Magical Murray wins gold and silver
There were tears of joy on Centre Court for Andy Murray as he emphatically avenged his Wimbledon tennis final defeat to Roger Federer to help him win Olympic gold at London 2012.
Murray followed up one of the greatest days in British sporting history by delivering one of the best British tennis had ever seen on an astonishing afternoon on Centre Court.
Less than an hour after crushing Federer 6-2 6-1 6-4 to become Great Britain's first Olympic men's singles champion for 104 years, Murray and Laura Robson narrowly failed to add the country's first mixed doubles title in exactly a century, losing 2-6 6-3 (10-8) to Belarus' Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka.
But the historic gold and silver was still another amazing milestone for both Murray and British sport, which on Saturday enjoyed its best day at an Olympics since 1908.
Four weeks earlier, Murray had become the country's first Wimbledon men's singles runner-up for 74 years, a heartbreaking loss to Federer leaving him sobbing. Things could not have been more different here.
Murray - who described his victory as "the biggest win of my life" - has relished the whole Olympic experience and he did not just beat Federer, he handed him his heaviest ever defeat at Wimbledon, in under two hours.
Federer certainly went into the match as the favourite on a stage he had made his own, but the 17-time major winner had to settle for silver, ending his hopes of matching Serena Williams on Saturday and completing the career 'golden slam' of all four majors and the Olympic title.
The result was down to a mixture of Murray magnificence and Federer fallibility, with a raucous Centre Court appropriately responding with their own blend of joy and disbelief. Murray had no doubt where the triumph ranked in a career that has seen him reach four grand slam finals.
"It's number one for me," he said after climbing into the Centre Court players' box to celebrate with his girlfriend and family. "The biggest win of my life. This week's been incredible so far.
"I've had a lot of fun, the support's been amazing."
