In Photos: London Olympics Day 1

The first gold medal of the Games went to China’s Yi Siling, while Canada took on Russia in women’s basketball as the London Olympics got underway.

American swimmer Michael Phelps, who holds 16 Olympic medals, barely qualified in his heat in the men’s 400 metre.

“That one didn’t feel too good,” he said, after realizing he was the 8th-fastest swimmer.

He’ll advance to the finals but it’s a different story for Canadian Ryan Cochrane. Cochrane was bumped out of the finals when defending champion Park Tae-hwan was reinstated after protesting his disqualification in the heats.

Cochrane, the only Canadian swimmer to medal in Beijing, took home the bronze in 2008 in the 1500-metre. That race is still ahead for him in London and he is a strong medal contender. 

The Canadian Olympic Committee posted this video after his 400-metre race.

Ryder Hesjedal, the first Canadian to win the Giro d’Italia, came in 41st in the men’s 250 km road race. He recently had to pull out of the Tour de France because of a leg injury.

Canada beat South Africa 3-0 in women’s soccer with two goals from captain Christine Sinclair and one from Melissa Tancredi. The team will go on to face Sweden  – a win against Sweden would guarantee passage to the next round.

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