Written by Greg Myers at NPR.com
U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps added to his Olympic record, winning a 19th gold medal on Sunday night, while American Katie Ledecky smashed her own world mark in the 400-meter freestyle at the Summer Games.
In his first race in Rio, Phelps swam a powerful second leg in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. His 47.12 split gave the Americans a clear lead, which they held for a narrow win over France.
Now in his fifth Olympics, Phelps has won 23 medals overall and still has a shot at more.
Ledecky, 19, arrived in Rio as the most dominant female swimmer in the world, and she delivered in her first individual event. It was a race only in a loose sense of the word, as Ledecky took a big early lead and finished in 3 minutes, 56:46 seconds.
That was nearly two seconds better than her own world record and more than four seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.
The teenager from suburban Washington, D.C., will also be the heavy favorite in two other individual races, the 200- and 800-meter freestyle.
She won a silver medal Saturday as the anchor of the 4×100-meter freestyle relay team, which finished a close second to Australia.
Simone Biles dazzles
In her first performance in Rio, Biles immediately demonstrated why she’s been world champion for the past three years.
She sparkled in all four events — floor, vault, balance beam and uneven bars — generating a score of 62.366, far ahead of the second-highest scorer, American teammate Aly Raisman.
Sunday’s events were qualifying for finals later this week. The five-woman American squad far outdistanced China and will be a prohibitive favorite on Tuesday to defend the team gold they won in London four years ago.
The American women were quite literally competing against themselves. Only two women from a country can advance to the individual all-around final later this week.
Gabby Douglas, who won the all-around gold in London, turned in a strong performance and was the third-highest scorer Sunday among all gymnasts.
Yet Biles and Raisman claimed the two spots in the individual all-around, and Douglas won’t be in the finals to defend her title.
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