Swimming legend Michael Phelps suffered a nervy start in his bid to become the greatest Olympian in history on Saturday while Chinese shooter Yi Siling claimed the first gold of the Games. Phelps, the 27-year-old swimming legend, who has 16 Olympic medals, needs just three medals to surpass Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina’s record of 18. But the defending champion just scraped into Saturday’s 400m individual medley final by the skin of his teeth. Phelps finished in 4min 13.33sec to grab the eighth and last spot in the final which takes place later Saturday. American rival Ryan Lochte, who has established himself as a threat to Phelps in both the 200m and 400m medleys, was content to finish second in his heat behind South African Chad le Clos. Le Clos’s 4:12.24 was second-fastest of the morning, and Lochte was third-fastest of the day in 4:12.35.
