BEIJING -- Head on over to the futuristic-looking Water Cube and wriggle into your high-tech suit Michael Phelps, it's time to hit the pool.

Swimming is perhaps the most highly anticipated sport at the Beijing Games, beginning Saturday night with preliminaries in six events. Yes, that's right, swimmers will qualify in the evening and swim finals in the morning, a change from the traditional Olympic format made to accommodate U.S. television audiences who'll be watching in primetime.

Phelps opens his bid to break Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in one games with the 400-meter individual medley -- the first of five individual events in which he'll be favored. He's the world record-holder, but teammate Ryan Lochte poses a serious challenge. Phelps won the event at the U.S. trials, Lochte was second and both men went under the world mark.

"There's going to be a big battle," Lochte said. "I know what I'm capable of doing and I know what he is. I feel good."

Phelps and many of the other top swimmers will don a version of the revolutionary suit that has rewritten the record books. Swimmers wearing the suits that can take up to 20 minutes to get into have set 47 of 51 world records this year.

But Markus Rogan of Austria doesn't give all the credit to the suits.

"I tested it. I threw it in the pool and it didn't move at all," he said, "so I'll still have to swim."

Others to watch on Day 1: Katie Hoff vs. Stephanie Rice of Australia in a matchup of current and former world record-holders in the women's 400 IM; defending champion Kosuke Kitajima of Japan and Brendan Hansen renew their rivalry in the 100 breaststroke; and Aussie teammates Libby Trickett and Jess Schipper duel in the 100 butterfly.

The U.S. women swim the 400 freestyle relay prelims Saturday night, then they'll add 41-year-old Dara Torres to the team for Sunday morning's final, where a powerful Netherlands team will be favored. Torres is competing in her fifth Olympics, a record for an American swimmer.

"I used to have kids coming up to me asking for photos and autographs and now I have adults coming up to me at meets saying they've been inspired," she said. "It's been fun having an adult age-group following me and I hope I represent them well."

But the focus will be on Phelps, whose sights are set on bettering Spitz's 36-year-old record and becoming the greatest Olympian ever. The 23-year-old superstar from Baltimore fell short in Athens, winning eight medals, including six golds.

Actually, he needs only four golds at these games to become the first Olympian in history to win 10 such medals.

"It's easier to chase than to be chased," U.S. men's head coach Eddie Reese said. "He has races from his own team, he has races from other teams. He's the one up there at the top of the pyramid and everyone wants to beat him."

Phelps, by no means, has an open lane to history.

Lochte looms later on in the 200 IM and teammate Ian Crocker awaits in the 100 butterfly. In all three relays, Phelps will be relying on his teammates to come through, which didn't happen at last year's world championships in Australia. Crocker's early takeoff got the U.S. disqualified in one prelim, denying Phelps an eighth gold medal in Melbourne. The French pose a threat in the 400 free relay, an event the American men haven't won since 1996.

"When I make goals, they are always challenges," Phelps said. "I look forward to rising to these challenges."

RIFLE: BEIJING -- Katerina Emmons spoiled China's bid for the first gold medal of the Beijing Olympics on Saturday by winning the 10-meter air rifle for the Czech Republic.

Emmons, the wife of American shooter Matt Emmons, finished with an Olympic record of 503.5 points after shooting a perfect 400 in qualifying. Lioubov Galkina of Russia won the silver and Snjezana Pejcic of Croatia took the bronze.

The big surprise was a fifth-place finish by China's Du Li. She won the event four years ago in Athens. Du was just a point behind Emmons after qualifying.

Du was greeted with a roar from the fans in the upper balcony of the shooting range when she came out for the final. She turned to face the crowd with a wide smile on her face, waved and bowed before heading over to her lane. However, she misfired immediately in the final round, scoring only 9.8 points on her first attempt, the worst shot of any of the eight finalists.

Competitors can earn up to 10.9 points per shot in the final.

Jamie Beyerle of Lebanon, Pa., finished fourth.

Emmons won by 1.4 points, a comfortable margin for the event. She entered the final shot all but assured of victory.

Of course, her husband was in a similar spot four years ago in the three-position rifle event. He missed out on a gold medal because he fired at the wrong target on the final shot -- an unthinkable gaffe.

Matt Emmons did win a gold in prone rifle in Athens, and will compete in both prone and three-position rifle this year.

BOXING: BEIJING -- Bantamweight Gary Russell Jr. is out of the boxing competition after collapsing Thursday night during a workout in a last-ditch effort to make the 119-pound weight limit ahead of Saturday's seeding draw.

Russell, 20, of Capitol Heights, Md., is a two-time national champion and was considered a likely contender for gold in Beijing. He lost consciousness in his dorm room after becoming dehydrated.

A replacement athlete for that weight class cannot be named, according to the rules of the International Amateur Boxing Federation (AIBA).

"I'm extremely disappointed," Russell said in a statement released by the United States Olympic Committee. "Competing in the Olympic Games has always been one of my dreams, and I wish I would have been able to represent my country alongside my teammates."

All 286 boxers competing here were required to make weight Friday morning in order to be entered into the draw.

TRACK & FIELD: BEIJING -- A Greek sprinter failed a drug test a few days before the Olympics and could be removed from the games.

IOC medical commission chairman Arne Ljungqvist said Saturday he was notified that a male runner, identified by Greek television as 29-year-old Tassos Gousis, tested positive for a steroid in Greece on Monday. The athlete was with the Greek team at a training camp in Japan when informed of the result.

"The Greek anti-doping body has requested that the Greek athletics federation withdraw the athlete from the games," Ljungqvist told The Associated Press. "It was not an IOC test. It is a Greek affair. It is a national case."

Earlier in Athens, the Greek national Olympic committee said more tests are being carried on a second sample. Greek state television NET said the first sample had tested positive for methyltrienolone.

Comments

(Requires free registration.)

0 comment(s) found!