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| United States' Michael Phelps throws his goggles after setting a new world record and winning the gold in the men's 200-meter butterfly final during the swimming competitions. |
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Michael Phelps swam into history as the Olympic athlete to win the most golds ever with his 10th career gold medal and fourth world record of the Beijing Games. A day after etching his name alongside Mark Spitz and Carl Lewis, Paavo Nurmi and Larysa Latynina with gold No. 9, Phelps claimed the record when he won the 200-meter butterfly in 1 minute, 52.03 seconds, lowering his old mark of 1:52.09 set at last year's world championships in Australia.
Laszlo Cseh of Hungary took the silver in 1:52.70. Takeshi Matsuda of Japan got the bronze in 1:52.97.
Phelps had a problem with his goggles but that didn't keep him from touching first. He now has four more chances to stretch his lead before he leaves China. He was scheduled to come back later in the morning to swim the leadoff of the 800 freestyle relay for the heavily favored Americans. In the fly, his signature stroke, Phelps was second at the first flip, then pushed it into another gear, his long arms gobbling up huge chunks of water. He barely smiled as he looked at the board, breathing heavily and hanging on the lane rope. Phelps rubbed his eyes and said climbing from the pool, ``I can't see anything.'' A pair of leaky goggles kept him from even seeing the wall as he finished. Still, it was another gold and another record, taking Phelps halfway to his goal of beating Spitz's record of seven gold medals in a single games.
``My goggles kept filling up with water during the race,'' he said. ``I wanted a world record, I wanted 1:51 or better, but in the circumstances not too bad I guess.''
Setting the tone, three worlds records fell before Phelps even walked on deck. In the semifinals of the 100 free, Australia's Eamon Sullivan and France's Alain Bernard exchanged the record Sullivan set two days earlier. In the first heat, Bernard won in 47.20 to knock down Sullivan's mark of 47.24 from the leadoff leg of the memorable 400 free relay. The new record lasted all of 2 minutes. Sullivan won the second heat in 47.05, setting up a thrilling showdown in Thursday's final. ``Records don't mean much,'' Sullivan said. ``They don't win medals at the end of the day, unfortunately. But it gives me confidence that I can swim my own race under pressure.''
American Jason Lezak, who chased down Bernard in the relay, advanced to the final with the sixth-best time, 47.98. Then it was Federico Pelligrini's turn. The Italian broke the mark she set a day earlier in the women's 200 free semifinals, winning gold in 1:54.82. The old record was 1:55.45. Sara Isakovic of Slovenia claimed the bronze in 1:54.97, and China's Pang Jiaying thrilled the home fans by passing Katie Hoff of the U.S. on the final lap to take bronze in 1:55.05.
It was another disappointment for Hoff, who looked to be one of the big stories of the game when he qualified in five individual events the same number as Phelps. The 19-year-old American, who considers Phelps her big brother, has yet to match his success in the water. In her first two races, Hoff settled for a bronze and a silver, which look pretty good after she faded out of the medal hunt in the 200 free, finishing 0.63 behind Pang. ``I would have liked to get medal, but I got my first personal best of the meet and I think that's a good effort,'' said Hoff, who finished in 1:55.78. ``I can't be upset with that, and I'm just moving on to the next heat.'' Hoff had a chance to make up for her diappointment; she also was in the final of the 200 individual medley.
An inspiring Olympic story came to an end in the semifinals of the 200 breaststroke. Eric Shanteau, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer just before the U.S. Olympic trials and put off surgery until after the games, failed to advance to the final. He finished sixth in his semifinal heat and 10th overall, 13-hundredths of a second out of the last spot into the final. Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, trying for his second straight sweep of the breaststroke events, cruised along as the top qualifier at 2:08.61. He already won the 100 with a world record after taking both golds in Athens four years ago.
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