom Daley - Bronze
Tom Daley diving in the final of the 10m platform at the Tokyo Olympics. The 27-year-old from Plymouth won the bronze.
Women's 4 × 100 metres relay - Bronze
Asha Philip, Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita took bronze in the women's 4 × 100 metres relay
Jack Carlin - Bronze
Jack Carlin took Bronze in the Men's cycling sprint
Holly Bradshaw - Bronze
A Bronze medal for Holly Bradshaw in the Pole Vault
Women's Hockey - Bronze
Team GB's Hockey team took the Bronze
Sky Brown - Bronze
13-year-old Sky Brown won Bronze for Team GB in the skateboarding park event.
Liam Heath - Bronze
Team GB's Liam Heath has won Bronze in the final of the men's 200m kayak.
Jack Laugher - Bronze
Jack Laugher, gold and silver medallist in Rio took home the bronze in Tokyo after coming third in the men's 3m springboard diving.
Declan Brooks - Bronze
Declan Brooks won a bronze in the BMX freestyling
Frazer Clarke - Bronze
Team GB's Frazer Clarke celebrates after winning bronze in the Men's Super Heavy (+91kg) boxing.
Karriss Artingstall - Bronze
Karriss Artingstall won Bronze in the women's featherweight boxing
Emma Wilson - Bronze
Emma Wilson took Bronze in the Sailing in the women's RS:X
Mens Eight Rowing - Bronze
Great Britain won the bronze medal in the men's eight final at the Tokyo Olympics. The crew made up of Josh Bugajski, Jacob Dawson, Oliver Wynne-Griffith,Tom George, Mohamed Sbihi, Charles Elwes, James Rudkin and Tom Ford came third, behind gold medallists New Zealand, with Germany taking second.
200m Backstroke - Bronze
Luke Greenbank won bronze for Team GB in the Mens 200m Backstroke finals at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
Bryony Page - Bronze
Team GB's Bryony Page came third in the final of the women's trampolining. She won Bronze.
Matthew Coward-Holley - Bronze
Matthew Coward-Holley from Chelmsford won a Bronze for Team GB in the Men's trap shooting.
Charlotte Dujardin - bronze
By taking bronze in the individual dressage event Charlotte Dujardin has become Britain's most successful female Olympian. She now has six Olympic medals across three games
Dressage team - bronze
Charlotte Dujardin from Leighton Buzzard has claimed her 5th Olympic Medal today. She earned a bronze in the team final alongside Carl Hester from Guernsey and Charlotte Fry.
Women’s team gymnastics - bronze
Great Britain claimed the first women's team gymnastics medal since 1928 as they delivered an extraordinary bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.
The team included Slough gymnast 18-year-old Amelie Morgan, 16-year-old twins Jennifer and Jessica Gadirova, from Aylesbury and Alice Kinsella who was born in Essex but lives in Birmingham.
Bianca Walkden - Bronze
Bianca Walkden from Liverpool claimed a bronze in Taekwondo at Tokyo 2020
Chelsee Giles - Bronze
Chelsee Giles, from Coventry, won Team GB's first medal for Judo. She won Bronze.