Liu Zige led China to a battling one-two finish in the women’s 200m butterfly yesterday, seizing the chance to shine as US superstar Michael Phelps took a breather at the Water Cube.
With no golds on the horizon for Phelps — who swam only the semi-finals of the men’s 200m medley — the spotlight ranged around the globe.
French sprinter Alain Bernard, Japanese breaststroke king Kosuke Kitajima and Australia’s women in the 4x200m freestyle denied the vaunted US team gold.
PHOTO: AP
Liu smashed the 200m butterfly world record, out-dueling previous world record holder Jessicah Schipper of Australia to win in 2 minutes, 4.18 seconds, with compatriot Jiao Liuyang taking silver.
Bernard gave France just its third ever Olympic swimming gold with his triumph in the 100m freestyle, a race that marked the end of Dutch great Pieter van den Hoogenband’s career.
Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima cemented his status as the king of the breaststroke with his 200m triumph, repeating his 100m-200m double in Athens four years ago.
PHOTO: AFP
And Australia’s women set a world record in winning the 4x200m freestyle relay — knocking the US off the top step of the podium for the first time since the event was contested in 1996.
“I didn’t expect that I could swim so fast,” Liu said. “I have never imagined that I could win gold in the Olympic Games.”
Schipper took the 200m butterfly out in world record pace, but Liu managed to gain a slight edge by the final turn.
Jiao, lying third going into the final 50m claimed the silver in 2 minutes, 4.72 seconds, also under Schipper’s previous world mark of 2 minutes, 5.40 seconds, while the Australian settled for bronze in 2 minutes, 6.26 seconds.
While Schipper faded in the final meters, the Chinese swimmers sped to the final wall buoyed by the roars of the Water Cube crowd.
“The Chinese girls swam an awesome race,” Schipper said of the duo, who emerged from the pool to an ecstatic ovation.
Bernard, who arrived in Beijing as the 100m freestyle world record holder, gained a measure of revenge with his victory in swimming’s blue riband event.
He overtook Eamon Sullivan on the closing length to triumph over the Australian who had seized his world mark.
“My first thought after I touched the wall was, ‘Wow, I’ve won an Olympic final,’” the Frenchman said. “I just didn’t want to lose, I hate losing.”
Bernard did not add to the flurry of 100m freestyle world records produced in Beijing, but he atoned for France’s heartbreaking loss to a Phelps-led squad in the 4x100m freestyle relay.
Bernard won in 47.21 seconds, with Sullivan second in 47.32 seconds.
Cesar Cielo of Brazil and US relay hero Jason Lezak shared bronze, in a dead heat of 47.67 seconds.
Van den Hoogenband, winner of the 100m freestyle in Sydney and Athens, was vying to become the first man to win the same event at three Games in a row.
The 30-year-old was fifth in 47.75 seconds and said it was the last race of his career.
“It’s a new generation and now it’s time to step aside,” he said. “That was my last race.”
The world record in the event had fallen three times in Beijing.
Sullivan seized the mark from Bernard with a lead-off leg of 47.24 seconds in the 4x100m freestyle relay on Monday.
Bernard regained the mark with a time of 47.20 seconds in the first semi-final on Wednesday and Sullivan snatched it back with his astonishing 47.05 seconds in the second semi.
But for Bernard, gold was all that mattered.
“The best moment is when I turned back and I saw the No. 1 next to my name,” he said. “It’s huge, unbelievable. At any moment I felt that I could be beaten.”
Like Bernard, Kitajima was delighted with gold, even without a record.
Kitajima, winner of the 100m breaststroke on Monday in a new world record time, repeated the double breaststroke gold he claimed in Athens four years ago.
Kitajima won in an Olympic record 2 minutes, 7.64 seconds, just outside his world record of 2 minutes, 7.51 seconds.
He held off a late challenge from Australian Brenton Rickard, who was second in 2 minutes, 8.88 seconds, with France’s Hugues Duboscq taking the bronze.
“I’m very relieved that I got the gold medal,” Kitajima said.
Australia’s world record-setting victory in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay gave Stephanie Rice her third gold medal of the Games, after record-breaking wins in the 200m and 400m individual medleys.
Rice led off the quartet, that also included Bronte Barratt, Kylie Palmer and Linda MacKenzie, that won in 7 minutes, 44.31 seconds.
China captured silver in 7 minutes, 45.93 seconds, as the US settled for bronze in 7 minutes, 46.33 seconds.
Phelps, meanwhile, positioned himself for a shot at a sixth gold medal, posting the second-quickest time in winning his 200m medley semi-final.
Phelps, who on Wednesday became the supreme Olympian of all time with his 10th and 11th career golds — the fourth and fifth of these Games — needs three more victories to surpass Mark Spitz’s 36-year-old record of seven golds at one Games.
“I think medals mean more than times, so that’s what I’m going to be focusing on over the next three days,” Phelps said.
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