Kosuke Hagino is fancied to top the podium in the men’s 400m individual medley and medals are also at stake in the 4x100m women’s freestyle relay, with defending champions Australia the team to beat. When Efimova waved a finger after her semifinal in the backstroke, King returned the favor and said, “if that’s what she feels she needs to be able to compete, whatever, I am here to compete clean for the U.S”. “But I had a great time”. She’s simply brilliant in the water and should – barring a major upset – repeat as the gold-medal victor in this event for the second Olympics in a row. The gold medal bout is at 5:45 p.m. and comes a day after Russian Yana Egorian defeated countrywoman Sofya Velikaya for the gold in women’s sabre.
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Indian tennis has had little success in Olympics till Paes took a bronze medal in Atlanta 1996 and since then they have been struggling at the biggest sporting stage.
United States of America are back at numero uno position on the medals tally of Rio Olympics with 12 medals, including three gold.
This is the first Olympics at which athletes can compete under the flag of Kosovo, which proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008.
Japan, the silver medal victor four years ago in London, won the team competition with a total score of 274.094.
The pint-sized dynamo has managed to keep a low profile heading into the Games despite being in imperious form for the last two years during which he won gold medals at the Commonwealth and Asian Games.
History will be made as USA team member Ibtihaj Muhammad becomes the first American to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab.
In the lead-up to the Olympics, the US men spoke about avoiding the same mistakes that sealed the team’s fate four years ago. Dipa Karmakar advance to finals of artistic gymnastic and India will be hopeful of a medal from her. Solo was a big reason the USA won gold in 2008, as she made a number of crucial saves to help the US win, 1-0, in extra time.
On Sunday, she shattered the world record in the 400-meter individual medley to win gold.
Phelps has won this event at the last three games so it stands to reason that he’ll make it to the medal swim and if he does, this one could be historic for many reasons.
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Phelps, 31, who produced a stunning second leg, has now won 23 medals in total, extending his record as the most decorated Olympian of all time. Over the next 16 days, we’ll watch thousands of elite athletes from across the globe compete with the best of the best to become Olympic medal winners. “I’m here to compete clean for the U.S”.
