Day 1 of Olympic competition: Highlights and photos
By JAY COHEN, AP Sports Writer
LONDON (AP) -- Five things to know about Saturday, Day 1 of the London Olympics: -- Lochte wins first U.S. gold, Phelps fourth in 400 IM. -- Brits struggle in cycling as Vinokourov wins road race. -- Serena, Federer advance at All England Club. -- U.S. men lead surprising Britain in gymnastics qualifying. -- Hey, there's the new Bond Girl! It's the queen.
Swimming
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Ryan Lochte won the 400-meter individual medley, China collected a couple of gold medals and Australia set an Olympic record while winning the women's 400-meter freestyle relay.
Oh, and Michael Phelps went without a medal in an Olympic race for the first time since 2000.
It was quite the opening night at the pool.
After barely qualifying for the final, Phelps struggled to a fourth-place finish and was denied his 17th career Olympic medal. When it was done, he could barely get out of the pool.
Lochte took the gold with a time of 4 minutes, 5.18 seconds. Brazil's Thiago Pereira (4:08.86) settled for silver, while Japan's Kosuke Hagino (4:08.94) claimed the bronze.
"I think I'm kind of in shock right now," Lochte said. As for his defeated rival Phelps, "I know he gave it everything he had. That's all you can ask for."
The women's 400 individual medley went to 16-year-old Ye Shiwen, who set a world record with a time of 4:28.43. It was the third mark to fall since high-tech bodysuits were banned at the end of 2009.
American Elizabeth Beisel took silver and China's Li Xuanxu grabbed the bronze.
Sun Yang flirted with a world record in the men's 400 freestyle. He took gold in 3:40.14, just off the mark of 3:40.07 by Germany's Paul Biedermann in a rubberized suit three years ago.
South Korea's Park Tae-hwan was the silver medalist in 3:42.06, and American Peter Vanderkaay took the bronze in 3:44.69.
Australia finished the 400-free relay in 3:33.15, Netherlands won the silver and the Americans got bronze.
The U.S. finish was enough to deliver a 12th medal to Natalie Coughlin, who matched Dara Torres and Jenny Thompson for most decorated U.S. female Olympian. Coughlin swam in the morning prelims, but wasn't used in the evening; everyone who swims on a relay gets a medal.
Volleyball
Destinee Hooker had 21 points and the United States held off late-charging South Korea 3-1 in their opening match at the London Olympics.
At one point the fans at Earls Court chanted "Des-tin-ee! Des-tin-ee!" as she dominated the 25-19, 25-17, 20-25, 25-21 victory.
The United States, which won the silver medal in Beijing and is currently ranked No. 1 in the world, jumped out to a 17-11 lead in the first set after one of Hooker's seemingly effortless spikes, and the tone of the match appeared set.
Kim Yeon-koung had 29 points for South Korea, which rallied in the third set but ultimately feel short.
Cycling
After hosting a dazzling opening ceremony Friday night, Britain got off to a shaky start on the first full day of action when favored cycling star Mark Cavendish finished 28th in the road race.
Kazakhstan's Alexander Vinokourov, who has said he will retire from cycling after the games, won gold. Rigoberto Uran of Colombia took silver, and Alexander Kristoff of Norway won a mass sprint for the bronze.
"The guys all sat there in the tent absolutely spent. We did everything we could," Cavendish said afterward. "We didn't expect any help. We rode the race we wanted to ride."
Tennis
Wimbledon champions Roger Federer and Serena Williams each won their opening matches -- one struggled, one didn't.
Federer, a four-time Olympian, overcame a jittery patch and beat Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. The top-ranked Swiss star was a point from victory in the second set, then lost three of his next four service games. But he recovered in time to avoid the upset.
U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama watched from the front row of Williams' box as the fourth-seeded American beat former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-1 on Centre Court.
Cavendish and his troubles aside, his countrymen got off to a terrific start in men's gymnastics -- almost as good as the United States.
Gymnastics
While perennial powerhouses China and Japan bobbled and wobbled their way through qualifying, the Americans proved they really do have the goods to contend for the gold medal. They didn't count a single fall, and their final score of 275.342 is almost three points ahead of Britain.
Britain, which was only good enough to send two gymnasts to Beijing four years ago, got a spectacular pommel horse by Louis Smith and finished with a score of 272.420.
"It's just a dream competition really," said Smith, the British captain.
Queen visits Olympic Park
Fresh from her star turn as the latest Bond Girl, Queen Elizabeth II returned to Olympic Park for an encore.
The queen visited with British Olympians in the athletes village and rode to the top of the 377-foot Orbit tower beside the stadium, where on Friday night she officially opened the 2012 Games. Her husband, Prince Philip, and London Mayor Boris Johnson accompanied her.
In describing her role in the opening ceremony, created by director Danny Boyle, Johnson said the queen had told him she was "very, very impressed with the success of her first film appearance, her first dramatic venture. It was very funny and seems to have gone down particularly well with the international audiences."
The show-stopping moment featured the queen making her acting debut alongside Daniel Craig, who portrayed James Bond in a film beamed into the stadium.
The rest of the Olympic action Saturday:
Women's basketball
Maybe it was first-game nerves or a hangover from the opening ceremony. But the U.S. had to overcome a sloppy performance to post an 81-56 victory over Croatia in its first game.
Coach Geno Auriemma had said he was hoping the Americans could play a style of basketball that would be entertaining and help grow the women's game internationally. That didn't happen.
"We have five players who have never been in the Olympics before so they are going to be nervous. Everybody was a little nervous," Auriemma said. "We're better than we showed, but I don't know that we're going to be great right off the bat."
The U.S., which got back to its hotel at 3 a.m. after the kickoff party, struggled for the first three quarters before winning its 34th consecutive Olympic game.
Next up for the Americans is Angola, which lost to Turkey 72-50 in its Olympic debut.
The Czech Republic lost their pool opener, falling to China 66-57. In another early game, Russia rallied past Canada 58-53.
Soccer
The U.S. women clinched a spot in the quarterfinals and remembered an injured teammate in a 3-0 victory over Colombia.
Megan Rapinoe scored in the 33rd minute for the Americans. After her goal, she reached into her sock and pulled out a birthday message for Ali Krieger, who blew out her knee in a qualifying match in January.
Abby Wambach made it 2-0 in the 74th, and Carli Lloyd scored in the 77th.
Britain wrapped up a spot in the women's quarters with a 3-0 victory against Cameroon. Canada beat South Africa 3-0, Brazil blanked New Zealand 1-0, and Sweden held Women's World Cup champion Japan to a scoreless draw.
Beach volleyball
The Olympics' sexiest sport opened with a raucous debut, mixing in a little local flair with all of the more traditional trifles that have made the event one of the most sought-after tickets in London (though Sir Paul McCartney managed to get one for the afternoon session).
A dance team in bathing suits -- skimpier for the birds than the blokes -- jiggled for the sold-out crowd during timeouts, while rock music nearly drowned out the pealing of Big Ben.
Located just inside the gate used by the queen -- and only the queen -- to ride up to Buckingham Palace, the beach volleyball venue offers views of the London Eye, the Big Ben clock tower and 10 Downing Street.
Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor, who are trying for a third consecutive gold medal, were scheduled to play in the final match on Saturday night against Australian rivals Tasmin Hinchley and five-time Olympian Natalie Cook.
The No. 2 U.S. men's team of Sean Rosenthal and Jake Gibb also were scheduled to play, taking on South Africa's Freedom Chiya and Grant Goldschmit.
Table tennis
Warren Buffett and Bill Gates will be thrilled when they get the news: 16-year-old American Ariel Hsing is into the second round in Olympic table tennis.
She defeated Yadira Silva of Mexico in four straight games on the opening day. With none of the top 16 players and favored Chinese entering competition until the third round, Hsing made the most of her first Olympic appearance.
Buffett met Hsing when she was only 9 and two years later invited her to play against shareholders at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting. She returned earlier this year after winning a spot on the U.S. team and took a few points off Buffett and Gates.
Archery
Italy won the gold in the men's team event, beating the U.S. by one point on the final shot. It was America's first medal of the games.
Michele Frangilli, Marco Galiazzo and Mauro Nespoli hugged and raised their hands in celebration after the final arrow beat the U.S. 219-218 at Lord's Cricket Ground. It was Italy's first-ever gold in the event.
Rowing
The United States and Germany won heats in the blue-riband men's eight, leaving a host of top crews to vie for places in the final.
Only one crew progresses from each heat. The Germans, unbeaten in three years, finished a half length ahead of Britain at Dorney Lake. Olympic champion Canada came in last in a race fit for the final.
The U.S. beat Australia by a half length to reach Wednesday's final, which should be one of the regatta highlights.
Equestrian
Australia took the early lead in Olympic equestrian eventing at Greenwich Park, with Germany and the United States close behind.
Half the 50 riders rode their dressage test that starts the three-phase competition, which includes cross-country and show jumping.
In the individual competition, Germany's Ingrid Klimke had a sparkling dressage test to score 39.3 penalty points, followed by teammate Dirk Schrade on King Artus with 39.8 and Mary King of Britain with 40.9 on Imperial Cavalier.
Several teams, including favorites Britain and New Zealand, did not have a complete rotation of three riders, so team standings are still preliminary.
American riders included Boyd Martin of Cochranville, Pa., scoring 50.7 penalty points on Otis Barbotiere; Karen O'Connor of The Plains, Va., earning 48.2 on Mr. Medicott; and Tiana Coudray of Ojai, Calif., with 52.0 on Ringwood Magister.
Judo
Sarah Menezes of Brazil and Arsen Galstyan of Russia won the first two golds in the judo competition.
The second-ranked Menezes beat defending Olympic champion Alina Dumitru of Romania in the women's 48-kilogram final. Galstyan defeated one of the 60-kg favorites, Hiroaki Hiroaka of Japan, for his first Olympic medal.
Weightlifting
Wang Mingjuan of China won the first gold medal of the weightlifting competition, taking the women's 48-kilogram title with a total weight of 205 kilograms. The four-time world champion dominated the competition.
