Olympian admits she was 'sad to be British' in emotional medal win

Laura Collett has triumphed with two Olympic medals for Team GB on Monday, expressing 'sadness' at being British . The 34-year-old eventer clinched gold alongside Rosalind Canter and Tom McEwen in team eventing and secured an individual bronze in jumping.

The bronze medal becomes Collett's first solo Olympic accolade, following doubts just months prior about her inclusion in the squad. In a heartfelt interview with BBC Sport, she shared that she had been pessimistic about her prospects before the announcement of the four-person team earlier this year.

"At the beginning of the year I was a bit sad that I was British because I thought there was no chance of getting on the team because it is so strong," Collett revealed while holding back emotion.

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"Realistically they could have sent a whole different team and they still would have come back with a gold medal. Once you get selected you are very glad to be British because it means you ride alongside the likes of Tom and Ross and to have Yas [Ingham] here as well, willing us on."

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"It is a huge team effort and we are very lucky we got selected and could come and make sure we didn't mess up. It's so many years of hard work and blood, sweat and tears. Emotional rollercoaster doesn't even do it justice."

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"Every single bad day is worth it. I just had to never give up and never lose hope and you can never dream too big. I never thought this day would come. I owe absolutely everything to that horse and the team that have made it possible just to get here."

"I am so lucky to be the one that gets to ride into an arena like that and come out with a team gold and an individual gold medal at the Olympics. There are so many people that have contributed and I just want to say thank you to every single one of them."

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It proved a successful day for Team GB across other events as well, with Tom Pidcock clinching the gold in the men's cross-country cycling. Despite an early setback with a puncture, he surged to victory in a thrilling conclusion by executing a bold overtake on France's Victor Koretzky.

Meanwhile, on Monday earlier, Team GB's Tom Daley partnered with Noah Williams managed to secure a silver medal in the mens 10 metre synchronised platform event. Throughout the competition they were in pursuit of the Chinese duo Yang Hao and Lian Junjie, who ultimately took home the gold medal with superior dives.