RIO DE JANEIRO — Michelle Carter produced the throw of her life with her last attempt to deprive New Zealander Valerie Adams a piece of Olympic history Friday as the American won the women’s shot put to close out a memorable first day of athletics in Rio.
Carter heaved an American record 20.63 meters to snatch gold from Adams, who had been seeking to become the first woman to win three straight Olympic titles in an individual athletics event. She took silver with 20.42m.
Earlier in the day, Tirunesh Dibaba failed in her attempt at that elusive hat trick when she finished third in an extraordinary 10,000 meters won by Ethiopian Almaz Ayana in a stunning world record time.
Organizers will hope the first appearance on the blue track of Usain Bolt in the 100m heats will tempt more fans to the stadium after the opening day of athletics was watched by paltry crowds.
There were probably fewer than 10,000 fans scattered around the 60,000-capacity stadium, despite organizers claiming to have sold 68 percent of the tickets.
[caption id="attachment_76590" align="alignright" width="300"]
Gold medalist Wang Zheng (C) of China, silver medalist Cai Zelin (L) of China and bronze medalist Dane Bird-Smith of Australia pose with their 20km walk medals at the Rio Games Friday. — Reuters[/caption]IAAF President Sebastian Coe had said earlier this week that there had been some “scheduling issues” and an evening session with only one final, the women’s shot, would have been a hard sell even in a country with a strong athletics tradition.
It was one to remember, however, thanks to Carter, whose father Mike won silver in the shot put at the 1984 Olympics and who became only the second American woman after Earlene Brown in 1960 to medal in the event since it was introduced in 1948.
“He’s my coach today, and he’s given me everything that he knows to be the best shot putter I can be,” Carter said of her father.
Adams was gracious in defeat, and took satisfaction from even making the Olympics after an injury-plagued spell which has seen undergo five surgeries in three years.
“A lot of athletes woud have given up and retired. It’s bittersweet. But it’s sport, you have to take it on the chin,” Adams said.
The day began in extraordinary fashion when Ayana smashed a 23-year-old world record to win the greatest-ever women’s 10,000m. She clocked 29 minutes 17.45 seconds, an incredible 14 seconds inside the 29:31.78 set by China’s Wang Junxia in 1993.
In the day’s other medal, China’s Wang Zhen won the 20km race walk, with compatriot Cai Zelin taking silver and Australia’s Dane Bird-Smith bronze.
Briton Jessica Ennis-Hill made an excellent start to the defense of her heptathlon title to lead overnight after four events. Two 21-year-olds — Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam and Akela Jones of Barbados — are leading the chase, with another Briton and strong medal hope Katarina Johnson-Thompson up against it after a shot-put disaster.
Defending Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford scraped into the final, finishing 10th out of 12 qualifiers after the Briton flirted with disaster by fouling on his first two jumps.
Rutherford, who holds the Olympic, world, Commonwealth and European titles, won gold at London 2012.
He looked in danger of an early exit in Rio, however, making two foul jumps before recording a distance of 7.90 meters on his last attempt.
Bradley Wiggins fired Britain to track cycling team pursuit gold in a titanic final battle with Australia, etching his name into the record books as the most decorated British Olympian of all time.
The icing on the cake for the quartet of Wiggins, Ed Clancy, Steven Burke and Owain Doull was breaking the world record twice in the space of a few pulsating hours at Rio’s velodrome.
They blasted round the boards in a new best time for the 4,000m endurance event to crush New Zealand in the first round, then went even quicker to beat battling world champion Australia, who had squeezed past Denmark to reach the final. The Danes took the bronze medal.
Rim Jong-sim won North Korea’s first Olympic gold in Rio by a large margin in the women’s 75kg weightlifting, one weight category higher than her triumph at London 2012.
Darya Naumava of Belarus took silver, her nation’s first medal of the Games, only five years after giving up shot put to become a weightlifter.
The bronze medallist was Lidia Valentin of Spain, who finally got a chance to stand on the Olympic podium at her third Games. Valentin, 31, was the 2012 champion by default but was not on the podium in London as she finished fourth. The three who finished ahead of her recently tested positive for doping in reanalysis of samples.
Russia’s fencers stormed back against France in the closing minutes of the team foil final to clinch gold, while the US men beat defending champions Italy for bronze, their first medal in the event since 1932.
The Netherlands’s Dorian van Rijsselberghe clinched the first sailing gold of the Games, winning the men’s RS:X boardsailing class on points before the regatta finished, World Sailing, the sport’s governing body, said.
With 23 points after 12 preliminary races, the Dutchman sits 21 ahead of Britain’s Nick Dempsey, who has clinched silver.
The only medal left to decide in the men’s RS:X is bronze. Two points separate Poland’s Piotr Myszka from fourth place Pierre le Coq of France. Le Coq stands only six points ahead of Greece’s Vyron Kokkalanis.
