RIO DE JANEIRO — Katie Ledecky of the United States broke her own world record on Sunday night on the way to winning the women’s 400 meters freestyle gold medal, the first stage of a rare treble she hopes to complete at the Rio Olympics.
Ledecky, who had come close to the record in the morning heats, led from start to finish to set a new mark of three minutes, 56.46 seconds, shaving 1.91 seconds off the previous best she set in Australia two years ago.
“It feels really good. I’m pumped. I was so close to breaking it (this morning),” Ledecky said. “I felt good throughout. The swim was almost identical to this morning, but with a bit more pop on the last lap. It’s pure happiness.”
It was the sixth world record to fall in just two days of competition at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
Jazz Carlin took the silver medal on a great night for British swimmers, minutes after Adam Peaty had won gold in the 100 metres breaststroke.
Leah Smith of the United States won bronze.
Ledecky’s winning margin of 4.77 seconds underlined her total dominance of the event.
The 19-year-old is also overwhelming favorite to take the 800 meters freestyle, in which she won gold in London four years ago, and is also competing in the 200 freestyle.
If she wins all three, Ledecky — who also won a silver in the 4×100 freestyle relay on Saturday — will be the first women to achieve the feat since American Debbie Meyer at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968.
The 2012 London champion Camille Muffat of France was among 10 people killed in March 2015 when two helicopters collided in a remote region of Argentina during the filming of a reality TV show.
In the 100-meter butterfly, Sarah Sjostrom broke her own world record in the event to become the first Swedish woman to win an Olympic gold medal for swimming.
Penny Oleksiak of Canada won silver and Dana Vollmer of the United States, the defending Olympic champion, took bronze.
Sjostrom, three time world champion in this event, set a time of 55.48 seconds to break her previous mark of 55.64 seconds, set in Russia a year ago. It was the first Olympic medal for the 22-year-old Swede, competing in her third Games.
Sjostrom, the reigning world champion, led at the turn and pulled away in the last 50 metres as the crowd cheered her on in anticipation of the record.
Oleksiak, 16, put in a strong swim in lane two to snatch the silver ahead of Vollmer.
Sjostrom will also race in the 50, 100 and 200 meters freestyle.
In another gold-medal final, Adam Peaty smashed his own world record for the second time in two days to win 100 meter breaststroke gold and become the first British male swimmer in 28 years to win an Olympic title.
The world champion, who clocked 57.55 seconds in Saturday’s heats, won in 57.13 to open his country’s medal account at the Games.
Defending champion Cameron van der Burgh of South Africa took the silver in 58.69 and Cody Miller of the United States won the bronze in 58.87.
The last British male swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal was Adrian Moorhouse in the same breaststroke event at the 1988 Seoul Games.
The country’s only other male champions over the last 100 years were David Wilkie in the 200m breaststroke in 1976 and Duncan Goodhew in the 100m breaststroke in 1980.
“It’s surreal to get Team GB’s first gold but this is a product of seven years’ hard work,” said Peaty, who showed no nerves as he walked out and calmly stripped down for the biggest race of his life.
Fastest off the blocks, Peaty made the turn 0.08 of a second inside world record pace and powered down the final 50 like a man determined to exceed the expectations that have built since he won three golds at last year’s world championships.
“I gave it everything I’ve got and I did it for my country. I knew this arena would be absolutely perfect for me,” said the Briton.
Earlier, France’s 2012 champion Yannick Agnel failed to qualify for the men’s 200 meters semifinals, however, and finished 19th overall in the heats behind China’s pacesetter Sun Yang.
There were boos heard when Russian Yulia Efimova, who won her appeal against a doping ban on the eve of the Rio Olympics, swam the second-fastest time in the women’s 100 breaststroke heats..
Dutchwoman fractures three vertebrae in crash
RIO DE JANEIRO — Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten suffered three small fractures in her vertebrae after a horrific-looking crash as she lost control of her bike while leading in the latter stages of the Olympic women’s cycling road race on Sunday.
Van Vleuten was leading the race with around 15km to go when she skidded near the bottom of a steep descent and smashed head-first into the road and a stone kerb.
She laid motionless while help arrived but the Dutch Cycling Federation later tweeted that she was “conscious and OK”.
It later said she had been taken to hospital with back and head injuries but was talking and moving.
“Annemiek has severe concussion and three small fracture particles in her lumbar spine,” a statement said. “She will remain in hospital for 24 hours at I.C.
“She is conscious and talking.”
Van Vleuten’s compatriot Anna van der Breggen won the women’s race.
On Saturday Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali broke both his collar bones when he crashed on the same descent while leading the men’s race.
Williams sisters lose
RIO DE JANEIRO — Three-time Olympic women’s doubles champions Serena and Venus Williams crashed out of the Rio Games tournament in the first round on Sunday as the American sisters’ unbeaten run dating back to Sydney 2000 came to a surprising end.
The top seeds fell 6-3, 6-4 to Czech pair Barbora Strycova and Lucie Safarova, ending any hopes of claiming a third successive Olympics doubles crown after they won gold in Beijing eight years ago and again at London 2012.
The sisters won their first doubles gold in Sydney but a knee injury prevented Serena from playing at Athens in 2004. They have also won 14 women’s doubles grand slam titles, to go along with a combined tally of 29 major singles crowns.
South Korea’s women extend archery reign
RIO DE JANEIRO — South Korea’s archery queens shot brilliantly in swirling winds to fell Russia in the Olympic final on Sunday and extend the nation’s unbroken reign in the team event to an eighth successive Games.
The trio of Ki Bo-bae, Choi Mi-sun and Chang Hye-jin were unflappable at the gusty Sambadrome, routing their opponents 5-1 and sending Korean fans in the terraces into raptures.
Ki, the defending champion in the individual event, was magnificent, striking four perfect scores and landing the winning shot to clinch her third gold medal.
Kelmendi makes history with gold for Kosovo
RIO DE JANEIRO — Majlinda Kelmendi made history at the Rio Games on Sunday as she took gold in judo to become the first athlete from Kosovo to win an Olympic medal, a feeling she said she would not trade for any amount of money in the world.
Rio marks the first Olympics at which athletes are competing under the flag of Kosovo, which proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008.
Many competitors from the small Balkan country, which was accepted as a member of the International Olympic Committee in 2014, had previously participated under another country’s flag including Kelmendi herself.