First Gold!

On the way to ExCel for some boxing I meet the three guys I'm going with outside a pub in Custom House station. Realise the women's pair must be racing right now, but for some reason judo is on! Have a word with the manager, and the pub gets the last 500 metres of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning's amazing row to gold.

You just shouldn't be able to win an Olympic final by that margin. It was as devastating as an Usain Bolt run, they controlled it from the start and only went further away. The crowd were amazing, and the ultimate prize in sport must have been tenfold in front of a home crowd. Let's hope this ripples through the whole team.

Another wonderful story at Eton Dorney, where Greg Searle completes his comeback to the sport with a bronze in the Men's Eight. Seeing Searle win gold in Barcelona with brother Jonny and cox Gary Herbert – twenty years ago now – was one of my very first Olympic memories. It's amazing to note that Searle's medal-winning career now spans a longer time than even Sir Steve Redgrave's.

A quick look at some other prospects in this strong British rowing squad:

Katherine Grainger is surely destined to avenge twelve years of hurt after three successive silver medals. The home crowd will roar themselves hoarse in support of Grainger and partner Anna Watkins in the women's double sculls at 10.30 on Friday morning.  The pair demolished the Olympics record by six huge seconds in their heat, and qualified fastest by almost four.

The men's lightweight four race qualified fastest for their final, at 10.00 tomorrow.  Double world champion Richard Chambers and Chris Bartley join Richard and Peter Chambers of Northern Ireland.  The Chambers boys would become the first British brothers to take a gold since the Searles in Barcelona.

The men's four.  Formerly the domain of the greats Redgrave and Pinsent, Britain's strongest rowers have moved again to this boat, avoiding the seemingly unbeatable New Zealand pair in the two man boat.  Team GB has won three successive golds here, and the quartet of Pete Reed, Andy Triggs Hodge, Tom James and Alex Gregory will not want the mantle to slip away on their watch.  They race for gold on Saturday at 10.30.

George Nash and William Sash won their semi final of the men's pair, but have a huge mountain to climb against the dominant New Zealanders.