Yannick Agnel bested Ryan Lochte for the second night in a row at the London Olympics, upstaging the American as the biggest star in the pool so far in these games.
A day after overtaking Lochte to give France the gold in the 400-meter freestyle, Agnel won his second gold of games by winning the 200 freestyle by a full body length. Sun Yang of China and Park Tae-hwan of South Korea tied for the silver, while Lochte only came fourth. With Michael Phelps not competing Monday, America’s swim hopes were restored by Missy Franklin, who at 17 won her first gold medal, in the 100-meter backstroke. Australia’s Emily Seebohm settled for silver in 58.68 and Japan’s Aya Terakawa took bronze in 58.83.
“I still can’t believe that happened,” Franklin said. “I saw my parents’ reaction on the screen and I just started bawling.”
Matt Grevers and Nick Thoman made it a 1-2 finish for the US in the men’s 100-back. Japan’s Ryosuke Irie was third.
Britain missed yet another good chance to claim its first gold medal of games. Considering the sport and the competition the all—dominating Chinese divers it wasn’t entirely surprising.
The 18—year—old Tom Daley and his partner Peter Waterfield led through the first three rounds of the six—dive platform synchro final Monday and were poised to deliver the host country’s first gold of the games before a botched fourth dive cost them a spot on the podium.
Instead, Cao Yuan and Zhang Yanquan continued China’s strong form. At the last Olympics in Beijing, China won nine of the 10 diving events. In London so far, the Chinese have won two of the first two finals.
“If you miss a dive in this kind of field then you’re out,” Daley said.
German Sanchez and Ivan Garcia of Mexico earned the silver and Americans Nick McCrory and David Boudia the bronze.
After 31 medal events through 2 1/2 days of competition, Britain has a cycling silver and a swimming bronze. China topped the table with eight golds.
The games, already with two confirmed doping cases and with another athlete sent home for a potential drug violation, had one expelled Monday over a racist message on Twitter.
Swiss Olympic team chief Gian Gilli said Michel Morganella had been stripped of his Olympic accreditation ahead of Switzerland’s final group match against Mexico on Wednesday.
Morganella posted an offensive and threatening message aimed at South Korean people after the Swiss team lost 2—1 to South Korea on Sunday.
Japan’s first gold medal of the games came in judo, with Kaori Matsumoto of Japan winning the women’s 57—kilogram division.
Wimbledon champions Serena Williams and Roger Federer each won their second—round matches in the Olympic tennis tournament at the All England Tennis Club, site of their Grand Slam title more than three weeks ago.
Williams beat Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6—2, 6—3, while Federer had a similarly easy time defeating Julien Benneteau of France 6—2, 6—2.
American Andy Roddick beat Martin Klizan of Slovakia 7—5, 6—4 in a first—round match delayed by Sunday’s rain. Roddick converted only two of 13 breakpoint chances but dominated with his serve.
“I served really well,” he said. “I would have liked to have converted more break points. But I got a couple and, thankfully, that’s all I needed.”
Top—seeded Victoria Azarenka moved into the second round with a 6—1, 3—6, 6—1 win over Irina—Camelia Begu of Romania. Azarenka needs to win gold to retain the top ranking in women’s tennis.
At the rowing regatta in Windsor, west of London, Australia issued a challenge to archrival Britain in the men’s four, setting an Olympic—best time in the heats to qualify fastest for the semi-finals.
The flagship boats of both countries made their first appearances on Dorney Lake, with Australia making a bigger impression by winning the first heat in 5 minutes, 47.06 seconds. That broke Germany’s Olympic best time from eight years ago in Athens by 1.46 seconds.
Britain, which has won this event at the last three games, clocked 5-50.27. If they both progress to the final on Saturday from Thursday’s semi-finals, it will be the most eagerly anticipated race of the regatta given the history and rivalry of the countries in this event.
In women’s basketball, French guard Emilie Gomis scored all 22 of her points in the second half and France beat Australia 74—70 in overtime. It was Australia’s first loss in the Olympics to a team other than the United States since 1996 and was one of the biggest victories in French women’s basketball history.
On Monday, French president Francois Hollande said he was considering a bid for the 2024 Summer Games after losing out to London in the race to host the 2012 Olympics.
France has ruled out a bid for the 2020 Olympics following Annecy’s humiliating defeat for the 2018 Winter Games. Before losing to London, the French capital had also failed to win the hosting rights for the 2008 Games, which were awarded to Beijing.
