women olympians create a winning beginning.

God, I love the Olympics.

I realize by Day Ten, I'm going to be weary of the relentless coverage (by not only NBC, but CNBC, MSNBC, USA and Oxygen, as well as Sports On-Demand . . . like there'll be anything at all left to demand!), but today, at the close of [Delayed] Day One, I'm all verklempt.

Of course, I'm also considering inviting a few friends over for an Olympic edition of the drinking game "Hi, Bob" － in the original game, you watched reruns of the old Bob Newhart Show and everybody drank every time a character said, "Hi, Bob," guaranteeing three-sheets status by evening's end; in my 2008 "Boozin' for Beijing" version, everybody drinks every time you see an image of Mao Zedong, former Chairman of the Communist Party of China . . . he's not too visible during many of the sporting events, but Friday night's opening ceremony coverage would have been quite the swigging soiree!

Anyway, a couple of quick kudos for a quartet of women athletes who started the games off with a bang. Quite literally so for Katerina Emmons of the Czech Republic, who earned the games' first gold medal with a record-setting 10-meter air rifle performance. Emmons finished with an Olympic record of 503.5 points, having shot a perfect 400 in qualifying.

She's married to American shooter Matt Emmons, who won a gold in prone rifle at Athens' 2004 Olympics. Matt will compete in both prone and three-position rifle this year; Katerina will compete in three-position as well.

"I'm more proud of her than if I was to do it myself," said her supportive spouse.
"I feel amazing," said his winning wife. And you should, Katerina － you *are* amazing.

Meanwhile, Mariel Zagunis won the United States our first gold medal of the Beijing Games, leading an American sweep in women's saber fencing. Zagunis, of Beaverton, Oregon, got the gold with her 15-8 victory over Sada Jacobson, of Dunwoody, Georgia, who won the silver [that's them paired off in the photo above－Zagunis, L, and Jacobson, R]; 18-year-old Becca Ward, of Portland, Oregon, got the bronze.

Zagunis also won the gold in Athens in 2004, becoming the first American in a century to win a fencing gold. Now, the U.S. women pose a fencing powerhouse － this same trio is seeded number-one for the saber team competition, scheduled for Thursday.

Women and weaponry － a winning Beijing blend!!