Duncan Scott wins silver again and on course to become Britain's most decorated Olympian at a single Games

Duncan Scott is set to become the most decorated British Olympian at any one Games after winning his third medal in four days in Tokyo, ahead of Sunday's 4x100m relay when Team GB are clear favourites for another gold.

Racing on Friday morning in the 200m individual medley, Scott became the first British swimmer to win a hat-trick of medals at any one Games since Henry Taylor in 1908 with silver in 1 min 55.28 sec, just 0.28 seconds behind the Chinese winner Shun Wang.

With Luke Greenback earlier winning bronze in the 200m backstroke, Team GB’s swimmers now have six medals, including three golds, to surpass their tally in Rio de Janeiro and make this already their most successful Olympics since 1908.

Scott has already won individual silver in the men’s 200m freestyle, missing out on gold to team-mate Tom Dean by just 0.04 sec but then swam the fifth fastest split in swimming history to anchor Team GB home in the 4x100m medley relay.

He has slipped somewhat under the radar compared to individual gold-medallists Adam Peaty and Dean but, with a schedule that requires nine races in seven days, has shown little sign of wilting and remains on course to end these Games with a unique achievement.

Reginald Doherty (tennis, 1900), Taylor (swimming, 1908), Bradley Wiggins (cycling, 2004), Chris Hoy (cycling 2008), Max Whitlock and Jason Kenny (gymnastics and cycling 2016) currently share the record of three medals at any one Games but, barring the swimming equivalent of a dropped baton in Sunday’s relay, Scott will now surpass those names.

Scott, who had qualified second fastest for the final, is a freestyle specialist and so it was of little surprise that he should lag back in sixth place after the opening backstroke leg. He then moved up to fifth in breaststroke and butterfly before unleashing a ferocious finish over the final 50m to surge through the field into second.

It was Scott’s first global medal in the 200m medley following a silver at the Commonwealth Games.

Scott, who is 24 and graduated from the University of Stirling last month with a 2:1 in Business and Sports Studies, has turned off social media and avoided speaking to friends and family to remain fully focused on what he calls the swimming “bubble” until his final race in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Greenbank had early continued the swimming medal rush with bronze in the 200m breaststroke, behind world champion Yvgeny Rylov, who set a new Olympic record of 1 min 53.27 sec to complete a Tokyo backstroke double after also winning the 100m. The finishing order was an exact repeat of the World Championship two years ago, with Ryan Murphy touching ahead of Greenbank’s third in 1 min 54.72.

Greenbank, who can win another medal in the men’s medley relay on Sunday, said that it had been “a dream come true” just to reach the final following what he called a “perfect” pre-Olympic build up.

The 23-year-old, who was born in Crewe and began his swimming in Cockermouth, Cumbria, had won bronze in the event at the 2019 World Championships and was also part of the 4x100m medley relay team with Peaty, James Guy and Scott which beat the United States to gold.

He had also taken the silver medal in the European Championships earlier this year, only losing to Rylov by 0.16 sec. “There’s been some inspiring performances so far and I really wanted to get in on that action and win a medal,” he said.

Like Peaty, Greenbank is coached in Loughborough by Mel Marshall who, in consultation with his former coach Sean Balmer at Cockermouth, overhauled his training in 2018 after he appeared to have reached a plateau in his performance. Greenbank, who has a mop of long hair beneath his swimming cap, says that he does not now dare get cut it off.

“I started growing it two years ago - it just happened to coincide with me swimming better,” he said. “It’s a bit of a joke that it’s superstitious. I don’t believe in that - but I’ll keep it for a while, though, just in case.”

Molly Renshaw, who was fourth in Rio de Janeiro, finished sixth in the 200m breaststroke, one place ahead of her team-mate Abbie Wood after turning in fourth after 100m. The race was won by Tatjana Schoenmaker in a new world record of 2 min 18.95.

Anna Hopkin also swam in the 100m freestyle final, finishing seventh in a rapid race which was won in a new Olympic record time of 51.96 sec by the Australian swimmer Emma McKeon.

There is also a strong chance of Team GB gold medals in the 4x100m mixed medley relay on Saturday morning and then the 4 x 100m men’s medley relay in the early hours of Sunday, which will be the last swimming race of these Olympics.