Rio 2016: 5 things we learned on day 13

•    Well, what did we learn about Usain Bolt on Day 13 that we didn’t already know? Apart from the fact he’s the 200m champion for the third Olympics running, to add to his hat-trick of 100m crowns, and that he’s now joined the pantheon of the very greatest athletes with his eighth gold medal? Well, not a great deal, but then again there’s not a lot more knowledge to be gleaned after your head has been filled with those historic stats. Oh, and he still has the 4x100m to add to his already impressive collection of medals.

•    They say things come in three, but for the sake of this piece about the Olympic triathlon, let’s pretend it’s two in the shape of a duo of special Yorkshireman (yes, I know – all Yorkshiremen and women are special). Great Britain was celebrating the Brownlee brothers’ success in the men’s triathlon yesterday, with Alistair Brownlee retaining the title he won in 2012 and his sibling Jonny managed to go one better than he did in London by claiming the silver medal.

•    The Olympic Games are full of legendary tales: tales of how athletes overcame almost overwhelming odds to compete and somehow win medals; tales of courage, endurance, sacrifice and endeavour; and of course, tall tales of courage and sacrificing the truth involving a certain US athlete whose Charles Bronson spirit overcame the desperate, hardened criminals he claimed held him up at gunpoint at a petrol station that night, by turning to them and telling them “whatever”. Yeah. Whatever.

•    So what were you doing at the age of 15? Sitting around watching the telly and generally being a feckless teenager was my discipline, or ill-discipline (more like). Whereas kids of today, such as the 15-year-old Chinese diver Ren Qian, tend to spend their time hanging around the pool and winning the Olympic gold medal in the 10m women’s platform diving with an astonishingly mature and classy performance. I blame the parents, coaches and support staff.

•    Sometimes it’s the victories which you don’t expect which are the sweeter – I mean, everyone loves an underdog, especially when the unfancied mutts are of Team GB origin. Chris Langridge and Marcus Ellis were totally inspired as they powered to Great Britain’s first men’s doubles badminton bronze medal, beating the favourites and number five seeds, Fu Haifeng and Zang Nan of China (Langridge and Ellis were 22nd in the rankings). The pair secured their prized medal in dramatic fashion when they successfully challenged a decision on the final point.