Updates from day 12 of the Rio Olympics

USAIN Bolt has turned on a rival with a stinging rebuke just seconds after they shared a “bromance” moment on the track.

It’s his race.

Rio Olympics coverage

Caster Semenya set down an early warning in the women’s 800m on a huge morning of action on day 12 of the Rio Olympics. It was also a big morning for our Aussie Boomers, who made it through to the men’s basketball semi-finals for the first time since the Sydney 2000 Games.

USAIN Bolt delivered yet another huge performance on day 12 of the Rio Olympics, while the Boomers and Caster Semenya also secured promising results.

Here’s how day 12 of the 2016 Games unfolded.

12.40pm

Thompson’s huge double

Elaine Thompson has won the double.

Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson has pulled off a famous sprint double, adding the women’s 200m gold medal to her 100m gold.

In a tight finish, Thompson (21.78 seconds) tipped the Netherlands’ Dafne Schippers (21.88 seconds) by just 0.10 seconds.

American Tori Bowie won Bronze.

It took several seconds for the result to be confirmed, but Thompson’s face lit-up when her 200m Olympic champion status was finally confirmed on the results screen inside the Rio Olympic Stadium.

12.30pm

America sweeps 100m hurdles

American Brianna Rollins has won the women’s 100m hurdles.

With a time of 12.48 seconds, Rollins held off teammates Nia Ali (12.59 seconds) and Kristi Castlin (12.61 seconds) to claim Aussie Sally Pearson’s Olympic title.

11.40am

Aussie misses out in long jump

Aussie Brooke Stratton has been unable to climb into the medals of the women’s long jump.

Stratton’s best leap of 6.74m had her just 34cm from a bronze medal.

American Tianna Bartoletta won gold with a jump of 7.17m.

11.10am

Bolt’s fury at Olympic rival

That’s just not fair.

Usain Bolt has put challenger Andre De Grasse in his place, condemning the Canadian for a stunning late attack on him during the men’s 200m semi-finals.

Bolt eased up in the final 50m of the second semi-final before being forced to make a desperate dive at the line to finish ahead of De Grasse, who charged strongly at the line.

Bolt and De Grasse were both smiling in the final 20m of the race after Bolt showed he had the speed up his sleeve to kick back into top gear and avoid surrendering the race win.

Bolt cruised through with a time of 19.78 seconds — the fastest time he has run in an Olympic semi-final — just 0.02 seconds ahead of De Grasse (19.80 seconds).

The pair shared a smiling conversation beyond the finish line, but Bolt sensationally declared in his round of interviews immediately after the race that he was put-off by De Grasse’s late charge when he believes it was “unnecessary”.

“He was supposed to slow down,” Bolt told the Rio 2016 news service.

If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry Andre.

“I said, ‘What are you doing, it’s a semi-final.’

“I think he wanted to push me. I was a bit lazy but I got round.”

Bolt told Channel 7 he told De Grasse in no uncertain terms that the Canadian was out of line.

“It was not needed,” Bolt said.

“De Grasse just did that unnecessarily. It wasn’t cool, but it’s just one of those things.

“I was asking him, ‘What is he doing?’

“He said, ‘I have to put on some pressure,’ and I was like, ‘Why? It’s the semi-finals, you know what I mean.’

“It’s just one of those things. He’s young.”

De Grasse said he simply wanted to test Bolt.

“We were just having fun,” he said.

“I just wanted to go out there and push him to his limits a bit.

“I had to push him a little bit and see what he had left in the tank.”

The pair are reportedly close friends and share one of the friendliest rivalries in athletics.

Images of the pair running side-by-side over the finish line with smiles all over their face was reported around the world as a moment the couple took their “bromance” to the next level.

The pair have been racing together for years and are both Puma-sponsored athletes.

It didn’t stop Bolt putting De Grasse in his place.

What’s really going on here.

Australian Olympic champion Steve Hooker couldn’t believe Bolt’s incredible display of confidence when the two-time 200m Olympic champion eased off in the final 50m.

“I think he wanted to have a chat with him,” Hooker told Channel 7 of Bolt’s grinning moment alongside De Grasse.

“Who does that in an Olympic semi-final? That was ridiculous.

“We’ve never seen him do anything like this.”

American Lashawn Merritt won the first semi-final with a time of 19.94 seconds.

In a huge moment of controversy American rival Justin Gatlin failed to qualify for the final after pulling his foot off the accelerator in the final 50m.

He was jumped on the line and dropped to third in the third semi-final.

He missed out on a spot in the final by just 0.03 seconds after his time of 20.13 seconds saw him qualify ninth fastest in the three semi-finals.

Jamaica’s Yohan Blake also failed to progress with a time of 20.37 seconds.

10.10am

Women’s hurdles final decided

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico was devastated.

American Brianna Rollins has qualified fastest for the women’s 100m hurdles after a dramatic round of semi-finals.

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn from Puerto Rico left the track in tears after hitting a hurdle during the second semi-final and getting disqualified.

In the third semi-final Canadian Nikkita Holder also hit a hurdle mid-way through her run and took a heavy fall before rolling several metres forward on the track.

She could not hold back the tears when interviewed after the race on Canadian television.

Canada's Nikkita Holder fell hard.

9.35am

USA into semi-finals

The Boomers are on track to face the Dream Team in a blockbuster gold medal match in the men’s basketball after Team USA cruised past Argentina in their quarter-final in Rio.

The United States recovered from a slow first quarter to take control after half time and runaway 105-78 to set up a semi-final against Spain.

Golden State star signing Kevin Durant led the USA with 27 points.

The match was 39-year-old San Antonio star Manu Ginobili’s final game at the Olympics. He previously led his country to Olympic gold back in 2004.

8.55am

Huge controversy in men’s 3000m steeplechase

Araptany was unable to finish the race.

Two runners didn’t finish and another two were disqualified in a controversial men’s 3000m steeplechase final.

Ugandan runner Jacob Araptany face-planted in one of the most brutal falls seen at the 2016 Olympics and failed to finish the race.

BBC footage shows Jacob Araptany fall in the 3000m Steeplechase.

The 22-year-old tripped and stumbled at the worst possible moment, falling face-first into a barrier and then grinding his face beneath the jump marker in sickening fall.

After hitting the track hard he was unable to move as a field of runners desperately tried to avoid stepping on him while running past.

BBC footage shows Jacob Araptany fall in the 3000m Steeplechase

Araptany is reportedly recovering and did not receive any significant injuries.

He was treated beside the track by medical officials.

The race was won by Kenyan Conseslus Kipruto, who stretched Kenya’s stranglehold of the event to nine-consecutive gold medals in the men’s 3000m race.

American Evan Jager won silver.

BBC footage shows Jacob Araptany fall in the 3000m Steeplechase

The bronze medal was awarded amid incredible controversy after Kenya’s Ezekiel Kemboi was disqualified for stepping off the track hours after the race was won. The late protest promoted France’s Mahiedine Mekhissi to bronze.

Goodness gracious, #UGA Jacob Araptany with the most brutal steeplechase fall I've seen. Glad he's okay #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/P04mO4yO9D

— Andrew Jerell Jones (@sluggahjells) August 17, 2016

8.15am

Kim Mickle shoulder update

It took almost three agony filled hours and a general anaesthetic to get javelin thrower Kim Mickle’s shoulder back in her socket after her Olympic Games blow out.

Angry TV watchers saw Mickle search in vain for help for several minutes, with team doctors prevented from being on the track, and a hurdles race preventing local staff from reaching her.

Mickle said she had no issue with the time it took to get treatment, or the treatment she ultimately received — just the pain she endured before her shoulder was put back in place.

“That one’s taken the cake,” Mickle said of the pain.

“The fact the shoulder stayed out for more than two and half hours was pretty awful.

“I was underneath and they had two goes. They had three doctors around me and they were trying to push and pull and tug. It was the two-minute mark of that and I don’t think too many nice words were coming out of my mouth. I said that’s it you have to stop. I either need to be put under here or chop it off.”

— Tony Harper

7.10am

Wu on fire at Diving Pool

Aussie Melissa Wu has qualified fourth for the women’s 10m platform diving semi-final.

Wu’s combined score of 342.80 suggests the 24-year-old can threaten to win an Olympic medal in Friday’s (AEST) final.

Aussie Brittany O’Brien also qualified for the 18-woman semi-final in 17th position.

6.40am

Twist in pole vault ‘penis’ story

The bar.

Japanese pole vault phenomenon Hiroki Ogita has spoken out to give his side of the viral moment his manhood collided with the pole vault bar during the qualifying rounds of the event inside the Rio Olympic Stadium.

Ogita has become one of the biggest sensations of the Rio Games after an unfortunate camera angle suggested he failed to clear a height of 5.3m because his penis brushed the bar.

Unfortunately, the foul effectively cost Ogita a place in the final.

Despite clearing the height on his second attempt, the Japanese athlete was only able to make a height of 5.45 metres with his last jump, which left him in 21st place, ending his campaign in Rio.

However, that is not the end of the story.

Ogita has now responded to the interest from media around the world to give his version of the story.

The 28-year-old said he can’t fathom why the story has made headlines around the world.

He claims the story is not as simple as the famous camera footage suggests.

Ogita said his leg first made contact with the bar, which was then dislodged when his arm also made contact.

“I never expected the foreign media to take me down like this,” he posted on Twitter, according to a BBC translation.

“It’s one thing if it was true, but I have to say I’m pretty devastated that they’d go so far to make something up to mock and ridicule me so much.

Rising star.

“To be honest, it’s pretty rough, but I guess I’m in the spotlight so this might be some kind of opportunity. I’ll do my best and get the results so that I get the last laugh.

“It doesn’t matter if you do it for a joke or whatever, I ask you to go and watch an actual game at a stadium for once. I hope you appreciate, even a bit, what a great sport pole vaulting is.”

He also saw the funny side of the story.

“Watching again, this is pretty funny, if I say so myself. LOL.”

p.s. 改めて見ると自分でもウケる。笑

— 荻田大樹 (@ogih1230) August 16, 2016

正直キツイですが、ある意味注目を受けているのでそれもチャンスかなと思います。
しっかり結果を出して見返してやろうと思っています。
この際、ネタでもなんでもいいので1度 競技場で試合を見てください。
棒高跳びの良さが少しでも伝わればと思います。

— 荻田大樹 (@ogih1230) August 16, 2016

ご報告
色々とありましてアカウント名を変更いたしました。
その関係で公式マークも消えてます。
まさか海外メディアにここまで陥れられるとは思いませんでした。
真実ならともかく、ここまで面白おかしく偽造されて罵られるとさすがにショックです。

— 荻田大樹 (@ogih1230) August 16, 2016

6am

Promising BMX results

BMX in Rio.

Australia’s top-ranked male and female BMX riders have qualified in the top three in Rio ahead of Friday’s (AEST) semi-finals.

Caroline Buchanan was second fastest and Sam Willoughby third fastest while their teammates also posted strong times.

Bodi Turner was 13th and Anthony Dean 20th in the men’s field while Lauren Reynolds was 10th in the women’s competition.

— Reece Homfray

5.55am

Sailing medal race delayed

Will Ryan and Matt Belcher’s gold medal hunt has been re-scheduled for Friday (AEST) after poor sailing conditions forced the men’s 470 medal race to be postponed.

Rio organisers made the call at 3.45pm local time that due to a lack of wind inside the Guanabara Bay, all medal races would not go ahead.

Australia’s 49rs crew of Iain Jensen and Nathan Outteridge are fourth ahead of the medal race and can finish as high as silver. Their race has also been re-scheduled for Friday (AEST)

5.20am

Barkley: ‘It’s not a good team’

Cop that DeAndre.

Michael Jordan was the most famous player but many remember Charles Barkley as the true star of the Dream Team.

He led the US in scoring and was often seen strolling the streets of Barcelona by himself - surrounded by adoring fans.

But “Sir Charles” has been less than impressed with what he’s seen the “three or four times” he’s watched Team USA in Rio.

“It’s not a good team to put together,” Barkley told Sports360AZ.com. “I don’t think they did a good job because if you watch all those guys — they’re all good players, now don’t get me wrong — they all need the ball.

“If you take away DeAndre Jordan, every guy on that team is a ball-dominant guy. You see them playing a lot of one-on-one basketball. That’s the thing I’ve noticed more than anything. Like, you have to understand when you put a team together like that, you have to have some role players who are just like ‘I’m just going to play defensive, I’m just going to run up and down the court, if I get a shot, I get a shot’. But you take a guy like Kyle Lowry, who is a hell of a player, he wants to score. Kyrie wants to score. Kevin wants to score. (DeMar) DeRozan wants to score. So I think they have been really stagnant offensively.

“When they put that team together in the future, they have to realise we can’t have just really, really great offensive players. They gotta have players that if they don’t get a shot, they’re not just gonna stand around and mope.”

Team USA begins the knockout phase of the tournament with a quarterfinal against Argentina at 7.45am.

They’ll face European powerhouse Spain, which thumped France 92-67 today.

French NBA star Tony Parker said the loss to Spain was his final international match.

Tony Parker: "I felt like Spain was the Spurs."

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) August 17, 2016

5.20am

Brilliant Boomers into semis

The Boomers have guaranteed themselves a shot at a historic medal in Rio, defeating heavyweights Lithuania in one of their greatest performances to storm into the semi-final.

Building on their brilliant group stage form, Australia made the world’s third-ranked side look second rate at times in a 90-64 win.

NBA stars Patty Mills (24 points), Aron Baynes (16 points) and Matthew Dellavedova (15 points) starred again for the Boomers but this was a win built on teamwork, relentless intensity and defensive pressure.

5.20am

Rio’s most sensitive campaign begins

South African runner Caster Semenya stepped out into the Rio sunlight on Wednesday and the prying eyes of the world locked on her powerful physique as she took to the start line for the women’s 800m.

The South African runner made an instant impact, cruising through her heat and into the next round of an event she is expected to dominate in world record fashion at the Games.

Semenya, the so called intersex athlete, has divided the sport’s fans between those who feel her biological make-up is merely the luck of the draw and those who feel her particpation is unfair on her rivals.

5.20am

Was Ryan Lochte really robbed?

The mystery surrounding the gunpoint robbery of US swimmer Ryan Lochte and teammate James Feigen has deepened after a Brazilian judge ordered their passports seized.

Rio police say there are inconsistencies in the stories of the four athletes who claim they were robbed by at least one man posing as a policeman during a night out celebrating their relay gold medal.

Judge Keyla Blank “issued warrants for searches and the seizure of the passports for the US swimmers,” a statement from her office said.

— Sarah Blake

5.20am

Neymar creates history in Brazil rout

Neymar scored twice, including the fastest goal in Olympics history, as Brazil coasted into Saturday’s gold medal football match with a 6-0 thrashing of Honduras at Rio’s iconic Maracana.

The hosts now have the chance to ease some of the pain caused by a 7-1 humiliation at the hands of Germany on home soil at the 2014 World Cup by delivering Brazil’s first football gold medal.

A mouth-watering rematch with the Germans is in store should the world champions see off 1996 winners Nigeria in Wednesday’s other semi-final, later in Sao Paulo.

Neymar had been much criticised for his lacklustre displays in two 0-0 draws to start the tournament, but his transformation back from the nation’s whipping boy to golden boy was capped by his determination to open the scoring after just 15 seconds.

5.20am

Kayakers cheering after semi

Cheers boys. That’s the call from Tugun and Avoca Beach Surf Clubs who are shouting free beer in support of K2 1000m paddlers Ken Wallace and Lachlan Tame.

The world No. 2 pair advanced to the K2 1000m Olympic final in Rio, with a performance that suggests Australia are on the verge of another medal on the water.