Golden start for Australia on day of records
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu ended her long wait for Olympic victory and Australia captured two gold medals in an exhilarating first day of swimming competition that saw three world records smashed in Rio on Saturday.
Hosszu, five times a world champion, but without a medal from three previous Olympics, demolished the world record by 2.07 seconds in the final of the women’s 400 meters individual medley.
Australia’s women retained their Olympic title by winning the 4x100m freestyle relay in world record time, with sisters Bronte and Cate Campbell swimming the last two stages to overhaul the United States, despite the efforts of Katie Ledecky on the anchor leg.
Mack Horton’s victory in the men’s 400 freestyle also meant Australia had already doubled its gold medal tally from a disappointing showing four years ago.
The day’s record spree began with Britain’s Adam Peaty, who broke his own world mark of 57.92 in the heats of the 100 breaststroke when he clocked 57.55.
Tipped to become the first British man to win an Olympic gold since 1988, he then swam 57.62 in the semifinals.
In the first of four evening finals, Japan’s Kosuke Hagino won the men’s 400m individual medley, the grueling discipline that combines butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.
Hagino, the bronze medalist in 2012, won with a time of four minutes, 6.05 seconds to end a US stranglehold on the event dating back to 1996.
Chase Kalisz of the United States, who had been fastest in the heats, finished second and Japan’s Daiya Seto took the bronze.
In the men’s 400 freestyle, Australia’s Horton edged out defending champion Sun Yang of China and Italy’s Gabriele Detti, pulling ahead in the final quarter after shadowing Britain’s James Guy and Conor Dwyer of the US for much of the race.
Hosszu then grabbed the spotlight with a stunning victory in the 400 individual medley.
In the women’s relay, the Australians led off with Emma McKeon while Brittany Elmslie swam the second leg before Bronte Campbell overhauled the Americans and handed over to sister Cate, who touched in three minutes, 30.65 seconds, beating the previous world record of 3:30.98 they set in Glasgow in 2014.
“Definitely my favorite race ever,” said Cate Campbell. “In an Olympic final with my sister and two girls I have known since I was 12, 13 years old – and a gold and a world record.”
Durant leads US hoops blowout of China
The third viewing of USA-China in men’s basketball this summer looked just like the previous two.
After pounding China by a combined 99 points in two exhibition games in July, the USA won 119-62 on Saturday in the Olympic opener for both teams.
Too much offense, too much defense and too much talent propelled the USA to its 46th consecutive victory in international competition and its 18th consecutive Olympic victory.
Forwards Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony – the only two holdovers from the 2012 London Olympics gold-medal team – led the way.
Durant had 25 points and six assists, and at that rate, Durant could surpass his American scoring record of 156 points in one Olympics.
Anthony, who is likely to finish this event as the USA’s all-time leading Olympic scorer, had nine points and seven rebounds. He has (239) points in his Olympic career and trails Michael Jordan (256), David Robinson (270) and LeBron James (273) on the all-time list.
Guard Kyrie Irving, who was the MVP of the 2014 FIBA World Cup, demonstrated his ability to score in bunches. He had 12 points on four three-pointers in 126-second span of the third quarter. Center DeMarcus Cousins had 17 points and five rebounds.
Paul George made his Team USA debut – after suffering a compound fracture in an exhibition game just before the start of the 2014 World Cup. He missed almost all of the 2014-15 season and returned to All-NBA level in 2015-16. He had 15 points, along with playing stellar defense
“That’s our identity – defense first. “Cousins said. “That’s how we get the game rolling. That’s how we get our energy.”
Lines, security scares abound
In other news, the Games got off to a bumpy start, with organizers apologizing to angry fans kept waiting for hours at security checkpoints to enter venues, while shootings and bomb scares kept visitors on edge.
Athletes competed in front of empty stands early on the first day of full competition as spectators complained of missing their events while queuing for security clearance.
The morning after a dazzling opening ceremony, organizers admitted to dropping the ball, with only a few hundred spectators making their way into venues such as the gymnastics arena and the beach volleyball on iconic Copacabana beach.
Outside, lines stretched for several blocks as fans stood in full sun and security staff struggled. Organizers blamed a lack of coordination between security personnel, including the police, Games staff and private security firms.
Gymnasts performed in front of swathes of empty seats in an arena that can seat 13,500 people. The boxing venue also had many empty seats as the first professionals in Olympics history entered the ring.
At the tennis center, where former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic played in front of virtually empty stands in the first round, fans had to wait more than 20 minutes to buy water.
On Saturday, a bomb squad carried out a controlled explosion of an unattended bag, believed to belong to a homeless man, near the finish line of the men’s cycling road race on Copacabana’s sweeping boulevard.
There have been several controlled blasts in recent days as organizers have tightened security around venues, amid concerns the Games could be a target for militants.