Olympic results 2016: Great Britain’s Adam Peaty sets world record in men’s 100-meter breaststroke

It didn’t take long for a world record to fall at the 2016 Rio Olympics. 21-year-old Adam Peaty of Great Britain swam the 100-meter breaststroke in 57.55 seconds to win his heat easily and broke his own record set last year by 0.37 seconds.

Peaty was a full 1.36 seconds faster than Japan’s Yasuhiro Kuseki, who took second place to advance to the semifinals. Peaty came into the Olympics with a goal of breaking his own world record but perhaps didn’t expect to break it so quickly or easily. He was remarkably calm when he finished the race and rose out of the water to see his time.

Peaty is the favorite to win the gold medal in the event. If he does, he’ll be the first British male swimmer to win gold since Adrian Moorhouse in 1988, six years before Peaty was born.

Great Britain also has a gold medal hopeful in 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle swimmer James Guy. Peaty and Guy are reportedly close friends. Via The Telegraph:

The pair are kindred spirits with a relaxed demeanour away from the pool but sharing the same ruthless intensity at race time. “We are just competitors,” Peaty said. “That’s the attitude. We perform under pressure”.

Australia had its way with one of the pre-Olympics favorites for a medal in men’s basketball, beating France 87-66. The win puts the Aussies in good shape to advance to the knockout stage of the tournament. France, meanwhile, can still bounce back but will have a tougher road now after the setback.

Patty Mills was the leading scorer, putting up 21 points, but Andrew Bogut made arguably the biggest difference in the game. In addition to 18 points, he had five assists and four rebounds and held French big man Rudy Gobert to five points on 1-for-3 shooting.

Hoàng Xuan Vinh ended a 64-year drought for Vietnam, winning gold in the men’s 10-meter air pistol Saturday. His score of 202.5 set a new Olympic record under the new scoring system implemented in 2012.

The win was also personal redemption. The 41-year-old was just one point shy of qualifying for the finals in 2012, finishing ninth overall. He also finished just off the podium in the 50-meter air pistol, taking fourth place by 0.1 points.

Brazil’s Felipe Almeida Wu took silver with a score of 202.1 points. China’s Pang Wei was a distant bronze at 180.4 points.

Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet might not have taken gold in Saturday’s men’s cycling road race if not for a dramatic crash on the final descent that took out two of three riders who had broken away and appeared to be on their way to podium finishes.

Poland’s Rafal Majka was the only rider among the trio to stay upright, but without any support his legs withered on the final long straightaway to the finish line at Fort Copacabana, and Van Avermaet, one of the field’s best sprinters, caught him. Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang was right on Van Avermaet’s wheel and took second place.