Reuters Sports News Summary

08/07/2016 3:58

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Soccer: U.S. women march on, Brazil impress

A goal from captain Carli Lloyd gave the U.S. women's soccer team a barely deserved 1-0 win over France on Saturday, while hosts Brazil delivered an impressive 5-1 win over Sweden. Lloyd was in the right place at the right time to knock the ball into an empty net from close range with 63 minutes gone in Belo Horizonte after Tobin Heath's shot had come back off the post and left French goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi stranded.

Venus Williams knocked out in Rio upset

Former Olympic champion Venus Williams was eliminated in the first round at the Rio Games on Saturday after Belgian underdog Kirsten Flipkens mounted a spirited fight back to cause the biggest upset of the opening day. Another notable casualty on the first day of competition was former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, who surged ahead in the first set against world No. 12 Carla Suarez Navarro but lost 2-6 6-1 6-2 after two error-strewn sets.

Favre gets emotional at Hall of Fame enshrinement

Brett Favre's enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio on Saturday turned out to be an emotional affair, just like his stellar career. Favre joined Marvin Harrison, Tony Dungy, Kevin Greene, Orlando Pace, Ken Stabler, Dick Stanfel and Eddie DeBartolo Jr. in the 2016 class of football greats who were immortalized during a special ceremony.

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.

Queues, security scares mark shambolic start to Rio Games

The Rio Olympic Games got off to a shambolic and nervous start on Saturday, with organizers apologizing to angry fans kept waiting for hours at security checkpoints to enter venues while, outside, shootings and bomb scares kept visitors on edge. Athletes competed in front of empty stands early on the first day of full competition as spectators complained of missing their events while queueing for security clearance.

Beach volleyball: Strobe lights flashing, Copacabana rocks 'midnight party'

Strobe lights, blaring music, and dancing Brazilians may be fixtures at Rio's legendary night clubs, but they aren't usually spotted at Olympic venues. On Saturday night, however, beach volleyball teams competing in the Rio 2016 Games squared off at a 'midnight party' on the famed Copacabana sand, with athletes playing into the early hours of Sunday for an electrified crowd.

Giovinco scores second hat-trick to boost MVP claims

Italian Sebastian Giovinco's second hat-trick of the season led Toronto FC to a 4-1 triumph over the New England Revolution and boosted his hopes of becoming Major League Soccer's (MLS) first ever back-to-back MVP on Saturday. The comprehensive win left Toronto (10-7-6) on 36 points, just one shy of first-placed New York City FC. The striker, who burst onto the MLS scene last year with an MVP season, is the league's leading scorer with 15 goals - two more than New York City's David Villa.

Basketball: U.S. all business in Rio opener against China

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump may fret about the United States' trade imbalance with China but on the basketball court it is all one way business, as it was again on Saturday as the U.S. opened the Olympic tournament with 119-62 thrashing. China (0-6) has never beaten the U.S. on Olympic hardwood and there was not the faintest hint that this was going to be the evening that drought would end, even when Ding Yanyuhang scored the first points on a pair of free throws.

Swimming: Golden start for Australia on day of records

Hungary's Katinka Hosszu ended her long wait for Olympic victory and Australia captured two gold medals in an exhilarating first day of swimming competition that saw three world records smashed in Rio on Saturday. Hosszu, five times a world champion but without a medal from three previous Olympics, demolished the world record by 2.07 seconds in the final of the women's 400 meters individual medley.

Rio Olympics: Stray bullet flies into equestrian media center

A stray bullet cut through the plastic roof of the equestrian media center on Saturday, alarming journalists and underlining concerns about the host city's ability to guarantee security at the world's biggest sporting event. No one was injured in the incident. The equestrian venue is sited next to a military complex, though police are still trying to discover who fired the bullet and from where, a spokesman for the Rio 2016 organizing committee said.

08/07/2016 3:58