Two more world records fell on the next-to-last day of swimming — the 22nd and 23rd of a lightning-quick week.
Britain’s Rebecca Adlington won gold in the 800m freestyle, breaking Janet Evans’ 19-year-old world record — the oldest in swimming.
Adlington touched in 8 minutes, 14.10 seconds to crush the mark of 8 minutes, 16.22 seconds set by the American in Tokyo on Aug. 20, 1989. Alessia Filippi of Italy took the silver and Lotte Friis of Denmark the bronze.
PHOTO: AP
Adlington completed a sweep of the women’s distance events in Beijing, having upset American Katie Hoff to win the 400m freestyle.
Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe defended her Olympic title in the 200m backstroke, winning in a world-record time. She led all the way and finished in 2 minutes, 5.24 seconds, lowering the mark of 2 minutes, 6.09 seconds set by Margaret Hoelzer at the US trials last month.
Hoelzer took the silver in 2 minutes, 6.23 seconds and Reiko Nakamura of Japan the bronze in 2 minutes, 7.13 seconds.
No one was happier that Cesar Cielo, who won Brazil’s first swimming gold with an upset in the 50m freestyle. He broke down crying on the medal stand and was mobbed by his teammates on the deck.
He won in 21.30 seconds, lowering his own Olympic mark of 21.34 seconds that he set in the semi-finals. Amaury Leveaux of France took the silver in 21.45 seconds and Alain Bernard, also of France, the 100m champion, won bronze in 21.49 seconds.
Also, 41-year-old Dara Torres of the US cruised into the final of the 50m freestyle with the fastest semi-final time, 24.27 seconds. Australian teenager Cate Campbell was second at 24.42 seconds.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB