|
The ink was not yet dry on Michael Phelpss 19-medal record when he picked up his 20th on Thursday night. Kellen Clemens Jersey . Two nights after the American swimmer surpassed Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina to become the most decorated Olympian of all time, he won his first individual gold medal of the London 2012 Olympic Games in the mens 200-metre individual medley. With the win, Phelps set yet another record: he became the first male swimmer to win the same Olympic title at three consecutive Games. The 27-year-old got off to a slow start at these Games, his last, with a surprising and disappointing fourth-place finish in the mens 400m IM on Day 1 of the London event. His mouth seemed etched in a grim line after that, the first time Phelps had failed in an attempt to reach the Olympic podium since the 2000 Games in Sydney. "It was just a crappy race," he told reporters at the time. But Phelps looked a different swimmer in Thursdays final, his shoulders almost visibly higher without the weight of his 19-medal goal. Phelps swam the 200m IM final in lane five next to rival and teammate Ryan Lochte. The two American swimmers have traded wins in this event in recent years, with Phelps holding the 2008 Olympic title in the event, and Lochte, title from a world-record breaking 2011 Worlds. At their last meeting, Phelps edged Lochte, also 27, to the wall at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in June. Phelps won that showdown by nine-hundredths of a second -- barely a fingernail. Ahead of the final showdown, Phelps drew his rival aside. "I said to him in the meet room, This is our last 200m of the meet and our last 200m together," he said. "We were just joking around, just laughing about it. Ryan has probably been one of the toughest competitors ever to swim against." With a strong start off the blocks on Thursday, Phelps was the first swimmer to complete the butterfly portion of his four-stroke race. Lochte, who had the opportunity to win two gold medals within a 35-minute span on Thursday, had already fallen markedly short in that quest. In his first event on the night before his 28th birthday, the 200m backstroke had finished a disappointing third. And as he completed the first three lengths of his last race of the London 2012 Olympic Games, the 10-time Olympic medallist found himself in third place yet again. Trailing behind both Phelps and Hungarian Laszlo Cseh, Lochte was almost a full second out of the lead. It was then that the Phelps vs. Lochte duel in the pool finally began to take shape. The reigning world record holder, Lochte turned on the speed in the final stretch to overtake Cseh and challenge Phelps for the lead. But it was too little too late from the near-28-year-old, simply unable to catch his decorated American teammate. Phelps touched the wall first by almost two strokes, posting a time of one minute, 54.27 seconds for the win. His time was just 0.27 seconds off the world record Lochte set at the 2011 Worlds and four-hundredths of a second off his own pace from Beijing 2008. "If somebody told me with 25m to go, I was under world-record pace?" Phelps began, "Its kind of frustrating to be a little short but to be able to win the gold medal and repeat three times is something pretty special. "Im pretty pleased with gold." Lochte finished second in 1:54.90, missing the gold medal for his second straight race on Thursday night, while Cseh was third with a time of 1:56.22. "It was really difficult," Lochte said of his attempted double. "But you know what? Its what Ive been training for for the past four years and I cant really be upset. Im coming home to my country with five Olympic medals." Phelps lingered in his victory lap around the pool, his 16th gold medal dangling around his neck as he smiled and waved to the crowd. Scheduled to race in the 100m butterfly semi-final not long after, he was soon herded towards the ready room. Phelps continued his momentum into the semi-final race, posting the fastest time of the two heats to advance into Fridays final. Phelps will race his final event, the 4x100m medley relay, on Saturday. He has said he will retire following these London Games. "This is my last semi-final race," he said. "Its my last of everything." Thomas Keiser Jersey . A couple days removed from the Raptors most recent defeat, a triple overtime loss to the Washington Wizards, Dwane Casey is still making notes, having reviewed the game tape two or three times since Thursday night. http://www.authenticchargersshop.com/Elite-Antonio-Gates-San-Diego-Chargers-Jersey-Womens-Nike-Nfl-85-C-Patch-White-Road-75 . The All-Star outfielder and the Yankees agreed Friday to a $45 million, three-year contract, two people familiar with the deal said. WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- Azahara Munoz and Austin Ernst had strong finishes Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Kingsmill Championship at 6-under 65. The former NCAA individual champions completed their morning rounds on the front nine at Kingsmills River Course, with Munoz birdieing four of her last seven holes, and Ernst closing with birdies on No. 7 and 9. "I dont think its easy," Munoz said. "The wind is pretty tricky, but the pins were somewhat accessible. Obviously, the course is playing is much shorter than normal because its warmer and drier. Holes I had been having 4-irons in, I was having 9-irons in today." Munoz had a bogey-free round, saving par with a 10-foot putt on the par-3 second -- her 11th hole -- after hitting into a greenside bunker. The Spaniard lost a playoff to Paula Creamer in Singapore in March when Creamer made a 75-foot eagle putt on the second extra hole. "Ive been having a much better attitude," said Munoz, the 2008 NCAA winner at Arizona State who won the 2012 Match Play Championship for her lone tour title. "When I miss a shot, I dont let it get to me so much like I used to. I used to get pretty upset, and that really hurt me." Ernst, the 2011 NCAA winner at LSU, rebounded from a bogey on the par-4 first with an eagle on the par-5 third, hitting a 6-iron from 182 yards to 10 feet on the downwind hole. "Really just solid," Ernst said. "Gave myself a lot of looks, hit a lot of greens and made it really easy on myself out there on a day when it was pretty windy and it could kind of get away from you a little bit." Heavy rain was expected overnight and Friday morning, likely delaying second-round play. "Well just kind of see," Ernst said. "Im kind of glad Im in the afternoon tomorrow. That way I dont have to kind of hang out. If it does get delayed, youre not waiting on the update every 30 minutes." South Koreass Hee Young Park shot 66. Eric Weddle Chargers Jersey. "Everything is pretty good," Park said. "I made a lot more putts." Defending champion Cristie Kerr opened with a 67 after missing the pro-am Wednesday because of illness. She also won the Michelob Ultra at the course in 2005 and 2009. "It was weird. I started feeling really bad Tuesday night," Kerr said. "I woke up and just didnt want to get out of bed. Just kind of knew something was wrong. I just was going to stay in bed and try to recover, but my husband was like, You got to go see a doctor. So I went, and he was like, You have heat exhaustion and maybe something else going on. So they took me to the hospital and gave my IV fluids and ran some tests and I had an infection." Lexi Thompson, the Kraft Nabisco winner, also was in the group at 67 along with Lizette Salas, Brittany Lang, Kathleen Ekey, Danielle Kang and Thidapa Suwannnapura. "Overall, Ill definitely take 4 under," Thompson said. "I feel really good about my game right now. Ive worked extremely hard in my off-season, especially on my short game. I put a lot of hours and hard work into it. To see it paying off definitely helps my confidence out." Jessica Korda, Yani Tseng and Ai Miyazato topped the group at 68. Second-ranked Stacy Lewis and No. 3 Lydia Ko, both in position to take the top spot in the world ranking from Inbee Park, each shot 70. Lewis would jump to No. 1 with a victory or a solo second-place finish, as long as Ko doesnt win. Ko needs a victory to move to No. 1. Park is skipping the tournament. Lewis won the North Texas LPGA Shootout two weeks ago. The 17-year-old Ko is coming off a victory three weeks ago in the Swinging Skirts event in California. "I think Im hitting the ball really well, which is a really good sign," Ko said. "So, hopefully, I can hit like this the next couple days and get some putts going in." ' ' ' |
