04:30: That’s where we sign off for today.

Coming up later: It’s the big show off between Chad le Clos and Michael Phelps in the 200m fly, from around 18:00. If le Clos makes it through his heat, he’ll be swimming again at 04:10. Before that, though, he has the 200m free final at 03:21. South Africa also has Sebastien Rousseau swimming the 200m fly event at 18:49.

We’ve also got the women’s Sevens medal matches with the semi-finals from 19:30. South Africa won’t be there, of course, but we’ll keep you updated nonetheless. The rowing which was postponed on Sunday will also take place today with the first South African boat going out at 16:30.

After the whirlwind weekend, it’s a relatively quiet day, but keep an eye out for our live blog from around 15:00 in the afternoon.

**

04:24: A quick update from the action on Sunday and Monday morning:

• Banyana Banyana face elimination after losing 2-0 against China.
• The rowing was postponed. 
• Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio finished tenth in the women’s road race, an exceptional effort considering how small South Africa’s cycling team is.
• AmaGlugGlug lost 1-0 to Denmark and are also on the brink of elimination.
• Chad le Clos qualified for the men’s 200m free final.
• Cameron van der Burgh won South Africa’s first medal, taking silver in the 100m men’s breaststroke, behind Team GB’s sensational Adam Peaty, who broke the world record twice in the Games.
• Katie Ledecky smashed her own world record in the women’s 400m free event.
• Williams sisters and Murray brothers eliminated in the doubles events.
• Novak Djokovic eliminated in the singles.

**

04:23: Reid’s time wasn’t good enough to make the final. He gave it a good crack, though

**

04:16: South Africa’s Christopher Reid has just had a swim in the semis of the men’s 100m backstroke and come in fifth place. Might not be enough to make it to the finals. We’ll wait and see…

**

04:07 In the women’s 400m free final, Katie Ledecky from the USA has broken the record by miles. And in the tennis, Djokovic has been eliminated in the men’s singles, beaten 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2) by Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro.

**

03:58: There was just no way Cameron van der Burgh was going to beat Team GB’s Adam Peaty. The kid is in exceptional form. He’s beaten van der Burgh’s World Record from the 2012 Games thrice since the London Olympics (once int he heats at these Games). And he’s just done it again in the final.  Van der Burgh gave him a good challenge, but Peaty won by over a body length in the end. Exceptional swimming talent, but well done to van der Burgh. He finishes with a time of 58.69.

**

03:55: Oh and on the tennis front, the big news is that the Williams sisters were eliminated from the doubles by the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova losing 6-3, 6-4.

“We played terrible,” Serena said, “and it showed in the results.”

The Murray brothers were also booted out, losing to the Brazilian pair of Sa and Bellucci.

**

03:40: While we wait for van der Burgh’s final, here’s the match report from South Africa’ vs Denmark. 

**

03:25: As was the case in his heats, Le Clos is out of the blocks like a dolphin, pulling almost a body length ahead on the first turn. He’s caught much earlier this time, with China’s sun touching ahead of him on the second turn and soon, he drops down to fifth. It’s enough to secure him a sport in the finals, though, but only just.

**

03:13: Tough swim for Brown. He finishes sixth in his heat – .02 of a second behind the leader Conor Dwyer from the USA who has a time of 1:45.55. That probably won’t be enough to get him through to the final. Up next: Le Clos.

**

03:08: Myles Brown is up fist in the 200m free final.

**

03:00: Tough time out for AmaGlugGlug. The conceded in the  69th minute. They play Iraq on Wednesday, but chances of progressing are pretty much over. 

**

00:45: It’s half-time in the soccer and still 0-0. 

Meanwhile, in the tennis, three-time gold winning Williams sisters are in a spot of bother. they’re a set down against the Czech team. And Annemiek van Vleuten, the cyclist who suffered a horrific crash in the women’s road race earlier, is in intensive care according to reports in the Dutch media. Initially, the Dutch Cycling Federation tweeted that she was “conscious” and “able to communicate”, but she is apparently being kept in intensive care overnight having suffered three breaks in her spine and a concussion.

**

00:37: This game is all sorts of fun, even if you’ve been glued to the telly watching random sports all day. Who even decides what a good dive is? Belly flops get the most views on YouTube. The judges know nothing! But I digress. A draw is not good enough for either side in this fixture, which means both are constantly trying stuff…even if it’s a bit silly at times.

**

00:25: Crossbar! Some lovely passes strung together as South Africa continue to build the pressure, Mothipa takes a shot, but he hits the cross bar. Oh the humanity. As I am typing this, Denmark get one-on-one with the keeper through a lovely aps from Jotse to Vibe…Khune is there with the save though.

**

00:10 The men’s football has kicked off and as was the case against Brazil, South Africa are applying early pressure. As with the women, their finishing let’s them down. We also have confirmation of who’ll be playing in the women’s semi-finals of the Sevens: Australia will play Canada and Great Britain will play New Zealand. Early call for the finals from me is Team GB against Canada. Yes, I’m going with the wildcard options for my second choice. 

**

21:18: Just a quick round up from results elsewhere before we take a quick break ahead of AmaGlugGlug’s clash against Denmark. Serena Williams beat Australia’s Daria Gavrillova 6-4, 6-2. Australia, Spain, Canada, France, Great Britain, Fiji, New Zealand and the USA are through to the quarterfinals of the women’s Sevens. Australia leads the medal table with two golds and one bronze. Followed by Hungary with two golds. 

**

21:16: Update from the crash…

Dutch commentators say #vanvleuten is OK #rio2016

— Appelgamingnl (@appelgamingnl) August 7, 2016

**

21:14 Final medal placings from the women’s road race:

• 1.Anna Van Der Breggen (NED)
• 2.Emma Johansson (SWE)
• 3.Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA)

**

21:15: Shame! Like with yesterday’s men’s race, the leader – Abbott – was caught just a few seconds from the finish line. Unlike yesterday, she didn’t end up with a medal. MP has finished in 10th spot.

**

20:59 As we head for the final stretch, MP has fallen behind completely and is now out of contention, but the downhill has had another nasty crash. Leader van Vleuten had a terrible fall. We hope she’s ok.

Horrible crash in Women’s cycling at #RioOlympics2016 Hope she’s ok. pic.twitter.com/9iDwZsmaG8

— Colm (@cohcfc) August 7, 2016

**

20:39 Moolman-Pasio has fallen behind the lead group again as the final stretch of the climb begins to take its toll. It’s by no means over, though. Remember, Nibali was well in front yesterday before crashing and breaking his collar bone on the downhill section on the way to the finish line. But there’s still a big part of the climb left.

**

20:29:  Moolman-Pasio is pushing hard on the final climb. The descent is going to be a challenge, though. The men struggled downhill yesterday, so maybe the women have learned a thing or two. 

**

20:20 Meanwhile, in the women’s road race… South Africa’s Moolman has made her way to the peloton. She’s in a group about a minute behind the leaders with just under 25km to go.

**

19:30: He’s through! Christopher Reid qualifies 12th fastest to make it through to the semis. He was some way off the leader of the heats, France’s La Court with a time of 52.96, though. There’s plenty of swimming to come in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Reid’s semis will take place just after 4:00 while the 200m freestyle semis, beginning at 03:11 will feature Chad le Clos and Myles Brown. Cameron van der Burgh is in a final at 03:53. Before that, though, South Africa take on Denmark in the men’s football at midnight.

**

19:25: Christoper Reid finishes fifth in his heat with a time 53.68. That might just get him through to the semis. We’ll know in the a bit. David Plummer from the USA won the heat.

**

18:45: Obviously most of you will be asleep at that ridiculous time, but if you sign up to our First Thing newsletter, you’ll be able to see the results while scratching the sleep out of your eyes. Short break now and then it’s  Christopher Reid in the men’s 100m backstroke at 19:25.

**

18:41: They’ve both cracked it. South Africa has two swimmers in the 200m free semis tonight just after 03:00.

**

18:33 Le Clos made a strong start and had almost a body length on his competitors. He led on the first and second turned and looked to be speeding up. He was miles ahead on the final turn, too, but the rest of the field soon started to catch up. He touched in at second with a time of 1:45.89 – a person best!

**

18:14: Right, time to settle in for some swimming. We’re still waiting on details of the new rowing schedule and the women’s road race has gotten underway. First up in the pool this evening is Chad le Clos and Myles Brown in the 200m freestyle. Brown set a new national record for the 400m free last night, but it wasn’t enough to get him into the final. Can he make it into the second round at half the distance? Splashing starts at 18:39.

**

15:24: If you were excitedly waiting for the rowing to start. It’s been called off for the day due to high winds at the venue. The next time you’ll see South Africans in action today then is in the women’s road race just after 17:00 and in the swimming from around 18:38.

**

14:35: Scrap that. The start to the rowing has been delayed by two hours. We’ll probably only see action around 16:30 now.

**

14:19: We’re about an hour away from the rowing action. Read the round up as a reminder of what to expect from South Africans at the Olympics today.

**

11:46: South African athletes won’t be in action until well past 15:00 today – and that’s when we’ll start our coverage in full – but remember yesterday when I told you about people moaning about the SA tracksuit? Let me just leave this here.

pic.twitter.com/oiicGonLui

— Woolworst SA (@WOOLWORST_SA) August 7, 2016

**

04:28 That’s where we leave the blog for now, we’ll be back at some point on Sunday to keep you updated on all of the action. Here’s your guide to the athletes competing on Sunday.

**

04:26 Van der Burgh is through to the finals which will be at 3:53am on Monday. Delightful.

**

04:22 Cameron van der Burgh touches in at three…Peaty wins without a world record this time. 

**

04:18 The three top times for the first semifinal  are 59.23 59.33 and 59.40. It’s going to take a really solid effort from van der Burgh not just to beat Peaty, but to make it through to the finals.

**

04:13: Van der Burgh is swimming in the second semifinal. I forgot that when we get to these stages every single swimmer gets his or her own announcement. We’re ready for semifinal one. 

**

04:08: While you were sleeping…

Mack Horton wins the 400m free. He is coached by Craig Jackson, South African ’92 Olympian.

— Ryk Neethling (@RykNeethling) August 7, 2016

**

04:03 We’re back for some swimming action…

**

01:52: There is more swimming at just past 04:00 – Cameron van der Burgh is in the 100m breaststroke final. We’ll be back to update you on that. 

**

01:47: China have scored again. And that’s that. It finishes China 2-0 South Africa. Banyana now highly unlikely to advance past the group stages. A great shame. They should have drawn against Sweden and should have been at least 2-0 up 30  minutes into this fixture. Were it not for the lack of composure and organisation, who knows what could have been? But, and there is always a but, this young team has showed some real promise. Despite the challenges women’s football still faces in South Africa, their future looks bright. Investment from the powers that be will got a long way to helping this team reach their potential. The talent is there, it just needs a little bit of nurturing. 

**

01:40: It’s still 1-0 to China, but South Africa are struggling and on the brink of an exit.

The high intensity South Africa’s ladies started with has them sapped. Error count creeping up. They’re doing all the chasing right now

— Gosiame Legoale (@Ghost1609) August 6, 2016

**

00:46 On the stroke of half-time, South Africa have paid for their poor finishing. China on the break get inside the box, van Wyk is unable to get there, Baker is unable to save and China take a 1-0 lead.

**

00:43 Free kick just outside the box, Van Wyk belts it into the wall the keeper tips the rebound into the crossbar. 

**

00:36 Janine van Wyk has been absolutely exceptional. Just made another fantastic clearance to stop a certain goal.

**

00:25: Another good chance went awry not so long ago. Kgatlana made a good break, but had no support going for goal. Her effort went awry. China pushing back now, but seem completely disorganised in front of goal.

**

00:09: South Africa are a bit all over the shop here. They missed a one-on-one with the keeper early on and the midfield is playing phantom again. SA very good on the break, though, but the finishing…it’s like Arsenal on ice.

**

23:47: We’re about ten minutes away from kick-off. The women’s team put in a valiant effort against Sweden in their opener earlier this week. Were it not for a late goalkeeping blunder, they might have held on for a very impressive 0-0 draw. Considering they were hammered 4-1 by Sweden in 2012, that result was a marked improvement. 

***

22:04: Hello and welcome to the Daily Maverick’s live blog of day two of the Olympics. We’re covering all of South Africa’s events and will keep you in the loop with other happenings if they’re interesting. If you missed any of the action on day one, here’s a blow-by-blow. DM