Cariocas soak up the Olympic atmosphere

Thousands of fans have been soaking up the ambience at the city site of the Olympic flame, burning outside the Candelaria church. The nearby Olympic Boulevard live site also drew big numbers. The second Olympic cauldron was lit in the Candelaria area of Rio on Friday night, with the honour given to a young teenager from the neighborhood. Spectacular photos emerged today of the flame in the morning sun. 

Drama in the pool

The day started well at the Olympic Aquatic Stadium for Yusra Mardini, the 18-year-old Syrian swimmer who helped save the lives of some 20 refugees in the Mediterranean when their boat capsized. Now competing for the Refugee Olympic Team, she won her heat in the 100m butterfly with a personal best. So her time of one minute and 9.21 seconds wasn't good enough for a semi-final berth. But she was delighted. Adam Peaty of Great Britain was pretty pleased too. He lowered his own world record in the 100m breaststroke heats.

In the evening session, the Australian women's 4x100m freestyle relay team set a world record, as did Hungary's Katinka Hosszu in 400m individual medley.

Refugee Yusra Mardini when she won her heat in the 100m butterfly(Photo Getty Images/Lars Boren)

Outsider Thrasher wins USA's first gold 

American teenager Ginny Thrasher stunned favoured rivals to win the first gold medal of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, holding her nerve to claim the women’s 10m air rifle event. Thrasher won the gold medal with a final Olympic-record score of 208 (total 420), ahead of Du Li of China, who had been dominant in qualifying. The 19-year-old’s performance was a big surprise, as she is ranked 23 in the world.

Ginny Thrasher flanked by silver medalist Du Li and Yi Siling who took bronze (Photo: Getty Images/Sam Greenwood)

Belgium prevails in the men's road race

Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium out-sprinted Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang and Poland’s Rafal Majka on the finishing straight at Copacabana Beach, to win a spectacular men's Olympic road race. Speaking at the post-race press conference Avermaet said he was surprised when the chance to win presented itself: “I was working with Fugslang, and we saw Majka. We knew it was possible. I knew I had to hang on. I am so happy for gold."

Rugby sevens debuts at the Games

Women’s rugby sevens made its Olympic debut at the Deodoro Stadium, where Great Britain beat Brazil 29-3 in front of a lively lunchtime crowd. The contest was one of 12 pool matches played. Team GB also beat Japan 40-0 in a second match, and Brazil lost 38-0 to Canada. The competition continues tomorrow and the finals are on Monday. Great Britain’s Natasha Hunt described the sense of occasion: "We just made history and we are all ecstatic about that. There were nerves at the start because it is amazing playing in a tournament like this.”

Natasha Hunt of Great Britian and Edna Santini of Brazil clash in rugby sevens action (Photo: Getty Images/David Rogers) 

First medal for Brazil!

Host celebrated its first medal of the Games when Felipe Wu claimed silver in the men’s 10m air pistol final at the Olympic Shooting Centre in Deodoro. Wu said fans at the venue helped steer him to medal glory, when they sang the Brazilian national anthem during the final. It was a good day all-round for Brazil athletes. The women won their first indoor volleyball game against Cameroon at the Maracanazinho, and at Copacabana both the men and women's beach volleyball teams won their first matches, against Canada and Czech Republic respectively.

Judo glory for Argentina and Russia

Argentina’s Paula Pareto and Russia’s Beslan Mudranov grabbed the gold medals on day one of the judo competition, but there was heartache for home favourite Sarah Menezes, who ended up in hospital with concussion rather than on the podium. In the women's -48kg, Pareto became the first Argentinian judoka to win an Olympic Games gold. The 2015 world champion dominated Jeong Bokyeong of Korea in the final, and won by waza-ari.

Hungary for success

Hungary’s Emese Szasz defeated Rossella Fiamingo of Italy 15-13 to win gold in the women's epee individual event at Carioca Arena 3. Szasz was in a state of disbelief afterwards. "I'm very happy. I don't believe it at the moment, maybe in a few days (I will). I believed in myself and my fencing, and I did it. (I felt that I won) only at the end when I made the last touch."

Dream start for USA

The NBA's finest enjoyed a comfortable 119-62 win over China in the basketball on Saturday. It was a festive atmosphere at the Carioca 1 Arena. At first, the crowd filled with many local basketball fans cheered on NBA stars like Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony, who led the USA to a 59-30 half-time lead. But by the second half when it became apparent that the Chinese were struggling, the fans switched sides, chanting “Olê Olê Olê Olê, China, China!". Late in the game with the result no longer important, the crowd did a Mexican wave.

Olympic Games tickets are available to buy on the Rio 2016 portal