Paris, July 29: On the first sunny day of the Paris Olympics, the stars from the United States shined bright.
Simone Biles and LeBron James dazzled, so did the US women’s football team. Torri Huske grabbed some of the spotlight, and Haley Batten made a name for herself by earning a silver medal in mountain biking for the best finish ever by an American rider.
Although it was French swimmer Léon Marchand who received the most boisterous cheers in crushing the field to win gold in the men’s 400-metre individual medley, the US had a strong Sunday on Day 2 of the Games.
Simone Shines
Biles made her Olympic return three years after pulling out of multiple finals at the Tokyo Games to protect her safety, which prompted an international discussion about mental health, by powering through discomfort she felt in her calf to lead the US women’s gymnastics team into the finals.
Biles, Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles went 1-2-3 in the all-around during early qualifying, though Chiles will miss the all-around final due to rules that limit countries to entering two athletes per competition.
There’s a chance Chiles will make the floor exercise final should she finish in the top eight. Lee is practically a lock for the beam and bars finals, with 2020 floor exercise champion Jade Carey in good position to join Biles in the vault final.
But all eyes were on Biles, who briefly scared an entire nation when she left the after her floor exercise and received medical attention. She had tweaked her calf in warm-up, but US coach Cecile Landi said it was a minor injury.
She performed in front of a star-studded crowd that included Tom Cruise, Jessica Chastain, Snoop Dogg, Anna Wintour and Lady Gaga, who wrote on social media of Biles: “She nailed it, what an honour to be so close!”
LeBron James Leads Team USA
Two of the most experienced Olympians on the US men’s basketball team, James and Kevin Durant, began the squad’s bid for a fifth consecutive gold medal with a near-flawless performance.
Durant made his first eight shots and scored 23 points, James added 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and the US rolled to a 110-84 win over Serbia in the Olympic opener for both teams.
James and Durant were a combined 18 for 22 from the field – 8 of 9 for Durant, 9 of 13 for James – as the US had no trouble with the reigning World Cup silver medalists.
Jrue Holiday scored 15, Devin Booker had 12 and Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry each added 11 for the US
Pool Party
Huske knocked off world-record holder Gretchen Walsh in the women’s 100 butterfly, using a strong finish to get her hands to the wall just ahead of her teammate in a 1-2 finish for the U.S.
The favourite went out with her usual strategy: start fast and try to hold on. It worked at the US trials, where she set her world record of 55.18 last month, and she was under record pace at the turn.
But Huske chased her down in the race that really mattered. The winner touched in 55.59 – about the length of a finger ahead of Walsh’s time of 55.63.
When Huske saw the “1” beside her name on the scoreboard, she reached across the lane rope to give Walsh and hug while breaking down in tears.
Marchand, meanwhile, lived up to the huge expectations at his home Olympics with a flag-waving crowd cheering his every stroke. He was under world-record pace on the final turn but faded a bit coming home, touching in 4 minutes, 2.95 seconds – an Olympic record, but just shy of his own world mark of 4:02.50.
Marchand claimed that mark at last year’s world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, erasing a record held by Michael Phelps for 15 years.
And, in an upset, Italian swimmer Nicolo Martinenghi shocked record-holder Adam Peaty in the 100 breaststroke.
Peaty, the gold medallist in both Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, had taken a long layoff to deal with mental health issues.
Upon his return, he worked his way back up to speed and entered the final as the top qualifier but settled for silver as his quest for a third consecutive gold was ended.
US Soccer Wins
Sophia Smith scored a pair of goals to lead the US past Germany 4-1 and put the team in good position to advance out of its group at the Olympics.
Mallory Swanson and Lynn Williams also scored for the Americans, who defeated Zambia 3-0 in the opener but won’t know their fate in the knockout round for sure until after the final Group B matches are played on Wednesday. (AP)
