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Olympics, Day 15: Team GB medal haul continues with Yafai boxing gold, sensational madison silver, Daley bronze

Galal Yafai won gold for Team GB on the penultimate day of Tokyo 2020. Buda Mendes/Getty Images

Galal Yafai won Britain's first boxing gold medal at Tokyo 2020 on Saturday, with Ethan Hayter and Matt Wall adding silver in the madison and Tom Daley a bronze in diving on the penultimate day of competition in Japan.

There was also gold for Joe Choong, who became the first-ever British man to claim the individual Olympic title in the men's modern pentathlon.

Yafai, 28, is a two-time Olympian and had a comfortable win, beating Carlo Paalam of the Philippines 4-1 in the flyweight final.

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"Being Olympic champion is something I've always wanted to do. I'm Olympic champion now and I'm over the moon," Yafai said. "I've worked hard, I took up boxing and thank god it worked out for me.

"I trained hard, gave it everything, and it just shows that if you work hard, you can get the rewards.

In the velodrome, Hayter and Wall claimed a sensational silver in the madison after a tense last double-points sprint.

The pair had held a medal spot throughout the race, but were put under pressure with seven laps to go by a dangerous-looking Belgium team.

However, Team GB had enough energy to push forward, and turn their efforts into silver.

"There was definitely some points in there we could have improved on but to say we haven't rode together and we haven't raced a Madison in a long time, there was obviously going to be some mistakes but we rode well and feeling good," Walls said.

"There's been such little track racing," Heyter added. "I had a crash, broke my leg and my tendon and missed the Euros.

"Then Matt had coronavirus and missed Gent GP so we've been a bit unlucky in that sense.

"Matt thoroughly deserves the two medals he's got. He's had coronavirus and a bit of a tough time.

"It's amazing. It's an Olympic medal!"

Elsewhere, Daley won bronze with a score of 548.25 in the men's 10m platform diving on Saturday, becoming the first British diver to win four Olympic medals.

The 27-year-old led by 0.80 points at the half-way point, but a small error in the fourth round saw Daley slip to third behind China's Yuan Cao and Yang Jian.

Despite strong dives in the final rounds, Daley could not get back ahead of the Chinese pair.

"I am so happy that this Olympics has gone the way it has," Daley said. "I feel like a different athlete, I feel like I've been through so many different things over the years.

"If someone had told me I was going to win a gold and a bronze, I probably would have laughed in their face."

Daley added that it was nice to represent "Team Great Knitting," after being spotted knitting around poolside throughout the games.

Daley, who failed to qualify for the individual final at Rio 2016, adds this bronze to the gold he won in the synchronised diving with Matty Lee earlier in the Games.

The 27-year-old debuted at the Bejing Olympics 13 years ago, winning his first Olympic bronze in the individual event at London 2012 before claiming another bronze in the synchronised diving in Rio.

On the track, Josh Kerr won bronze in the men's 1500m, claiming the first British medal in the event since Peter Elliott's silver at Seoul 1988.

Kerr's Olympics nearly ended in the heats, after he finished seventh in his race. The 23-year-old scraped through as a fastest loser and made the most of his chance, knocking a massive 2.5 seconds off his personal best to clinch bronze.

"I'm blown away. This has been a hard Championships for me, the first run wasn't great, it was one of those days and you can have those. Sadly mine was the first round of the Olympics," Kerr said.

"I had to go back, think about it, recalibrate and come back to these next rounds fighting for every single step.

"I feel like you saw that today, you saw that in the semi-final and I'm really happy with that performance."

Meanwhile, there was more cycling success for Team GB after Jason Kenny and Jack Carlin both qualified for the Keirin quarterfinals. It was not without drama, though, with Kenny having to race the repechage to secure his place in the finals.

However, Rio bronze medallist Katy Marchant was knocked out of the women's sprint at the quarterfinal stage by Hong Kong's Lee Wai-sze.

Team GB's showjumping team did not contend for a medal in team final after Ben Maher, who won individual gold on Wednesday, decided to withdraw to protect the welfare of his horse, Explosion W.

"It's been a tough night for our team," Maher said. "Holly [Smith] and Harry [Charles] gave it their best but it's not our night. 24 faults puts us out of medal contention. Explosion W has been incredible this week and he doesn't owe anyone anything so we decided to keep him back and save him for another day.

"I am not a quitter but with these animals it's been a long journey over here. He goes away Olympic champion but it's important for me he comes back safe."