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BEIJING—Michael Phelps jumped off the starting blocks
and started his race to history Sunday, winning the 400
individual medley (IM) for the first of his possible
eight gold medals.
The
American swimmer won the race in style, setting a world
record of 4 minutes and 3.84 seconds.
“That
was a pretty emotional race,” Phelps said. “I knew it
was going to be a tough race all the way through.”
This
race had been considered to be Phelps’ toughest test,
but the American swimmer looked impressive all the way.
Laszlo Cseh of Hungary took the silver in 4:06.16, while
Ryan Lochte of the United States faded to third in
4:08.09—more than 4 seconds behind.
The only
glitch came during the playing of “The Star-Spangled
Banner,” which cut off a few seconds before the end.
There
were 14 gold medals to be won Sunday, but most eyes were
on the four main events in the pool—at least until
Chinese superstar Yao Ming plays later in the day
against the United States in men’s basketball.
Stephanie Rice of Australia won the women’s 400 IM in a
world record time of 4:29.45. Kirsty Coventry of
Zimbabwe was second in 4:29.89, and Katie Hoff of the
United States took bronze in 4:31.71.
“I sort
of turned around and thought I saw 4:31 and I was
thinking, ‘That hurt a lot for a 4:31,”’ Rice said. “But
when I walked over and saw the 4:29, I thought, ‘That’s
amazing.”’
Park
Tae-hwan of South Korea won the men’s 400 freestyle,
snapping Australia’s dominance of the event at the
Olympics.
Park,
the current world champion, finished in 3:41.86. Zhang
Lin of China earned his country’s first swimming medal
of the Games, claiming silver in 3:42.78, and Larsen
Jensen of the United States took the bronze in 3:42.78.
In the
women’s 4x100 relay, the Netherlands won gold in
3:33.76, edging the United States and Australia.
The
start of the Olympic tennis tournament, with Roger
Federer and Rafael Nadal entered in the men’s
competition and top-ranked Jelena Jankovic in doubt for
her match with a sore right calf, was delayed by rain.
More
gold medals will be awarded in archery, cycling,
synchronized diving, fencing, judo, shooting and
weightlifting.
Yao, who plays
for the Houston Rockets, is China’s greatest athletic
superstar, but United States coach Mike Krzyzewski is
prepared.
“He’s
not going to score 100 points, and we hope to come close
to scoring 100 points,” Krzyzewski said. “I think you
have to make sure that he doesn’t dominate the game.”
The
United States, which includes Kobe Bryant and LeBron
James, may be the favorite, but defending champion
Argentina, world champion Spain and European champion
Russia are also medal contenders.
Argentina
faces Lithuania on Sunday, while Spain is playing 2005
European champion Greece and Russia is taking on Iran.
The
US-China match, however, is likely to be the marquee
event of the day.
“I think
that is going to be one of the most-watched games in
sports history,” United States forward Carmelo Anthony
said. “It’s going to be exciting.” (AP) |
