Greg Van Avermaet Wins Thrilling Road Race, Adam Peaty Breaks World Record
There was an action-packed start to Rio 2016. We bring you up to date with events so far on a golden day for Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium.
OMNISPORT
- Greg Van Avermaet claimed victory in a thrilling men's road race at Rio 2016 that finished on the Copacabana beach, Jakob Fuglsang and Rafal Majka taking silver and bronze.
- A controlled explosion of a suspicious package took place near the finish line as a precaution when the race was in progress, while an investigation has also been opened after a bullet entered the media tent at the equestrian centre. Nobody was injured in either incident.
- Great Britain's Adam Peaty improved his own world record in the men's 100 metre breaststroke to 57.55 seconds as he qualified for the semi-finals in style, posting a time more than a second faster than any of his rivals.
- Virginia Thrasher of the United States won the first gold medal of the Games, beating China's Du Li and Yi Siling to take victory in the women's 10m air rifle shooting.
- Rugby sevens made its Olympic debut at the Deodoro Stadium and New Zealand were unsurprisingly among the winners on day one of the women's competition, opening their campaign with a 52-0 trouncing of Kenya.
QUOTES OF THE DAY
"It's the greatest feeling ever to get gold. I'm a classics guy so I hold on well," - Belgium's Van Avermaet revels in his hard-earned triumph, following a race that saw pre-race favourite Vincenzo Nibali crash in the closing stages.
"I've never really raced in water like this. In the end I kind of felt like a Viking coming out of it," - Egyptian rower Nadia Negm highlights the challenge posed by choppy conditions at the Lagoa course.
"It was very emotional. And this was just the first game. Imagine the second, the third game, or if we proceed to the final," - Deonise Fachinello, who shed tears after Brazil began the women's handball competition with a 31-28 win over Norway.
"They are like robots," - Romanian fencer Ana Maria Popescu outlines the difficulty of facing Korean opposition after being beaten by Choi In-jeong in the women's individual epee.
MUST-SEE MOMENT:
Things certainly did not go to plan for Serbian rowers Milos Vasic and Nenad Bedik, who capsized in the heats of the men's pair competition. However, the duo will get another chance to impress in Sunday's repechage.
COMING UP - SWIMMING ACTION BEGINS, US BASKETBALL TEAM IN ACTION
Four medals will be handed out as the first swimming finals take place at the Olympics Aquatics Stadium, starting with the men's 400 metre individual medley at 10:03pm local time (2:03am BST). Peaty will also be back in action in the semi-finals of the men's 100m breaststroke.
The USA's men's basketball team, strong favourites for gold in Rio, begin their campaign with a group game against China at Carioca Arena 1. The match begins at 7pm local time (11pm BST).