Rio Recap: Phelps shines as Serena bows out

Omnisports

August 9, 2016 6:17 AM

For the 20th and 21st times, Michael Phelps won an Olympic gold medal, while Serena Williams was beaten in Rio.

- Michael Phelps

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QUOTES OF THE DAY

"It is unbelievable. You never see a minnow come here and beat a team which is supposed to be a gold medal contender. I am still shocked, to be honest," - Japan rugby sevens player Lomano Lemeki stunned by his team's win over New Zealand.

"I did come pretty close to throwing up. It was a burp with 25 to go but I've been in that position plenty of times in practice and knew I could accelerate to the wall. I knew I had to fight and get my hand on the wall. That was fun," - Ledecky said after her win in the women's 200 metre freestyle.

"It was a career opportunity. It didn't work out the way I wanted to, but at least I was able to make it to Rio. That was one of my goals," - Williams tries to stay upbeat after her defeat.

"The fact is, with the exception of a handful of players who actually played to their full strength today, the other players, unfortunately, did not play to their capacity," - assistant coach of Russia's women's water polo team, Andrei Belofastov , was not impressed with their 14-4 loss to Australia.

"If I lose at the Games, it doesn't matter. A child is the most beautiful medal. Now I just want to get a medal for her here," – two-time Olympic taekwondo medallist Servet Tazegul gains motivation to succeed from his 10-month old daughter Esmira.

UNSUNG HERO

Chilean Ricardo Soto started his international career just eight months ago.

Now, the 16-year-old – the youngest archer at Rio 2016 – is into the last 16 of the men's individual events.

"I need to be concentrated, focused on the target and shoot the 10. That yellow ring means everything if you want to win here," Soto said.

MEDAL WATCH

As expected, the United States and China are pulling clear atop the medal table. Thanks largely to Phelps and Ledecky, USA now have nine golds.

COMING UP: Chance for Adrian to shine in pool

There are 20 gold medals to be decided on Wednesday. Four of those will be won in the swimming, with Nathan Adrian in line for gold in the men's 100m freestyle. Earlier, the men and women cyclists hit the road for the individual time trials.

AND FINALLY...

Belarusian table tennis player Vladimir Samsonov has had to wait a long time to reach the semi-finals.

At his sixth Games, Samsonov finally achieved the feat by beating Dimitrij Ovtcharov despite apparently battling a rib injury.

"I've always wanted to win a medal and, OK, I am still far away from that - but at least I'm in the semi-finals for the first time, after all these years. It is a crazy feeling," he said.

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