PARIS: The stars from the USA shone brightly on the first sunny day of the Paris Olympics.
Simone Biles and LeBron James dazzled, as did the US women's soccer team. Torri Huske grabbed some of the spotlight and Haley Batten made a name for herself by winning the mountain bike silver medal for the best finish in American rider history.
Although it was French swimmer Leon Marchand who drew the loudest cheers as he crushed the field to win gold in the men's 400-meter individual medley, the U.S. had a strong Sunday on Day 2 of the Games.
Simone is glowing
Biles returned to the Olympics three years after pulling out of several finals at the Tokyo Games to protect her safety, sparking an international debate about mental health, by leading the U.S. women's gymnastics team to final. .
Biles, Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles went 1-2-3 in the all-around during early qualifying, though Chiles will miss the all-around final due to rules that limit countries to entering two athletes per competition.
There's a chance Chiles will complete the floor exercise if she finishes in the top eight. Lee is virtually a lock for the balance beam and bars finals, with 2020 floor exercise champion Jade Carey in good position to join Biles in the vault finals.
But all eyes were on Biles, who briefly scared the nation when she left the floor exercise and received medical attention. She tweaked her calf in the warm-up, but US coach Cecile Landi said it was a minor injury.
She performed in front of a star-studded crowd that included Tom Cruise, Jessica Chastain, Snoop Dogg, Anna Wintour and Lady Gaga, who wrote on Biles' social media: “She proved what an honor it is to be so close!”
LeBron James leads Team USA
Two of the most experienced Olympians on the U.S. men's basketball team, James and Kevin Durant, started the team's quest for a fifth straight gold medal with a near-flawless performance.
Durant made his first eight shots and scored 23 points, James added 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and the USA won 110-84 for both teams over Serbia.
James and Durant were a combined 18-for-22 from the field — 8-of-9 for Durant, 9-of-13 for James — as the U.S. had no trouble with the reigning World Cup silver medalists.
Jrue Holiday scored 15, Devin Booker had 12 and Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry each added 11 for the USA.
Pool party
Huske knocked off world record holder Gretchen Walsh in the women's 100 butterfly when she used a strong finish to get her hands on the wall just ahead of her teammate in a 1-2 finish for the USA.
The favorite came out with her usual strategy: start fast and try to hang on. It worked at the U.S. trials, where she set her world record of 55.18 last month, and had record pace on the corner.
But Huske chased her down in the race that really mattered. The winner touched in 55.59 — a finger length ahead of Walsh's time of 55.63.
When Huske saw the “1” next to her name on the scoreboard, she reached over the rope to hug Walsh, breaking down in tears.
Marchand, meanwhile, lived up to huge expectations at his home Olympics, with a flag-waving crowd cheering his every stroke. He was under world-record pace in the final corner, but faded a bit on the way home, touching in 4 minutes, 2.95 seconds — an Olympic record but just shy of his own world mark of 4:02.50.
Marchand made the claim at last year's world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, erasing a record held by Michael Phelps for 15 years.
Italian swimmer Nicolo Martinenghi shocked 100 breaststroke record holder Adam Peaty in an upset.
Peaty, a gold medalist in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, took a long break to deal with mental health issues. On his return, he worked his way back up to speed and entered the final as the top qualifier, but settled for silver as his pursuit of a third gold in a row ended.
American football wins
Sophia Smith scored two goals to lead the U.S. over Germany 4-1 and put the team in good position to advance from its group in the Olympics.
Mallory Swanson and Lynn Williams also scored for the Americans, who beat Zambia 3-0 in their opening match, but their fate in the knockout round will not be known for sure until Wednesday's final Group B matches.
The Americans play Australia in Marseille to close out group play.
Medal of mountain bikers
Batten broke the rule but still came home with America's best mountain bike finish as she took silver.
Batten was fined by the Olympic mountain bike judges for breaking the rule on the last lap of her race. She was jockeyed for second place when she passed through a lane designated to collect food and drink or to stop due to mechanical problems.
After the judges reviewed the footage, they decided that Batten did neither and violated one of the rules of the race. She was fined 500 Swiss francs, or about $565, for “disobeying the instructions of the race organization or the stewards”, although the referees apparently decided that the infraction was not serious enough to warrant a disqualification.
Batten finished ninth at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
Tennis veterans win
Rafael Nadal was unsure if he would even be able to play men's singles before his match on Sunday, but he showed up at Roland Garros and defeated Hungary's Marton Fucsovics 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the first round.
The victory set up a blockbuster against rival Novak Djokovic.
It will be the 60th meeting between the pair of greats, more than any other two men have played against each other in the sport's era that began in 1968. Djokovic, a 37-year-old Serb from Serbia, is officiating the match. -head series 30-29 and his 24 Grand Slam titles make him the only man in tennis history with more than Nadal's 22.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray's tennis career extended by at least one match when he and British partner Dan Evans saved five match points in a first-round doubles win. Murray and Evans overcame the Japanese pair of Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori 2-6, 7-6 (5), 11-9.
The British trailed 9-4 in the deciding tiebreak, which takes place in place of the third set in doubles.
The 37-year-old Murray announced before the Summer Games that it would be the final event of his career, before withdrawing from singles and remaining in doubles only.
Murray is a three-time Grand Slam champion and the only tennis player with two Olympic singles golds – from London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
