VAN ALMSICK Favored in Finals: World record holder Franziska VAN ALMSICK (GER) will be the odds-on-favorite in tonight's finals of the 200m freestyle. As expected, van ALMSICK swam the fastest preliminary qualifying time at 1:59.40. She will be chased by Claudia POLL (CRC) who posted a mark of 1:59.87. The third fastest qualifier was Trina JACKSON (USA) with a 2:00.29. JACKSON will be joined by her teammate Cristina TEUSCHER, who was the sixth fastest qualifier with a 2:00.57. Finals will begin at 19:30.
Remaining Times: Dagmar HASE (GER), 2:00.38; Julia GREVILLE (AUS), 2:00.44; Liliana DOBRESCU (ROM), 2:00.85; and Susan O'NEILL (AUS), 2:00.89
1992 Silver Medalist NAMESNIK Top Seed: Tom DOLAN (USA), the world record holder in the 400m individual medley, entered the 1996 Olympic Games as the favorite to win the gold medal. That distinction may have changed after teammate Eric NAMESNIK swam the fastest qualifying time clocked at 4:16.21. Marcel WOUDA (NED) posted the second fastest time with a 4:17.30, setting a national record in the process. DOLAN, who swam in the fourth and final heat against WOUDA, led after the first 100 meters but seemed to falter in the breaststroke where WOUDA took control of the race. Tonight's final will be the fastest qualifying field in Olympic history. The swim for the gold will begin at 19:55.
Other Medal Contenders: Marcin MALINSKI (POL), 4:18.34; Curtis MYDEN (CAN), 4:18.43.
HEYNS Breaks Her Own World Record: Penny HEYNS (RSA), the number-one ranked swimmer in the world, established herself as the front runner for the gold medal. HEYNS swam a time of 1:07.02, destroying her old record of 1:07.46 by .42 seconds. Fourteen-year-old Amanda BEARD (USA) is the second fastest qualifier with a time of 1:09.04. Agnes KOVAC (HUN) swam the third fastest time, setting a national record clocked at 1:09.05. Samantha RILEY (AUS), who held the world record until HEYNS broke it in March, will also be a strong contender for the gold with a time of 1:09.37. Tuesday night's final, which begins at 20:21, will be the fastest field in Olympic History.
Top Finishers: Penny HEYNS (RSA), 1:07.02; Amanda BEARD (USA), 1:09.04; Agnes KOVAK (HUN), 1:09.05.
United States Gold Medal Bound: The United States 4 x 200 freestyle relay team has established itself as the team to beat for the gold medal. The foursome of Ryan BERUBE, Joe HUDEPOHL, Bradley SCHUMACHER and Jon OLSEN posted a time of 7:18.28, two full seconds faster than their nearest competitors. Sweden swam the second fastest time of 7:20.61 while Great Britain swam a time of 7:21.92. Great Britain set a national record, as did the Netherlands, who qualified with the eighth fastest time of 7:23.39. Finals will begin at 20:43.
Remaining Times: Germany, 7:22.17; Italy, 7:22.69; France, 7:22.98 and Australia, 7:23.24.
Poll Takes the Gold: Claudia POLL (CRC), the former record holder in this event, gained sweet revenge by defeating the woman who broke her world record, Franziska van ALMSICK (GER) in the finals of the Olympic 200m freestyle. POLL posted a time of 1:58.16, 0.41 seconds ahead of VAN ALMSICK. VAN ALMSICK, the 1992 silver medalist, was attempting to add gold to her already impressive collection of Olympic medals. VAN ALMSICK swam a time of 1:58.57. Teammate Dagmar HASE (GER), the gold medalist in the 400m freestyle in Barcelona and the oldest competitor in the field at age 26, collected the bronze with a time of 1:59.56. The top-seeded swimmer for the United States, Trina JACKSON, just missed the bronze. JACKSON was a three-time gold medalist at the 1995 Pan American Games.
Gold, Claudia POLL (CRC), 1:58.16; Silver, Franziska VAN ALMSICK (GER), 1:58.57; Bronze, Dagmar HASE (GER), 1:59.56
"That felt so easy! I want to see my coach, I owe a hug to him," said POLL.
Men's / 400m Individual Medley Final
Dolan Captures First United State Gold Medal: The fastest qualifiers in Olympic history squared off in the most exciting final thus far. In a race which saw four lead changes, it all came down to the final 20 meters. Tom DOLAN (USA), the world record holder and favorite to win the gold medal, did just that, edging out teammate and 1992 silver medalist Eric NAMESNIK by 0.35 seconds. DOLAN swam a time of 4:14.90 while NAMESNIK was clocked at 4:15.25. Curtis MYDEN (CAN), who led after the first 100 meters, collected the bronze and set the Canadian record with a time of 4:16.28. DOLAN's gold was the first for the United States in both swimming and the 1996 Olympics.
Gold, Tom DOLAN (USA), 4:14.90; Silver, Eric NAMESNIK (USA), 4:15.25; Bronze, Curtis MYDEN (CAN), 4:16.28.
"I wanted to go a little faster but my goal was to win the gold medal. There was definitely a lot of pressure. I was pretty nervous today and I'm glad I was able to come through," said DOLAN.
Women's / 100m Breaststroke Final
HEYNS Gold Medalist: As expected, Penny HEYNS (RSA) destroyed the rest of the field enroute to her first gold medal in the women's Olympic 100m breaststroke final. HEYNS set the world record in the event in the preliminary round with a time of 1:07.02. She won the gold medal by a full second and a half, with a time of 1:07.73. Her gold medal performance was the first in 44 years for South Africa. Chasing her was 14-year old Amanda BEARD (USA) who set an Americas and national record with a time of 1:08.09. Samantha RILEY (AUS) picked up her second bronze medal in the event with a time of 1:09.18. RILEY also was the bronze medalist in Barcelona. Svitlana BONDARENKO (UKR) and Vera LISCHKA (AUT) also set national records finishing fourth and fifth respectively. BONDARENKO posted a 1:09.21 while LISCHKA was clocked at 1:09.24
Gold, Penny HEYNS (RSA), 1:07.73; Silver, Amanda BEARD (USA), 1:08.09; Bronze, Samantha RILEY (AUS), 1:09.18:
Men's 400m Individual Medley Preliminaries
Women's 100m Breaststroke Preliminaries
Men's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Preliminaries
Women's / 200m Freestyle Final
Men's / 4 X 200m Freestyle Relay Final
U.S. Gold Times Four: The men's 4 X 200m freestyle relay team breezed to their 13th Olympic gold medal. The foursome of Josh DAVIS (1:48.19), Joe HUDEPOHL (1:49.29), Bradley SCHUMACHER (1:48.89) and Ryan BERUE (1:48.47), cruised to the win by three full seconds with a time of 7:14.84. The Swedish team, with two-time silver medalist Anders HOLMERTZ swimming the second leg, was clocked at 7:17.56. HOLMERTZ swam the fastest split of the evening at 1:47.03. Christer WALLIN (1:50.47), Lars FROLANDER (1:48.98), and Anders LYBRING (1:51.08) rounded out the Swedish team. The German team of Aimo HEILMANN (1:49.31), Christian KELLER (1:49.50), Christian TROGER (1:49.80) and Steffen ZESNER (1:49.10), captured the bronze with a mark of 7:17.71.
Gold, (USA), 7:14.84; Silver, (SWE), 7:17.56; Bronze, (GER), 7:17.71
Return to the Olympic News Menu
Select another day:
Pre | July | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | August | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Post |
| More tickets were sold to the competitions of the 1996 Games than to any other Olympic Games or sports event in history. The 8.6 million ticket sales figures topped sales to the Los Angeles and Barcelona Games combined. |