Near Stunner: Phelps Barely Qualifies

Some milestones on day one of the London Olympics:

• First near upset: Michael Phelps just barely qualified in his first event, the 400-meter individual medley, reports AP. "That one didn't feel too good," said Phelps, who squeaked into the eighth and final spot by seven-hundredths of a second.
• First gold medal: Yi Siling of China won it in the 10-meter air rifle competition, reports the BBC.
• First doping scandal: Albanian weightlifter Hysen Pulaku tested positive for steroids and got the boot, the first athlete so sanctioned at these Games, reports the Wall Street Journal.
• Breach of Olympic spirit: (This one is not a first.) Lebanon's judo team refused to practice on the same mat as the Israeli team, forcing Olympic officials to erect a screen between them, reports the Jerusalem Post.

(More 2012 London Olympics stories.)