Did Rio provide safe spaces and coloring books for the spectators?
American teenager Virginia Thrasher won the first gold medal of the Rio Olympics in the women’s 10-meter air rifle Saturday, and host Brazil recorded the first upset of the games, stunning reigning Olympic and world champion Norway in women’s handball.
A dozen gold medals were at stake on the first day of competition hours after Brazil’s high-energy opening party featured thumping funk, sultry samba and supermodel Gizele Bundchen shimmering to the tune of “The Girl from Ipanema.”
Athletes opened the first full day of the Olympics Games with table tennis, rowing, archery, cycling, water polo and fencing all taking place under a cloudless Rio de Janeiro sky and warm temperatures.
Traffic in parts of Rio quickly ground to a standstill as a cycling road race forced the closure of downtown roads. The world’s top riders started on Rio’s famous Copacanbana beach and headed out for a six-hour race on Rio’s roads and steep hills into the mountains.
Thousands of police and soldiers were patrolling the city amid concerns about safety.
Preliminary soccer games have already been played and more were on tap Saturday, along with rugby sevens, gymnastics, judo and swimming. Many of the events took place in the Olympic Park on Barra de Tijuca, a modern suburb to the west of Rio.
Among the highlights on Day 1:
YOUTH SERVED: Thrasher topped her spectacular spring where she won three NCAA titles and a spot on the U.S. Olympic team by upsetting China’s Li Du, a two-time gold medalist, to capture the women’s 10-meter air rifle title. The 19-year-old was a figure skater growing up but switched sports after a family hunting trip in which she killed a deer with her first shot.