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Jimcs50
08-17-2004, 03:19 PM
Phelps wins gold in 200 fly,
800-meter freestyle relay
Medals are U.S. swimmer’s fourth, fifth of Games

Anja Niedringhaus / AP
Phelps swam the first half of the 200 butterfly below world-record pace, but he tired and had to fend off a late charge by Japan's Takashi Yamamoto.
NBCSports.com news services
Updated: 2:04 p.m. ET Aug. 17, 2004ATHENS, Greece - His quest to surpass Mark Spitz out of the way, Michael Phelps got back to winning gold.

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The 19-year-old from Baltimore claimed his second and third gold medals of the Athens Games in the 200-meter butterfly and 800-meter freestyle relay Tuesday night, though he was a bit disappointed at failing to break his own world record in the butterfly.

Phelps held off Takashi Yamamoto to win the 200 butterfly in an Olympic-record 1 minute, 54.01 seconds. The hard-charging Japanese swimmer took silver (1:54.56), while Great Britain’s Stephen Parry won bronze (1:55.22).

In the 800-meter freestyle relay, Phelps and teammates Ryan Lochte, Peter Vanderkaay and Klete Keller barely edged out Ian Thorpe-led Australia with a time of 7:07.33.

Phelps has three golds and two bronze medals in the fourth day of the Olympic meet, easily making him the most decorated swimmer. He had hoped to challenge Spitz’s record of seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Games, but that effort ended with third-place finishes in the 400 freestyle relay and 200 free.

Phelps went out strong in the fly — one of his best events — and reached the midway point under his world-record pace. He tired a bit at the end, falling short of the 1:53.93 that he set at last year’s world championships.

Phelps turned quickly to look at the scoreboard, giving a timid fist pump when he saw his winning time.

“The third 50 was something that could have been better,” he said. “I’m happy for the gold medal, but I really wanted the record.”

Phelps didn’t have to swim in the morning for the first time, sitting out the preliminaries of the relay.

“I got to sleep in today, so I got a little bit of rest,” he said. “I’ll put all my energy into the relay.”

In the night’s first final, Camelia Potec of Romania won gold in the 200 free, coming from behind in an outside lane. Potec finished in 1:58.03 to beat out Federica Pellegrini, a 16-year-old Italian. The teenager earned the silver in 1:58.22, while Solenne Figues of France took bronze in 1:58.45.

Franziska van Almsick of Germany, competing in her third Olympics at age 26, finished fifth in 1:58.88. The world record-holder is a two-time silver medalist in the event.

Dana Vollmer, a 16-year-old from Fort Worth, Texas, was sixth in 1:58.98. She has a rare condition that could cause her heart to beat rapidly, then suddenly stop. If that happens, death can occur within minutes.

American Lindsay Benko surprisingly failed to make the final.

In the 200 fly, defending Olympic champion Tom Malchow made the final, but wasn’t the same swimmer as four years ago.

Bothered by a torn tendon in his right shoulder, he finished last at 1:57.48 — more than two seconds slower than his winning time in 2000. Still, he fulfilled his role as co-captain of the U.S. men’s team, waiting on deck to congratulate Phelps, the man who took his Olympic title.

The Americans got an even bigger shocker in the morning. Their top sprinters, Jason Lezak and Ian Crocker, both failed to advance out of the preliminaries of the 100 free.

That’s not all: Two-time Olympic champion Alexander Popov of Russia failed to advance from the semifinals.

Crocker was 17th in 49.73 seconds — missing the semis by one-hundredth of a second. He has been sick with a sore throat since the swimming competition began Saturday.

“I’m trying to ignore it,” Crocker said. “I keep telling myself I’m getting better.”

Lezak was worse, finishing 20th with a time of 49.87 seconds — far off his personal best of 48.17, which was the top qualifying time coming into Athens. The 28-year-old from Irvine, Calif., made a costly tactical error.

“I usually go out hard and try to hang on,” he said. “This time, I tried to go out easy and pick it up at the end. But that’s not how I swim. I just couldn’t pick it up.”

This will be the first time the United States doesn’t have at least one swimmer in the 100 free final of a nonboycotted Olympics. The United States has 12 golds, nine silvers and seven bronzes in the sprint event.

American Gary Hall Jr. won silver in 1996 and a bronze four years ago, but he didn’t qualify for the 100 this time. His only individual event is the 50 free.

Popov, who won the 100 at Barcelona and Atlanta and took second at Sydney, missed the final by two-100ths of a second, edged by Thorpe for the last spot. Defending Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband will be back to defend his title, swimming the second-fastest time of the semis behind South African Roland Schoeman.

Swimming - Men's 200-meter Butterfly (medals: Aug. 17th)
Medal Athlete Country Result
Gold Michael Phelps United States 1:54.04 OR
Silver Takashi Yamamoto Japan 1:54.56
Bronze Stephen Parry Britain 1:55.52
• NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results



© 2004 NBC Sports.com

Bandit2981
08-17-2004, 11:33 PM
in the future, can you please not post olympic results in the subject line? it kinda ruins it for some who only can watch in the evening hours after work :)

Jimcs50
08-17-2004, 11:37 PM
sorry, but it is on every news brief on the radio and tv all day long...besides, it makes it enjoyable when you know that he won. :)

DuffMcCartney
08-18-2004, 12:00 AM
He ain't gonna get the record anyway...the most he can win is 6 I think...maybe less.

Jimcs50
08-18-2004, 12:17 AM
Actually Duff, he is almost guaranteed 8 medals which is an all time Olympic record is every sport.

Pooh
08-18-2004, 12:22 AM
They mentioned the name of the Russian who won 8 gold medals in the 1980 games in Gymnastics. But Phelps should bring home at least 8 medals total.

TastesLikeChicken
08-18-2004, 01:32 AM
He ain't gonna get the record anyway...the most he can win is 6


I know, what kind of pussy only wins 6 gold medals? Geez, maybe put a little effort into it next time Phelps.

Jimcs50
08-18-2004, 10:06 AM
Pooh, that Russian won in the 1980 Games, a Games that was not attended by most of the free world....those medals were tainted and mean almost nothing. If you remember, Carter banned our country from attending and all our allies followed suit.