The US Olympic trials ended with Michael Phelps cheering from the stands after another dominating meet, Katie Hoff savoring her emergence as a potential star in China, and Dara Torres scoring another win for middle-age mothers everywhere.
Next stop, Beijing.
There are huge story lines everywhere.
PHOTO: AFP
Phelps, who rested on Sunday after locking up his eight-event program for Beijing, is ready to make another run at Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals at a Summer Games. He’ll go in as the Olympic icon after winning six golds in Athens and giving every indication he’ll do even better at these games.
Hoff will be nearly as busy in Beijing. The 19-year-old swimmer earned a spot in five individual races and assured herself of at least a relay.
Then there’s Torres, who might get as much TV time at these Olympics as anyone. After all, it’s not often that a 41-year-old woman comes out of retirement — her second long layoff, actually — and re-emerges as one of her country’s best athletes.
After having a baby, no less.
Torres won her second event of the trials Sunday with another US record in the 50m freestyle. She’ll be the oldest US swimmer ever to compete at the Olympics, but she wants so much more.
“I can’t sit here and lie and say, ‘Oh, I’m just glad I’m going,”’ said Torres, who again took two-year-old Tessa to the awards stand before heading off to her fifth Olympics. “I want a medal.”
Having already won the 100 freestyle on Friday, Torres got off to the third-slowest start in the most frenetic lap in swimming. But she was in control by midway and touched in 24.25 seconds, eclipsing the mark of 24.38 she set the previous night in the semifinals.
Jessica Hardy claimed the second Olympic spot in 24.82, beating Lara Jackson by six-hundredths of a second. Torres has raised the possibility of dropping the 100, worried her body can’t take the grind of two individual events, especially when she likely will swim two relays, too.
In the final race of the eight-day meet, Peter Vanderkaay pulled off a major upset in the 1,500 by beating US record holder Larsen Jensen and top qualifier Erik Vendt.
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