YOUR LIFE ISN'T COMPLETE UNTIL YOU MEET ADAM PEATY'S ADORABLE GRANNY
Great Britain swimmer Adam Peaty has a world record tonight and perhaps the world's most sweetly loud grandmother.
Her name is Mavis. She calls herself #OlympicNan. She likes emoji, especially four-leaf clovers, clapping hands and the Union Jack. She expresses herself in "ooooo"s.
YOU HAVE NOT KNOWN DISAPPOINTMENT UNTIL YOU HAVE DQ'D FROM THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Sports can be cruel.
A split second can be the difference between moving on and going home. Like, pack your bags — you're outta here.
Spanish swimmer Miguel Duran Navia felt such despair and deep disappointment today. He was disqualified after a false start in the fourth heat of the men’s 400m freestyle.
Realizing his error, the inconsolable Navia covered his face as he fought back tears. He slowly collected his belongings and left the deck. You can almost feel the sobs catching in his chest.
Then he got a second chance.
Judges ruled that noise from the crowd led to his false start, meaning Navia was allowed to compete after all.
"I heard something from the stand and so I did what I did," he said afterwards about jumping the gun. "It was a false start. I thought I was disqualified but I was told that everything was fine to swim."
He would go on to finish eighth in his heat, failing to qualify for the finals in the end. Nonetheless, Navia intends to regroup for the men’s 4×200m freestyle relay on 8 August.
"Everything that happened affected my concentration," he said. "I was not where I should be. I hope that in the relay, nothing (like that) will happen."
As do we, Navia. As do we.
DITCH THAT IRON FOR GOLD, LADY! GRAB A WORLD RECORD WHILE YOU'RE AT IT
Katinka Hosszu set a world record in the women's 400m individual medley, coming in at four minutes, 26.36 seconds.
She finished fourth in the same race at London 2012 and, tonight, had one goal in mind: "I wanted to crush it," the Hungarian swimmer said after the race.
In her fourth Olympic Games, the 27-year-old known as the Iron Lady was keen to end a long-standing medal drought. She thanked her US husband and coach, Shane Tusup, whom she credited with talking her out of retirement after a bitter disappointment in 2012.
"After London, I thought of quitting," she said earlier this week. "It felt like a huge failure and Shane was the one who told me that being fourth in the world was actually something amazing.
Post-race, Olympic gold and world record in her name, she added, "He knows exactly what I have to do to get to this place and he wants me to have it."
IRON LADY LEAVES KATINKA BEHIND
Katinka Hosszu loves her self-styled nickname and tonight the Iron Lady will go for broke in the women's 400m individual medley, the decathlon of swimming.
Hungary's first lady of the pool, Hosszu names her grandfather as a key influence. And aren't they cute.
She said this week, "Standing on the block, I feel like a different person. It gives me that power that now suddenly I'm the Iron Lady, really tough, and that Katinka is back in the village with her problems.
"My biggest talent is that I love to work hard. I train about nine to 10 hours a day and I haven't taken off any time since London," she said. "I've done everything I can to be the Iron Lady."
MUST BE THAT GOLDEN CAP
Australia's Mack Horton won gold in the men's 400m freestyle at the Olympic Aquatic Park. Afterwards, he elevates out of the water and all but floats to the podium to collect his hardware.
The 20-year-old from Melbourne will also swim the 1500m freestyle, beginning with the heats on 12 August.
FIRST GOLD OF THE GAMES: THRASH MEDAL
Teenage sports shooter Virginia Thrasher won the first medal at Rio 2016. Competing in the women's 10m air rifle, the US athlete explained how she gained her edge over Chinese veterans Du Li and Yi Siling.
"Confidence is a key part of shooting," she said during a press conference at the Olympic Park this evening. "I think that this has been a really great year for me and I’ve been improving in a rapid way and I knew that if I made the final, then anything really could happen."
Thrasher, 19, said men and women could compete side by side in shooting events.
"I think it is entirely possible that men’s and women’s (events) could be combined, but at the same time the system we have now is great because it allows for more medals in shooting and it provides more positive publicity."
GET TO BED AND GET YOUR ZEDS
Canada tennis hopeful Eugenie Bouchard said she was tired for her 6-3, 6-3 first round win in women's singles at the Olympic Tennis Centre.
The culprit: an unmissable party and chance to walk in the Rio 2016 opening ceremony. These Olympic Games are a first for the 22-year-old Wimbledon finalist.
"I'm going to bed early tonight. But it was something that I could not miss," she said post-match. "Because I came here, that was such a special moment that I'll remember for the rest of my life. If anything, it motivated me more today.
"For me, the moment I'll remember for the rest of my life is entering that stadium, both hands waving and smiling. I just had that out-of-body experience knowing I was going to remember this forever. It just made me so proud and happy. So I'm on a cloud now."
Bouchard praised her US opponent, Stephens Sloane whom she knocked from the tournament.
"She's a really good player. I've known her since we were 12 years old," she said. "I always thought since I was young that she would be really good."
USA 119 CHINA 62
Kevin Durant and Jianlian Yi equalled each other with 25 points apiece in a lop-sided win for the gold-medal favourite.
While the two play-makers hashed it out, Durant was buoyed by three team-mates in double digits. DeMarcus Cousins had 17 points, Paul George chippeed in 15 and Kyrie Irving added 12.
You know you want more. Read a full game report on the US win.
AUSTRALIA HOLD THE GERMANS
Three days after going down 2-0 to Canada, the Australia women's football team have put in a much more creditable performance against the much-fancied Germans. The Matildas held the Germans to a 2-2 draw in São Paulo and look well placed to qualify for the quarter-finals.
TUNE IN NOW: US V CHINA MEN'S BASKETBALL
The highlight of China's night came early when they took an early 2-0 lead. Things went downhill quickly afterwards as the USA went on a 30-8 run to finish the opening quarter with a 30-10 lead.
Kevin Durant leads all scorers with 17 points as the USA cruised to a 59-30 half-time lead in their first game at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
WIN FOR BOUCHARD
Canada's Eugenie Bouchard has won her first ever match in the Olympic Games, beating American Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-3 in Rio.
The win puts Bouchard in the round of 32, where her opponent is likely to be German superstar Angelique Kerber, should the Australian Open champion make it past Mariana Duque of Colombia.
On Sunday, Bouchard will be in doubles play with her Canadian teammate Gaby Dabrowski.
USA 1 France 0
Carli Lloyd scored to give the US an edge over France.
Canada 2 Zimbabwe 1
Janine Beckie scored twice and Christine Sinclair added another to give the Canadians a 3-0 lead by the 35th minute. Mavis Chirandu added a goal for Zimbabwe.
(Photo: Getty Images/Pedro Vilela)
Images
