She led right from the start and touched in 55.48, knocking off the mark of 55.64 she established at last year’s world championships.
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Australian cyclist Richie Porte is headed home after breaking his right scapula during a crash in the Olympic road race, two days before he was supposed to race for gold in the time trial. He has a 3-month-old son, Boomer, and a fiancee, Nicole Johnson. Held swam the third leg, with Phelps handing over to him after giving the team an advantage over defending champions France at the earlier turn, and he said the only thought in his mind was not to lose any ground. Caeleb Dressel led off with a strong 48.10-second leg, before the greatest Olympian of all time gave America its lead. Suddenly, six gold medals seem very much in reach.
The Williams sisters entered Sunday’s match with a 15-0 career record in the Olympics, winning the gold medal in women’s doubles every time they entered the event: in 2000, 2008 and 2012. “Quick turnarounds”, Phelps told reporters.
On a night Stanford-bound Katie Ledecky and two others set world records, it was impossible to ignore the 6-foot-4 swimmer from Towson, Maryland. It led some to wonder whether the USA streak of earning a medal in every Olympic swim relay it has entered would end Sunday.
“It was insane, I was standing on the block while Caeleb (Dressel) was coming in and I actually thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest”, said Phelps. He wound up getting engaged and becoming a father for the first time.
The 25-year-old sank to her knees in tears after out-grappling Italy’s Odette Giuffrida to win by yuko in the women’s 52kg final. Start with Dressel, whose first Olympic swim would thus be leading off a relay? “I think something needs to be done”, said Phelps.
“I believe sport should be clean and sport should be on an even playing field, and I think that it’s sad that in sports today we have people who are testing positive not only once but twice and still having the opportunity to swim at this Games”, Phelps said.
“It’s good to see the emotion of those young guys”.
Germany’s Paul Biedermann holds the world record and is competing in Rio.
Britain’s Adam Peaty set a new global best with a win in the men’s 100m breaststroke after Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom had also broken the record in the women’s race.
He was no doubt remembering the ups and downs of the last four years. “I didn’t expect to win tonight as I know the situation with my wrist”, said del Potro. “It’s nothing. I know what to do”.
Four years ago in London, the French gained retribution. The 28-year-old has won medals in three separate Olympics. “But this is just a 100 free and I’ve done it thousands of times before”. The United States picked up three bronzes: Dana Vollmer behind Sjostrom, Cody Miller behind Peaty and Leah Smith, from the University of Virginia, behind Ledecky.
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Ryan Held, second left, cries during the U.S. national anthem after the men’s team won the 4×100-metre freestyle final. Murphy was one-hundredth of a second ahead of teammate David Plummer in separate semifinal heats.
