Great Britain

The face of cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins said it all. No, it wasn't the face of a five-time Olympic gold medallist, but one of man who is totally at ease with himself.

Making history inside Rio's velodrome on Friday night with team pursuit gold for Team GB against Australia, we may have expected a tear from Sir Wiggo as he stood centre stage on the podium.

Indeed, the TV director was hoping the waterworks would flow. The camera locked in on Wiggins, gradually moving in closer as "God Save The Queen" was played out. The union flag was being raised highest, and it's normally at that exact moment when the realisation of their achievement hits athletes.

The adrenaline has subsided; the heart rate is back to something resembling normality. Suddenly everything feels real, and the sight of national colours, not to mention the gold medal weighing them down from the neck, brings on the emotions. Then come the tears.

Not for Wiggins on Friday. He had been stoney-faced all evening as he contemplated Team GB's semi-final with New Zealand. They blew them away with a world-record time before repeating the same feat against the Aussies a couple of hours later.

It was then that he could relax, and noticing his face on the TV screens, he decided to revert back to type. Gone was Wiggins the competitor, replaced by Wiggins the jester.

Bradley Wiggins 😝😝😝

More on GB's team pursuit gold at #rio2016 : https://t.co/AWGOqEz0xf https://t.co/iSCW4QSmt0

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 12, 2016

Pulling a comic facial expression and sticking out his tongue for millions to see on TV shows us what Wiggins is all about. Yes he's a supreme Olympian—arguably the greatest Britain has produced—but he's just as much a man of the people.

That one gesture told us it; it was all the insight we needed as to how he has become a part of the GB team that took another gold in the cycling at Rio; it showed the role he plays away from the track.

Wiggins hasn't used his fame in cycling to produce a brand that rakes in the endorsement earnings; he's instead used it to his advantage in other ways that many of us probably would. He's become friends with his music idol, Paul Weller, for instance. And when he was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2012, Wiggins' idea of fun was to get on stage and play a few tunes on guitar at the afterparty.

His reaction to Olympic gold on Friday was an extension of all that. He will understand the significance of what he has achieved, but it is not going to change his perspective on things and the way he behaves.

Even when speaking with the BBC Sport cameras in the immediate aftermath of securing gold with team-mates Ed Clancy, Owain Doull and Steven Burke, Wiggins wasn't about to give a preprepared interview devoid of character. He said as much himself, saying he didn't want to talk in cliches.

Instead, he performed a good impression of Team GB cycling team-mate Philip Hindes, who we learned has not stopped talking about the gold medal he won in the team sprint 24 hours before Wiggins and Co. added to the cycling golds at Rio.

It was off the cuff, relaxed and showed us just how seriously Wiggins take himself. He could have taken the route often traveled by elite sportsman and been withdrawn, gave the media his quotes and disappeared. But it's not in his nature; to do that is too self-aware, and Wiggins is a man who simply wants to enjoy himself by living off his instincts.

https://twitter.com/nathanpgibson/status/764231678034403328

There is nothing manufactured about Wiggins in the slightest. That's refreshing in the modern era when success can mean sportsmen and women become more distant and less accessible to fans and the media. The moment they get a profile, it suddenly becomes sanitised in a bid to build their brand.

For Wiggins, he still grows his sideburns and dresses like a mod. If he weren't riding a push bike around the velodrome, we'd probably have found him on Brighton Beach this weekend soaking up the hot weather with a Vespa in tow.

His talent is the reason for the eight Olympic medals he has now won in his phenomenal career—there are two bronze and a silver to add to those five golds—but by simply being the way he is, he makes the normal men on the street feel like they can follow in his footsteps.

That's a unique quality; it's as distinctive as those five gold medals he can proudly call his own.

From a British perspective, the past couple of days have seen the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games explode into action. Team GB have been busy winning golds—four in total now—to drag themselves up the medals table, and the action has been coming thick and fast.

On Thursday, the track cycling got under way, heightening British interest as Team GB secured the men's team sprint gold at the expense of New Zealand.

If that race left viewers out of breath, they didn't have long to get their lungs back to functioning properly before it all went off again, this time with the rugby sevens final moments later.

Team GB were taking on favourites Fiji, and despite an emphatic 43-7 win for the South Pacific nation, Britain's place in the final spoke volumes for the success of the tournament.

Simon Amor's team was only put together shortly before the Olympics. They traveled to Brazil having barely played together. That mattered little, however, as the four nations of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland came together under the Team GB banner to great effect.

What a #selfie! Congrats lads!#BringOnTheGreat #Silver #Rio2016 #Rugby7s pic.twitter.com/u0U4i6u3FR

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 11, 2016

Had the unions not joined forces, it would have meant Britain missing out on a silver medal; it would have meant Britain missing out on what has been a pulsating exhibition of rugby of the highest order in Brazil.

The sevens tournament—men's and women's—has been a massive highlight of these Games. We've been treated to everything the sport is about. There have been big hits, expansive rugby and some thrilling, high-scoring encounters. It really has captured the imagination.

It's on the Olympic roster for Tokyo 2020, but beyond that, the future of rugby sevens at the Olympics isn't clear, and in the coming weeks, World Rugby will meet with the IOC to put forward a case to securing its long-term inclusion.

On this evidence, the decision should already be made, as the Olympic Games will be poorer for not including the sport.

On this evidence, the four individual football associations of Britain should put aside their political differences and enter a Team GB football team at every Olympics.

When we look at how British rugby has benefited so much by coming together for this event, it shows the power that Great Britain can produce collectively.

That doesn't mean England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should be surrendering their sovereignty when it comes to World Cups and European Championships any time soon. It's more a realisation that they can adapt to modern times and work together for events that require Britain to compete as one.

Facing the might of New Zealand and South Africa en route to the sevens final, Team GB did it the hard way in Rio. Eventually meeting Fiji in the final, it proved a step too far, and they were outclassed.

I've just watched a rugby sevens game that ended 0-0 and was a ball of nerves for the whole thing. Superb game.

— Dominic Bliss (@theinsidelefty) August 10, 2016

That shouldn't shame them, however. Getting so far in the competition is a great advert for rugby in Britain, and taking a silver medal at the first time of asking is a major boost for everything the British Olympic Association is attempting to achieve.

Rugby sevens has captured the public's imagination because of the way the four unions have combined as one. The performances of the men and women has helped breed a sense of national pride, watching Team GB come close to securing the ultimate success of a gold medal.

Throw football into the equation, and the impact will be amplified tenfold. Nothing unites Britain the way football can; it's the national obsession, and it's about time Team GB was represented at the Olympic Games.

Yes, there are obstacles to overcome in the four-year cycle of each Games. There are the countless issues of managing qualification and the politics of getting the best players into each team. When we see the impact it can have, as with rugby sevens, surely that's all worth it, though.

Indeed, even the hockey teams put individual national pride aside in the name of coming together for British interests.

The problem with British football is that it's played a lead role in segregating itself from the world for over a century now. From England not entering the early World Cups, to Britain not having a football team in Rio, the attitudes that shape the game have been damaging. It's about time things changed.

Rugby sevens is winning right now, and that means Britain is, too. And if Team GB can come together for rugby, there's no reason football shouldn't be joining the party.

It took until Day 5 at the 2012 London Games for Team GB to really lift off, and so it has proved at the 2016 Rio Games. Wednesday was an incredible day for British athletes, with two gold medals won along with a further four bronze medals to record their most successful day at the Games to date.

The pick of the bunch had to be Max Whitlock's bronze in the gymnastics men's all-around. Gold it may not have been, but in one afternoon of competition, Whitlock wiped clean 108 years of history by becoming the first British man since 1908 to take a medal in the event.

That's over a century of upsets gone, more than a hundred years of failure forgotten. The slate has been wiped clean, and Team GB are getting themselves on a roll in Brazil.

Special mention has to go to diving pair Jack Laugher and Chris Mears, who became the first Brits to ever take a diving Olympic title. And Joe Clarke triumphed in the kayak K1 to take a surprise gold medal after a mesmerising performance as he slalomed his way down the course.

Laugher and Mears created history on Wednesday—an achievement in itself—but by rewriting it, Whitlock has edged them out to receive the most applause. It may only be by the finest of margins, but his bronze represents so much for the gains Britain is making in a sport where British athletes have been the underdog for too long.

Dominated by China, countries from Eastern Europe and Japan's Kohei Uchimura, gymnastics has almost been a forgotten sport for Britons. The expectation has been of Team GB turning up simply to make up the numbers.

The emergence of Beth Tweddle helped turn the tide, as did Louis Smith claiming silver on the pommel at the London Games. Incidentally, Whitlock took bronze in the same event in London.

The last?

Walter Tysall's silver in the London Games of 1908.

The event was held outdoors at Shepherds Bush 🌞
https://t.co/l3uHgIa0Dy

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 10, 2016

At World Championships, British gymnasts have started to gain recognition, and now Whitlock has put that onto another level.

The 23-year-old's success this time out has blown everything of out the water. The colour of Whitlock's medal isn't the important thing; it's the fact he has one around his neck that counts for so much. Britain doesn't produce all-around gymnasts—that's been the rule of thumb. Not anymore it isn't.

Rewriting history and creating it are two different things. They represent equally significant moments in the sporting landscape, but coming up against such a burden as a century of narrative can prove a significant pressure for any sportsman.

We see it across the board. For the England football team, it's the history and painful memories of penalty shootouts that so haunts them; at Wimbledon it used to be coming so close to emulating Fred Perry only for British players to fall at the semi-finals just as a nation started to believe in them.

What a night for @maxwhitlock1! First men's individual all-around medal for #GBR since 1908https://t.co/xdHhVRpLWr pic.twitter.com/AWcvKNU4FG

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 10, 2016

Like Andy Murray did at The Championships in 2013, Whitlock has made minced meat of it all.

History creates expectation, and the more a team or country fails to repeat what the record books tell us they have in the past, so the anticipation and pressure grows. When something has never been achieved before, that hope isn't always there.

It was accepted that Team GB weren't supposed to be Olympic champions in diving. Sure, the talent pool is growing—excuse the pun—but as a developing sport, the disappointments aren't the same. The reaction for coming close in diving or other emerging sports is treated with more of a sense of it being inevitable.

#TeamGB on Day 5
🏅@joeclarkek1
🏅@ChrisMears93 @JackLaugher
🏅@sconway70
🏅@ssshooting
🏅@chrisfroome
🏅@maxwhitlock1 pic.twitter.com/JnEvdibX8k

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 10, 2016

Because there is no year to associate with success, no benchmark, the pressure is a different kind. Now divers will have to overcome the standard that Laugher and Mears have set; now is the time when the pressure starts to grow. The pair have opened the Pandora's box that has enveloped British gymnastics since 1908.

When a country was once challenging at the top, the perspectives are different. For Whitlock, there was always going to be a positive will for him to succeed, yet as a sportsman, he would have been feeling the shadow of Walter Tysall looming large over him, just as any Briton had before. He had to step out of that and make a name for himself.

"My coach and I have been working so hard over the past four years," Whitlock would tell BBC Sport as the success sunk in. "We stepped out of London 2012, and I wanted to prove myself as an all-rounder, and I've done that. I feel I've completed that target now."

He's done so much more than hit a target; Whitlock has put British gymnastics back on the map.

Team GB and the threat the men and women carry was already well-known among gymnastics fans. Now more are going to be drawn to the sport. Britain are back winning medals, and that inspires the imagination. When those medals are coming after a century and more of endeavour, it feeds it all the more.

Yes, it wasn't a gold that Whitlock snagged, but he's broken the duck. He's changed the conversation.

What an incredible day it was for British athletes; what a historic one it was for gymnastics and diving.

In a week where the UK sports headlines have been dominated by the lavish spending of Premier League football clubs Manchester Untied and Manchester City, gymnastics went some way to stealing the limelight, if only for a moment at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Tuesday.

As the women's team event drew to a close, we were treated to some truly phenomenal displays, notably from USA's Simone Biles. It was the American's stunning floor routine to close out the event that wrote the headlines, sealing her country gold, with Russia and China coming in second and third, respectively.

After winning bronze at last year's World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, Team GB's women had to settle for fifth place this time out. It wasn't for want of trying that they couldn't secure a podium finish but more because of the high level of competition Britain faced.

"The level of gymnastics has gone up again" A proud @Bdownie after today's high class finalhttps://t.co/n1qVaLbIdV pic.twitter.com/NFvZZp0WC7

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 10, 2016

Not since 1928 have Team GB medalled in the women's event, so coming as close as they did was a big reward for the development we have seen in British gymnastics in recent years. GB are back competing at the highest level, pushing China all the way for that elusive bronze.

The problem the British women face—along with their male counterparts and other countries competing at the Olympics—is that their sport sits on the fringes of the mainstream back home. Gymnastics clubs throughout the country are relying on government grants and lottery money to keep running, and that in turn can damage the prospects of talent coming through, as there isn't enough of it.

Gymnasts can't train as much as they would like in order to compete with the elite, and a lack of funding also puts a strain on the coaches who are plotting medal pursuits.

Team final day ✨ #SassSquad pic.twitter.com/pvY8FuylhI

— Becky Downie MBE (@Bdownie) August 9, 2016

And when it comes to corporate funding, the competition is vast. If the GB gymnasts thought Biles and the rest were tough enough opponents in Rio, back home they face the might of the Premier League and other sports chasing those lucrative endorsement deals.

Being the national sport, football wins out in most cases. It's why two clubs can spend the best part of £140 million on two players without barely feeling the hit. Budgets of that magnitude would ensure British Gymnastics ran handsomely for some time yet; it could even come close to guaranteeing medals at the Olympics.

Football is a unique beast, and the money flows that way because of the interest it commands. Fans will invest their time and emotion into a football club for the experience they get back from it.

Watching on as Team GB battled for supremacy in gymnastics, it makes you wonder if the sport is one of the most undervalued at the Olympics.

Here are some of the world's finest sportsmen and women—Team GB's men are themselves supremely talented—but ask the average sports fan on the street, and they will be hard pressed to name one. Regardless of all that talent, their exploits go largely unnoticed.

It shouldn't be like that, but it is. For all the interest Team GB's gymnasts will get in Rio, the focus will soon shift come the end of the Games, which is a crying shame.

When a country produces talented sports stars of this magnitude, they need to be celebrated much more often than they are. They need to be given the exposure to build on their success and build foundations for subsequent generations.

Claudia Fragapane put in a wonderful floor routine on Tuesday. The flips and choreography—yes, we know we're talking as naive observers here—were a testament to the days, weeks and months—years, even—that she has dedicated to her craft. To perform the way she did takes total commitment; it takes sacrifice; it takes desire.

The same goes for her team-mates Ruby Harrold, Amy Tinkler, and sisters Becky and Ellie Downie. We shouldn't forget the men, either, who themselves narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in the men's team event on Monday.

Louis Smith, Max Whitlock, Kristian Thomas, Nile Wilson and Brinn Bevan are at the very top of their sport, competing with the best and not being too far off enjoying success.

If we're looking for popular comparisons, they are the Harry Kanes and Wayne Rooneys of gymnastics in Britain. They're the star attraction, only they're not getting anywhere near the exposure they should be.

We can argue that gymnastics is niche by definition, but then look at the sport; the routines and disciplines are there to be marveled. As much as fans will celebrate a wonder strike in football or applaud a bit of skill, Rio 2016 has shown us gymnastics offers something on the same level.

Watching Whitlock and Smith on the pommel horse is fascinating. Their routines are about the focus of one man, his battle not to slip or allow a trailing leg to kick the apparatus.

So proud of this team! So blessed to be given the opportunity!
So surreal to be living my dream. Big love boys ❤️ pic.twitter.com/YjyYpF6Cje

— Brinn Bevan OLY (@brinnbevan) August 9, 2016

It's gripping; the tension is incredible as you watch on in hope that each gymnast completes it without error. Of course, feeling partisan, those emotions flip completely when it's a Russian or Japanese gymnast in action; rather than hoping for success, you find yourself cheering in the hope of the slightest hiccup that will empower Team GB's chances.

Still, when the routine is performed to the high standards we're expecting, applause soon follows. Those partisan feelings are gone; you're left reveling in the beauty of it all.

"The British have performed fantastically well. There have been a few ups and downs in the championships but they have not let it affect them," said BBC Sport pundit Christine Still at the conclusion of the women's team event.

"They have carried on fighting right through and gave a great performance today. What a fantastic final, some great gymnastics going on. This has been truly great."

Hopefully those sentiments will be echoed by British sports fans, as gymnastics most certainly deserves it.

Rugby sevens has vied to be an Olympic sport for a long time. It was finally introduced at Rio 2016 and hasn't disappointed one bit.

Before the men's event gets underway on Tuesday, the women set a ferocious tone for what we should expect. The tackles have been flying in; the tries being scored; the breath being taken.

Put simply, it was a wonderful spectacle which Australia eventually won, defeating old foe New Zealand in the final. Now the men have to live up to the high standards their women counterparts have set.

https://twitter.com/Rio2016_en/status/762780666199171072

For Team GB, their Rio 2016 adventure ended in heartbreak, as they fell to Canada in the bronze medal match. Despite having the technical skills and looking far more superior in that department than their opponents, GB struggled to live with the intensity the Canadians brought to the game.

It was brutal at times. The breakdown was physical, and the Canadians were not shy about how they were going to claim their medal. They bullied their way to the podium, winning by an emphatic 33-10 scoreline. It was a game of brute force.

That game showed us what rugby sevens is all about. It's the full picture; a sport that takes no prisoners. It's seven versus seven on a big, open expanse that is made for teams of XV. Reducing the numbers doesn't reduce the action, however. If anything, it adds to it.

There's no place to escape. Backs are forced into more contact than they would like, and forwards are sometimes trying to be wingers. It's a game that requires a specific skill set, with bravery being a prerequisite.

And that's where the British women can hold their heads high when they look back on what they have achieved in Rio. Coming so close to a medal will disappoint them, but the way they have gone about their business has been exemplary.

From the first pass to the last, they were courageous and didn't skip a tackle no matter who they faced.

From thrashing hosts Brazil 29-3 in their opening pool game, Team GB also racked up wins against Japan (40-0) and Canada (22-0) in the pool stage. They then went on to defeat Fiji 26-7 in the quarter-final before losing 25-7 to a fearsome New Zealand.

It proved one challenge too many to do it all again against a physically imposing Canada team, and in the end GB's heavy legs got the better of them. Still, they dug deep and were never shy about the challenge in front of them; they met it full on.

That's what Olympic sport is all about. We see athletes from small countries show up and take it to their bigger rivals. Whether it's in athletics, fencing or swimming, the competition is what drives it all and the athletes thrive on it.

That's the spirit that makes the Olympics Games such a spectacle, and rugby sevens has it in abundance.

Rio 2016 may only be the first time we've seen sevens on this stage, but for all those reasons and more, the sport sits comfortably alongside those more traditionally associated with the Games. After what we've seen in these opening three days, it's a wonder why we've had to wait so long to get this far.

Fans who have only taken to sevens during the Olympics have been introduced to a sport that is all about intensity. Play never stops, which means players are up and at 'em for the duration, taking more contact in a game of sevens as we would expect in the same period of XVs (sevens matches consist of two seven-minute halfs, 10 minutes for the medal matches).

Despite the big hits and sprints players are forced into making throughout a game, still the match-ups come thick and fast. It's two per day, with no time to rest. That alone pushes the players to the edge physically and mentally.

Indeed, it's hard to think of another sport that does that at the Olympics. They all come with their individual challenges, but scheduling alone has shown sevens to be a stand-out event. The players are put through the ringer, so to end up without a medal to show for it only adds to the pain.

When Team GB players exited after defeat to Canada, the tears they cried were for a collection of painful emotions; it was the heartbreak of losing coupled with the vulnerability every sportsman or woman feels when they have put their bodies on the line and driven them to the very edge.

Congratulations to #AUS #NZL #CAN on their #Gold #Silver #Bronze at #Rio2016 #Rugby7s pic.twitter.com/K8ju74wMFr

— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) August 8, 2016

Through the microphones on television, we could hear every impact. The thud gave a heavy baseline that would have made even the toughest of viewers wince. And out there, Team GB were doing it. They were getting up after heavy hit and going back for more.

It was incredible; it is incredible. And the best bit about it all? We have another three days of rugby sevens to enjoy now that the men's competition starts.

Sit back and enjoy as it's going to be one hell of a ride.

We're just one day into the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and already we've witnessed one of the biggest disappointments we're set to see in the next fortnight of action.

No, we're not talking about the opening ceremony; it's Team GB's failure in the road race that has left fans deflated.

Chris Froome, the three-time Tour de France winner and reigning champion, failed to podium in the road race alongside any of his Team GB teammates, causing a big upset.

Riding with different partners than who he's used to with the all-conquering Team Sky, there was never any guarantee he would finish up with a gold medal in the road race. But as one of the biggest names on the circuit, his failure is still a big shock.

It's disappointing for him; it's disappointing for neutrals.

When the big events come around, we want to see the biggest and best riders put on a show. We want to see them create a bit of history in the process and live up to their billing.

Froome may have kept up the pace until late, but his failure to finish in the medals means Team GB is getting off to a poorer start at Rio 2016 than many had hoped.

Indeed, when we think of favourites and those we were expecting to see challenge in the road race, victory going to Belgium's Greg Van Avermaet typically would mean other pre-race favourites Alejandro Valverde of Spain and Italy's Vincenzo Nibali were also on the receiving end of a surprise victory.

All in all, none of the powerhouses—Italy, Spain, France and Great Britain—came away with a medal as Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark) and Rafal Majka (Poland) completed the top three positions.

Crazy day out there today! @TeamGB were amazing all day, so gutted for @geraintthomas86 crashing when he did! pic.twitter.com/WVSKrQKQok

— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) August 6, 2016

It isn't quite in the territory of "doing a Leicester City," but it is a shock, no less.

The success of the Foxes last season has transcended sport. It's given hope to the underdog and shown that victory in any form can't be taken for granted. Being a name or not comes as no guarantee, and the challenging ascents of Rio proved that.

Van Avermaet is no slouch, though. He has recorded three stage wins at the Tour de France in his career, so doing it as a one-off at the Olympics hasn't exactly meant ardent cycling fans have been falling over themselves with shock.

Seeing Froome tail off late did produce shock, though. That's where the anti-climax kicked in. As thrilling as the race remained to the death, watching such a seasoned campaigner and bankable rider come up short is frustrating.

Congrats to @GregVanAvermaet , @jakob_fuglsang & @majkaformal 👍🏅
Hope all those with injuries heal up soon! #Rio2016 #CyclingRoad

— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) August 6, 2016

Froome's failure is akin to when Cristiano Ronaldo suffered heartache at Euro 2016. As dull as the final between Portugal and France proved, the occasion alone made it fraught with tension and nerves. Ronaldo's absence through the injury he picked up early on in the game took some of the gloss away from it.

When Portugal forward Eder proved the surprise match winner, a sense of romanticism remained. With Ronaldo in his place to step up and complete the fairy tale, though, it would have added to the sense of occasion. For neutrals, he was the main attraction, so when he couldn't be there to drag Portugal over the line, the shine was taken off.

Team GB suffered a similar fate in 2012 when Mark Cavendish and the rest failed to take gold at the opening race of their home Olympics. It was left up to Alexandr Vinokurov of Kazakhstan to take road race gold that day, with Cavendish the highest-ranked Brit way back in 29th place, 40 seconds off the pace.

Froome was 109th in the 2012 road race, so finishing 12th this year is a marked improvement. Geraint Thomas was one place ahead of him in Rio as the best-placed team GB rider, finishing in 11th.

British cycling legend Chris Boardman told BBC Sport that Froome and his teammates should be proud of how they approached the race:

That was the best Olympic road race I have seen from the British team, so hats off to them. They gave themselves plenty of options rather than concentrating on one rider, and used them superbly. All five rode a tough course fantastically well and I was really impressed by how they managed their resources.

It's just a shame it wasn't followed up with a medal to mark the progress British cycling continues to enjoy. After all, when we get this far, it's the medals that count. And right now, Froome doesn't have one.

All is not lost for him in Rio, of course, as he races in the individual time trial on Wednesday. He won bronze in that event in 2012, and Sir Bradley Wiggins took the top prize of gold.

Suffering in the road race, a man of Froome's reputation can't afford another disappointment so soon after.

We've been here before.

Cyclist impresses, wins medals and events only to be found out as a drugs cheat. The truth will come out at some point—as Lance Armstrong found out, to his detriment.

These things never go away. If a cheat beats the testers one year, there's new evidence and testimony that eventually creeps up and bites them. It lurks around the corner, at the bottom of every test tube or on the tip of the tongue of an aggrieved foe.

Call it science or just plain karma, few cheats can dodge their fate forever.

On the eve of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Team GB's Lizzie Armitstead has found herself under the same sort of scrutiny as Armstrong. She's had her character questioned, her sportsmanship put under the spotlight. Her integrity as an Olympic cyclist has been damaged—in her eyes—for good.

In my own words. pic.twitter.com/D7ye4NE0IN

— Lizzie Deignan (@lizziedeignan) August 3, 2016

All for what? Missing three out-of-competition drugs tests in a 12-month period. At no point has she tested positive, and after the first of those missed tests, she gave a negative sample the following day at the UCI Women's Road World Cup event.

It hardly smacks of her cheating or trying to cover up wrongdoing. Naive and disorganised maybe, but a cheat who deserves to be banned? Pull the other one.

As shoddy as it was on Armitstead's part to miss those tests, we need to get a grip here. It's right to criticise and point the finger for her errors, but for her case to even be put on a level with what we've seen from the likes of Armstrong and, more recently, Russian athletes, is completely unbalanced.

In those cases, Armstrong and the Russians were doping on an industrial scale; Armitstead missed some tests and in one instance, for good reason, due to personal reasons to do with her family.

She can't be tarred with anything resembling the same brush, and banning her would do just that.

"In this situation I'm never going to win. If I win, people will say it's because of something else," Armitstead told BBC Sport in an emotional interview this week.

She has a point. After four years of training, Armitstead's Olympics is in tatters. If she goes one better than her road silver at the 2012 London Games, the questions will be coming at her as quickly as she rotated the pedals on her bike.

The pressure will be cranked up; those missed tests will poured over all the more.

Should Armitstead fail to at least podium, then what has everything been for since she crossed the finish line in London? She loses with a medal and without.

There are events every year that keep competitors such as Armitstead going. It's the Olympics that really whets the appetite for them, though. It's labelled the greatest show on Earth for a reason—because it is.

The Olympics is the pinnacle for virtually every sportsman or woman who competes at the Games. Footballers are privileged that they receive acclaim from the masses on a regular basis, and it's the same for tennis stars and the golfers who have turned up in Rio.

For the niche events, though, the Olympics is their stage. It's when sports fans will tune in to synchronised swimming and make a real effort to understand the sport. Judo becomes televised; archery isn't just something we associate with Robin Hood and his merry men.

Sure, cycling sits somewhere in between. It has a profile, but the Olympics is still what drives the likes of Armitstead. And as she takes to the road on Sunday, it'll be with to a backdrop of criticism for something she has clearly not done.

Her record tells us she isn't a drugs cheat, but the suggestion she is has far wider implications. Whether they like it or not, the spotlight is now firmly on British Cycling, too.

https://twitter.com/ZacPurchase/status/760379904689045504

"I'm absolutely devastated because people are going to judge me and my family. I will never cheat in any walk of life," Armitstead continued. "I feel extremely guilty that I've had to put team-mates through extra media questions."

Britain's cyclists are a major source of pride for sport in the UK. In a sport that has been dominated by drugs and winners living enriched lives off the back of cheating, Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome have excelled through being clean.

They've shown a commitment to training, and Sir Dave Brailsford revolutionised the sport with his techniques and focus. We've seen Sir Chris Hoy become an Olympic hero, while Victoria Pendleton and Laura Trott have also carried the flag to great acclaim.

Those are just a few of the names of which Armitstead's successes should rank alongside.

Let's give her a break.

Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has been named as Great Britain's flag-bearer for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.

Team GB announced the decision on their official website:

"The British Olympic Association is delighted to announce that defending Olympic champion Andy Murray has been selected as the Team GB Flagbearer for Friday's Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games."

The Scot becomes Team GB's first tennis player to lead out an Olympic squad for the nation, and he follows in the footsteps of compatriot and cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy as flag-bearer.

Murray reacted to the decision and spoke of his delight, per Team GB's official website:

I am very proud to be selected as the Team GB Flagbearer for the Opening Ceremony on Friday. To represent your country at the Games is an unbelievable experience, but to lead out Team GB will be an incredible honour, the biggest in sport. ...

The privilege of being the Flagbearer is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life and will certainly be one of the highlights of my career.

Murray's chances of retaining the gold medal were boosted after the news Swiss duo Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka will be missing through injury, according to the Guardian. Not only that, but Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic have withdrawn from the summer spectacle due to their concerns about the Zika virus, leaving just half of the world's top-10 players in the men's draw.

Murray has risen to the top of British sport and represents everything that is good about Team GB's attitude and philosophy.

The superstar is the perfect choice to carry the flag into the iconic Maracana Stadium as the world awaits a wonderful spectacle in Rio.