GUADALAJARA, Mexico — The United States quickly moved to the top of the medals table at the Pan American Games on Saturday with two golds and a bronze in the first three events.
Heather Irmiger won the competition's first gold in the women's cross-country mountain bike race, and Jeremiah Bishop added a bronze in the men's event a few hours later.
"The course was perfect for me," Irmiger said. "I enjoyed the technical sustained climb and navigating my way through the cobbled streets lined with yelling fans."
In modern pentathlon, Margaux Isaksen took gold with 5,356 points.
There are eight more gold medals to be won on the first day of competition in Guadalajara, including five in swimming.
The United States has traditionally dominated the Pan American Games, which have been staged every four years since the first competition in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1951.
Irmiger took the lead from the first lap on the 24.8-kilometer mountain bike circuit, winning in 1 hour, 34 minutes, 9 seconds. Laura Lorenza Morfin of Mexico was second in 1:35:54 and Amanda Sin of Canada third in 1:37:14.
Defending champion Hector Paez of Colombia won the gold medal in the men's race in 1:31:12, followed by Max Plaxton of Canada in 1:31:29. Bishop was third in 1:32:41.
"It was an aggressive race," said Bishop, who won Pan Am gold in 2003. "I went full gas right from the start to put pressure on the others."
Isaksen won the opening fencing event in the modern pentathlon, and finished second to silver medalist Yane Marques of Brazil in the 200-meter freestyle swim and the show jump. But Isaksen again finished first in the concluding combined event, which consists of a 3-kilometer run with breaks for shooting.
Marques was second with 5,260 points, while Tamara Vega of Mexico took bronze with 4,956.
In the swimming heats, Claire Donahue of the United States set the first meet record, winning her 100-meter butterfly heat in 58.59 seconds. The previous record, held by American swimmer Kathleen Hersey, was 59.21 from the 2007 Games in Rio. The world record is 56.06.
The women's United States 400 freestyle relay team soon followed with another championship record, winning a heat in 3:40.85.
Olympic champion Cesar Cielo, one of the most accomplished swimmers competing in Guadalajara, made a brief visit to the hospital Saturday because of a minor illness, but he is expected to swim as scheduled on Sunday.
Cielo won the 50 and 100-meter freestyle races at the Rio Pan Am Games, as well as helping Brazil win the 400 relay.
Before competition even started Saturday morning, three doping cases emerged. Brazilian runner Simone Alves da Silva and Puerto Rican mountain biker Kelvin Gonzalez both tested positive for EPO, while Chilean weightlifter Cristian Escalante tested positive for the stimulant methylhexaneamine.
All three were withdrawn from the Games.