Gold for China; Thailand still waiting

The first gold medal in London went to China's Yi Siling in the women's 10m air rifle competition. It didn't take long for Chinese swimmers to take more gold as the Thai women's weightlifters faltered.

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The cameras were on 16-time medallist Michael Phelps but it was fellow American Ryan Lochte (inset) who took away the gold in the men's 400m individual medley. AFP photos

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Gold for China; Thailand still waiting

The honour of becoming the first gold medalist of the London Olympics goes to Yi Sining who won the women's 10m air rifle competition on Saturday.

World number one Yi Siling edged Polish and Chinese rivals in the women's 10m air rifle competition. AFP

Yi, the world number one, edged Polish and Chinese rivals to win the gold.

Thailand's first medal chance slipped through the fingers of Panida Khamsri Saturday night when she had to drop out of the weightlifting event.

The 23-year-old Surin native had been touted to win at least a silver medal.

Panida grimaces after her third and final failed attempt to snatch 81kg, which put her out of the competition. AFP

But Panida failed three times to lift 81kg in the snatch portion of the two-lift event, and ended up "did not finish".

Fellow Thai Sirivimon Pramongkhol barely missed a medal, however. She finished in fourth place in the event, with lifts totalling 191kg. That was just one kilogramme short of the bronze medallist, Ryang Chun-Hwa of North Korea.

Yesterday's showcase event was probably in men's swimming where American swimmer Ryan Lochte's showdown with record-chasing Michael Phelps turned out to be a no-contest as Lochte dominated to win the men's 400m individual medley in 4min 05.18sec, ahead of Brazilian Thiago Pereira and Japan's Kosuke Hagino, with Phelps back in fourth.

The loss is a setback for 16-time medallist Phelps, who memorably won a record eight titles in Beijing, and needs just three more medals to overhaul Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina's all-time best of 18. Phelps has another six events to go.

Lochte was not the only star of the first full day of action as Sun Yang became China's first-ever male Olympic champion in the pool, with a commanding swim in the 400m freestyle.

Sun's clash with champion Park Tae-Hwan was also much anticipated, but it almost didn't happen after the South Korean was disqualified from his heat for a false start, before being reinstated after an 11th-hour appeal.

Their race was a classic, with Sun gradually reeling in the leading Park before leaving him for dead over the closing stages with a time of 3:40.14. Park took silver with America's Peter Vanderkaay claiming bronze.

China's Ye Shiwen (R) celebrates with team-mate Li Xuanxu after winning gold and bronze in the 400m individual medley final. Reuters

But the stand-out swim of the pool's opening night belonged to China’s Ye Shiwen, 16, who shattered the 400m medley world record with 4:28.43 – more than a second faster than defending champion Stephanie Rice's time from Beijing 2008.

Ye swam a lightning closing freestyle leg as she overtook pace-setting Elizabeth Beisel and finished nearly two body-lengths in front. America's Beisel was second and China's Li Xuanxu third, with Rice joint sixth.

Kazakhstan's Alexandre Vinokourov celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the Olympic men's cycling road race. AFP

In Olympic cycling, Aexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan claimed an unexpected but deserved win in the men's Olympic road race Saturday, wrecking Mark Cavendish's hopes of delivering a first gold of the Games for the hosts.

Colombia's Rigoberto Uran won the silver with Norway's Alexander Kristoff taking the bronze after 249.5 km of racing which finished in the shadow of Buckingham Palace on The Mall.

Race favourite Cavendish finished well off the podium as Britain's highly-fancied team were undone by a combination of tactical racing and some incisive, late attacks. (From AFP reports)

medley – a swimming race in which each member of a team uses a different stroke or an individual competitior uses different strokes  การแข่งขันว่ายน้ำแบบผสม
grimace – to make an ugly expression with your face to show pain, disgust, etc ทำหน้าตาบูดเบี้ยว,แหกหูแหกตา, ทำหน้าบูดบึ้ง
honour – something you do that you are proud of; the respect that people have for someone who achieves something great, is very powerful, or behaves in a way that is morally right เกียรติยศ, เกียรติ
edge – to beat someone in a competition by a small amount ชนะอย่างหวุดหวิด
rival – a person you are competing against or opposing คู่แข่ง
slip – to slide out of position or out of your hand  ลื่นไถล
native – someone who was born in a particular place ชาวพื้นเมือง
tout – to try to persuade people that somebody/something is important or valuable by praising them/it พูดคุยอวด
snatch – (in weightlifting) lifting the barbell to an overhead position in one smooth continuous movement ท่ายกน้ำหนักท่าแสนช
barely – only just; almost not เกือบจะไม่
showcase – attracting the most attention; having the best qualities or parts of something จุดเด่น
showdown – (in sports) an important match, especially one which decides a championship or who is best between two competitors การเผชิญหน้า (กับฝ่ายตรงข้าม)
no-contest – a competition in which one competitor wins very easily
dominate – to control, to be the most important/powerful thing ครอบคลุม ควบคุม
setback – something that happens which delays or prevents a process from advancing การหยุดยั้งการก้าวหน้า,ความล้มเหลว,การถอยหลัง
memorable – likely to be remembered or worth remembering ซึ่งมีค่าน่าจดจำ, โดดเด่น
overhaul – to come from behind a person you are competing against in a race and go past them ตามทัน,ไล่ทัน
commanding – powerful and impressive ที่น่าประทับใจ
clash – a competition between two people or teams ; a fight between groups of people การปะทะกันสองฝ่าย
anticipated – creating a feeling of excitement about something enjoyable that is going to happen soon รอคอยอย่างคาดหวัง
disqualify – to not allow someone to do something  because they have done something wrong, in this case, to make an early (false) start in a race ทำให้หมดสภาพ
heat – one of a series of races or competitions, the winners of which then compete against each other in the next part of the competition
reinstate – to cause something to exist again นำกลับมาใช้อีก
appeal – a request that a decision be change การอุทธรณ์
classic – with all the features you would expect to find; very typical เป็นแบบอย่าง
reel in – to gradually catch up with someone who is ahead of you in a race
claim – to win something มีชัยชนะ
stand-out – to be much better or more important than somebody/something ที่ดีเยี่ยม
shatter – to break into many pieces, in this case, to break a record by a large amount แตกกระจาย
defending champion – a player or team who won a competition the previous time it was held ผู้ชนะเลิศครั้งก่อน
lightning – very fast or sudden อย่างรวดเร็ว, ฉับพลัน,
pace-setting – a person who leads (who is in first-position) in a competition
joint – belonging to or shared between two or more people ร่วม, ที่ร่วมกัน
deserved – earned or given because of your behavior or qualities สมควรได้รับ
wreck – to destroy or badly damage something ทำให้เสียหาย, ทำให้หายนะ
hosts – a country, city, group, person, etc. which provides the space and other things necessary for a special event เจ้าภาพ
shadow – the dark shape that somebody/something's form makes on a surface, for example on the ground, when they are between the light and the surface  เงา, ร่มเงา
favourite – a person or team who is expected to win a competition ผู้แข่งขันที่มีหวังชนะมากที่สุด
podium – a small raised area where someone stands to give a speech, conduct an orchestra, give out awards, etc. แท่น, พลับพลา
fancied – expected to win มีหวังชนะมากที่สุด
undone – defeated or failed ไม่เสร็จ
combination – the mixture you get when two or more things are combined การรวมกัน
tactical – involving tactics, i.e., plans for achieving something   แผนการ กลยุทธ
incisive – showing somebody's ability to take decisions and act with force มฉลาดเฉลียว