Rio’s Olympic Games are fully under way with road cycling, beach volleyball, boxing and several swimming events held Saturday, among various other competitions.
American shooter Ginny Thrasher, a 19-year-old competitor in the women’s air rifle event, took gold - the first of the 2016 Summer Games - edging out two Chinese competitors, Du Li and Yi Siling.
The American swimming squad led by Katie Ledecky took silver in the 4x100-meter freestyle. Australians set a world record in the event to win in 3 minutes, 30.65 seconds, taking a third of a second off the record set by the Aussies two years ago.
Another world record in the pool was set by Hungary's Katinka Hosszu in the women's 400-meter individual medley, earning gold with a time of 4 minutes, 26.36 seconds. Maya DiRado of the U.S. took the silver medal, 2.72 seconds behind Hosszu.
American tennis star Venus Williams lost in the first round to Kristen Flipkens of Belgium. While Williams has a record of four Olympic gold medals, Flipkens celebrated the first-round victory as if she won her first top medal.
“This is just one of the most epic matches in my life,” Flipkens said, adding, “They [spectators] just enjoyed my game because, I think, I’m a little girl trying to do some special stuff to get a chance to beat a champion like that.”
In women's handball, Brazil upset defending champion Norway 31-28 in the opening fame. Twelve goals for Brazil scored by Ana Paula Rodrigues led the team to victory in a sport in which Brazil has never earned gold.
In a group stage football (soccer), U.S. women won 1-0 in a match against France at Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte.
The American men's basketball team romped over China 119-62 in their opener.
The competition Saturday followed Friday’s colorful opening ceremony, which embraced Brazil’s cultural diversity as well as its social and economic challenges.
Interim Brazilian President Michel Temer presided over the opening of the games inside Maracana Stadium, with dozens of heads of state in attendance. He took over from suspended president Dilma Rousseff, who is facing an impeachment trial and tweeted she was "sad to not be at the party."
Despite the political unpleasantness, a huge throng of spectators attended the ceremony at Rio's Maracana Stadium, among them French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, both of whom have cities in the running for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Also in attendance, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon along with nearly two dozen other representatives of national governments.
Fireworks and dozens of dancers set the show in motion with bright colors, shiny fabric and plenty of the passion for which Brazil is famous.
Brazilian Grammy winner Gilberto Gil wrote the song o, that began the ceremony. Gil spent several years living in exile in London when Brazil was ruled by a military dictatorship. His song expresses love for his homeland, and specifically for Rio.
The song was a part of Brazil's long, proud musical history, which was on full display during Friday's ceremony. From funk to samba to hip-hop, it was all featured as the opening built toward the entrance of athletes from around the world. Among the featured artists were Ludmilla, Cristian Do Passinho, Lelezinha, Elza Soares, Marcelo D2 and Karol Conka.
Video screens around Maracana Stadium showed some of the lyrics, mostly in Portuguese, as fireworks went off and dancers clad in huge, multicolored wigs and red, yellow, white and orange outfits performed on the stadium floor.
After the nearly four-hour ceremony was over - about 45 minutes longer than scheduled - Brazilian spectator Amanda Ramos Amore shared her thoughts with VOA.
?“I loved it. It was like perfect. I've never seem something like that before.” She added that it exceeded her expectations.
“I don't have many more words. I am speechless. I had some American people around me and some Colombian people and they loved it too.”
As could be expected, there were huge rounds of applause for South American countries, particularly Argentina, Chile and Colombia.
The United States, typically with the biggest delegation at the Olympics, also received a loud ovation. Other countries with audibly large numbers of supporters in the crowd were Mexico, Jamaica, Portugal, Italy, Spain, France and Japan, with Cuba and Puerto Rico both fondly welcomed by the crowd. The Russian team, with many members barred because of the country's doping scandal, received polite applause.