Perhaps the most stunning outcome of the day was the Olympic golden boy, Michael Phelps, finishing fourth and out of the medal hunt in the 400 IM.

Phelps is trying to turn the page, and do it quickly because he has a busy slate at these London games.

He tweets: “Not pleased with my race tonight at all… But tom is a new day! And a new race!!”

THE CHOREOGRAPHER of a somber segment in the opening ceremony said he’s disappointed that NBC decided not to show it to an American audience.

Some in the British press interpreted the segment as a tribute to victims of the 2005 terrorist attacks in London. But NBC said it never was presented as such.

WHEN TEMPERATURES dropped into the low 60s for the first beach volleyball night session, Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor said bye-bye to their bikinis.

The two-time defending gold medalists from the United States wore long-sleeved shirts on top of bikini bottoms when the temperature at the start of their 11 p.m. match was 63 degrees. Their opponents, Australians Natalie Cook and Tasmin Hinchley, wore long pants and short-sleeved shirts underneath their bikini tops.

AFTER MEGAN RAPINOE scored for the U.S. women’s soccer team in the first half of a 3-0 victory against Colombia, she reached into her sock and pulled out a note that read: “Happy B-day Kreigy. We love you.” Rapinoe raced to the sideline and held the note up to fans.

Ali Krieger, who turned 28 on Saturday, is missing these Olympics after blowing out her knee during a qualifying match in January.

HOPE SOLO, the outspoken U.S. goalkeeper, took to Twitter to criticize comments by Brandi Chastain during a broadcast.

Solo rattled off four tweets about Chastain. Among them: “Its 2 bad we cant have commentators who better represents the team&knows more about the game.” Solo also told Chastain to “get more educated” and “the game has changed from a decade ago.”

THE NIELSEN company said this was the most-watched opening ceremony of any summer or winter Olympics. It topped the mark of 39.8 million people who watched the 1996 Atlanta Olympics begin, and the 34.9 million who watched the first night from Beijing four years ago.

It was the most-watched television event in the U.S. since the winter, when 39.9 million people watched the Grammy Awards and 39.3 million saw the Oscars.

AFTER ANTHONY OGOGO won his opening bout over the Dominican Republic’s Junior Castillo, the British middleweight revealed his mother went into a hospital six weeks ago after brain hemorrhage left her in a coma.

Ogogo said his mother is doing “really well,” and is just down the hall at the hospital from her oldest daughter, who went into labor on her second child shortly before Ogogo’s bout.

JORGEN PERSSON of Sweden is one of the three players to have appeared in every Olympic table tennis tournament, beginning with the first one in 1988, but he’s yet to win a medal. He advanced to the second round, defeating Segun Toriola of Nigeria, 4-1.

That’s a perfect start for a guy who lost in the semifinals in 2000 and 2008, then lost both bronze- medal games.

JACKSON NIYOMUGABO of Rwanda will continue the tradition of unlikely Olympic swimmers when he competes in the 50-meter freestyle this week. He learned his sport from a French textbook and by watching meets on TV because he has no coach.

His most precious tool is easily the book titled “The Secrets of Swimming Development.” And although it’s in French and Niyomugabo doesn’t read French, he compares the illustrations in it with what he sees on television and goes from there.

EARLY IN these games, one of the most popular places in Olympic Park has been atop a grassy hill where the Olympic rings stand and overlook the park. It’s a breathtaking view, and there were long lines throughout the day as visitors scaled the hill to get their pictures taken under the rings.

“It’s spectacular,” said Karen Kennedy, who came from Chicago with her teenage sons, Stratford and Robert. “It’s just a shock that this oasis is here in a bustling urban area.”

ARIEL HSING, a 16-year-old American, was tickled about reaching the second round in table tennis

But meeting Michelle Obama on Friday might have been even better.

Hsing said she also mugged for photos with Michael Phelps and Kobe Bryant. But meeting Michelle Obama was “the biggest.” And, of course, the food.

“The Olympics village is so cool. There is so much food there, which I really like.”

Spoken like a true teenager.

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