RIO DE JANEIRO: American swimmer Ryan Murphy narrowly missed a world record as he took gold in the 100-meter backstroke Monday at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
Murphy finished in 51.97 seconds, three-hundredths of a second off the record set by Aaron Peirsol in 2009. The time set an Olympic record.
It’s the sixth straight gold medal for the U.S. in the event.
In the women’s competition, Lilly King of the U.S. won her showdown with Yulia Efimova after plenty of bad blood between the two over the Russian’s doping record.
After staring down Efimova in the ready room, King led all the way to take the gold with a time of 1 minute, 4.93 seconds.
Efimova, who heard a round of boos and a few cheers during the introductions, settled for the silver in 1:05.50. The bronze went to another American, Katie Meili, at 1:05.69.
Later Monday, Michael Phelps set his sights on a 20th gold medal by posting the second-fastest time in the semifinals of the 200-meter butterfly. Hungary’s Tamas Kenderesi surged to the wall first in 1 minute, 53.96 seconds. Phelps was next at 1:54.12, followed by Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh.
The third day of Olympic competition also featured a couple of notable firsts: Rafaela Silva captured host Brazil’s initial gold medal of the Rio Games, and fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad became the only American ever to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab.
Silva, who grew up on one of Rio’s shantytowns, won judo’s 57-kilogram division, then, overwhelmed with emotion, performed the Brazilian version of the Green Bay Packers’ “Lambeau Leap” to celebrate with her compatriots Monday.
It was, at the least, a momentary reprieve for the host country bracing for what once seemed unthinkable: an early exit by its men’s soccer team from the Olympic tournament. Brazil finds itself needing a victory against Denmark to advance and avoid another huge embarrassment two years after a demoralizing 7-1 loss to Germany in the semifinals of the World Cup.
Brazilian fans aren’t just booing their men’s soccer team. After months of dire predictions from abroad about the mosquito-borne Zika virus, some locals are doing some stinging of their own: They’re jeering U.S. athletes and taunting them over the fears that kept some competitors away from South America’s first Olympics.
In the women’s sabre tournament, Muhammad, sporting a plain black Muslim headscarf under a red, white and blue mask, was a winner in her opening bout before bowing out. A New Jersey native who started fencing in part because the uniform allowed her to adhere to the tenets of her faith.
In tennis, Serena Williams struggled before beating France’s Alize Cornet 7-6 (5), 6-2 in her bid for a second consecutive singles gold medal.
Australia won the first gold medal for rugby sevens at the Olympics, beating archrival New Zealand 24-17 in the women’s final Monday night.
Day 3 highlights
Golf debut: The first Olympic golf shot in 112 years will be hit by the lone Brazilian in the men’s field. The International Golf Federation tapped into what few Olympic roots it has by selecting Adilson da Silva to be the first to tee off Thursday.
Biles brouhaha: NBC announcer Al Trautwig says he regrets tweeting that the adoptive mother and father of U.S. gymnastics star Simone Biles were not her parents. The tweet angered adoption advocates. Ron Biles, her maternal grandfather, and wife Nellie adopted Simone 16 years ago.
Spectacular seas: Sailing, not the dirty water, was finally the focus on troubled Guanabara Bay during a spectacular start to the Olympic regatta on Monday. Robert Scheidt won the second race in the Laser class. He’s trying to become the first Olympian and first Brazilian to win six Olympic medals.