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Phelps joins the pantheon of greats

Peirsol sinks his own world record while winning the 100m backstroke

— Photo: AFP

AT FULL THROTTLE: Aaron Peirsol was simply unstoppable in the 100m backstroke event.

BEIJING: Michael Phelps put on another dominating performance at the Beijing Olympics, winning the 200m freestyle with a third straight world record on Tuesday.

The American’s ninth career gold medal tied him with Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, Paavo Nurmi and Larysa Latynina for the most in Olympic history.

Racing out of lane six, Phelps quickly surged to the lead and led by a full body length halfway through the second of four laps. He was nearly two seconds ahead of the field when he touched in 1m 42.96s, breaking the mark of 1:43.86 he set at last year’s World championships.

“I just wanted to be out at the 50m point and that’s where I was,” Phelps said. “I was in open water and it was difficult for the other guys to see me.”

Park Tae-hwan of South Korea took the silver in 1:44.85, touching while Phelps was already looking at the scoreboard. Peter Vanderkaay, one of Phelps’s training partners, gave the U.S. another medal by claiming the bronze in 1:45.14.

“I knew Park is strong in the last 50m,” Phelps said of the 400m freestyle gold medallist. “So I knew I had to be fast and concentrated.”

On course

Phelps is now 3-for-3 in Beijing, keeping him on course to beat Spitz’s 36-year-old record of seven golds in a single Olympics. He opened with a world record in the 400m individual medley, then led a victory in the 4x100m freestyle relay.

“Phelps swam so fast,” Park said of the 200 freestyle. “It is my honour to compete with him.”

Phelps will go for his fourth medal and 10th overall on Wednesday in the 200m butterfly, yet another event in which he holds the world record. He qualified for the final in an Olympic record time of 1:53.70, tying his time from the preliminaries.

Aaron Peirsol won the men’s 100 backstroke, defending his title with a world-record time and extending the United States’ dominance of the event.

Peirsol finished in 52.54, lowering his old mark of 52.89 set at last month’s U.S. trials.

Teammate Matt Grevers earned the silver in 53.11. Arkady Vyatchanin of Russia and Hayden Stoeckel of Australia tied for the bronze in 53.18.

The Americans have won the men’s 100m backstroke at four consecutive Olympics, with Peirsol taking the title at the 2004 Athens Games in a time that was 0.17 seconds slower.

Coughlin’s feat

Natalie Coughlin won the 100m backstroke, becoming the first woman ever to defend her title in the event. She finished in 58.96s, briefly going under world-record pace at the 50m mark.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Coughlin said. “I knew when I saw the ‘1’ by my name, because at first I thought I saw the clock wrong. It’s a great feeling.”

World record holder Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe earned the silver in 59.19. Margaret Hoelzer of the United States took the bronze in 59.34. Six of the eight finalists swam under 1 minute.

Coughlin earned her second medal of the Beijing Games, having won a silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Coventry was the silver medallist in the 400m individual medley.

Lethal Leisel

Australia’s breaststroke queen Leisel Jones was finally crowned Olympic champion.

‘Lethal Leisel’ is the reigning world champion and world record holder in both breaststroke events, yet an Olympic gold medal has eluded her since a traumatic campaign at the 2004 Athens Games.

Jones (22) was two-tenths of a second under world record pace at the turn and the record eluded her by just 8/100ths of a second, but it was the Olympic gold that mattered.

“I am delighted, I couldn’t care less about the time,” Jones said. “An Olympic gold is an Olympic gold, the time, the race, none of it matters — it’s all about the gold.”

American Rebecca Soni claimed the silver medal in 1:06.73 with Austria’s Mirna Jukic third in 1:07.34. — AP

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