Issue No. 598
Sports
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8 - 14 August 2002 Issue No. 598 Sports |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
A fiesta of gold
As the warmer temperatures peak around the world, two of the most celebrated swimming events are witnessed by the world. Last week was that time, and the global swimming community paid tribute to two shining stars, Australia's Ian Thorpe, and Germany's Franziska Van Almsick.
Click to view captionAustralia's Ian Thorpe collected six gold medals and one silver in the Commonwealth Games in Manchester
The Commonwealth Games in Manchester
Swimmer Ian Thorpe finished-off the sporting action at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday by winning a sixth gold medal and earning himself a special place in the 72-year history of the event.
The 19-year-old Australian became the first man to win an aggregate 10 Commonwealth titles, when he anchored Australia to victory in the men's 4x100 metres medley relay in the last race of the 11-day Games.
The only other competitor to achieve the feat was Australian female swimmer Susie O'Neill, who won 10 titles between 1990 and 1998. Only two other competitors have won six golds at one Games -- O'Neill in 1998, and Canadian swimmer Graham Smith in 1978.
Thorpe has been the most high- profile performer of the Games. He carried Australia's flag at Sunday's closing ceremony where disabled South African swimmer Natalie du Toit was presented with an award as the outstanding athlete of the event.
The 18-year-old, who lost part of her left leg in a motorcycling accident last year, won golds in the women's multi- disability 50 and 100 metres freestyle events. But it was reaching the 800 metres final -- open to all swimmers -- that gave her the most pleasure.
Thorpe won gold in the 100, 200 and 400 metres freestyle -- the first swimmer to win all three -- and the 4x100 and 4x200 freestyle relays and 4x100 medley relay. He also broke his own world record in the 400 metres. Sharing victory in the medley relay was fellow world champion Matt Welsh -- the only man to beat Thorpe when he relegated him to silver in Saturday's 100 metres backstroke, denying him seven golds.
"It's been a fantastic Games, not only for Australia but for all teams. I'm just pleased to have been part of it," Thorpe, who won four golds at the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur, said. "It's been a very successful Games for me personally, as well as everybody else."
Australia -- the most successful country in the history of the Games -- grabbed six of the last seven titles on offer at the pool to finish with 27 of the 42 swimming golds.
Petria Thomas confirmed her place as the outstanding female swimmer of the Games when she won two gold medals to take her total for the week to five. The 26-year-old won the 200 butterfly individual race to complete a 50-100-200 butterfly treble, then featured in the Australian women's victory in the medley relay.
Grant Hackett picked up his third gold when he retained his 1,500 freestyle title with a leisurely swim. Jim Piper won the men's 200 breaststroke and Jennifer Reilly took the women's 400 individual medley to complete the superb Australian display.
England were second in the total with 10, after failing to add to their tally on the final night. The only medal that was not won by Australia on Sunday was the men's 50 freestyle, which went to South African Roland Schoeman.
The European Swimming Championship in Berlin
Franziska van Almsick won her fifth gold medal of the European swimming championships on Sunday, leading Germany's 4x100 metres medley relay team to a European record.
Van Almsick -- celebrating an awesome return to the top after years of disappointment -- swam the butterfly leg to power the resurgent German quartet below the record set by the German team at the 1991 world championships with a time of four minutes 01.54 seconds.
The 24-year-old Berliner had broken her eight-year-old world record in the 200 metres freestyle last Saturday evening, but still had enough left in her arms to swim the fastest butterfly split -- 57.48 seconds -- before a frenzied home crowd of 4,000.
"It was a wonderful conclusion to the championships and absolutely unbelievable that we broke the European record to boot," said Van Almsick, who burst into the limelight with two surprise medals at the 1992 Olympics aged 14 before suffering from years of erratic performances and withering criticism.
Van Almsick also won gold in the 100 metres freestyle, the 4x200 metres relay and the 4x100 metres relay -- which also set a world record in the fast Berlin pool.
It was, overall, a moving event for the swimmer. Moments after breaking the elusive 200 metres record on Saturday she fell to her knees and sobbed with joy.
The charismatic Van Almsick, whose heroics in the 1990s turned swimming into a major sport in Germany, tried to brush aside speculation she would retire after the championships.
"I've first got to digest all this success," said Van Almsick, who earlier in the week said she might quit after a perfect race. "I'm not going to say anything else now."
On the final day, sprint favourites Alexander Popov and Pieter Van den Hoogenband were unexpectedly beaten in the men's 50 metres freestyle by Bartosz Kizierowski of Poland. The unheralded Kizierowski, 25, won his first major gold medal by beating the two dominant sprinters of the last decade in a time of 22.18 seconds.
Two-time Olympic champion Van den Hoogenband of Holland, who won gold in the 100 and 200 metres this week, had to settle for fourth in 22.34 while Russian world record holder Popov was fifth in 22.35.
Less than an hour later, Popov gained a measure of revenge, anchoring Russia in the 4x100m men's medley relay with a solid time of 47.85 to bring his team back from fourth to the gold medal in the final 100 metres.
There was further joy for Polish swimmers when Otylia Jedrejczak won the women's 200m butterfly in a world record time of 2:05.78. Jedrejczak beat the previous record of 2:05.81 set by Susan O'Neill of the United States in May 2000.
It was the fifth world record of the week-long competition, confirming the three-year-old Berlin pool's reputation as one of the fastest in the world. On top of that, six European records were also lowered.
"I knew I was in top form but I never dreamt of being capable of achieving such an incredible time," she said. "It seems that today is a great day for Poland," said Kizierowski, who also took bronze in the 50 metres backstroke.
Although overshadowed by Van Almsick, Ukraine's Yana Klochkova -- a two-time Olympic champion -- won her third gold medal on Sunday with a victory in the women's 400m freestyle in 4:07.10, just 0.14 ahead of Eva Risztov of Hungary.
"That was a very, very tight race," Klochkova said. "I had the luckier hand in the touch. Three gold medals in Berlin. It couldn't have gone better."
While Risztov won her fourth silver medal, she was unhappy.
"I'm really disappointed," she said. "My fourth silver medal and I was beaten so very narrowly."
In the women's 50m freestyle, double Olympic silver medalist Therese Alshammar won the gold in a time of 24.84.
Between the week's two events, the famous quote of Thomas Hardy echoed, continually, across the water.
"Once a winner," he had written, "Always a winner. That's the rule."
This past week, it certainly was.
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