Olympic Times – Sports Daily

FRESH from grabbing his second bronze medal of the Olympics, Australia’s Andrew Lauterstein has told of his desire to crush Michael Phelps’ dream of a record eighth gold medal in tomorrow’s 4x100m medley relay. Phelps’ moment of truth will be revealed tomorrow when he shoots for his final gold medal in the medley relay, with Australia, according to Lauterstein, desperate to wreck his party.

The Australian team is likely to feature Lauterstein, Eamon Sullivan, Brenton Rickard and Hayden Stoeckel, all medallists in invididual events this week.

“All four swimmers have broken the Australian record, all are Olympic medallists so hopefully we can walk away with a medal,” Lauterstein said.

“We’re going to give the Americans a good shake, hopefully stop Phelpsy from getting his eighth gold.

“That’s the plan.”

Phelps is concern ed about the Australian team and heard Lauterstein’s warning.

The American said today: ”The Australians are our biggest opponents.”

Lauterstein was buzzing after claiming his second bronze of the week in today’s 100m butterfly final.

Earlier in the week he was part of Australia’s 4x100m freestyle relay team which finished third behind the US and France.

The 21-year-old was well beaten by Phelps who touched out Serbia’s Milorad Cavic by .01sec in the closest of finishes.

Phelps’ victory meant he equalled Mark Spitz’s record of seven Olympic gold medals at the one Games, winning the event in Olympic record time of 50.58secs.

Phelps never looked like winning after turning in seventh place but he finished like Bernborough to pip the Serbian, who later fired in a protest thinking the touch pads were faulty, but it was dismissed quickly.

Lauterstein claimed a big scalp in the race when world record holder Ian Crocker of the US finished fourth.

“It was just a great race to be a part of, it was an absolute spectacle,” Lauterstein said.

“I said it yesterday, when you hear Michael Phelps do his arm slaps it get’s your heart rate racing.

“So to handle the pressure again and come out and do another PB, that’s three PB’s in three swims, is pretty special.”

Lauterstein said he was oblivious to the amazing performance of Phelps.

“I had no idea…I knew that I wasn’t winning,” Lauterstein said.

“I could see the guy next to me out ahead of me and I could feel the Kenyan right next to me but apart from that I had no idea.”

An emotional Lauterstein also told how he savoured the moment of his first individual Olympic medal.

“I made Michael laugh on the way out to the medal ceremony by telling him to ‘really enjoy it mate”’, Lauterstein said.

“I couldn’t believe I was about to cry when I heard the American national anthem.

“I don’t a have a very good memory, so I just tried to take everything in.”

from: news.com.au

Even Michael Phelps couldn’t believe his eyes. He said he had to take off his goggles to make sure it was his name, and not Milorad Cavic, next to the No. 1 after a thrilling finish in the Olympic 100-meter butterfly.

Phelps, who was in seventh place at the turn, surged in the final few meters and somehow managed to out-touch the Serbian-American Cavic by a hundredth of a second. To the naked eye, it was nearly impossible to tell who won. And from some camera angles, it appeared Cavic had the gold. But the Omega electronic clock read: Phelps 50.58. Cavic 50.59.

The Serbian team was disputing the result, but FINA officials met with team leaders after the race and reviewed the video footage. The Serbians accepted the result after seeing the tape.

Cavic was gracious in defeat and said he was “honored” to be the guy who almost beat Phelps.

It was Phelps’ seventh gold medal at these Olympics, which ties Mark Spitz’s 36-year-old record from Munich. He will attempt to break the record Sunday morning in the 4×100 medley relay.

Phelps was humbled to be on the same seven-gold pedestal as Spitz.

“The biggest thing is when someone says you can’t do things, when people say it’s impossible to tie or break these records, I proved anything’s possible,” he said. “If you put in the hard work and put your mind to it, anything’s possible.”

This time, there was no world record, as there had been for Phelps’ previous six golds. Instead, the Baltimore phenom proved he can win in the tightest of races. Phelps made up ground in the final 50, and took an extra half-stroke at the finish, which would seem to have hurt him as Cavic’s hands were already underwater gliding to the wall. But Phelps’ extra kick surged him forward with force at the touchpad.

“When I saw the replay, when I saw I took that extra half stroke, I thought I lost the race,” Phelps said. “But I guess that’s exactly what I needed. I’m at a loss for words. I’m excited and relieved. It wasn’t until I saw the No. 1 next to my name that I let out my roar.”

The lucky seventh gold also meant a $1 million bonus from Speedo, one of his many sponsors.

All the talk heading into the Olympics was that fellow-American and world-record holder Ian Crocker could spoil Phelps’ pool party in this event, but around the pool deck the past few days, the buzz was about Cavic. The Anaheim, Calif., native and Cal-Berkeley student set an Olympic record in the preliminary heats in 50.76 seconds, and swam the fastest semifinal time (50.92).

Cavic’s times were particularly impressive considering that Phelps and Crocker held the top 17 times in the event heading into the Olympics. Cavic, who is 6-foot-6, said after the semifinals that he was hoping to derail Phelps so that one day people would say, “Phelps had a chance to win eight and lost to some guy.” Cavic desperately wanted to be that guy.

Instead, he has to settle for the silver. Andrew Lauterstein of Australia won the bronze. Crocker finished fourth.

Cavic said the difference between he and Phelps was as tiny as “shaving your fingers.” Swimming results can be so close, he said, that his coach cleaned up the hairs on the back of Cavic’s neck with clippers just before the race. “Those are the differences in swimming. Everything counts. You can’t even show one one-hundredth of a second on TV. It’s that close.”

Cavic was not surprised Phelps made his move at the end. In fact, he expected it.

“I knew I was leading the race. I usually swim a faster first 50 and Phelps is a back-half swimmer, so I knew he’d be chasing me at the end. I saw a shadow in the side of my goggles, so the final eight meters I just put my head down, didn’t breathe, and hoped for the best.”

When a Serbian reporter asked Cavic, “How does it feel to be the one man who beat Phelps?” Cavic smiled and replied: “I didn’t beat Phelps. Maybe I’m the only guy who had a real shot of beating Phelps. This is all completely new to me. I felt so much pressure, and I’m very proud I was able to control my emotions and get so close. It was an honor for me to race Michael Phelps with all eyes on me. If we got to do it again, I’d win it.”

Crocker, the quiet, unassuming rival from Portland, Maine, also wanted to be “that guy” who ruined Phelps’ day. So much so, in fact, that he put all his efforts into the 100-meter butterfly rather than race in multiple events. Crocker beat Phelps to win the world titles in 2003 and 2005, and set the world record (50.40) in 2005.

But Phelps beat Crocker in the 2004 Olympics by .04 seconds and edged him again in the 2007 world championships by .05 seconds.

Crocker : “Sports is all about one person trying to derail the other person’s dreams.”

As usual, Phelps’ quest for history overshadowed the other events at The Water Cube on Saturday.

Brazil’s Cesar Cielo Filho set an Olympic record and won gold in the 50-meter freestyle, beating a pair of Frenchmen – Amaury Leveaux and Alain Bernard. He is Brazil’s first Olympic swimming gold medalist. Filho won the race in 21.30 seconds, lowering the mark of 21.34 he set in the semifinals.

It was Filho’s second medal of the Games. He tied U.S. swimmer Jason Lezak for the bronze in the 100-meter freestyle. Filho, 21, is a student at Auburn University.

Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe set a world record in the women’s 200-meter backstroke in 2:05.24. Margaret Hoelzer of the United States won silver.

And in the women’s 800, Great Britain’s Rebecca Adlington set a world record en route to a gold medal.

from: macon.com

Look out, Mark Spitz. Get the cheque ready, Speedo. Michael Phelps is closing in – quickly, of course.

Phelps made it six gold medals in six races, each in world record time, by taking the 200-metre individual medley Friday at the Beijing Olympics.

If he wins either of his last two races, he’ll join Spitz as the only Olympians to win seven golds at one Summer Games and cash a US$1-million bonus from his sponsor.

Should he win both, Phelps will stand alone as the greatest Olympic champ for both a single Games and for his career. This was his 12th gold overall, pulling him farther from Spitz and three others with nine. At only 23, he could end up doubling the longstanding career mark at London in 2012. Who would bet against him after this week?

Phelps dominated right from the start of the 200-metre individual medley and won in one minute 54.23 seconds. He knocked off his own mark of 1:54.80 set at last month’s U.S. trials, his sixth world record of the Games.

Phelps returned right after the medal ceremony for the 100 butterfly semifinal, where he qualified second-fastest and set himself to tie Spitz’s total in the final on Saturday. He could break the record if the heavily favoured U.S. wins the 4×100-metre medley relay on Sunday.

“There wasn’t much time,” Phelps said, “but I think there’s going to be a lot of time for me to rest over the next 18 hours or so, and I’ll be able to be ready for tomorrow morning’s 100.”

Rebecca Soni of the U.S., set a world record in the 200 breaststroke. Leisel Jones of Australia was out front over the first 100, but Soni came on strong at the end, finishing a full body length ahead of the Australian in 2:20.22 to beat Jones’ mark of 2:20.54, set two 2 1/2 years ago in Melbourne.

Britta Steffen of Germany won the 100 freestyle, edging Libby Trickett of Australia by four-hundredths of a second.

Nastia Liukin edged U.S. teammate Shawn Johnson for the all-around gold in women’s gymnastics and Yang Yilin of China took the bronze.

Athletics cranked up at the Bird’s Nest, with some pretty heady qualifying races – the men’s 100 metres.

Tyson Gay showed no ill effects from a lingering hamstring strain, easily qualifying for the quarter-final along with Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell.

“It feels good,” Gay said. “My body is woke up.”

Gay’s reassuring performance kept the Games on track for a defining three-way battle for gold in the sport’s marquee event on Saturday.

Bolt won his heat in 10.20, and Powell coasted into the quarter-final in 10.16.

The Games were hit by several off-field controversies Friday. A two-time North Korean medallist in shooting and a Vietnamese gymnast both failed doping tests and were kicked out of the Games after testing positive for banned substances.

Shooter Kim Jong Su was stripped of his silver medal Friday in the 50-metre pistol and bronze in the 10-metre air pistol. Gymnast Thi Ngan Thuong Do finished in 82nd and last place in the women’s floor exercises. Spanish cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno was kicked out of the Games on Monday after testing positive for EPO.

A Swedish wrestler who dropped his bronze medal in disgust could face sanctions from the IOC, which has opened a disciplinary investigation into the actions of Ara Abrahamian. He lost to gold medallist Andrea Minguzzi of Italy in the semifinal of the men’s 84-kilogram Greco-Roman event.

During the medal ceremony, Abrahamian took the bronze from around his neck and, in disgust, dropped it on the mat as he walked away.

Abrahamian had to be restrained from going after the matside officials following his loss to Minguzzi and, storming away from the mixed zone where interviews are conducted, slammed a door.

Pavol and Peter Hochschorner finished first in double canoe slalom, making it three straight Olympics that the brothers from Slovakia have won gold. Elena Kaliska of Slovakia won the women’s single kayak slalom by nearly 15 seconds, successfully defending her gold from Athens.

Cao Lei won China’s seventh weightlifting gold medal and smashed three Olympic records in the women’s 75-kg division. Artur Ayvazian of Ukraine won gold in the men’s 50-metre prone rifle, holding off Matt Emmons of the U.S., in the final round.

Guo Jingjing kept China on its path toward a sweep of all eight diving gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, leading after the women’s three-metre springboard preliminaries Friday. The final is Sunday.

The U.S. women’s softball team extended its winning streak to 18 with an 8-1 victory over Canada. China rallied to beat Taiwan 8-7 in 12 innings in the baseball tournament.

Top-seeded Xie Xingfang and defending champion Zhang Ning both advanced to the women’s singles badminton final, assuring China the gold and silver medals.

from: canadianpress.google.com

International Olympic Committee chief calls Michael Phelps ‘icon of the Games’

Michael Phelps has a new accolade.

“He is the icon of the Games,” International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said Thursday.

The American swimmer has won five gold medals, setting five world records in the process, so far at the Beijing Olympics. He picked up his 10th and 11th career gold medals Wednesday to become the most decorated Olympian of all time.

Phelps is on course to break Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals at a single Olympics.

“The quest to have more medals than Spitz will be something very important,” Rogge told The Associated Press. “And he’s keeping the attention of the public. He is a great athlete.”

Rogge put Phelps in a select pantheon of Olympic idols.

“The Olympic Games live around superheroes,” he said. “You had Jesse Owens, you had Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis and now you have Phelps. And that’s what we need to have.”

On a separate topic, Rogge downplayed the flap over lip-synching at the opening ceremony as “rather insignificant.”

Beijing organizers have faced tough criticism after it was revealed that the nine-year-old girl who performed a song during the ceremony was lip-synching to another girl’s vocal track.

“I am not a producer, so I definitely know nothing about singing and songs,” Rogge said. “I believe that playback (lip-synching) is something that is used in the music industry and the entertainment and show industry on a regular basis. But frankly speaking, this is rather insignificant in relation to the complexity of the Games and the magnitude of the Games.”

from:canadianpress.google.com

At least swimmers Kosuke Kitajima and Liu Zige accomplished something while getting wet Thursday at the Beijing Olympics.

Heavy rain delayed the start of Roger Federer‘s quarter-final match against James Blake, and the Swiss star may have wished it hadn’t gone ahead at all – he lost to the American 6-4, 7-6 (2).

The upset was a shock in that Blake had won only a single set in their previous eight matches. But the top-seeded Federer is battling a yearlong slump that has left him stalled at 12 Grand Slam titles, two shy of Pete Sampras’ record.

The rain also washed out rowing, canoeing and kayak whitewater events at Beixiaoying Town near Beijing and affected baseball and softball, with games suspended or called off by thunderstorms and lightning.

Only soggy beach volleyballers played through the heavy showers, watched by pockets of loyal fans in rain gear.

There was a different weather problem in Qingdao, site of the sailing competition. For the second day in a row, lack of wind in southern China forced all racing to be called off.

Inside the Water Cube, Kitajima became the first man to sweep the breaststroke events for the second straight Olympics by winning the 200 in two minutes 7.64 seconds.

“I was so calm that I think I could have seen each face in this venue,” the Japanese swimmer said. “I enjoyed my race.”

The host country celebrated when Liu won the 200 butterfly for China’s first swimming gold medal of the Games, setting the world mark of 2:04.18. Jiao Liuyang also went under the previous best to give the teammates a 1-2 finish and send the crowd into a frenzy.

“I didn’t expect that I could swim so fast,” Liu said. “I’ve only improved in the last year.”

Australia, led by Stephanie Rice, set the 18th world swimming record of the Beijing Games in the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay, obliterating the previous mark by nearly six seconds to upset the Americans.

Michael Phelps took care of a routine matter, advancing to the final of the 200-meter individual medley. With five golds and five world records, Phelps merely had to get by the semifinal of the 200 IM.

He won his heat and moved on to Friday with the second-best qualifying time, 1:57.70. He needs three more golds in Beijing to surpass Mark Spitz’s record total of eight at Munich in 1972.

Later Thursday, Phelps advanced out of the 100 butterfly preliminaries, keeping him on track to win his sixth gold medal.

On Thursday, IOC president Jacques Rogge called Phelps an “icon” of the Beijing Games.

“The quest to have more medals than Spitz will be something very important,” Rogge said. “And he’s keeping the attention of the public. He is a great athlete.”

China continued its domination of gymnastics. After winning both men’s and women’s team events, Yang Wei took the men’s all-around title that had eluded him for eight years.

Yang, the two-time defending world champion, finished with 94.575 points Thursday, nearly three points ahead of Kohei Uchimura of Japan. Yang had finished second to Alexei Nemov in 2000 and fell apart at the Athens Olympics.

“Today was perfect,” Yang said. “I felt tired before the competition, but after it I feel relaxed.”

Germany continued its domination of the equestrian competition in Hong Kong, capturing its third gold with a win in the team dressage.

Du Li of China rebounded from an earlier defeat, winning gold in the women’s 50-meter, three-position rifle event. Chiara Cainero of Italy won gold in women’s skeet shooting, beating Kim Rhode of the United States and Christine Brinker of Germany in a shoot-off.

Andrea Minguzzi of Italy was the surprise winner of the Greco-Roman wrestling 84-kilogram gold medal, defeating Zoltan Fodor of Hungary.

Minguzzi, who upset 2004 gold medallist Aleksey Mishin of Russia in the quarter-final, was 45th in last year’s world championships and has never finished higher than 18th in four world championship appearances.

Mijain Lopez of Cuba, the dominant big man in Greco-Roman wrestling since the Athens Olympics, beat rival Khasan Baroev of Russia to win the 120-kg gold medal. Another Russian, Aslanbek Khushtov, took gold in the 96-kg class.

Ukraine’s fencers won the team gold medal in women’s saber and China’s Zhang Juan Juan defeated South Korea’s Park Sung-hyun 110-109 to win the gold medal in women’s individual archery.

Yang Xiuli of China flipped her first four judo opponents then won in an overtime decision over Yalennis Castillo of Cuba to take the gold medal in the women’s 78-kilogram division.

Mongolia’s Tuvshinbayar Naidan won the men’s 100-kg class, defeating Kazakhstan’s Askhat Zhitkeyev. It was the first gold medal ever in the Olympics for the sparsely populated and landlocked country in east-central Asia.

The United States beat the Netherlands 7-0 in a baseball game that was called off after eight innings following a second rain delay. The Dutch protested the decision because they had loaded the bases in the ninth inning with no outs, but the protest was denied.

Canada led the U.S. softball team 1-0 in the fourth inning when rain forced players from the field. They’ll resume the game Friday with the defending champion American’s 16-game Olympic winning streak on the line.

Houston Rockets centre Yao Ming scored 30 points to lead China to an 85-68 win over Angola, giving the Olympic hosts their first victory in the tournament.

from: canadianpress.google.com

Stephanie Rice grabbed her third gold medal at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday when she helped the Australian women’s 4×200 metres freestyle relay team obliterate the world record by nearly six seconds.

Rice teamed up with Bronte Barratt, Kylie Palmer and Linda Mackenzie to demolish the old record and claim the gold in seven minutes 44.31 seconds. The previous record, set by the United States, was 7:50.09.

China, still celebrating their first swimming gold in Beijing after Liu Zige won the women’s 200 butterfly less than an hour earlier, took silver while the United States won the bronze as the first five teams all went under the old world record.

Although Australia were not expected to win the gold their victory was not a total surprise after their impressive women’s team won gold medals on each of the four previous days.

Rice, who won gold in the 200 and 400 individual medleys, capped a remarkable first Olympics with her third world record of the Games.

“It’s so exciting, it’s me and Bronte’s last swim, and what a great way to finish, with a gold medal and a world record,” said Rice. “For us to break the record by so far is amazing.

“We went in knowing we had a really good chance. I wasn’t as nervous this time. I was trying to enjoy the moment. I’ve never led off a relay before.

“I feel amazing, I finished such a great meet as part of the relay, it’s amazing. There wasn’t a lot of nerves, just a lot of excitement, I’m so impressed with everything that happened.”

The U.S. went into the final as overwhelming favourites after setting the previous record at last year’s world championships in Melbourne but never got any higher than third.

The bronze kept Natalie Coughlin on course to win six medals in Beijing after her gold in the 100 backstroke, silver in the 4×100 freestyle and bronze in the 200 individual medley.

She has already qualified for Friday’s 100 freestyle final and will lead off the U.S. medley relay on Sunday.

However, America’s third placing was another disappointment for Katie Hoff, who is still chasing her first Olympic gold medal after nerves got the better of her in Athens four years ago and she vomited on the pooldeck.

Hoff arrived in Beijing attempting to win six gold medals, including five individual events, but has managed only a silver and two bronzes from her first five events with only the 800 freestyle to go.

“I’m doing good going into the 800,” Hoff said. “I’m definitely more determined for the 800, it’s definitely given me some motivation.”

Bob Bowman, the coach of Michael Phelps, who is also chasing five individual titles in Beijing, said Hoff had handled her programme brilliantly and she should be praised instead of criticised.

“The last Olympics was pretty much a complete disaster, so she’s way ahead of the game,” Bowman said.

“With every race she’s got better and grown a bit and she’s taken on these tough doubles too.

“She made the choice to do that and has handled that extremely well. I know she wanted to place higher and we always want to do better but I’m very proud of her.”

source: reuters.com

He’s the hero of the Beijing Olympics — but Michael Phelps has become the bane of bookmakers.
Gamblers have joined Phelps’s winning streak with online betting sites reporting a spike in money riding on the U.S. swimmer and higher interest overall from gamblers in the Games.
Phelps has been the favourite in all of his races in the Aug. 8-24 Games on various online betting sites, with odds for his victories down to about 5/2 on — paying out about $40 on a $100 bet.
“Although he has been at short odds to win he has being doing the right thing by the punters who are getting back more than they get on bank interest,” said Phil Hannah, general manager at Australia-based online betting site SportsBet.
“He really has become a thorn in the bookmakers’ side.”
Most gamblers are betting Phelps will beat compatriot Mark Spitz’s record of winning seven gold medals at one Olympics, with the 23-year-old already snapping up five golds from Beijing, making him the most decorated Olympian of all time with 11 golds.
He is due to swim the 200 metre individual medley on Friday, the 100 metre butterfly on Saturday and the 4×100 metre medley relay on Sunday.
Online site Sky Bet is also paying 5/2 on for Phelps to beat Spitz’s record.
The Olympics is not traditionally a major sports event for gamblers but Hannah said the interest had picked up for the 2008 Games particularly in Asia as the events were televised during the day.
Swimming is the sport attracting the most bets but weightlifting, table tennis, judo and soccer are also getting some interest.
U.S-based Betsonline.com has also experienced an increase in Olympic wagers although spokesman Tommy Allen said the Olympics still lagged far behind sports such as basketball and baseball.
U.S. television network NBC, which paid almost $900 million for the exclusive broadcasting rights to the Olympics, has been delaying showing the Games to hit prime-time viewers in the United States which could impact gambling interest.
“But Phelps is such a phenomenon we have seen interest in him,” said Allen.
He said the odds for Phelps winning the 100 metre butterfly on Saturday were set at minus 255 which means a win would pay out $39 on a $100 bet.
“He’s the clear favourite of the Games,” said Allen.
Horse racing reappeared in mainland China in the early 1990s as jockey clubs were set up but gambling remains illegal, except for state lotteries.

from: guardian.co.uk

Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima established a place for himself among swimming’s all-time greats with a victory Thursday at the Beijing Olympics.

Kitajima cruised to victory in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke in 2 minutes, 07.64 seconds to become the fifth swimmer in Olympic history to complete a golden double in successive Games.

Australia’s Brenton Rickard placed second in 2:08.88, with Hugues Duboscq of France third in 2:08.94 at the National Aquatics Center.

Kitajima, a double gold medalist four years ago in Athens who captured the 100 breaststroke gold Monday, finished just .13 off the world record he set in June.

Unlike in the 100, Kitajima came into the 200 as the firm favorite, not only as the world record-holder but because he didn’t have to deal with former record-holder and main rival, American Brendan Hansen, who failed to make the U.S. team in the event.

Kitajima joined American star Michael Phelps in the elite group of swimmers who have doubled in back-to-back Olympics.

The others were Germany’s Roland Matthes (100-200 backstroke, 1968-72), Hungary’s Tomas Darnyi (200-400 individual medley, 1988-92) and Russia’s Alexander Popov (50-100 freestyle, 1992-96).

The last swimmer to win back to back gold in the men’s 200 breaststroke was also a Japanese, Yoshiyuki Tsuruta way back in 1928 and 1932.

from: yomiuri.co.jp

Of all the swimming sessions in Beijing, this is the one Michael Phelps had to worry about the least. In fact, his worrying days might be over.

One record down, several more to go.

Phelps became the Olympics’ all-time gold medal leader Wednesday with two more wins at the National Aquatics Center — one by himself in the 200-meter butterfly and one as part of the United States’ winning 800-meter freestyle relay team.

It gave the 23-year-old American 11 career gold medals, two more than any other athlete in history, and put him more than halfway to breaking Mark Spitz‘s 36-year-old record of seven gold medals in one Olympics.

“The end is close,” Phelps said. “I love it.”

He now has now five gold medals in Beijing. The last two were all but guaranteed.

Phelps lowered his own world record in the 200 butterfly by .06 seconds despite having trouble seeing the last two walls through the water that filled his goggles.

He may not have been able to see the swimmers on either side of him pushing their way into contention, but it didn’t matter. Also the 2004 gold medalist in this distance, Phelps touched at 1 minute, 52.03 seconds.

His 10th gold medal moved him out of a tie with Spitz, American track and field star Carl Lewis, former Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi for the all-time Olympic gold medal record.

“I couldn’t see anything for the last 100 (meters),” Phelps said of the race. “My goggles pretty much filled with water and it kept getting worse and worse through the race and I was having trouble seeing the walls, to be honest.

“But I wanted to break the record. I wanted to 1:51 or better, but for the circumstances I guess it’s not too bad.”

Cseh won silver behind Phelps for the second time here after also finishing second to the American’s first gold medal swim in the 400 IM on Sunday. He touched in 1:52.70 — .67 seconds behind Phelps — for a new European record.

Matsuda took the bronze and set a new Asian record at 1:52.97.

Less than an hour later, Phelps was in the pool again for the 800 freestyle relay, a race the Americans were an overwhelming favorite to win. Swimming the first leg, he gave his team nearly a two-body-lengths lead over the first 200 meters while putting them more than two seconds ahead of their own world record pace.

Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay swam further under the world record pace over the next 600 meters until Vanderkaay touched to finish his anchor leg and secure the U.S. the first sub-seven minute time ever in the event.

The foursome broke the world record Phelps, Lochte and Vanderkaay set with Klete Keller last year by 4.68 seconds, finishing at 6:58.56 to successfully defend the gold the U.S. won in Athens four years ago.

“We talked about breaking seven minutes,” said Phelps, “and we did it.”

Said Lochte: “It was just a matter of time.”

Russia’s European-record swim of 7:03.70 wasn’t nearly good enough, as the country finished more than five seconds behind the U.S. at 7:03.70. Australia won bronze at 7:04.98.

Phelps has now been part of a world record in each of his gold medal swims here, also winning the 400-meter medley and 200-meter freestyle as individual events. He was part of the thrilling, record-setting 400-meter freestyle relay the U.S. ran Monday.

He only has three events remaining, and he’s won gold in all three before: the 200-meter individual medley, the 100-meter butterfly and the 400-meter medley relay (though he didn’t swim the final of that event in Athens).

If Phelps goes on to break Spitz’s Holy Grail record for gold medals in one Olympics — or even if he wins eight medals of any kind here — Phelps would be the all-time winningest medal winner among male Olympians with 16.

Said Phelps: “From now on it’s just a downward slope” — in momentum, that is.

Also on Wednesday, Federica Pellegrini of Italy won the gold medal and broke her own world record in the women’s 200-meter freestyle. Pellegrini, who had set the old mark on Monday, lowered it by .63 seconds to 1 minute, 54.82 seconds to win by just less than one-tenth of a second.

“I have been expecting to win for the last four years,” said Pellegrini, the 2004 silver medalist. So I have been avenged.”

Slovenia’s Sara Isakovic won the silver medal, her country’s first in swimming, at 2:06.34 while China’s Pang Jiaying took bronze in 2:06.42.

American Katie Hoff failed to win her third medal of the Beijing Olympics, finishing .73 seconds out of contention for the bronze with a new American record in the event of 1:55.78.

Hoff also finished fourth in the day’s other final, the 200-meter individual medley, where U.S. teammate Natalie Coughlin won the bronze to go along with the backstroke gold she won Tuesday.

Stephanie Rice of Australia lowered her own world record in the 200 IM by .47 seconds to 2 minutes, 8.45 seconds, claiming her second gold medal of the Beijing Olympics. Rice also won the women’s 400 IM on Sunday.

Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry has finished second behind Rice in both races, claiming silver again on Wednesday with a time of 2:08.59 — .14 seconds behind the winner. It was Coventry’s third silver medal here.

Coughlin finished a distant third, touching 1.89 seconds after Coventry at 2:10.34 for her bronze.

Rice said the two other swimmers pushed her to go faster.

“It’s really good being next to Natalie. She pushed me the first 100 meters,” said Rice. “And Kirsty swam amazing as always.”

from: canada.com

British scalpers are doing a roaring trade in black-market tickets at the Beijing Olympics despite efforts by the Chinese authorities to crackdown on their illegal activities.

The touts, who have travelled to Beijing from London, Manchester and Liverpool are being blamed for the rows of empty seats which have plagued the early rounds of Olympic competition.

All 6.8m Olympic tickets were sold before the Games opened, but the majority went at low prices to ordinary Chinese people who have been passing them to the touts who sell them on again to foreign visitors at vastly inflated prices.

Yesterday the traders were working more or less openly outside the entrances to the Olympic Park despite assurances from the Beijing Olympics security chief, Liu Shaowu, that action was being taken to curb the trade.

“All countries that have hosted the Olympic Games have had problems with scalping. We have noted that there are some people who have engaged in this sort of criminal activity and we are taking action against them,” he said.

However even as Mr Liu made his promise, ‘Danny’ from London was camped outside the entrance to Olympic Park buying and selling his tickets just a few hundred metres from where Mr Liu was sitting.

“You buying or selling?” he said, ordering his Chinese side-kick to hand me his business card, “I’ll take basketball if you’ve got them, pairs are best, and athletics, I need them if you’ve got em. What are you after? Diving? Basketball?” The most sought-after tickets, such as swimming and the 100m final on Saturday were changing hands for up to ten times their face value, with one tout asking 4,000 yuan (£280) for a swimming finals ticket with a face value of 400 yuan (£28)

A Chinese tout in out-sized Aviator sunglasses calling himself ‘Harry’ wanted 4.000 yuan (£280) for a pair of tickets to the 100m final on Saturday, and wouldn’t go lower than 3,500 (£245) despite a prolonged haggle.

He was one of more than 20 touts from a variety of nationalities, including Africans, Australian and French encountered by The Telegraph as we walked around Olympic park checking on the re-sale value of Olympic tickets.

Most kept a wary eye out for police who were patrolling the pavements at regular intervals, moving on to a new perch when necessary but still operating largely unhindered.

“They’re nicking [arresting] down here a bit, but we’re not getting too much trouble off them,” said one Liverpudlian tout, “they got to get you twice before you get planed [deported], that’s what I’m hearing.”

Other touts, like ‘George’ from London, took advice from their local partners, tapping into the vein of corruption which runs through Beijing’s police to keep business ticking over without too much interference.

“The cops aren’t a problem, we just bung ‘em,” he said, “You know, drop a few notes on the floor and walk off and let them pick them up. Keeps everyone sweet, doesn’t it? They’re not a problem her cops, good as gold in fact.”

Selling tickets for profit is a crime in China punishable by up to two years rigorous imprisonment, not that that stopped George selling the Telegraph two tickets to watch England play Netherlands in the hockey for 1,100 yuan (£77), or ten times their face value.

Asked if he knew his actions were illegal, he said: “It’s not illegal, I don’t think it is. You’re happy, aren’t you? You’ve got your tickets for the game tonight and I’m happy, so what’s the problem? It’s not illegal to me.”

from: telegraph.co.uk

Michael Phelps spent less than 24 hours in the exclusive group of Olympians with nine gold medals. On Wednesday he proved he didn’t like crowds as he won his 10th gold medal in the 200m butterfly and then came back less than an hour later and swam the opening leg of the men’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay en route to his 11th gold as the Americans shattered the world record and became the first team to break the seven minute mark, touching the wall in 6:58.56.

The Americans dominated the pool with their nearest competitor, Russia, coming in at 7:03.70 to claim silver.

Australia finished in third to claim bronze.
Phelps quest for eight gold medals now appears all the more attainable having already collected five at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

from: transworldnews.com

Federica Pellegrini of Italy has won the 200-meter freestyle at the Beijing Olympics, lowering her own world record set a day earlier.

She won in 1 minute, 54.82 seconds, erasing her previous time of 1:55.45.

Sara Isakovic of Slovenia took the silver in 1:54.97. Pang Jiaying of China earned the bronze in 1:55.05, giving the Chinese women their first swimming medal of these games.

American Katie Hoff finished fourth in 1:55.78, the first time in three events she failed to medal.

from: ap.google.com

The Sydney Olympics ran out. Athens doubled the number. So organizers of the Beijing Games are hoping 100,000 condoms will satisfy the needs of Olympic athletes.

While sex is not an Olympic sport it is expected to be an activity in the Beijing village housing 10,500 athletes, all of whom are in great shape and with plenty of free time on their hands once knocked out of the Games.

Athletes have received free condoms at every Olympics since Barcelona in 1992 to help raise awareness of AIDS, and Beijing is no exception.

“There are many young, strong, single people in the athletes’ village and, like everywhere, some will fall in love or other things so we need to make condoms available,” Ole Hansen, spokesman for UNAIDS China, told Reuters.

“A lot of these young people are not married or in relationships so we want to make sure they have the information and tools to protect themselves if they have sexual encounters.”

The UNAIDS, the Beijing organising committee BOCOG and International Olympics Committee are providing 100,000 condoms as part of a campaign on HIV prevention and anti-discrimination.

At the Sydney Games in 2000 athletes quickly exhausted a supply of 70,000 and another 20,000 had to be brought in.

The Foundation for AIDS Research, amfAR, said 100,000 were distributed at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002 after a plan to distribute 250,000 condoms met protests by religious groups and was scaled back.

At Athens in 2004 about 130,000 condoms were distributed.

Hansen said the number available at Beijing was based on previous Games’ experience and in keeping with previous Olympics would be available at medical centres at athletes’ centres in Beijing, Qingdao and Hong Kong rather than put in rooms.

“We have people here from all religions and cultural backgrounds, some of whom may feel uncomfortable or offended with condoms in their room,” he said.

To be discreet, two condoms are tucked inside every a brochure about HIV that are available at medical centres.

“No one can see that you are carrying condoms to save any embarrassment,” said Hansen.

“People are encouraged to take the leaflets and to take as many as they like. They can use them or take them home for friends and spread the knowledge and awareness.”

Chinese condom makers have jumped on the Olympics bandwagon.

One manufacturer, Elasun, has come up with a set of cheeky advertisements featuring a stickman swimming over a rippled condom that looks like a wave, riding two condom rings like a bicycle, and using a condom as a basketball hoop.

Condoms depicting the five Olympics mascots are also for sale on various online sites although nowhere to be seen in official merchandise stories.

from: in.reuters.com

Leisel Jones claimed her first individual Olympic gold medal and Australia’s third in Beijing with a thumping victory in the women’s 100 metres breaststroke final at the Water Cube.

Jones went into the final as a red-hot favourite after swimming more than a second faster than her nearest rival in the semi-final, and comfortably took gold in an Olympic record time of 1:05.17.

Leisel Jones says all that mattered today was to hit the wall first, something she could not manage as an individual in an Olympic event at either the Sydney or Athens Games.

“A little bit of shock, and probably more relief I guess,” she said.

“It has been a long journey. It’s been a long eight years.

“And I think just a lot of relief that the training was definitely worth it. I couldn’t care less about the time.

“An Olympic gold is an Olympic gold. It really didn’t matter how it went, how I raced I couldn’t care less.”

Jones says she was excited before the race.

“I had a pretty bad sleep last night,” she said.

“I woke up and I was just so excited. I think I was excited about racing.

“I was almost skipping out there I was so excited. I really enjoyed it.”

Aiming for London

Jones suggested she would keep swimming with London in 2012 in mind.

“I think I’ve enjoyed it so much, I think I would hate to finish and know there was still a flame burning inside,” she said.

“I think I’ve still got so much more growing to do, and so much more learning.

“Amanda Beard’s on her fourth Olympics, so it’s certainly not out of the question.”

Jones emerged from the blocks at the head of the field slightly in front of compatriot Tarnee White, and split the 50m inside world record time.

She powered away in the final 50m to finish well ahead of American Rebecca Soni (1:06.73) and Austrian Mirna Jukic (1:07.34).

White faded towards the back end of the race to finish in sixth position in a time of 1:07.63.

While she was happy with the gold, Jones says it was her win at the World Championships in Canada in 2005 that remains her proudest achievement.

“Olympic golds are important, but in terms of personal experience and in terms of personal growth I think that was my most important swim.

“Olympic gold is really nice, it’s what we all come here for.

“But certainly Montreal was more about my personal experience.

“And I think that will still reign over this Olympic gold, because I found out so much of myself.

“After Athens I learned so much. And that was my first individual World Championship [gold].

“I think that one probably still is more important to me than this.”

Jones says she managed to stay composed after the race until she saw her coach Rohan Taylor.

“I certainly wasn’t composed once I got through the media and I pretty much lost it when I saw Rohan and then when I saw my mum I just lost it,” she said.

After bursting onto the scene with a silver medal in the 100m in Sydney as a 14-year-old, Jones could not crack gold in the 100m or 200m in Athens, but she says that experience has helped her enjoy her time in Beijing.

“It’s hard at the time to deal with criticism, and I copped a lot of it in Athens,” she said.

“It’s really difficult but it’s made me a much stronger person and has made this performance much sweeter.”

Jones swam 1:05.80 to comfortably win the second semi, ahead of second-fastest qualifier Soni. Jukic started from lane three after recording 1:07.27 in the semis.

from: abc.net.au

Aaron Peirsol set a new Olympic and world record in the 100m backstroke, touching the wall in 52.54 to win gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Peirsol finished more than half a second ahead of fellow American Matt Grevers who claimed silver in 53.11.
The bronze went to Arkady Vyatchanin of Russia and Hayden Stoeckel of Australia, both finished in 53.18.

source: transworldnews.com

US swimmer Michael Phelps joined an elite list of Olympic greats Tuesday becoming only the fifth competitor in history to win nine gold medals.

Phelps added his name to the prestigious group of Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz and Larysa Latynina when he won the men’s 200m freestyle with a world record swim for his third Gold medal in Beijing.

He appears destined to become the greatest Olympian as he continues his quest for an unequalled eight gold medals in one Games here and he said the toughest three races were behind him.

Phelps won six gold medals in Athens four years ago and has already won gold in the 400m individual medley and 4x100m freestyle relay, both in world record time, at Beijing’s futuristic Water Cube pool.

Ahead lie the 200m individual medley, 200m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 4x200m free relay and 4x100m medley relay.

“That’s great,” said Phelps as he emerged from the water after leading all the way in the 200m freestyle final to post a new world record of one minute 42.96.

“I just wanted to be out on my own which I had done by the 100 metres mark, that was my goal,” Phelps said.

“I was out in open water and I was in the middle, which makes it difficult for the other guys to see me.”

Phelps freestyle victory launched a dominant morning for the United States in the pool.

Aaron Peirsol lowered his own world record in winning the men’s 100m backstroke, setting a new mark of 52.54sec, and Natalie Coughlin defended her women’s 100m backstroke crown.

Australian Liesel Jones broke the US stranglehold when she won the women’s 100m breaststroke title.

There are 15 other gold medals on offer Tuesday, and hosts China will be looking to strengthen their grip at the head of the table.

They have nine golds, ahead of the US on six, and are leading contenders in the women’s synchronised 10m diving where Chen Ruolin and Wang Xin start as clear favourites in a sport dominated by China.

China added to its haul Tuesday with the hosts winning the men’s team gymnastics title, and there was joy for shooter Tan Zongliang who grabbed bronze after 12 years of trying.

China bounced back with their gymnasts snuffing out challenges from defending champions Japan and the United States to spark wild celebrations among the cheering home crowd.

It was their second Olympic title following victory in Sydney in 2000 and made amends for a disappointing fifth place in Athens.

China finished on 286.125 points, 7.25 points ahead of Japan on 278.875, while an injury-weakened US team put in a gutsy effort to take bronze.

On the ranges Tan settled for third in the men’s 50m Pistol despite starting the 10-shot final with a seemingly comfortable two-point lead.

But he blew his chance, opening the door to Jin Jong-Oh of South Korea who survived a last-minute scare to win by just 0.2 points ahead of second-placed North Korean Kim Jong-Su.

Nevertheless, it was Tan’s first medal in four Olympics, and coach Wang Yifu was content.

“I think he performed well today, though he didn’t get a gold medal,” said Wang. “Since he has participated in four Games a bronze medal is an historical breakthrough for him.”

South Korea were third in the medals table, picking up a fifth gold Tuesday with Jin’s win.

Germany are vying for their first gold at the Games in Hong Kong where they are leading contenders on the closing day of the team and individual sections of the three-day eventing competition.

Neither Brazil nor France have gold yet either but that could change on Tuesday.

France’s Lucie Decosse is a leading contender in the women’s -63kg as is Brazil’s Tiago Camilo in the men’s -81kg division.

Meanwhile celebrations continued in India after Abhinav Bindra won their first ever individual gold medal on Monday in the men’s 10m Air Rifle event, a performance being rated by cricket legend Kapil Dev as arguably India’s finest sporting achievement.

“This is much, much bigger than the World Cup,” said Dev who captained India to their lone World Cup win in 1983.

Further overnight rain improved conditions for outdoor Olympians, easing the smog over Beijing, patches of blue sky were visible and the midday temperature was an acceptable 27 degrees Celsius (81 Farenheit).

At the tennis venue, Serena Williams took just 44 minutes to dispatch Australia’s Samantha Stosur in her second round singles match with an impressive display that shortened the odds on her making the final.

Incoming men’s number one Rafael Nadal will later face Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt, who last occupied the top ranking in June 2003.

Kobe Bryant and the US all-star basketballers are back in action as well hoping to follow up their big win over China with a victory over Angola.

source: afp.google.com

Italy’s Federica Pellegrini vented her frustration at failing to medal in her favorite race by breaking the world record in a different event during the heats at the Beijing Olympics on Monday.

Pellegrini was inconsolable after finishing fifth in the final of the women’s 400 meters freestyle in the morning but erased some of her angst by smashing the 200 world record in the evening to qualify for Tuesday’s semi-finals.

The finals will be held on Wednesday.

Her performance took the spotlight away, albeit briefly, from Michael Phelps, who eased off but still topped the qualifiers in the 200 butterfly.

Phelps won his second gold medal earlier when he helped the U.S. demolish the 4×100 freestyle relay world record and coasted through his heat in one minute 53.70 seconds, more than a full second outside his world record.

Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh, silver medalist behind Phelps in the 400 individual medley, qualified second fastest with Brazilian Kaio Almeida third.

“I just went out, I won’t say I cruised it. I just swam it and tried to get into the semi-final,” Phelps said.

Australia’s Alicia Coutts led the qualifiers in the women’s 200 individual medley after winning her heat in 2:11.55 ahead of Americans Katie Hoff and Natalie Coughlin, who were both taking it easy to save their energy for their hectic schedules.

Australia’s Stephanie Rice, gold medalist in the 400 individual medley, was also in cruise control to qualify sixth with Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry seventh after she broke Coughlin’s 100 backstroke record during the morning semi-finals.

Pellegrini unleashed a devastating sprint on her last lap to win her heat in 1:55.45 seconds, clipping 0.07 off the previous record set by France’s Laure Manaudou at last year’s world championships in Melbourne.

Slovenia’s European champion Sara Isakovic qualified second fastest with Britain’s Caitlin McClatchey third.

Pellegrini also holds the world record for the 400 freestyle but suffered a surprise loss behind British gold medalist Rebecca Adlington, whose winning time was more than a second outside Pellegrini’s heat time on Sunday.

“I didn’t want to break the world record in the heats,” Pellegrini said. “(But) It made amends for what happened this morning. It shows I’m still able to do it.”

from: reuters.com

President Bush juggled sports, strife and diplomacy Sunday on his whirlwind Olympic adventure, a trip marred by an attack on an American couple and their tour guide.

In a clear reference to China’s tight control of religion, Bush emerged from a church service saying no country should “fear the influence” of freedom of worship. He received regular updates on the military standoff between Russia and Georgia, a former Soviet state. And switching from leader to Olympics fan, Bush watched as Michael Phelps won the gold in the 400-meter individual medley.

Bush’s comments after worshiping with first lady Laura Bush came with added punch as he delivered them in the heart of the Chinese capital during Beijing’s Olympic spotlight.

“You know, it just goes to show that God is universal, and God is love, and no state, man or woman should fear the influence of loving religion,” he said, exiting the church to the strains of “Onward Christian Soldiers.”

China allows worship only in officially approved churches such as the one Bushes visited, so millions of people pray privately in house churches to avoid detection. The Chinese government has bristled at Bush’s prodding as pointless meddling.

Still, Bush raised the issue again when he met later with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

“Once again, I had a very uplifting experience going to a church,” Bush told Hu. “It was a spirit-filled feeling. As you know, I feel very strongly about religion. And I’m so appreciative of the chance to go to church here.”

But the mood was light for the photo opportunity, and there was no other mention of their countries’ simmering dispute over how China represses free expression. The two leaders also were to talk privately about counter terrorism, trade, economic markets and efforts to halt the nuclear weapons capability of Iran and North Korea.

Hu noted that Bush was making his fourth visit to China, more than any American president.

“This is a good testament to the importance you place on U.S. relations with China,” Hu said.

Bush began his day at the Protestant church, entering the sanctuary to sustained applause. The service was delivered nearly entirely in Chinese, but Bush followed along and bowed his head in prayer with a couple hundred other worshipers. His father, former President George H.W. Bush, and the president’s daughter, Barbara, also attended the service, which was closely monitored by Chinese security officers wearing earphones.

A choir of boys and girls wearing white shirts and Jesus fish pins performed “Amazing Grace” in English and Chinese. The children were gathered around Bush as he spoke to reporters outside in the rain.

After church, Bush went to the Water Cube and watched as Michael Phelps set a world record to win his first gold medal of the Olympics, beating rival Ryan Lochte in the 400-meter individual medley. Phelps is trying to break Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals.

After his victory, Phelps pumped both arms in the air, and quickly spotted his mother and two sisters in the massive stands at the Water Cube. He then looked the other way, where Bush, the first lady, their daughter Barbara and his father, former President George H. W. Bush, was waving an American flag.

“I looked up and he waved the flag and nodded his head,” Phelps said. “That was a pretty cool feeling to have the president say congratulations and have him in the crowd.”

Afterward, Bush, his wife, father and daughter went to greet the swim team.

“God what a thrill to cheer for you!” he told Phelps.

Hu also brought up Phelps’ performance before he and Bush sat down for closed-door talks.

“I know you came here from the swimming center and would like to offer you my congratulations on the excellent performance of Mr. Phelps,” Hu said.

While he came to Beijing mainly to have fun at the Olympics, Bush has found himself immersed in a conflict involving Russia, China’s neighbor. A grim and blunt president on Saturday upbraided Moscow over its escalating standoff with Georgia. Bush questioned attacks in parts of Georgia away from South Ossetia, the breakaway province at the center of the fight. He pushed Russia to embrace an international mediation effort by the United States and its European allies.

“The violence is endangering regional peace,” Bush said.

His Saturday schedule juxtaposed moments light and somber, sometimes jarringly so.

He took a rigorous ride on the Olympic mountain biking course, had a try at beach volleyball and laughed it up with members of the U.S. women’s softball team. The president enjoyed the sweat-soaked experience of hanging out with athletes in an unscripted way.

Later came the news that a Chinese man had stabbed the in-laws of the U.S. Olympic men’s volleyball coach, killing one and injuring the other, and stabbed a tour guide, too. The assailant committed suicide by jumping from the tourist site the Americans were visiting. Bush spoke out on the violent act too, expressing sadness about the stabbing.

Bush praised Hu for responding with speed and sympathy to the attack.

“I appreciate that a lot,” Bush told Hu.

Hu expressed “profound sympathy” to Bush and the family members of the victims, saying his government takes the attack “very seriously.” He said the Chinese have launched an investigation and pledged to keep the U.S. appraised.

from: ap.google.com