Gold for Australia!

Kim Brennan has won Australia’s sixth gold medal at the Rio Olympics, and our first gold medal in a rowing event since 2008 in Beijing.

Brennan claimed the women’s single sculls title on day eight of the competition, leading by three seconds at the final mark.

The 31-year-old took home a bronze medal in the same event at the London Olympics and was a hot favourite to win.

She described the race as “a blur”. For more on Brennan’s victory, click here.

Kim Brennan celebrates with her gold medal. Photo: Getty

Sun Yang’s escape

Mack Horton was robbed of another showdown with Chinese swimmer Sun Yang after the latter failed to qualify for the men’s 1500m freestyle final on Saturday.

Horton dubbed Sun a “drug cheat” before beating him in the men’s 400m freestyle last week – and after the race made similar comments, prompting a huge meltdown in China.

The swimmer’s Instagram account was flooded with hundreds of thousands of abusive comments as a result, and Sun stoked the fire ahead of a much-anticipated 1500m clash when declaring he was “no friend” of Horton’s and that he was “the king” over the longer distance.

Sun, who won the 200m freestyle event, finished 16th fastest in the heats, though, producing a time of 15 minutes and 1.97 seconds – more than 30 seconds over his world record, set in 2012.

“I felt weak and it was difficult to exert strength. Even now, my arms and legs are hard to move,” Sun said.

“So my time was not good. Age may be one factor, but I think I’m still young and there is still room to improve my capability. There had been reports about my withdrawal before the match. So no matter how slow I was today, it’s encouraging that I completed it.”

Horton (14:48.47secs) qualified for Sunday’s decider fourth quickest, with Italian world champion Greg Paltrinieri (14:44.51secs) setting the pace.

‘Shattered’

The Matildas, Australia’s women’s soccer team, were left feeling downbeat after their quarter-final loss to Brazil following a high-stakes penalty shoot-out.

Despite goalkeeper Lydia Williams expertly blocking a shot from five-time world player of the year Marta, the Aussies lost the shoot-out 7-6 after 120 minutes of play.

The players took to social media to vent their frustrations, with co-captain Clare Polkinghorne saying she had “no words” after the loss.

Forward Caitlin Foord, on the other hand, had plenty of words for the loss, saying she was “shattered” and describing the match as “such a s**t way to go”.

Photo of the day

Yes, that’s right.

The 100m butterfly final was thrilling. Photo: Getty

There’s not one silver medal there – or two. There’s three.

Michael Phelps and an eight-year-old Joseph Schooling.

Michael Phelps’ last individual Olympic race entered the history books after both he and long-time rivals Chad le Clos and Laszlo Cseh finished with the same time in the men’s 100m butterfly final.

Singapore’s Joseph Schooling won the event.

The 21-year-old Singaporean met Phelps when he was just eight years old and was overwhelmed by beating his hero.

“During the victory ceremony I was like ‘Dude, this is crazy; I don’t know how to feel right now; it’s nuts; it’s out of this world’,” Schooling said.

“He [Phelps] smiled and said, ‘I know’. He’s been through it all. Just being beside him; walking alongside him and celebrating – I’ll really cherish that for the rest of my life.”

Texas grandfather goes viral

A 68-year-old American has been labelled the “coolest papa out there” on social media after photos of his impressive flag pole lift on a train in Rio de Janeiro were shared by his grandson on Twitter.

Wayne McEntire was riding on a train with his grandson, Britton Barker, when a commuter offered him a seat in a designated section for elderly passengers.

But Mr Barker’s grandfather declined, instead demonstrating his upper body strength with a flag pole lift.

Mr McEntire’s spontaneous display has since gone viral after it was shared on Twitter by his grandson.

https://twitter.com/b_flex14/status/763803311007039488

“Oops accidentally made Papa Twitter famous,” Mr Barker tweeted after seeing the online reaction to his grandfather’s public display.

The original tweet has received more than 70,000 retweets and drawn a number of responses online.

Kim Jong-un is … happy

Well, North Korean weightlifter Rim Jong Sim says so.

Rim Jong Sim won gold. Photo: Getty

The 23-year-old won the nation’s first gold at the Rio Olympics and said her thoughts immediately turned to the nation’s leader.

“The first thing I thought when I knew I had won was that I had made our beloved leader happy,” she told reporters.

The US pauses for Phelps

Most fans attending Baltimore Ravens’ pre-season American football match against the Carolina Panthers would have expected to follow Michael Phelps’ bid for a 22nd gold medal on their phones.

But Baltimore, the area from which Phelps hails, decided to stop their match, given no points were on the line, and put Phelps’ 200m individual medley on the big screen.

The crowd at Ravens stadium watching as Phelps wins another gold (on delay) pic.twitter.com/88RHcuIUme

— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) August 12, 2016

Bradley Wiggins celebrates in his own way

Anthems are normally serious business.

But for the British cyclist, who had just won his fifth gold medal, he tried to lighten the mood.

Funny or offensive? You decide.

Bradley Wiggins' team-mates loved him sticking his tongue out during the national anthem https://t.co/5fMTxqzpMv pic.twitter.com/cUxiWMosLl

— HuffPost UK (@HuffPostUK) August 12, 2016

Where are all the fans?

Seems the Brazilians haven’t got their head around the athletics starting while the swimming is still on.

I don't want to be negative, but this is really quite embarrassing. Less than 15% full I reckon. pic.twitter.com/aECIToMEjc

— Andrew Steele (@AndrewSteele) August 12, 2016

What to watch on Sunday

For the early risers, flagbearer Anna Meares is a medal chance in the women’s keirin at 6.33am (AEST).

We’ve then got Fabrice Lapierre in the men’s long jump final at 9.50am before a big morning in the pool.

Cate and Bronte Campbell will hope to improve on their showing in the 100m freestyle final in the women’s 50m event at 11.03am, while Horton is aiming for a second gold medal of the Games eight minutes later in the men’s 1500m freestyle final.

We’re also in the mix for medals in the 4x100m medley relay in both the women’s and men’s, which follows.

And, of course, the women’s 100m sprint final at 11.37am should be good viewing.

The pick of the bunch

6.07am: Cycling – track, women’s team pursuit
6.33am: Cycling – track, women’s keirin
8.30am: Hockey – Australia v Japan (women)
9.53am: Athletics – men’s long jump
10.27am: Athletics – men’s 10,000m
11.03am: Swimming – women’s 50m freestyle
11.11am: Swimming – men’s 1500m freestyle
11.37am: Athletics – women’s 100m
11.49am: Swimming – women’s 4x100m medley relay
12.04pm: Swimming – men’s 4x100m medley relay

– with ABC

The Rio Report will be published on each day of the 2016 Olympic Games.