Aug 13, 2008 11 min read

Phelps collects 11th career Olympic gold medal

BEIJING (AP) – Michael Phelps won his fifth Olympic gold medal Wednesday, swimming the leadoff leg of the 800-meter freestyle relay and helping the United States smash the old world record by 4.68 seconds. Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay led the entire race, winning in 6 minutes, 58.56 seconds. That bettered the old mark of 7:03.24 set by the U.S. at last year’s world championships in Australia.

Phelps earned his 11th career gold medal and second of the day. About an hour earlier, he won the 200 butterfly. He is 5-for-5 with world records in each of his events.

Russia took the silver in 7:03.70. Australia earned the bronze in 7:04.98.

Earlier he won the 200-meter butterfly to collect his 10th career gold medal – more than any of the tens of thousands of athletes who have competed in any sport at the 29 Summer Games since 1896. This one made him 4-for-4 in Beijing, with the added feat of setting a world record each time.

Phelps lowered this mark by “only” 0.06, and he looked more worn out at race’s end than he has all week. Fatigue perhaps. Or maybe he was just saving every ounce of energy, knowing he had a leg of the 800-meter freestyle relay in less than an hour.

Win it and Phelps will be more than halfway to his goal of eight gold medals to break Mark Spitz’s record of seven at one Olympics, a record some thought would never fall.

Then again, folks might have never thought anyone would match the nine career gold won by Finland’s Paavo Nurmi until Russia’s Laysa Latynina came along. Then Spitz did it. Then Carl Lewis. No one could get it to double digits, though, not until this 23-year-old phenom from Baltimore.

“He’s not just winning, he’s absolutely destroying everything,” teammate Aaron Peirsol said. “It’s awesome to watch.”

Phelps’ four golds are half the U.S. team total. The Americans lead the medal race 23-20 over China, although the Chinese have a 13-8 lead in golds. Other than the U.S., no country has as many total medals as China has of the very best color.

Also at the Water Cube on Wednesday morning, Phelps’ pseudo sister, fellow Baltimore native Katie Hoff, finished fourth in the 200 freestyle, marking her first nonmedal finish in three events here. She’s still looking for her first gold, too. Italy’s Federica Pellegrini won it in a world-record time. Another world record fell in the men’s 100 freestyle semifinals, with Australia’s Eamon Sullivan regaining the top spot he’s been trading with France’s Alain Bernard.

The exciting start to Day 5 continues the excitement of Day 4 in Beijing.

There were a bunch more medals and records at the pool, plus cancer patient Eric Shanteau getting into the semifinals of the 200-meter breaststroke. There was the practically flawless performance by China’s men’s gymnasts and the plucky bronze for the Hamm-less U.S. men. There was superb pitching and powerful hitting in a record rout by the U.S. women’s softball team.

Softball

Four no-hit innings from the starter. An inside-the-park home run and two of the over-the-fence variety. A record number of runs ending things after five innings.

Yep, the Americans are back to their old tricks on the softball diamond, beating Venezuela 11-0 for their 15th straight Olympic victory.

Jennie Finch was the pitching star, with the homers coming from Natasha Watley, Crystl Bustos and Caitlin Lowe, whose shot didn’t leave the yard.

“It was a great show and I hope we have many more,” U.S. coach Mike Candrea said.

Men’s basketball

Coming off a 31-point win over host China and knowing that next up is Greece – the team that stunned them two years ago in the semifinals of the world championship – the “Redeem Team” merely had to take care of business against Angola. They did, winning 97-76 behind 19 points from Dwyane Wade, 14 from Dwight Howard and 12 from LeBron James.

“We were not looking ahead,” U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Overall I was very pleased with tonight.”

Tennis

Serena won. Venus won. Then, they won together – three victories in one day for the Williams sisters.

Each swept their way into the third round in singles, then together knocked off a Czech duo in doubles.

In men’s singles, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both advanced with ease, with Nadal dropping only three games total against Australian Lleyton Hewitt. Federer next faces Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, who beat him at the last Olympics.

“He has got a great game,” Federer said. “Obviously I’m aware of the danger.”

Americans Lindsay Davenport and Liezel Huber won their first-round doubles match as did the No. 1-seeded men’s duo, Mike and Bob Bryan of the United States.

In women’s singles, Jelena Jankovic moved atop the rankings and celebrated with a victory. James Blake, the lone remaining U.S. player in men’s singles, also won, as did No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

Men’s gymnastics

The Chinese were supposed to win. The Americans weren’t even necessarily supposed to be in the finals, not after losing Paul and Morgan Hamm to injuries in the 10 days before the Olympics.

When the final standings popped up – and the U.S. was behind China and Japan but ahead of Germany – Jonathan Horton screamed: “Nobody believed in us! Nobody believed in us.”

China was a heavy favorite because it won seven of the last eight world titles, including the last three.

With no Olympic veterans, nobody expected much from the Americans. They were second after four events, then slipped behind Japan going to their final apparatus, the pommel horse, which is their weakest routine.

It all came down to Sasha Artemev, the second replacement. He can dazzle, but he can also flop. He dazzled all right.

“It was amazing,” said Paul Hamm, who watched with Morgan from back home in Columbus, Ohio. “That’s like the moment he’s been waiting for.”

In other games, Manu Ginobili scored 21 points as Argentina bounced back from a loss to beat Australia 85-68, Linas Kleiza scored 22 points to lead unbeaten Lithuania past Asian champion Iran 99-67 and Croatia beat Andrei Kirilenko and Russia 85-78.

Boxing

Rau’Shee Warren worked four years to become the first two-time American boxing Olympian in 30 years. Then, in his first match, he made the huge mistake of spending the last 35 seconds trying to protect a lead when he actually was behind and needed to go on the attack. He lost 9-8 and left the ring in tears.

“I don’t even know what happened,” he said.

France’s Jerome Thomas, a two-time flyweight medalist, lost. Meanwhile, bantamweight Gu Yu extended China’s great start with a 17-7 victory that left Britain’s Joe Murray crying about judges being too partial toward the home country. China’s relatively inexperienced team won four other first-round bouts.

“I knew they were going to give him everything he wanted,” said Murray, who beat Gu in the quarterfinals of last fall’s world championships.

The International Amateur Boxing Association already reviewed and denied a protest by the Ukrainian team over a loss Monday night.

Volleyball

Wearing the initials TB on one shoe and BB on another, the U.S. men paid tribute to their coach’s in-laws in their four-set victory over Italy.

The letters were for Todd and Barbara Bachman, the in-laws of coach Hugh McCutcheon. Todd was killed and Barbara seriously wounded in a knife attack at a tourist site Saturday. McCutcheon has left the team to be with his wife, 2004 U.S. Olympian Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon; it’s not known when he’ll return.

“She has shown incredible strength,” McCutcheon told The Associated Press. “The last couple of days we’ve been able to talk through it. Obviously it’s a lot of tears and a lot of hugs.”

Shooting

Glenn Eller is a member of the U.S. Army. He’s also the new double-trap champion, having set an Olympic record with his score. So it’s no surprise that his spot in the military is being part of the Army Marksmanship Unit. Fourth went to Jeff Holguin, another Army marksman.

“I don’t know how to better represent them than to sit here with a gold medal in my hand,” Eller said.

South Korea’s Jin Jong-oh edged North Korea’s Kim Jong Su to win the men’s 50-meter pistol despite a poor final shot.

Canoe-Kayak

Slovakia’s Michal Martikan won the single canoe slalom, just like he did 12 years ago in Atlanta. He’s taken silver at the last two Olympics. American Benn Fraker finished sixth.

Germany’s Alexander Grimm won the single kayak slalom. Togo won its first-ever medal in any Summer Olympics when Benjamin Boukpeti took bronze. He also became the first black man to ever medal in a slalom event, according to the International Canoe Federation.

Way to go, Togo.

Diving

Teenagers Chen Ruolin and Wang Xin won the women’s 10-meter synchronized platform title, making the hosts 3-for-3 in diving thus far with five events left.

Individual platform is theirs to lose. The 15-year-old Chen and Wang, who turned 16 on Monday, are ranked 1-2.

Americans Mary Beth Dunnichay and Haley Ishimatsu, a pair of 15-year-olds, were fifth among eight teams.

Women’s gymnastics

China’s He Kexin, who fell off the uneven bars during Sunday’s preliminaries, will be back on the apparatus in the finals Wednesday. It’s the only event He will do.

As expected, American Samantha Peszek will be on the sidelines for the finals because of a twisted left ankle.

Marathon

There will be a new women’s marathon champ. Japan’s Mizuki Noguchi pulled out because of injuries to her left thigh and groin.

Paula Radcliffe, the world record-holder from Britain, told the BBC she’ll be racing despite a nagging thigh problem.

“Of course, I could do with a bit more time, but I’ll just go in and give it a go,” Radcliffe said.

Beach volleyball

Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor keep looking good in their bid for a second straight gold, improving to 2-0 with a straight sets victory over Cuba that virtually assures them of a spot in the medal round. It was their 103rd consecutive victory.

Wrestling

There were surprise winners of the first two Greco-Roman golds and both were Russians: 19-year-old Islam-Beka Albiev in the 60-kilogram division and 21-year-old Nazyr Mankiev in the 55-kg field.

Albiev is believed to be the second-youngest wrestling gold medalist. Mankiev beat the three-time defending world champion from Iran in the quarterfinals.

Women’s soccer

Heather O’Reilly scored 40 seconds into the match, leading the U.S. past New Zealand 4-0 and into the quarterfinals. Better yet, they won their group, avoiding a match with title contender Brazil.

Here’s the quarterfinals slate: United States vs. Canada; Brazil vs. Norway; Sweden vs. Germany; and China vs. Japan. The winners of the first two games, and the last two games, will meet in the semis.

Weightlifting

China’s Liao Hui won the men’s 69-kg category, making the hosts 5-for-5 in events it has participated in.

North Korea’s Pak Hyon Suk won the women’s 63-kg division. American Natalie Woolfolk finished fourth in the B-competition and Carissa Gump was sixth.

Judo

Athens champion Ayumi Tanimoto of Japan won the women’s 63-kg class and Germany’s Ole Bischof won the men’s 81-kg division.

Badminton

Howard Bach and Bob Malaythong have gone where no American badminton tandem has ever gone – the quarterfinals. Next up, though, is a second-seeded Chinese pair with a loud, loyal following.

Equestrian

American Gina Miles, riding McKinlaigh, won the individual silver medal in eventing. Gold went to German Hinrich Romeike, riding Marius.

Germany won the gold in team eventing in an exciting showdown with Australia that went down to the final two riders.

Water polo

Jeffrey Powers had three goals, Tony Azevedo added two and the Americans barely escaped with a 12-11 victory against Italy in preliminary play. At 2-0 in the Group B pool, they’re in solid position to advance to the quarterfinals even with Serbia and gold-medal favorite Croatia in the next two games.

Field hockey

The U.S. women again tied a highly ranked team, matching Japan at 1-1, but could use a victory to get into the next round.

Fencing

China’s Zhong Man won men’s saber fencing, making him the second fencing winner ever from his country. American Keeth Smart lost in the round of eight.

Copyright Associated Press 2008

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Rowing

The U.S. men’s eight crew advanced to the final with a win in the second-chance race, keeping alive hopes of defending the Olympic title. Three members from the 2004 team are back.

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Sailing

American favorite Anna Tunnicliffe topped the rankings in Laser Radial sailing after two opening races, while Australia maintained its lead in both the men’s and women’s 470 dinghy classes.

China’s 2004 windsurfing silver medalist Yin Jian remained on top in her quest for the host country’s first-ever sailing gold, as did Israeli Shahar Zubari in his bid for his nation’s second Olympic gold ever.

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Archery

American Jennifer Nichols tied an Olympic record in the first round, then was ousted in the second round. Teammate Khatuna Lorig moved on, as did South Korea’s top-seeded trio.

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Team handball

Three men’s games were decided in the final 2 minutes: Russia over Egypt, South Korea over Denmark and Spain over Poland. Other winners were Croatia, France and Iceland.

AP-ES-08-12-08 2255EDT