(From AFP)
Unheralded Singaporean Joseph Schooling stunned the great Michael Phelps in his final individual Olympic race in an almighty upset at the Rio Games on Friday.
Phelps was seeking his 23rd Olympic gold in the 100m butterfly but Schooling, 21, relegated the legendary American to silver – which he shared with both Chad le Clos and Laszlo Cseh.
It was by far the biggest shock on a day of surprises, as 1,500m ace Sun Yang flopped out of his pet event and defending champions USA crashed out of the women’s football.
Schooling, who took bronze at last year’s world championships, punched the water and roared with delight as Phelps swam over to pat him on the back before le Clos ruffled the youngster’s hair.
China wins gold in cycling, 20 km walk
China claimed its first cycling Olympic gold after Gong Jinjie and Zhong Tianshi won the women’s team sprint in the Rio Olympic Velodrome on Friday, China Daily reports.
The Chinese due beat Daria Shmeleva and Anastasiia Voinova of Russia in the final to take the gold, while the bronze went to Germany who defeated Australia.
Gong Jinjie and Zhong Tianshi set a new world record of 31.928 seconds in the first round after breaking an Olympic record in the qualifying round.
Wang Zhen claimed China’s 12th gold medal of the Rio Olympics by winning the men’s 20 km race walk on Friday.
The 24-year-old finished in one hour 19 minutes and 14 seconds, falling just 28 seconds short of the Olympic record set by his countryman Chen Ding at the London 2012 Games.
China’s Cai Zelin took silver, 12 seconds behind Wang, with Australia’s Dane Bird-Smith third in 1:19:37.
“I feel like I didn’t have much of a plan about this race,” Wang said. “I talked with my coach beforehand, but I just followed my heart. I picked up my pace with about three kilometers remaining, despite the fact my coach wanted me to wait until later.”
S. Korean takes archery gold
South Korean archer Ku Bon-chan captured gold in the men’s individual event at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Friday, Yonhap reports.
Ku defeated Jean-Charles Valladont of France 7-3 (30-28, 28-26, 29-29, 28-29, 27-26).
Archers take three arrows in each set. A set victory is worth two points, and a draw is good for one point. The first to reach six points is the winner.
Ku’s victory gave South Korea gold medals in each of the four archery disciplines here — men’s and women’s team and men’s and women’s individual.
Ku became the second double gold medalist for South Korea in Rio, after fellow archer Chang Hye-jin, who won her individual gold on Thursday.