Sanne Wevers made Dutch Olympic history on Monday by winning the first ever solo gold gymnastics medal by a Dutch female gymnast.

In what was described as a ‘spectacular performance’, the 24-year-old won the balance beam with a score of 15.466 and a programme based on one foot pirouettes.

The door to victory was opened when top favourite Simone Biles, who has already won three gold medals in Rio, almost fell from the beam, losing a full point. Biles took the bronze and her team-mate Lauren Hernandez the silver.

Wevers took to the beam directly after Biles and changed her tactics. ‘I decided not to go all out but to play safe and it went off perfectly,’ she said after her performance.

In other events, the Dutch women’s hockey team beat arch rivals Argentina 3-2 in a tense match for a place in the semi-finals. That match, against Germany, will take place on Wednesday.

Beach volleyball duo Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen beat fellow Dutchmen Reinder Nummerdor and Christiaan Varenhorst 2-0 for a semi-final place. They next meet Brazil’s world champions Alison Cerutti and Bruno Schmidt