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Recap of all the Day Two action from the Rio Olympics

AUSTRALIA’S bid for relay redemption was sunk at the first turn when a big gamble backfired in spectacular fashion.

Tyson Otto and Jai Bednall
13 min read
August 8, 2016 - 2:54PM
Australia’s gamble backfired.
Australia’s gamble backfired.

Rio Olympics coverage

Day two of the Rio 2016 Olympics saw more success for Australia. Shooter Catherine Skinner won Australia’s third gold overnight in the women’s trap shooting, and Australia’s men’s 4x100 freestyle relay team won bronze

AUSTRALIA won a gold medal on day two of the Rio Olympics, but our swimmers couldn’t continue their gold rush on day two inside the Rio swimming and aquatic centre.

Shooter Catherine Skinner produced a miracle comeback to fight her way into the final of the women’s trap shooting before she stunned everyone at the Deodoro range to win the gold medal.

The Australians were also considered a genuine chance of winning the men’s 4x100 men’s freestyle relay in the pool, but it all went wrong.

1pm

Relay gamble backfires

Four more years.
Four more years.

Australia has won bronze in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay.

In a result that will only in part ease the pain of the team’s failure in London, James Roberts, Kyle Chalmers, James Magnussen and Cameron McEvoy snatched third spot in a thrilling race.

Anchor Cameron McEvoy flew home in the final leg, but the Aussies never truly threatened for the gold with the United States getting revenge on France to claim the crown.

It was US superstar Michael Phelps who set up a powerful US victory before speedster Nathan Adrian brought the Americans home with a time of 3:09.92 — more than half a second ahead of ahead of France in 3:10.53 with Australia third in 3:11.37.

The Aussies never recovered from a slow start with James Roberts hitting that wall in eighth position at the end of the first leg.

Magnussen had previously swam the first leg, but his poor start during the relay heat forced coach Jacco Verhaeren to gamble with Roberts swimming the first leg in the final.

It was a bold gamble that failed spectacularly.

The splits of the individual swimmers showed Roberts and Magnussen both failed to deliver on the biggest stage.

After Roberts’ swim of 48.88 seconds, the Aussies trailed the US by 0.78 seconds.

The lead swimmer said the entire team was content with the bronze medal.

“I think for all of us we’re pretty stoked with a bronze,” Roberts told Channel 7.

“We’ve come a long way as a team as well. I know I gave it everything I could tonight. Pretty happy.”

Kyle Chalmers (47.38 seconds) exploded in the second leg to leave Australia right in the hunt for a silver medal — but still well behind the US after Phelps’ sensational swim.

Magnussen then dropped off the pace at the start of his swim of 48.11 seconds before he recovered to get Australia to the end of the third leg in fourth position.

“I was really stoked to be out there tonight in that atmosphere again,” Magnussen said.

“It was pretty surreal. It seemed unlikely four years ago. I’ll be here again so pretty stoked.”

His time simply asked too much of McEvoy.

The Aussie anchor was the second fastest swimmer during the race. His final leg of 47.00 seconds was only beaten by Adrian’s time of 46.97 seconds.

He raced past Russia to get Australia into the medals, but never threatened France or the US.

Phelps’ heroics saw him claim his 19th Olympic gold medal and his 23rd Olympic medal.

12.15pm

Ledecky in a field of her own

American superstar Katie Ledecky has delivered one of the most dominant displays of the Games to blow away the field and her own world record in the final of the women’s 400m freestyle.

She finished almost 5 seconds ahead of silver-medallist Jazz Carlin of Great Britain.

Her sensational time of 3:56.46 smashed her own world record by 1.91 seconds.

12pm

Djokovic makes emotional exit

Class.
Class.

Juan Martin Del Potro has caused a major upset at the Olympic Tennis Centre, knocking out World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

The Argentine showed incredible nerves to send the best player in the world out in the first round with a tense 7-6 (4) 7-6 (2) win.

The two-set match lasted 2 hours and 27 minutes.

Djokovic was clearly emotional about his shock loss and hugged his rival at the net after his defeat.

According to reports, both players were fighting back tears as they embraced in a beautiful show of sportsmanship.

11.05am

McKeon chokes up with emotion

McKeon breaks down.
McKeon breaks down.

Aussie Emma KcKeon couldn’t repeat her golden form in Rio, finishing seventh in the final of the women’s 100m butterfly.

McKeon started slowly and trailed away in the second 50m to finish more than 1.5 seconds behind the winner.

She was well beaten by Swedish favourite Sarah Sjostrom, who beat her own world record with a time of 55.48 seconds, to win the gold.

McKeon, who had qualified second fastest for the 100m butterfly final, had helped Australia to the 4x100m freestyle relay gold on Sunday morning (AEST).

She appeared distraught during her poolside post-race interview with Channel 7 after swimming well below her best in the butterfly event.

She was unable to answer reporter Nathan Templeton when asked what she thought of her swim, clearly fighting back tears.

“That was bad,” she said.

When told she could keep her head high, McKeon could only manage to say “thankyou” before she quickly walked away from the interview.

McKeon was well supported on social media by a nation of fans still determinedly proud of her performance in Rio.

She was also praised for her sportsmanship towards Sjostrom.

11am

Kookaburras lose to Spain

The Kookaburras have fallen to Spain 1-0 at the Olympic Hockey Centre.

The Aussies conceded in the sixth minute and were never able to recover.

The major upset comes after the Hockeyroos also began their campaign with a loss to England on Sunday morning (AEST).

10.15am

Missile selected to fire

Big call.
Big call.

Australia has made the tough decision to dump sprint swimmer Matthew Abood from the 4x100m freestyle relay final to bring in Australian 100m freestyle record-holder Cameron McEvoy.

McEvoy was rested from the relay heats where Australia qualified third fastest behind America and Russia.

Australian swimming coach Jacco Verhaeren admitted it was a tough call to replace Abood after he had swum faster than James Magnussen in the heat.

“We had to choose and in the end it was a pretty tough call because the swim times were all pretty equal, but in the end we decided to go with Maggy and James Roberts,” he said.

The swim order for the final will be James Roberts, Kyle Chalmers, James Magnussen and Cameron McEvoy.

10am

Williams sisters in boilover

Serena and Venus Williams have been deposed as Olympic Games women’s doubles champions.

Czech pair Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova dashed the Americans’ hopes of a fourth gold medal.

It was the sisters’ first loss as a doubles team at the Games, having won 15 previous matches together, taking the title in 2000, 2008 and 2012.

“It was what it was. We have a chance to compete for our country and did the best that we can. We had a blast out there,” said 34-year-old Serena.

“I wouldn’t say it was devastating. It was a lot of fun and we will always remember these moments and these matches.”

Serena is the defending champion in singles while Venus was the title winner in Sydney 16 years ago.

10am

Bogut and Cambage at it again

Watch your back.
Watch your back.

Opals star Liz Cambage has given new life to her social media slanging match with Boomer star Andrew Bogut, declaring she needs to “educate” her Rio teammate.

Speaking after the Opals win over Turkey, Cambage told a different version of events to what Bogut had previously said about their awkward run-in inside the athletes’ Olympic Village.

The NBA star previously claimed Cambage hugged him when they bumped into each other.

That’s not how she saw it.

“I feel like I still need to educate Andrew, I mean, sorry Bogut, on police brutality and racial profiling from police officers in Australia,” she said.

“So if we get some time and I catch him in the dining hall, he’s probably going to hate me because he is going to get an education.”

You can read more here.

9.30am

China demands an official apology

China wants answers.
China wants answers.

China has reportedly demanded an official apology from Aussie swimmer Mack Horton.

A Chinese swimming official has told international media his team is demanding Horton apologise to Sun Yang, the man he beat in the final of the men’s 400m freestyle final in Rio, after he labelled the Chinese silver-medallist a drug cheat.

“We have been noticing what has been said in the past two days by Horton, who launched a malicious personal attack,” Chinese swim team manager Xu Qi said.

“We think his inappropriate words greatly hurt the feelings between Chinese and Australian swimmers.

“It is proof of a lack of good manners and upbringing. We strongly demand an apology from this swimmer.”

It came as Horton’s father Andrew Horton dismissed the Chinese protest in an interview with Melbourne’s SEN Radio.

He said Mack was given a huge round of applause by rival swimming competitors at the Rio swimming and aquatic centre for his bold stand against drugs in sport.

“After the 400m, as he walked back out to the warm-up pool, all of the swimmers — and this is internationally — applauded him,” he said.

“And they didn’t applaud him because he won the race. They applauded him because he had the courage to stand up and say what he did.”

Read more about the feud below

9am

Nadal unhappy with Rio

Not pleased.
Not pleased.

Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal has hit out at the surface conditions at the Rio Olympic Tennis Centre.

Nadal easily defeated Argentina’s Federico Delbonis 6-2 6-1 to move through to the second round, but he did not enjoy his time on centre court.

The 30-year-old had an argument with the chair umpire during the first set when he first complained about the intrusion of electronic screens and scoreboards around the court.

He said an electronic screen at the back of the court made it impossible to keep track of the ball when hit from a certain position by his opponent.

“There is a sign, where they show the results, that’s too centred,” he said.

“When someone hits the ball from that part of the court, you completely lose sight of the ball.

“That shiny blue behind the player makes you unable to see the ball. Speaking clearly, that was badly planned.”

Read more on Nadal here

8.30am

Opals win nail-biter

The Opals remain undefeated from two matches after surviving a tough final quarter against Turkey.

The Aussie women’s basketball team prevailed 61-56 in a nail-biting finish.

The unconvincing win was a tough slog for the Aussies, who trailed by three points at half time.

Liz Cambage top-scored for Australia with 22 points from her 24 minutes on court.

7.15am

Horror road race crash

A horror crash by Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten has marred the women’s road race.

van Vleuten led the race with 10km to ride of the brutal 137m course before she had a horror crash around the same stretch of road that caused several crashes in the men’s race.

After losing control zipping around a corner, van Vleuten appeared to fall over her handlebars and hit the bitumen head first before she crashed hard into the gutter.

Horror moment.
Horror moment.

The 33-year-old was lying motionless on the edge of the road as the lead group rode past her crash site.

She has since regained consciousness after being taken to a Rio hospital, according to cycling’s governing body the International Cycling Union (UCI).

A released statement said she was “conscious, able to communicate.”

Her teammate Anna van der Breggen overcame the “shock” of seeing van Vleuten sprawled motionless on the road before going on to claim Olympic cycling gold.

You can read more here.

6.45am

Horton hears a boo

Awkward
Awkward

China’s Sun Yang has fired a sledge at Aussie gold-medallist Mack Horton.

A day after Horton won Australia’s first gold of the Rio Games by beating Yang in the men’s 400m freestyle final, Yang has fired a mental barb ahead of their re-match in the men’s 1500m event.

Horton famously labelled his bitter rival a drug cheat before and after his triumph in the Rio pool.

His outspoken claims resulted in him receiving a torrent of abuse on Twitter, predominantly from angry Chinese supporters.

Yang on Monday took his rivalry with Horton to a new level, by trying to put the Aussie in his place.

When asked if he will beat Horton in the 1500m the Chinese swimmer told Channel 7: “In 1500m I am the king”.

He also said: “I don’t know him.”

The Australian Olympic Committee released a statement to declare the organisation’s official support for Horton.

“Mack is entitled to express a point of view,” a spokesman said in a statement.

“Under the Team Values ASPIRE the E stands for express yourself, that is his right. He has spoken out in support of clean athletes. This is something he feels strongly about and good luck to him”

The Aussie swimmer isn’t the only person being trolled by Yang’s supporters.

Twitter account user @_markhorton has also been sent several abusive messages.

H has politely asked those trying to troll Mack Horton to forward their abuse to his official Twitter account.

The innocent victim, reportedly an Englishman, even asked Mack Horton to apologise to Yang in order to end the abuse mistakenly being directed at him.

You can read more about the abuse being directed at Horton here.

6.30am

Australia two wins from gold

Australia charged into the semi-finals of the women’s rugby sevens competition with a 24-0 thumping of Spain at the Deodoro Stadium.

Held to a surprising 12-12 draw earlier in the day, Australia reasserted itself as tournament favourite in its first sudden-death game.

Australia will play Canada in the final four after they beat France 15-5 in their quarter-final.

You can read more here.

6.10am

Australia wins bronze in diving

Diver Maddison Keeney in Rio.
Diver Maddison Keeney in Rio.

Annabelle Smith and Maddison Keeney have finish third in the 3m synchronised springboard final at the Rio diving centre.

The pair have cemented Australia’s spot at the top of the medal tally, winning our second bronze of the Games.

The duo arrived in Rio as genuine medal contenders but dropped to last with one dive remaining in the eight-team final.

But they nailed a two-and-a-half somersault twist pike to deliver a score of 71.1 and their first Olympic medal.

China’s Wu Minxia became the first five-time Olympic diving gold medallist with a resounding victory alongside partner Shi Tingmao.

Wu and Shi launched the powerful Chinese team’s campaign at the Rio Games in style, handily beating Italian silver medallists Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallape.

You can read more here.

5.30am

Australia’s new golden hero

Our new hero.
Our new hero.

Catherine Skinner has become Australia’s newest Olympic champion.

The 26-year-old delivered the performance of her life to win the gold medal match in the women’s trap shooting at the Deodoro range to tip Kiwi Natalie Rooney in a thrilling finish.

Skinner hit 12 of the 15 targets in the final, needing to hit her final target of the competition to win 12-11.

American Corey Cogdell ended up with bronze to replicate her third place in Beijing in 2008.

Skinner incredibly had to survive a shoot-off in the preliminary rounds to even qualify for the semi-finals.

After that early scare, Skinner’s double barrel shotgun proved the most accurate.

Red-eyed and clearly emotional, Skinner couldn’t believe she is the new Olympic champion.

Double trap Olympic gold medallist Russell Mark told Channel 7 Skinner’s life is about to change.

“She’ll wake up tomorrow and think it’s been a dream,” Mark said.

“Everyone will know her now. She’s quite an introvert. She’s not an extrovert. She’s going to have to change that for the next 48 hours and probably the next four years.”

It was the first time two Australians had competed together in an Olympic trap final, with Melbourne’s Laetisha Skinner qualifying first with a score of 70 from 75.

She narrowly missed out on a spot in the bronze medal match to finish fifth.

Skinner picked up shotgun shooting living in Mansfield in country Victoria, then methodically honed her craft over the past decade.

You can read more about her incredible win here.

5.30am

Aussie men eye redemption

Redemption.
Redemption.

Australia’s 4x100m freestyle relay team qualified third fastest for tonight’s final behind Russia and USA as they look to atone for the disappointment of London.

Swimming without anchor Cameron McEvoy — who was rested for the final — the Aussies were led off by James Magnussen, who handed over to Kyle Chalmers in fifth position.

Chalmers produced an inspired swim to take the lead but after James Roberts maintained it, Matt Abood was caught by American Anthony Ervin. Abood is expected to lose his place to McEvoy, while the US will regain Michael Phelps.

Australia’s serious medal hope tonight comes in the women’s 100m butterfly, where Emma McKeon will start from lane five a night after winning gold with the women’s 4x100m freestyle team.

There are four finals in total, including the women’s 400m freestyle which includes Aussies Jessica Ashwood (sixth fastest qualifier) and Tamsin Wood (eighth). They’ll be chasing American star Katie Ledecky, who set an Olympic record this morning.

5.30am

Tennis star stuck in elevator

Juan Martin Del Potro’s preparation for a brutal first round clash against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic weren’t exactly ideal.

The Argentinian tennis player was trapped in an elevator inside the athlete’s village for 40 minutes on the morning of the match, which is scheduled to start at 5pm AEST.

Australia’s Dasha Gavrilova was unable to provide an upset in her own match against a World No. 1 as Serena Williams survived a tight first set to win 6-4 6-2.

5.30am

First KO in boxing

Brutal.
Brutal.

British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi staked his claim as one of the men to watch in the boxing competition by forcing the first stoppage of the Games.

Buatsi ripped into the body of Ugandan opponent Kennedy Katende to move through to the round of 16.

5.30am

American women set new mark

Team USA laid the smack down on Senegal in its women’s basketball opener, setting an Olympic record for the biggest margin of victory in a 121-56 win.

All 12 members of the team scored at least twice in the 65-point rout, which followed Australia’s come-from-behind day one win against home nation Brazil.

5.30am

Wind causes chaos across Rio

Gusting winds caused chaos across Rio, forcing the cancellation of the day’s rowing schedule, delays to the canoe and tennis action and the closure of the Olympic megastore.

It also sent clothes flying across the athlete’s village and disruption to television and internet service.

5.30am

Russia booted from Paralympics

The entire Russia team was banned from competing in the upcoming Paralympic Games overnight as punishment for the country running a doping operation that polluted sports by prioritising “medals over morals.”

The International Paralympic Committee’s blanket ban on Russia is in sharp contrast to the earlier decision by the IOC to allow individual sports to decide whether Russians could compete in the Olympics.

You can read more here.

— with AFP

Originally published as Recap of all the Day Two action from the Rio Olympics

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