We at RedEye love the Olympics. Most of it, anyway. Here’s the best and worst of the first weekend in Rio and what you should be watching on Day 3 of competition Monday.
WE LOVED IT WHEN …
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The refugee team received a standing ovation during the Opening Ceremony. Hopefully these 10 athletes (five from South Sudan, two from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, two from Syria and one from Ethiopia) will get the same treatment whenever they compete in Rio.
—Chris Sosa
Ginny Thrasher won the 10-meter air rifle. Nudging past the irony of the first gold of these Olympics going to an American in a shooting event, it’s a life-changing moment for the 19-year-old. “This is beyond my wildest dreams,” Thrasher said. “I knew it was a realistic expectation for me to get into the finals, and once you get into the finals, anything can happen. For me, this year has been incredible.” Not bad for someone who picked up the sport only five years ago.
—Chris Sosa
A swimmer got a second chance. Spain’s Miguel Duran Navia initially was eliminated from the preliminaries of the 400-meter freestyle on Saturday, but the rules officials ultimately ruled his false start was not his mistake. Kudos to the crowd for cheering him on while officials conferred, even though Navia missed qualifying by a wide margin.
—Chris Sosa
Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci demonstrated admirable sportsmanship. During their tennis match on Sunday, Germany’s Dustin Brown (who has great hair, by the way) badly twisted his ankle while trying to reach for a volley. Bellucci immediately stepped over the net to check on Brown and called for the trainer. Brown tried to play through the injury but had to retire. He did get a nice ovation from the crowd for his effort; he was just five points from winning the match when he got hurt.
—Chris Sosa
The Argentinian handball team came to the rescue. Tennis player Juan Martin del Potro was trapped on an elevator for 40 minutes Sunday morning before being rescued by his countrymen. His communications director, Jorge Viale, posted the evidence on Twitter:
Good thing he wasn’t scheduled to play until much later in the day!
—Chris Sosa
Katie Ledecky broke an Olympic Record … in a semifinal. The ease with which the teen swimming phenom dominated her 400-meter freestyle qualifying swim Sunday morning, finishing a full 4 seconds ahead of the second-place swimmer and breaking the record in the process, was simply stunning. If you still think Michael Phelps is the biggest story in the pool this year, think again.
—Margaux Henquinet
The women’s cycling road race gave us a sweet tour of Rio. The race had some tough moments (more on that later). But we hope the athletes got to let just a smidgen of their attention wander enough to appreciate the sights as they were speeding through the course: sandy beach, dense green forest, sparkling waterways, elaborate graffiti and murals, and buildings painted in bright greens, purples and more. It was nice to get out of the stadiums for a while.
—Margaux Henquinet
Team USA’s Alexander Massialas took home a big-deal medal. The fencer’s silver medal in the men’s individual foil competition on Sunday makes him the first male U.S. fencer to win an individual Olympic medal in 32 years. Thirty-two years! To put that in perspective, Massialas himself is only 22. Well done, buddy. (And the extra “Awwww” factor: Alexander’s a second-generation Olympic fencer. His dad and coach, Greg, fenced in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, medaling neither time.)
—Margaux Henquinet
WE HATED IT WHEN …
Pele was unable to make it to the Opening Ceremony. As an elementary school student, I did a report on him. It felt like I was getting away with something because it was so much fun learning about arguably the best soccer player of all time. So it was disappointing to hear his health would not allow him to join the festivities in his native country, where the beautiful game is everything.
—Chris Sosa
Fans chanted anti-gay slurs at soccer matches. It’s one thing to heckle U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo by yelling “Zika” given her tweets in which she was wearing a ridiculous amount of mosquito “protection.” It’s another to use terms offensive to the LGBTQ community. Chicago Fire general manager Nelson Rodriguez warned fans at a recent match that anyone caught using such language would be banned from the stadium, and FIFA has gone so far as to force teams to play to empty stadiums. If that’s what it takes in the Olympics, so be it. In a soccer-mad country like Brazil, that will send a decisive message that intolerance is unacceptable.
—Chris Sosa
Samir Ait Said broke his leg. The French gymnast landed awkwardly after launching himself on the vault and snapped his leg in horrific fashion on Saturday. It was reminiscent of Kevin Ware’s gruesome injury at the 2013 NCAA tournament, only less graphic. Either way, don’t watch the video if you’re at all squeamish.
—Chris Sosa
Beach volleyball got a little messy. Things were looking pretty good for the Chinese women’s team at the end of their Saturday-night match against Switzerland, leading 14-11. But when they missed on their match-point play but then won by calling for a challenge, the win felt a little dirty. Then, after everyone thought it was over, the Swiss argued long and hard enough that the challenge was reversed and the game resumed for just two plays before the Chinese won (again). All’s well that ends well, we guess, but the whole thing just felt a bit unsportsmanlike.
—Margaux Henquinet
Cyclists couldn’t hold it together. On Saturday, Iran’s Samad Pourseyedi lost control of his bike on a downhill portion of the men’s road race, hitting a curb and falling headfirst into a concrete wall. Then on Sunday, late in the women’s road race, leader Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands slipped in the rainy conditions and went tumbling into the curb. Let’s hope neither is seriously hurt.
—Chris Sosa
Gymnast Gabby Douglas didn’t qualify for the all-around final competition. The 2012 London all-around gold medalist had been aiming to be the first repeat winner since 1964/1968. But, on the other side of the coin, we’re delighted for all-around qualifiers Simone Biles and Aly Raisman, and proud of the U.S. women for getting (as of press time) Sunday’s highest scores on all four events and landing atop the team scores leaderboard with a nearly 10-point lead. You go, girls.
WATCH THIS
The best of the Olympics on Monday
Fencing
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Ibtihaj Muhammad becomes the first U.S. athlete to compete in a hijab when she opens pursuit of a medal in women’s sabre. “I think even just qualifying and being the first Muslim woman to compete for the United States in hijab provides an image on the world stage to show that Muslim women, our hijab doesn’t hinder us in any way from accomplishing something even within the sports field,” she told RedEye earlier this year. (7 a.m.)
Synchronized diving
American David Boudia, the individual 10-meter platform champion at the 2012 Olympics, will try to win synchronized diving gold with Steele Johnson. Sorry, we can’t help it if that is his actual name. (2 p.m.)
Rugby
The first gold medal will be handed out in this sport as the women’s competition wraps up. If you’re missing football, this will be way better than any clips from your favorite team’s training camp. Seriously, despite the relatively short games, there will be bruises aplenty—no helmets or pads here. (5 p.m.)
Beach volleyball
This sport quickly rose to become one of the most popular at the Olympics, and seeing as beach volleyball is nearly as popular as soccer in Brazil, you know that venue will be rocking. On Monday, Kerri Walsh Jennings, playing with new partner April Ross, continues her quest for a fourth straight gold medal. (10 p.m.)
WORD OF THE DAY
Haboob (ha-boob)
An Arabic term for an intense dust storm. Haboobs (we understand if you can’t help but laugh when you say this) are common in desert areas, including the southwestern U.S. On Sunday, the wind was so strong in Rio that it delayed a number of tennis matches and capsized some rowboats, causing those events to be postponed. Be careful out there, everyone.
MEDAL COUNT
(As of 7:30 p.m. CT Sunday)
1. China: 3 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze (8 total)
2. Italy: 2 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze (7 total)
3. USA: 1 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze (7 total)
USA! USA!
American medal winners at the Rio Games
(as of 7:30 p.m. CT Sunday)
Gold: Ginny Thrasher, 10-meter air rifle
Silver: U.S. men, team archery; U.S. women, 400-meter freestyle relay (swimming); Maya DiRado, 400-meter individual medley (swimming); Chase Kalisz, 400-meter individual medley (swimming); Alexander Massialas, men’s individual foil (fencing)
Bronze: Corey Cogdell-Unrein, trap shooting (shooting)
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RedEye’s Margaux Henquinet contributed.