On 6 July 2005, London was announced to be the host of 30th Olympiad of the Modern Era. Today, after seven years of meticulous preparation, the opening day is finally here. Are you sitting comfortably?

It’s going to be a busy one as well with 12 Irish athletes in action across seven different sports. At the top of the bill, we’ve got the men’s cycling road race, the beginning of the Michael Phelps-Ryan Lochte showdown in the pool — and that’s before we even begin to look at the myriad other events taking place.

I’m tired already just thinking about it and it’s not even 9.30am yet. I blame Danny Boyle.

Niall Kelly here to get the ball rolling. We’ll have everything you need to know today and every other day right here in this liveblog. Welcome to the party, it’s gonna be a good one.

If you’re just getting out of bed, lucky you, but what are you waiting for? There’s already loads of live sport underway. Take your pic of archery, badminton, women’s basketball, beach volleyball, handball, judo, rowing, shooting, table tennis and volleyball.

You didn’t think we were going to wait for you to have your Saturday morning lie-in, did you?

With so much sport on, it can be practically impossible to decide what to watch. If archery is your thing, then you’re probably already watching the men’s team 1/8 eliminations but if you’re only interested in the headline events, here are the ones you won’t want to miss today.

• Men’s cycling road race: 145 cyclists will compete in the 250km race for one of the first gold medals of London 2012. With Tour de France winner and runner-up Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome on his side, Manx Missile Mark Cavendish will be hoping to add an Olympic gold medal to his world title. Familiar foes like Peter Sagan and Andrei Greipel might have other ideas about that as will the Irish trio of Nicolas Roche, Daniel Martin and David McCann. Action gets underway at 10am and should come to a head around 3pm.
• Swimming: The much-hyped rivalry between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte begins when the two American team-mates go head to head in the heats of the 400m individual medley. Australia’s Stephanie Rice will be out to defend her 400m individual medley title against Elizabeth Beisel and Scotland’s Hannah Miley while in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay, 17-year-old Missy Franklin is set to be in action for Team USA.

For a more complete list of the day’s key events, check out our “Olympic Breakfast” guide. Tasty.

Of course, most of our focus will be on Team Ireland and how our competitors in London are doing. Here’s a full list of those who will be flying the green, white and orange today.

• Cycling: Men’s road race, 10am – Nicolas Roche, Daniel Martin, David McCann
• Equestrian: Eventing day one, 10am — Aoife Clarke, Joseph Murphy,  Michael Ryan
• Gymnastics: Artistic qualification, 11am — Kieran Behan
• Judo: Women’s 48kg, 11am — Lisa Kearney v Shugen Wu
• Swimming: 100m breaststroke heats, 11.50am – Barry Murphy
• Rowing: Women’s single sculls heats, 1.30pm — Sanita Puspure
• Boxing: Men’s 56kg, 2.15pm — John Joe Nevin v Dennis Ceylan; Men’s 75kg, 3.15pm — Darren O’Neill v Muideen Akanji

Over the next fortnight, Will Downing is on the ground for us in London making sure that you don’t miss a thing.

Here’s his early-morning report on what Team Ireland can expect on day one.

These lads mean business. The men’s road race gets underway in a few minutes and here are the pre-race favourites Team GB — Chris Froome, Mark Cavendish, David Millar, Bradley Wiggins and Ian Stannard.

(John Giles/PA Wire)

And we’re underway in the road race, including the first three Irish competitors of London 2012: Roche, Martin and McCann.

Here’s the 250km course which begins and ends on the Mall, including nine laps of Box Hill. Should be finished around 3/3.30pm if my sums are correct.

Mister Gooey: Have all 24 BBC Olympic channels. Struggling to watch them all at the same time!

There’s a lot of love for BBC’s coverage already, particularly the amount of variety on offer via the red button on TV.

I’ve got my coffee and I’ve got my toast which is just as well as the heats of the men’s 400m individual medley are just getting underway. Phelps and Lochte are up in heats four and five.

The first gold medal of the Games will be handed out in the women’s 10m air rifle shooting. Suryani Mohamed Taibi, Malaysia’s 29-year-old competitor, is going for gold. She’s also eight months’ pregnant but why let that stop you? I’m pretty sure it would be a first for someone so heavily pregnant to win a medal so we’ll be keeping a very close eye on her progress.

The four-day eventing is underway in Greenwich Park. Three of Ireland’s five-strong team are in dressage action today: Michael Ryan and Ballylynch Adventure at 10.32am, Aoife Clarke and Master Crusoe at 12.54pm, and Joseph Murphy and Electric Cruise at 4.04pm. We’ll have updates as the action takes place.

Woah, we very nearly had our first BIG shock of the Games. Defending his 400m individual medley title, Michael Phelps swam a rather slow heat to win in 4:13.33, a mere seven-hundredths of a second ahead of Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh.

But in the fifth and final heat, won by Chad le Clos of South Africa (4:12.24) ahead of Ryan Lochte (4:12.35), five swimmers clocked faster times than Phelps. So the defending champion has qualified for the final in the eighth — and final — spot.

Still, we’ve got the first part of our Phelps v Lochte showdown to look forward to tonight.

A word as well for Japan’s Kosuke Hagino who set a new Asian record in those 400m IM heats, swimming the fastest time in 4:10.01. The kid’s only 17…

In the dressage Ireland’s first competitor, Michael Ryan and Ballylynch Adventure, scored 60.20. That leaves the team fourth out of the five competitors to go so far. Australia lead the way on 46.10.

In the road race, there’s been some some early drama after a dog ran out in front of the peleton very nearly causing the first big accident of the Olympics. Fortunately the peleton managed to avoid him and we’re all still standing.

Meet Kosuke Hagino. Definitely one to watch in tonight’s 400m IM final after that performance in the heats.

(Mark J. Terrill/AP/Press Association Images)

There has hardly been time to draw breath and we’re already looking forward to our next two Irish competitors. In the women’s 48kg judo, Lisa Kearney fights Shugen Wu of China and in men’s artistic gymnastics, Kieran Behan starts his Olympic journey. They’re both due up from 11am… which is right about now.

Nur Suryani Mohammed Taibi watch (that’s a thing, ok): Remember our eight months’ pregnant Malaysian friend in the women’s 10m air rifle? Unfortunately she finished 34th and so is not in the final. That’s just about to get underway now with China’s Yi Siling favourite to take the top prize.

Alrighty, it’s time for Kieran Behan in the men’s artistic gymastics. He’s fourth up on the floor where he’ll be gunning to qualify for the final.

Behan’s story needs little introduction. Doctors told him he would never walk again after they discovered a tumour on his leg. After persevering with his rehab to get back to gymanstics, he suffered brain damage following a fall from the high bar.

The fact that he is here today is remarkable in its own right. If he can make the final, it might just be one of the stories of the Olympics.

Kieran Behan scores 13.966 in the qualifying round of the men’s floor gymanstics. A brilliant effort but he looks devastated by two slips late on his routine. Before that, it had been excellent.

With so many high-class athletes still to come, competing at high difficulty levels, it looks very unlikely that the score will be good enough for a place in the final. Looking at Behan, he knows himself that it wasn’t his best effort.

On RTÉ, Mairead Kavanagh says that Behan was on course for 15.4 or 15.5 had it not been for those two late slips.

A score of 15+ probably would’ve been enough for a place in the final. Very disappointing.

Time for a quick check in with the road race. We’re about 50km in — or a fifth of the way — and a 12-man breakaway has streaked away from the peleton to set the early pace. Sylvain Chavanel, Marco Pinotti, Denis Menchov and Stuart O’Grady are all involved in that front group with Team GB leading the peleton.

GOLD MEDAL: We have a winner! In the women’s 10m air rifle shooting, China’s Silang Yi claims the first medal of London 2012 with a score of 502.9. That’s not a huge distance short of her world record of 505.6. Sylwia Bogacka of Poland takes the silver medal and Dan Lu of China takes bronze.

Here comes Lisa Kearney for her last 16 bout against Shugen Wu. If she wins, it’s an even tougher test against world number three Sarah Menezes of Brazil in the next round.

KEARNEY OUT: While RTÉ were showing the weather and the rest of the television cameras were trained on the men’s bouts, Belfast’s Lisa Kearney was involved in an absolute thriller against Wu of China.

Trailing late into the bout, Kearney took the fight to a golden score before losing out. Bitterly disappointing but an excellent performance. She crashes out in the last 16 round; Wu progresses to meet Menezes.

Not everyone loves the 10m air rifle, it seems…

A CRASH! In the men’s road race, the inevitable crash has occurred, hindering the back half of the peleton. Cav and Team GB look to have steered clear of danger though.

UH OH, DRUGS NEWS: Not good, not good at all. The International Olympic Committee has announced that Albanian weightlifter Hysen Pulaku has been excluded from the Games after failing a drugs test earlier in the week.

The Guardian are also reporting that two Turkish weightlifters have also tested positive for banned substances.

Barry Murphy is in action NOW in the men’s 100m breaststroke heats.

That time for Barry Murphy was only good enough for 29th place overall.

Speaking to TheScore.ie within the last half-hour, a spokesperson for the Olympic Council of Ireland has confirmed this morning’s reports of an alleged betting scandal.

THE OPENING DAY of the Olympic Games has brought controversy to the Irish team after reports of an alleged betting scandal.

Today’s Irish Independent reports that Pat Hickey – president of the Olympic Council of Ireland – received a complaint that an Irish competitor due to compete at the games had, in the past, allegedly placed a bet on an opponent in a previous competition.

Speaking to TheScore.ie this morning, a spokesperson for the OCI could only confirm that the reports are accurate, adding: “It’s a legal matter now.”

A full investigation is underway.

It’s been a hectic morning so while we have a second or two to draw breath, here’s a few bits and pieces we’ve missed from the pool:

• Park Tae-Hwan, favourite in the men’s 400m freestyle, has been disqualified for a false start.
• In the women’s 400m medley, Britain’s Hannah Miley (4:34.9) has qualified for the final. World champion Elizabeth Beisel set the pace with the fastest time of 4:31.68.
• In the women’s 100m butterfly, Dana Vollmer of the USA has set a new Olympic record of 56.25.

So this is what it looks like to win a gold medal at London 2012. Congrats, Yi Siling.

(Rebecca Blackwell/AP)

MORE CRASHES! We’re just over 105km into the 250km race and we’ve had another crash. This one is a little bit worse, forcing six retirements but thankfully none of the pre-race favourites were caught up in it.

The breakaway is about six minutes clear of the peleton at the moment. Australia’s Michael Rogers — who will be familiar to the Team Sky fans among you — has broken from the front of the chasing pack and is going it alone in a bid to join the breakaway bunch.

Even Surrey Police are doing their bit to make sure that Cav gets to the finish line unhindered:

OLYMPIC ATHLETES USING drugs were warned “we are going to catch you” Saturday after the London Games were hit by their first doping case on the opening day of full competition.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said the case of Albanian weightlifter Hysen Pulaku, who tested positive for a banned steroid in London this week, showed drug cheats will be found out.

Full story here >

Our man in London Will Dowling caught up with Dubliner Barry Murphy following his disappointing 100m breaststroke heat this morning:

“There’s good things and bad things: that’s the fastest time I’ve done in the morning, my second-fastest ever in the event. At the same time, this is the Olympic Games and you want to be coming in and swimming lifetime bests and ready to go.”

Read more from Barry here >

The first of Ireland’s boxers, John Joe Nevin, will be in the ring in just under an hour but we’ve plenty to keep us occupied in the meantime.

In the women’s singles tennis, Ana Ivanovic has beaten America’s Christina McHale 6-4 7-5 and Kim Clijsters has beaten Roberta Vinci 6-1 6-4.

In the men’s singles, Thomas Berdych is in a spot of trouble. He’s a set and break down against Steve Darcis of Belgium, 6-4 *3-2.

Who’s ready for some rowing? Latvia-born Sanita Puspure is in action in a couple of minutes. She’s up in heat one of the women’s single sculls. Don’t go anywhere.

For those of you who don’t know Sanita, here’s a little snippet about her story:

Born in Latvia, 30-year-old Sanita Puspure is set to become Ireland’s first female rower at the Olympics since 1980 when Frances Cryan finished seventh in the single scull.

With medals at the World U23 Championship and the World Student Games on her CV, she moved to Dublin in 2006 when her husband found work in Ireland. She won the national senior sculls title in 2009 and again in 2010 before relocating to Cork to be closer to the National Rowing Centre in Inniscarra.

Puspure received her Irish passport in 2011 and immediately began representing Ireland at international level.

With only four Olympic places available, Puspure needed to be at her best in the qualifying race in Lucerne in March. Although she was handed a particularly tough draw in lane six, she battled to finish fourth and seal that final spot.

We’re off. Sanita needs a top four finish to get into the quarter-finals. She’s started well from lane six…

Through the 500m checkpoint, Sanita Puspure is in second place, a second behind Emma Twigg of New Zealand.

Sanita third now through 1000m behind Twigg and Vistartaite, but the three are almost 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

This is looking good for Sanita; she’s clear in third with 500m to go.

PUSPURE QUALIFIES: Comfortable for Sanita Puspure (7:49.35) as she qualifies in third place behind Emma Twigg (7:40.24) and Donata Vistartaite. She’s into the quarter-finals.

Sanita has a break until Tuesday when she’ll be back in action for the quarter-finals. The repechages for those who did not finish inside the top four take place tomorrow.

Here’s a clip from the men’s road race, uploaded by Olly Barratt earlier today.

Speaking of the road race, it’s starting to get a little bit interesting. We now have two breakaway groups, each with about dozen riders. Britain (Mark Cavendish) and Germany (Andrei Greipel) are still back in the peleton, about four minutes behind the main pack. About 100km to go.

BERDYCH OUT: Sixth-seed Tomas Berdych is out, beaten by Steve Darcis of Belgium 6-4 6-4.

Popping back to the eventing for a moment, Aoife Clark has done Ireland’s chances no harm with a very good 48.90 in the dressage. Joseph Murphy will be our final competitor today at 4.04pm.

Niall Kelly is off for a granola bar and hoping to avoid the heavy summer showers on his government-mandated ‘fresh air’ break. You are with stuck with myself, Patrick McCarry, for the next hour.

John Joe Nevin is due in the ring in the next 10 minutes.

Ken Egan has called Nevin ‘a nightmare to hit’ in the RTÉ studio in the build-up to the fight, while Mick Dowling believes the Westmeath man will prevail if he takes a lead into the second round.

Joseph Diaz Jr of the United States has won the first bout of the 2012 Olympic boxing tournament at the ExCel Arena. He has defeated Ukrainian Pavlo Ishchenko 19-9 in the bantamweight division.

In the cycling, Team Great Britain are spearheading a hard-riding peloton as they reel in the leading group. They main pack, containing Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish, are just one minute behind now.

Our very own Sean Farrell cast a ‘Jimmy’ eye over Nevin’s medal prospects on Monday. Here is what he makes of the bantamweight’s chances:

In Beijing, the draw hurt Nevin as he was beaten by the eventual champion, Enkhbatyn Badar-Uuga. Badar Uuga will not be in London and Nevin has fought his way to become fourth seed in his division. Tajikistan’s Anvar Yunusov is the top seed, but he has only one World Championship bronze to his name. If any Irish man can make the national anthem play in London, Nevin can.

Ready to rumble.

DING DING! Nevin strutted over to his Danish opponent’s corner and did a pre-bout jig. He looks to have had the better of the opening round, losing his footing after a shoulder shrug from Dennis Ceylan. He scores five points with some fine combinations but Ceylan gets his second point by landing a solid right just before the bell rings.

Nevin is showing a lot of confidence out there and has ben, thus far, quick on his feet. He just misses with a brutal lefthand uppercut as the skirmish eases off midway through the round. Ceylan lands two solid blows but Nevin responds with a salvo, scoring two points in the process. 8-2 as Ceylan fails to register a point.

Ceylan got those two points and it was actually 8-2 for that round. Nevin leads 13-4 overall. Round three underway.

Nevin knows that he has this in the bag and is showing off his repertoire to the supporters. Jimmy Magee mentions that the boxer’s favourite footballer is Cristiano Ronaldo – there you have it.

Win for John Joe Nevin over Dennis Ceylan of Denmark. He dominated that contest and was never in any danger after going 5-2 up after the first round. He wins overall by a huge score of 21-6. One hurdle negotiated and the Westmeath man moves into the last 16.

The Leinster hooker likes what he sees. Nevin will face Abutalipov (from Kazakhstan) or Slamana (Syria) in next round.

Phillippe Gilbert, the man who was struck by a stray, bounding dog during the Tour de France, has caught the leading pack in the Cycling Road Race and has busted free to lead by 35 seconds.

So long to another Wimbledon finalist as David Nalbandian is beaten in straight sets by seventh seed Janko Tipsarevic. Not a gigantic shock but the Argentinean is/was fond of a bit of grass-court tennis.

Kanat Abutalipov of Kazakhstan wins by a score of 15-7 and will take on John Joe Nevin in the last 16. He should provide a sterner opponent.

Over at the eventing, Ireland lie in eight place overall. Aoife Clark is currently eighth in the individual scoring while Michael Ryan is 21st.

The Spanish have gobbled up Gilbert’s lead in the road race and are scything through the streets of London, on their merry way after the nine-loop tour of Box Hill. Nearing the closing stages of an intriguing road race. Nicolas Roche and Daniel Martin are in the middle of a motoring peloton.

Serena Williams has won her first match in the tennis by straight sets and Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has declared that last night’s opening ceremony left him with ‘hot tears of patriotic pride’. Got to hand it to the man – he knows how to bluster.

Cheers for the insight Wayne.

The gap is down to 50 seconds but Mark Cavendish and Team Great Britain may not have the services of Christopher Froome for the closing stages as he has dropped back. David Millar takes up the charge as the peloton stream past Buckingham Palace.

Good news sports fans – LOCOG officials have swooped down on a vuvuzela tooting fan at a football match at City of Coventry Stadium. No-one, at least I hope no-one, wants a repeat of the aurally displeasing 2010 World Cup.

Oh Canada! Instagram can make Canada versus South Africa, in the Women’s Football, look misty and romantic but it can’t fill empty seats.

(Credit: @Leigh_Moore)

Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland was sent hurtling into the crash barriers after a three-man spin that happened at some speed. He was in the leading group but the peloton have now absorbed him. The barrier absorbed him with a clang and a half.

Anthony Ogogo, he of the Subway adverts, wins his middleweight opener against Junior Castillo Martinez. The Great British boxer defeated his opponent from the Dominican Republic 13-6.

Over at SW19, Roger Federer gets his hunt for gold underway against Alejandro Falla.

Bradley Wiggins has busted his hump for Mark Cavendish today and British supporters will be hoping that he has left enough in the tank for the time trial on Wednesday. The breakaway group has had a breakaway of Alexander Vinokourov and Colombian rider Sergio Luis Henao Montoya. Vinokourov has to be the favourite now, he can sprint, that lad.

The boxing is underway and Darren O’Neill leads against his Nigerian opponent midway through round two.

VINOKOUROV WINS GOLD! He was never going to lose that and the Kazakh cyclist is delighted, as well he should be.

O’Neill leads 12-5 going into the final round. The Kilkenny man has looked very assured so far and has landed some lusty blows.

Muideen Olalekan Akanji tries to force a mistake from O’Neill but the middleweight is content to see out the bout and land a couple of telling jabs in the process.

Never in doubt there as Darren O’Neill wins 15-6 against the Nigerian. Kenny Egan believes there is ‘more to come’ from the Kilkenny boxer who ‘took off’ after a solid first round. He also advances to the last 16.

So, Vinokourov wins the road race and is followed home by Rigoberto Uran of Colombia. Norway’s Alexander Kristoff clinched the bronze in a mad dash to the line. The BBC commentators are bemoaning the fact that Mark Cavendish had no support from other racers in the chasing pack. A bit jingoistic if you ask me.

Chris Boardman, who wore Olympic gold around his neck, said:

Vinokourov can’t believe it. He’s almost retired in the last two years so what a way to finish off his career with an Olympic gold. Mark Cavendish is a disappointed man but the peloton blew it there by leaving all the work to the British team.

Sour grapes on the menu in London.

We are checking back in on the 10m air pistol contest and, oh, what is this, we have news of another gold. Good timing. Jin Jong-Oh of South Korea has taken home sweet, golden gold after some peerless shooting.

A sprig of joy for British fans after the disappointment of that road race result – Elena Baltacha has advanced to the next round of the tennis with a 6-3, 6-3 win. She will next face Ana Ivanovic, the former world number one.

Important side note – how strange it is to look at tennis at Wimbledon with players wearing garish colours. No all-white clothing rules applied. Andre Agassi would have loved it.

Classic Andre. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)

Great Britain are playing their first ever Olympic volleyball match against seven-time world champions, while Sweden held Japan, winners of the Gold Medal in 2008, to a 0-0 draw in the Women’s Football.

Roger Federer had three match points in his opening match against Falla of Colmbia but he could not close it out. The Wimbledon champion now trails 65 in the second set.

The Brazilian ladies have beaten New Zealand 1-0 thanks to a goal in the last five minutes. Hope Powell’s Great Britain side will now progress to the last eight if they can beat Cameroon (match kicks-off at 5pm).

Roger Federer has lost the second set 7-5 and his Colombian opponent is pumping a mighty fist.

David McCann, who finished in the peloton, was best placed of the Irish in 54th position. Nicolas Roche and Daniel Martin finished side-by-side with Roche in 88th and his cousin one place further back.

Mark Cavendish, speaking to the BBC, had a minor grumble about the Australian racers slowing up the pursuit of their compatriot Stuart O’Grady, who was in the leading pack for so long, but admitted that he had ‘let the country down’.

Gold medal for you, and one for you. A couple more hunks of precious metal have been doled out in London. Arsen Galstyan of Russia has taken home a (60kg) judo Gold after beating his Japanese opponent in the final. Sarah Menezes of Brazil has also won judo gold in the 48kg division.

RTÉ caught up with Nicolas Roche after the road race and he made a possibly accidental tongue-slip when he referred to Team GB as ‘Team Sky’. He added:

They thought they had it in control but they miscalculated.”

As many would have expected, the Russians beat Great Britain three sets to nil in the volleyball. The final scoreline was 25-19, 25-10, 25-16.

Andy Murray, meanwhile, gets his London 2012 started. He is playing doubles alongside his brother, Jamie.

HOLD ON TO YOUR ARCHERY HATS! The United States have just eliminated reigning champions South Korea in the semi-final stages of the archery event. The victors shall loose arrows against either Mexico or Italy in the final.

The States’ women’s basketballers, unbeaten since 1992, get their Olympics going against Croatia.

Reasonable Irish news from the Equestrian eventing today. Aoife Clark, on Master Crusoe, sits in 12th place after Day One, while Joseph Murphy is 22nd and Michael Ryan is 30th. The silver lining is that Team Ireland lie in fifth in the team standings. The Australians lead and are just over 30 points ahead of the Irish.

Mark Kyle and Camilla Speirs are next up in the Dressage for Team Ireland tomorrow.

TVNZ is reporting on the collapse of the first world record at this summer’s games:

Hot favourites for gold, they shattered the world’s best mark for their event on the way to booking a semi-final berth. Added by a tail wind, they won by clear water on the Eton Dorney course in Buckinghamshire, clocking a slick 6min 08.50sec.

Their time eclipsed by 5.77s the previous best set by Britons James Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent at the world championships in Seville 10 years ago.

Those record breakers: Eric Murray and Hamish Bond.

The beach volleyball is go! Stefanie Schwaiger gets a face full of sand. (David Davies/PA Wire)

Roger Federer has survived a mini comeback from Alejandro Falla but he wraps up the third set 6-3 to advance to the next round. The Murray brothers have won the first set of their doubles encounter.

This just in from the women’s 48kg weightlifting. China’s Wang Mingjuan – a four-time world champion - has claimed gold.

Evening, Olympic fans. Sean Farrell here, allowing Pat take a refuelling pit-stop.

Now I can’t claim to have watched that weightlifting in full, but from what we’re hearing Wang was untouchable. Stop sniggering, down the back!

The Chinese powerhouse took on a little too much on her first attempt, dropping 88kg before perfectly executing a lift of 91kg – only just under twice her own bodyweight.

The Chinese anthem – one of the more forgettable tunes at the Games – is playing out triumphantly as I type. Miyake Hiromi took silver for Japan with Ryand Chun Hwa of North Korea cleaning and jerking her way to bronze.

Remember that whole opening ceremony gig last night? Well, if you managed to watch every last county parade into the stadium then you may have noticed something odd about India…

Right there in the front! Some random woman in jeans and a red top joins a horde of people who not only actually deserve to be there, but also made a bit of an effort.

Anyway, Deadspin are reporting that (their words not mine) mist of India are pissed off about this invasion of their 10 seconds of air-time.

“We were initially told that she would accompany the contingent till the track but she went on to take the entire lap. There was another man also but he stayed back and did not enter the stadium,” said PK Muralidharan Raja, Chef de Mission of the Indian team.

Are you that woman? Positive answers on a postcard to PO BOX sport@thescore.ie.

Patrick McCarry here, taking the baton from Sean Farrell and ambling around the bend until 10pm.

So much for those South Korean-shocking archers from America. They’ve been taken to bullseye school by the Italians, who have captured gold.

Home favourite, Anne Keothavong has secured the first set 6-4 against Caroline Wozniacki, close companion of Rory McIlroy and one-time world number one. The Dane will rally to advance, surely.

Sycerika better get off Twitter soon and get some sleep. Big day for her tomorrow.

The Italians needed a bullseye 10 with their final time at the line to win that archery final against the United States. I can picture the movie already ‘Bowfinger 2: All that Quivers is Gold’. Who should play bullseye hero Michele Frangilli?

(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Wozniacki has levelled affairs on centre-court at Wimbledon and we are into a deciding set. Team GB lead Cameroon 2-0 in the women’s football and are on-course for the quarter-finals.

Predictably enough, the United States’ women’s team have beaten Croatia 81-56 in the basketball. Their footballing counterparts are now 3-0 up against Colombia after a goal from Carly Wambach.

Darren O’Neill is already looking forward to his Tuesday bout against Stefan Hartel of Germany after he came through his last-32 match with nine points to spare. He said:

I was happy enough. He didn’t hit overly hard or anything. I was happy I was in control and I thought maybe in the second round I was unfortunate not to put him away. That’s boxing. A win’s a win. We’ll take and we’ll move on to the next day and be happy.

Just over 30 minutes away from the in-pool meeting of swimming supernovas – Americans Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte will compete, with six other guys that swim admirably, in the 400m individual medley final.

Roger Federer tries to find a reason for his stuttering display against Alejandro Falla. He commented:

I don’t solely play for myself. When I play I do play for Switzerland and I do try to be a good ambassador, as I travel for eight months of the year, but it is different having the Swiss cross on your jersey and you do feel the pressure.

MORE WIMBLEDON HEARTACHE FOR ANDY MURRAY! The Scot and his brother lose 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 to Jurgen Melzer and Alexander Peya of Austria. This is not proving to be the good news day that Great Britain were hoping for after the euphoria of the opening ceremony on Friday.

Caroline Wozniacki has advanced after overcoming a tough challenge from Anne Keothavong.

Here we go with the 400m Individual Medley and Michael Phelps has got off to a good start.

Lochte is streaming ahead and on world record pace. Gold medal on his way but what else awaits?

GOLD! Ryan Lochte is the 400m Individual Medley Champion as he streaks clear of the competition early and holds on, just shy of the world record. Michael Phelps can only finish fourth. Pereira of Brazil finishes with the silver and Hagino of Japan, aged just 17, gets the bronze. Amazing race from the American.

No sweat for Ryan Lochte as he amiably answers questions pool-side following his stunning win:

Four years (since Beijing 2008) is a long time. I just put the work in. I know it’s my time; I’m ready. I’m just going out there, having fun, and doing what I do best – racing.

GOLD AND SILVER - Italian fencing star Valentina Vezzali was denied a piece of Olympic history after she was beaten by her compatriot, Arianna Errigo, in the individual ‘foil’ fencing final at the ExCel Arena. The Italian flagbearer was seeking her fourth successive gold medal.

Regardless, it is a good opening day for Italy.

GOLD! 400m freestyle gold for Sun Yang of China and an Olympic Record while he’s at it. The Chinese swimmer was pushed hard in the early stages by Park Taehwan of South Korea, who eventually finished in second, and was on course for a world record before easing up when he knew he had realised his sporting dreams. Peter Vanderkaay of the United States got the bronze.

The women’s 400m individual medley is coming up soon and Great Britain will be hoping for a medal, of any colour, from Hannah Miley. Elizabeth Beisel of the USA is the favourite and Ye Shiwen of China will not be far away.

Gold for Ye Shiwen of China and a World Record while she is at it!

The 16-year-old gets home in the 400m individual medley final in a world’s best time of 4:28.43 as she holds of Beisel, three seconds back, and her compatriot, Li Xuanxu. Blistering stuff from the teenager.

Our first look at the medal table sees China leading the way but Italy doing themselves proud with fine medals so far:

Missy Franklin of the USA is up for her first taste of Olympic action. The talented American swimmer is competing in the 4x100m women’s freestyle. The US lead at the halfway mark.

Missy will have to settle for a bronze medal as Australia win gold and claim a 4x100m freestyle Olympic Record in the process. The Netherlands are second and silver medals will hang around four Dutch necks. The Aussies were not in it at the halfway stage but they saved their strongest swimmers for the final two legs and won by 0.6 of a second.

What a disappointing day for Team GB as Laura Robson and Heather Watson cough up a one-set lead against Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki of Germany in the Women’s Doubles. They are eliminated in three sets. Wimbledon is striking back for the wanton display of coloured polo shirts and luminous tennis shorts.

Right, we are signing off with the live coverage for the day. Join us for our Olympic Wrap in just about an hour’s time. We will give you a run-down on the best, craziest and most touching events of the day. Thank you very much for your company and comments.