Phelps dominates as Australians look for next rising star
19/8/2008 17:59
The American superfish Michael Phelps has completely dominated the
headlines during the Olympic swimming competition at the Water Cube. His
achievement to win eight gold medals and break a 36 year record is phenomenal
and may never be surpassed.
In regard to his tally of gold medals Phelps
responded that "I guess eight is a lucky number for me, maybe it was meant to
be."
This whimsical comment could not disguise the incredible statistic that
each of his gold medals was won in a personal best time.
On the home front,
the Australian swimming team has performed admirably but not spectacularly well
in the Beijing Olympic competition. The women have outperformed the men with
Stephanie Rice's triple gold medal haul an outstanding achievement.
Libby
Trickett and Liesel Jones would have been a little disappointed with their
silver medals in individual events that they previously dominated, however they
finished on a high, breaking the world record with fellow team members Seebohm
and Schipper to win gold in the 4x100m women's medley relay.
Trickett and
Jones said they enjoyed the team relay success more than their own individual
performances. "We were all having so much fun!" said Trickett.
On the men's
side, there were promising performances from the rising star Eamon Sullivan, who
has shown he is capable of world record performances.
Meanwhile Hackett,
Olympic veteran and swimming team captain, hoped to bring the curtain down on
his illustrious career by becoming the first man ever to win three consecutive
Olympic gold medals in the physically demanding 1,500m
freestyle.
Unfortunately, he did not achieve his fairytale finale, being
eclipsed by unheralded Tunisian rival Oussama Mellouli in the final. The
Tunisian had only recently returned from an 18 month doping ban and his swim was
more than 7 seconds faster than his previous personal best. Hackett, gracious in
defeat, only had praise for his rival.
"He was the better competitor on the
blocks, and in relation to the rules, he's abided by them now and he just did a
good race and good on him," he said.
Since the retirement of Ian Thorpe,
there is no longer the aura of invincibility about the Australian swimming team
and the search has begun for a new champion to carry their hopes forward to the
London 2012 Games and beyond.
Xinhua
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