Reuters Sports News Summary

08/06/2016 12:59

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Swimming: Lifeguards at the Olympic pool? It's the law

It is safe to say Michael Phelps has no need for a lifeguard watching over him in the Olympic pool but the most decorated Olympian of all time, with 18 gold medals among his career haul of 22, will have one anyway at the Rio Games. And so will the rest of the world's greatest swimmers in a situation that has caused some mirth in the run-up to the competition.

American TV viewers slam NBC for delaying Rio broadcast

American TV viewers used social media on Friday to vent their anger at U.S. broadcaster NBC for delaying the screening of the opening ceremony of the Rio Games by an hour and then going to repeated commercial breaks during the show. NBC, a unit of Comcast Corp, has the U.S. media rights for South America's first Olympic Games and said it decided not to show the ceremony live because its producers and commentators wanted time to put it into context for Americans.

Tommasone makes boxing history as first Games professional

Carmine Tommasone made boxing history when he became the first fully professional fighter to compete in the Olympics on Saturday, winning his opening bout against an amateur from Mexico. Tommasone, a 32-year-old lightweight from Italy, is competing after AIBA, the sport's governing body, made a constitutional change in June that ended 112 years of amateur exclusivity at the Games.

Huge queues and angry fans mar the start of Rio Games

The Rio de Janeiro Olympics got off to a shambolic start on Saturday with fans queuing for hours to enter the stadium and some missing their events as many athletes competed in front of eerily empty stands. Games organizers apologized for dropping the ball on the first day of full competition, the morning after a dazzling opening ceremony, as iconic venues such as beach volleyball on the famed Copacabana beach saw only a few hundred spectators.

Kerry confident Rio Olympics will be 'safe, sound, secure'

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday he is confident the Olympics Games will be "safe, sound, secure" and said the United States and Brazil are working together to ensure they are. Kerry, meeting with Brazilian Foreign Minister José Serra in Rio before the opening of the Games later on Friday, told reporters he was sure Brazil will deliver "not just a great venue but a great Olympics."

Rowing - Cuban Fournier aims for number one

Cuba is better known for baseball and basketball than rowing, while the name of Guantanamo has become synonymous with the U.S. military prison there, but Cuban rower Angel Fournier Rodriguez wants to change all that. Fournier is Cuba's most successful rower ever and he says he is aiming to be the world's best.

Shooting - American teenager Thrasher wins first gold of Games

Unflappable American teenager Virginia Thrasher won the first gold medal of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Saturday, holding her nerve against two Chinese Olympic champions to clinch the women's 10m air rifle event. The 19-year-old U.S. college champion edged out China's Du Li, gold in Athens in 2004, with an Olympic-record score of 208 in the sport's new finals format. Defending Olympic champion Yi Siling, also of China, took the bronze medal.

Brazil casts aside crisis in rousing Rio Games opening

Brazil unfurled a vast canvas celebrating its rainforest and the creative energy of its wildly diverse population in welcoming the world on Friday to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, all to the pounding beat of samba, bossa nova and funk. Brazil's interim President Michel Temer declared open the first Games ever in South America. But in a display of the deep political divisions plaguing Brazil, he was jeered by some in the crowd at the famed Maracana soccer stadium.

U.S. officials face tough questions over gymnastics abuse report

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) on Friday defended USA Gymnastics against criticism it turned a blind eye to sexual abuse and said it had no plans to conduct an investigation itself. In their opening news briefing of the Games, the USOC leadership faced questions about a report in the Indianapolis Star on Thursday that said top USA Gymnastics officials failed to alert authorities to allegations of sexual abuse by coaches.

Blast heard near Rio Olympics cycling, no sign of injuries - witness

A loud blast was heard near the finishing line of the men's cycling road race at the Rio Olympics on Saturday but there were no signs of panic or injuries and the race continued, a Reuters witness said. Bomb squad agents in protective clothing were operating near the press tribune at the site but the cause of the blast was not immediately clear. In recent days, bomb squad members have detonated a number of unattended bags in controlled explosions in Rio.

08/06/2016 12:59