PARIS: The stars of the United States shined on the first sunny day of the Paris Olympics.
Simone Biles and LeBron James dazzled, as did the US women's soccer team. Tori Husk grabbed some of the attention and Haley Button made a name for herself by winning the mountain bike silver medal for the best ever finish by an American rider.
Although it was French swimmer Leon Marchand who drew the biggest cheers in breaking ground to win gold in the men's 400-meter individual medley, the United States had a strong Sunday on the second day of the Games.
Simon shines
Three years after multiple finals exits at the Tokyo Games, the Bills returned to the Olympics to secure their spot. .
The Bills, Sonny Lee and Jordan Chiles went 1-2-3 in the preliminary round, although Chile will miss the all-around final due to rules limiting countries to two athletes per event.
It is possible that Chiles will finalize the training ground if he finishes in the top eight. Lee is virtually a lock for the beam and bars finals, with 2020 floor exercise champion Jade Carey in good position to join Biles in the vault finals.
But all eyes were on Biles, who briefly scared the nation when she left the court after practice to receive medical attention. He tweaked his shin in warmups, but USA coach Cecil Landy said it was a minor injury.
She performed in front of a star-studded crowd that included Tom Cruise, Jessica Chastain, Snoop Dogg, Anna Wintour and Lady Gaga, with Biles writing on social media, “She made it, what an honor to be so close!”
LeBron James is leading the American team
Two of the USA men's basketball team's most experienced Olympians, James and Kevin Durant, began the team's quest for a fifth consecutive gold medal with a near flawless performance.
Durant made his first eight shots and scored 23 points, James had 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and the USA won 110-84 over Serbia in the Olympic opener for both teams.
James and Durant combined for 18-of-22 from the field — 8-of-9 for Durant, 9-of-13 for James — as the U.S. had no trouble with the World Cup silver medalists.
Jerry Holiday had 15 points, Devin Booker had 12, and Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry had 11 points each for the United States.
Pool party
Husk unseated world record holder Gretchen Walsh in the women's 100 butterfly, using a strong finish to get her hands to the wall just ahead of her teammate in a 1-2 finish for the United States.
Mehboob went out with his usual strategy: start fast and try to keep up. It worked at the U.S. trials, where he set his own world record of 55.18 last month, with a slower turn.
But Husk chased him down in the race that really mattered. The winner touched in 55.59 – almost a finger ahead of Walsh's time of 55.63.
When Husk saw the “1” next to his name on the scoreboard, he jumped over the ropes to hug Walsh, shedding tears.
Marchand, meanwhile, lived up to high expectations at her home Olympics, with a flag-waving crowd cheering her every stroke. He fell short of the world record on the final turn, but faded a bit on the way home, touching in 4 minutes 2.95 seconds – an Olympic record, but well off his world record of 4:02.50.
Marchand claimed the mark at last year's world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, breaking Michael Phelps' 15-year-old record.
And in an upset, Italian swimmer Niccolò Martinangi shocked 100 breaststroke record holder Adam Peaty.
Peaty, a gold medalist in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, had taken a break to deal with mental health issues. Upon her return, she bounced back and entered the final as the top seed, but settled for silver as her bid for a third straight gold ended.
American football won
Sophia Smith scored a pair of goals to lead the USA to a 4-1 victory and put the team in good position to advance out of their group at the Olympics.
Mallory Swanson and Lynn Williams also scored for the Americans, who beat Zambia 3-0 in their opener but will not know their knockout fate until the final Group B games on Wednesday.
The Americans face Australia in Marseille to finish group play.
Mountain biking medal
Button broke a rule, but still went home with the silver medal in America's best mountain bike race.
Button was penalized by the Olympic mountain bike judges for breaking the rules on the final lap of his race. He was jockeying for second place when he left the track allotted for food and drink or to stop due to mechanical problems.
After the judges reviewed the film, they concluded that Button had done neither and had broken one of the rules of the race. He was fined 500 Swiss francs, or about $565, for “failing to comply with the instructions of the race organization or commissaires,” although the referees apparently decided the offense was not serious enough to warrant disqualification.
Button finished ninth at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
Tennis veterans win
Rafael Nadal wasn't sure he would even be able to play in the men's singles a day before his match on Sunday, but he showed up at Roland Garros, beating Hungary's Marton Fuchovic 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the first round. gave
The victory set up a blockbuster match against rival Novak Djokovic.
It will be the 60th meeting between the great pair, more than any other two men have played against each other in the sport's Open era, which began in 1968. Djokovic, a 37-year-old player from Serbia, is leading the match. A 29-30 streak, and 24 Grand Slam titles make him the only man in tennis history with more than Nadal's 22 titles.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray's tennis career was extended by at least one more match as he and English partner Dan Evans saved five match points in a first-round doubles win. Murray and Evans held off the Japanese pair of Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori 2-6, 7-6(5), 11-9.
The Brits trailed 9-4 in the deciding tie, which is played at doubles instead of the third set.
The 37-year-old Murray announced before the Summer Games that it would be the final event of his career and then pulled out of singles, leaving him only in doubles.
Murray is a three-time Grand Slam champion and the only tennis player with two Olympic singles golds – from London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
