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Sunday, September 17
Dutch power sets world record
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- Inge de Bruijn, ignoring her
rivals, broke her own world record to win the women's Olympic
100 meters butterfly title Sunday.
|  | | Inge de Bruijn reacts after winning her latest duel against American Jenny Thompson. |
The 27-year-old Dutchwoman, won in 56.61 seconds, bettering the mark of 56.64 she set in Seattle in July. She got the best of American Jenny Thompson, who was second at 50 meters but faded to fifth. Thompson is down to one last chance at a coveted individual Olympic gold -- the only medal color lacking in her illustrious career.
De Bruijn twice lowered the 100 butterfly world mark
earlier this year during a spree in which she left seven world
records broken and one equaled.
Martina Moravcova of Slovakia took the silver in 57.97 and
American Dara Torres the bronze in 58.20.
"It was such a big dream for me and it finally happened,"
De Bruijn said. "I didn't know where I was (during the swim). I didn't
look at anyone."
Martina Moravcova of Slovakia won silver in 57.97 seconds.
American Dara Torres of Beverly Hills, Calif., making a comeback at
age 33 after seven years away from swimming, won bronze in 58.20.
"I wasn't happy with my time, but I'm coming home with an
individual medal," Torres said. "Who would've thought a year ago
I would be coming home with a medal?"
De Bruijn lowered the 100 fly world mark for the third time this
year, having first done so in May and again in July. In Saturday's
preliminaries, she tuned up with an Olympic record.
"I was flying through the water. It felt like a trance," said
De Bruijn, who cried on the awards podium. "This is what I've been
working for years and now I'm standing at the top."
Thompson, who owns six career Olympic gold medals in relays,
finished in 58.73 -- well over her personal best of 57.59.
"I don't know what to say. I gave it my best effort. I really
tightened up at the end," she said. "I went in with a good state
of mind. I guess I wanted it too much. I just lost it, I guess."
Thompson's last chance to win her first individual gold is in
the 100 free, which begins Wednesday. She won her sixth relay gold
Saturday, anchoring the U.S. women to a world record in the 400
free relay.
De Bruijn's meteoric rise -- she won her first major
titles only a year ago -- has sparked the familiar suspicions about
performance-enhancing drugs.
De Bruijn, who holds the world record in three Olympic events,
has brushed off the whispers, but critics wonder if she will be the
Michelle Smith of the Sydney Olympics.
Smith won three golds in Atlanta, but was banned in 1998 for
four years for manipulating a urine sample. Always maintaining her
innocence, she lost an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport
last year and then announced her retirement.
Domenico Fioravanti won Italy's first-ever Olympic gold in the
100 breaststroke, setting an Olympic record of 1:00.46.
Ed Moses, a 20-year-old from Burke, Va., won silver in 1:00.73.
Roman Sloudnov of Russia took bronze in 1:00.91.
"I'm walking away with a silver and I had a chance for a
gold," said Moses, who gave up golf to concentrate on swimming.
"After three years of swimming, I'm pretty happy."
Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands broke Ian Thorpe's
world record in the 200 free semifinals. Van den Hoogenband swam
1:45.35, lowering the mark of 1:45.51 that Australia's Thorpe set
in the same pool in May.
"I was so surprised. Then again, I was so relaxed in the
water," van den Hoogenband said. "It felt amazing. Now it
promises to be a great final."
Thorpe, already a double gold medalist in Sydney, swam in the
second heat and missed taking back the world mark by two-hundredths
of a second. He qualified second fastest in 1:45.37.
"His record didn't affect my performance," Thorpe said. "You
know you're not guaranteed to be able to swim any specific times.
I'm happy with how I'm going."
American Josh Davis of San Antonio, Texas, qualified fourth in
1:47.06. Scott Goldblatt of Scotch Plains, N.J., failed to make
Monday's eight-man final.
World record holder Lenny Krayzelburg of Studio City, Calif.,
led all qualifiers in 54.32 seconds for the 100 backstroke.
Krayzelburg didn't wear a cap and chose a traditional suit over the
revolutionary full-length suit.
Australian Matthew Welsh was second-quickest in 54.52, followed
by countryman Josh Watson in 54.93. Neil Walker of Verona, Wis.,
qualified fifth.
Sarah Poewe of South Africa upstaged countrywoman Penny Heyns as
the fastest qualifier in the 100 breaststroke semifinals. Poewe led
the way in 1:07.38, followed by Agnes Kovacs of Germany in 1:07.79.
Heyns, the defending Olympic champion, qualified fifth in
1:08.33 -- well off her world record of 1:06.52 set in the Olympic
pool in August 1999.
Megan Quann, a 17-year-old from Puyallup, Wash., was third
quickest in 1:07.79.
Diana Mocanu of Romania led all qualifiers for Monday's
eight-woman 100 backstroke final. Mocanu swam 1:00.70 in the
semifinals. B.J. Bedford of Etna, N.H., qualified fifth in 1:01.61.
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