McClatchy Washington Bureau

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BEIJING — The death of an American tourist took the focus off the field of competition at the Beijing Summer Olympics on Saturday.

A man pulled out a knife Saturday at a landmark tourist site and killed Todd Bachman, father-in-law of U.S. Olympic men's indoor volleyball head coach Hugh McCutcheon and father of McCutcheon's wife, 2004 U.S. Olympic women's indoor volleyball player Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon.

The assailant wounded Bachman's wife, Barbara, and their tour guide before jumping to his own death, U.S. and Chinese officials said.

The brutal attack occurred shortly after noon at the Drum Tower, an ancient structure in Beijing where drummers pounded out the hour of the day in dynastic times.

"While at the Drum Tower in central Beijing, the two family members were stabbed during an attack by what local law enforcement authorities have indicated was a lone assailant," a statement by the U.S. Olympic Committee said.

It said Barbara Bachman was "seriously injured" in the attack. She and the female tour guide were taken to Beijing's central Harmony Hospital.

The identity of the two Americans was not immediately released, and the reason for the attack remained a mystery.

"It would be premature of me to say any motive," said Richard Buangan, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy. He added that President George Bush, who is in Beijing to watch some Olympics events, was notified of the attack.

The state news agency, Xinhua, identified the attacker by an identity card on his body, saying he was Tang Yongming, 47, from Hangzhou city in eastern China.

No sports were canceled or delayed Saturday because of the event.

In competition:

• Katerina Emmons of the Czech Republic set an Olympic record in the 10-meter air rifle competition as she won the first gold medal of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Emmons, wife of U.S. Olympic shooter Matt Emmons, fired her way to a score of 503.5, beating the old record of 502.0. She led the field through the competition and was the first women ever to reach a perfect score of 400 in the qualifying round. Lioubov Galkina of Russia won the silver with a score of 502.1, followed by Croatian Snjezana Pejcic, at 500.9. The top American, Jamie Beyerle, placed fourth, with a score of 499.8.
• American Taraje Williams-Murray handed Japan its first defeat in an Olympic judo match since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Williams-Murray upset Hiroaki Hiroaka of Japan, the No. 5-ranked player in the world, but later fell to Javier Antonio Guedez Sanchez of Venezuela.
• The medal podium at Beijing's Fencing Hall belonged to the United States as its three entrants swept the medals in women's individual sabre competition at the 2008 Olympic Games Saturday evening. Mariel Zagunis successfully defended her 2004 gold by defeating teammate Sada Jacobson 15-8 in the final. Becca Ward rallied from a 6-1 deficit to defeat Russia's Sofiya Velikaya 15-14 and win the bronze medal. According to the U.S. Olympic Committee, the result was the first time a country has swept the medals in an individual fencing event since Germany did it in women's foil at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
• The U.S. women's soccer team rebounded from its opening loss to Norway by stopping Japan 1-0. Carli Lloyd scored the game's only goal in the first half.
• Diana Taurasi scored 17 points to lead the U.S. women's basketball team in a 97-57 victory over the Czech Republic. The U.S. women will face China at 8 p.m. Monday.
• Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor won their opening match in the beach volleyball competition, taking a 21-12, 21-15 decision over Miki Saiki and Chiaki Kusuhara of Japan.
• Michael Phelps set the world record in the men's 400 individual medley on the way to his first swimming gold medal. He covered the course at the National Aquatics Center in a time of 4:03.84, improving his world mark by 1.41 seconds. Laszlo Cseh of Hungary took the silver medal at 4:06.16, while Ryan Lochte won the bronze with a 4:08.09.
• Larsen Jensen won the bronze medal in the men's 400m freestyle. Jensen posted a time of 3:42.78, 0.92 off the pace of gold medalist Park Taehwan of Korea, who had a 3:41.86. The silver medal went to China's Zhang Lin with a time of 3:42.44. Jensen set the American record for the event, eclipsing the 3:43.10 record he set during qualifying on Aug. 9.
• Katie Hoff took the bronze medal in the women's 400 IM, following gold medalist Stephanie Rice of Australia and silver medalist Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe.
• The USA team of Natalie Coughlin, Lacey Nymeyer, Kara Lynn Joyce and Dara Torres claimed the silver medal in the women's 4x100 freestyle relay. The gold medal went to the team from the Netherlands; Australia won the bronze.