Ryan Lochte of the US smashed his own world record to win the 200m individual medley at the world short-course championships on Friday and then shocked the crowd by giving his medal to a fan.
Lochte finished in 1 minute 49.63 seconds to shatter the mark of 1:50.08 he set in December 2010 at the worlds in Dubai.
It was his fourth title at this year’s championships after he claimed golds in the 200 freestyle and 4x100 freestyle on Wednesday and the 4x200 on Thursday.
Photo: AFP
“One of the reasons why I’m in this sport is because of the fans,” the five-time Olympic champion told the BBC after handing his gold medal to a young boy who was waiting for an autograph.
“They have done so much with the cheering and the support throughout my years and just the love that they have given me I wanted to give back and putting a medal around their neck and seeing that glow on their face means the world to me,” he said.
“If I took the medal it would end up in a sock drawer, if I give it to a fan they’re going to treasure it. It will make their day or even their life,” he said.
Japan’s Daiya Seto took silver in 1:52.80 with Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh grabbing the bronze medal in 1:52.89.
Lochte won six gold medals and one silver when Dubai hosted the short-course event in 2010. He also won five medals at this year’s London Olympics including two golds.
The American’s win gave him his fourth 200 individual medley title in a row at the short-course worlds having also snatched gold in Shanghai (2006), Manchester (2008) and Dubai (2010).
The 28-year-old Lochte’s world record on Friday was the first at this year’s event, on the third day of competition.
Meanwhile, Lu Ying and Jiao Liuyang led home a gold and silver finish for China in the women’s 50m butterfly, while Paul Biedermann defended his men’s 400m freestyle title and Vladimir Morozov won gold in the 50m freestyle to secure Russia’s first gold of the championships.
Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta came close to breaking his own 200m breaststroke world record, but in the end he had to be content with a new championship record of 2:01.35 as he won gold.
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