Ryan Lochte downed Michael Phelps in the men’s 400m medley at the US Olympic swimming trials on Monday in a race that gave a glimpse of the fireworks they could produce at the London Games.
Lochte seized control on the breaststroke leg and held on to beat Phelps for the first time in the punishing four-stroke event.
Lochte won in 4 minutes, 7.06 seconds, while Phelps, the world record-holder and two-times Olympic champion, was second, booking an Olympic berth in 4:07.89.
Photo: AFP
Tyler Clary, the World Championships silver medalist behind Lochte in Shanghai last year, was the odd man out.
He finished third in 4:09.92, but only the top two finishers in each event in the eight-day meeting make the Olympic team.
Lochte, beaten by Phelps in nine prior 400m medley clashes dating back to 2002, said he was not trying to make a statement against the 14-time Olympic gold medalist.
“I wanted to win,” he said. “I wanted to get on the Olympic team. Now I can just do what I love to do, have fun and race.”
After making the 400m medley one of his eight triumphs in Beijing, Phelps had vowed he would not swim it again in major international competition.
“The thing it came down to — I wanted to do it,” Phelps said. “This is an event I’ve done for a long time and I want to finish off my career doing it.”
Phelps became the first male US swimmer to qualify for four Olympics. By qualifying in the 400m medley, Phelps gives himself a chance to become the first male swimmer to win the same event at three straight Games — although it is clear he will have his work cut out to beat Lochte.
“That time was not good at all,” Lochte said. “I know I’m capable of going faster.”
Lochte, Phelps and Clary were already all faster than the previous fastest time in the world this year — 4:10.26, set by Japan’s Kosuke Hagino.
Phelps will also be favored to punch his ticket in four other individual events, the 100m and 200m butterfly, the 200m freestyle and the 200m medley, all of which he won in Beijing.
If he swam all three relays, he could again have an eight-event schedule in London.
However, now Phelps will face tough competition from Lochte, who emerged from Phelps’ shadow as he won five titles at the World Championships last year.
That included victories in showdowns with Phelps in the 200m medley and 200m freestyle.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was