Good morning! While you were sleeping, American Kimberly Rhode broke the Olympic record when she missed only one of 75 targets during the qualifying round of women's skeet shooting.
( UPDATE at 9:20 a.m. ET. Rhode has won the gold.)
As the AP puts it, it easily earned her a spot into the medal round and if she succeeds with a gold — which is looking probable — she could become the first "American to win an individual-sport medal in five consecutive Olympics."
RIA Novosti explains the Olympic record was set four years ago by Chiara Crainero of Italy who shot 72 of 75 targets. Rhode set the world record in march when she shot all 75 targets.
"I'm going through a lot of emotions right now, but the honor of representing my country is what it's really all about at this moment," Rhode told the AP. "I think it's going to be incredible, whatever the outcome."
Update at 9:33 a.m. ET. Winning Since 1996:
There was no stopping Rhode with the way she was shooting, the AP says. With 99 points, she finished well ahead of silver medalist Wei Ning of China who scored 91 points.
The AP gives us some background on Rhode's career and this astonishing feat:
"Rhode won a gold medal in double trap at Atlanta as a teenager in 1996, took bronze in that event four years later at Sydney, re-claimed the gold at Athens in 2004 and won the silver in skeet at Beijing in 2008."
Today, she took reclaimed her gold.
In other news:
-- A day after beating fellow American Michael Phelps in the 400-meter free, Ryan Lochte was back in the pool today. He finished second to qualify for the 200-meter freestyle.
"I didn't get to bed until like 2 a.m. so I'm a little tired, but it was a prelims swim, so I'm not too worried about it," he told the AP.
-- The International Olympic Committee has provisionally suspended Luiza Galiulina, an Uzbek gymnast. In a press release, the IOC said a first sample of urine Galiulina provided on July 25 tested positive furosemide. Once the a second sample is tested, the decision will be finalized.
-- The United States women's soccer defeated Colombia 3-0, yesterday. Along the way, Abby Wambach received quite a shiner. She tweeted this picture of it earlier this morning:
-- The AP reports on the early women gymnastics qualifiers:
"Italy leads after the early qualifying sessions in women's gymnastics, though it is sure to be a brief stay atop the standings with the United States, Russia, Romania and China still to come."
-- Great Britain, the host country, has yet to win its first gold. The Guardian reports it may well come with swimmer Rebecca Adlington who had a good swim during qualifiers.
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