Germany’s Paul Biedermann handed Michael Phelps his first major individual loss in four years — and snatched his world record, too — with a stunning win in the 200m freestyle at the world swimming championships on Tuesday.
Virtually unknown outside his country before this meet, Biedermann has erased Ian Thorpe from the record book in the 400m free and knocked off the most successful Olympian in history — all in the space of three days.
Biedermann’s victory stirred up even more debate about the high-tech bodysuits that are being banned by the sport’s governing body beginning in 2010. Biedermann wore an Arena X-Glide, one of those polyurethane suits that is generally considered faster than the Speedo LZR Racer, the once-revolutionary suit Phelps wore.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The German relished his win, but acknowledged that he had a technological edge.
“The suits make a difference,” the 22-year-old German said. “I hope there will be a time when I can beat Michael Phelps without these suits. I hope next year. I hope it’s really soon.”
Biedermann’s upset launched another night of record breaking.
PHOTO: AFP
Four more world standards were bumped from the books, bringing the total to 15 through the first three days of an eight-day meet. That equals the number of records set at the last worlds in Melbourne two years ago.
Britain’s Gemma Spofforth went the fastest ever to win the 100m backstroke; Italy’s Federica Pellegrini fired up the home crowd with her second world record of the championships in a semi-final heat of the 200m free; and South Africa’s Cameron van der Burgh posted his own mark in the semis of the 50m breaststroke, a non-Olympic event.
Shortly before the race, FINA confirmed that a ban on bodysuits would go into effect by May next year, making this the last major competition where buoyancy-aiding suits are allowed.
PHOTO: AP
Phelps’ coach, Bob Bowman, said he might just withhold Phelps from any meets until the new rules are implemented.
When told of FINA’s timetable for bringing back suits that cover less skin and go back to being made out of textile materials, Bowman scoffed.
“Well, then probably expect Michael not to swim until they are implemented. I’m done with this. It has to be implemented immediately,” the coach said. “The sport is in shambles right now and they better do something or they’re going to lose their guy who fills these seats.”
While Biedermann celebrated his time of 1 minute, 42.00 seconds, which knocked off Phelps’ world mark of 1:42.96 from the Beijing Olympics, the American stared at the scoreboard for a few seconds, then headed to the side of the pool without acknowledging the swimmer who had just handed him his first big individual loss since July 30, 2005.
Phelps started to walk away after the top three got their medals, then was motioned back to the top rung to pose for pictures with the winner and bronze medalist Danila Izotov of Russia.
Instead of being the center of attention, Phelps had to stand off to the side, looking glumly toward the cameras. As they walked around the deck, Biedermann danced in delight while Phelps managed a few forced smiles when he looked up toward the stands.
Finally, Phelps climbed toward the stands to drop off a stuffed mascot with his mother, Debbie, who leaned over to give him a consoling hug. Before her son even left the pool deck, he pulled off his silver medal, as if he wanted no part of that consolation prize.
Phelps did come back about an hour later to qualify for the final of the 200m butterfly on what should be his toughest day of the meet. He posted the second-fastest time in the semi-finals, just 13-hundredths behind Japan’s Takeshi Matsuda.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS