LE Jingyi (CHN) Favored in Finals: The People's Republic of China was expected to dominate this event but only one competitor LE Jingyi, the world record holder in this event (54.01) advanced to tonight's swimming finals. Angel MARTINO (USA) posted the second fastest time (55.44) followed by Sandra VOLKER (55.55) and Franzsika van ALMSICK (55.80) both from Germany. VAN ALMSICK was the bronze medalist in 1992. The United States will be the only country with two athlete in the finals. Amy VAN DYKEN qualified with the sixth fastest time of 55.94. The final three finalists include Karin BRIENESSE (NED) 55.81, Mette JACOBSEN (DEN), 56.06 and Sarah RYAN (AUS) clocked at 56.07.
Tonight's final will begin at 19:30.
LE Jingyi (CHN) Favored in Finals: The
People's Republic of China was expected to dominate this event
but only one competitor LE Jingyi, the world record holder in
this event (54.01) advanced to tonight's swimming finals. Angel
MARTINO (USA) posted the second fastest time (55.44) followed
by Sandra VOLKER (55.55) and Franzsika van ALMSICK (55.80) both
from Germany. VAN ALMSICK was the bronze medalist in 1992. The
United States will be the only country with two athlete in the
finals. Amy VAN DYKEN qualified with the sixth fastest time of
55.94. The final three finalists include Karin BRIENESSE (NED)
55.81, Mette JACOBSEN (DEN), 56.06 and Sarah RYAN (AUS) clocked
at 56.07.
Tonight's final will begin at 19:30.
World Record Established: Fred
DEBURGHBRAEVE (BEL), the number one-ranked swimmer in the world
in this event the past two years, established a world and Olympic
record with a time of 1:00.60. He broke the old mark of 1:01.80
held by Karoly GUTTLER (HUN), who also qualified for the finals
with the fourth fastest time of 1:01.80. Jeremy LINN and Kurt
GROTE of the United States qualified with time of 1:01.53 and
1:02.26 respectively. LINN's time was the second fastest. Mark
WARNECKE (GER) established a new national record of 1:01.79 and
will contend for a medal this evening. Philip ROGERS (AUS), 1:01.80
and Stanislav LOPUKHOV (RUS), 1:02.00, are the final two finalists.
"I was surprised that I set the world record
this morning. After 75 meters I saw I had the advantage over the
others and needed to keep my stroke level," said DEBURGHGRAEVE.
"I knew if I won the fastest heat, I would be in the A final.
I am glad that I set the world record because I proved to myself
I could do it. Now I can swim tonight."
Egerszegi Gold Medal Hope Alive:
Two one hundredths of a second separates the eight finalists in tonight's
final. Defending Olympic champion Krisztina EGERSZEGI (HUN), in
quest of her fourth gold medal, will be considered the favorite.
She won gold medals in the 100m backstroke in 1992, 200m backstroke
in 1988 and 1992 in addition to a gold in the 400m individual
medley. She qualified with the fastest time of 4:43.09. Chasing
her will be Emma JOHNSON (AUS), 4:43.45 and Michelle SMITH (IRL)
posting the third fastest time of 4:43.79. Alison WAGNER (USA),
who captured the silver medal at the world championships is also
in medal contention posting a time of 4:44.06. CHEN Yan (CHN),
the number one-ranked swimmer in this event did not make the finals,
swimming a 4:53.87, the 17th fastest time of the preliminaries.
Gold Medal for HOLMERTZ Within Reach: Anders
HOLMERTZ (SWE), in his third Olympic Games, is just one race away
from capturing his first gold medal. HOLMERTZ won silver medals
in 1988 and 1992 and will be considered a slight favorite in tonight's
final. HOLMERTZ posted the fastest qualifying time of 1:48.41.
Danyon LOADER (NZL), ranked number two in the world, established
a national record of 1:48.48. Pieter van den HOOGENBAND (NED)
did the same with a time of 1:48.68. Josh DAVIS (USA) recorded
the third fastest time of 1:48.63. The four finalists include
Massimiliano ROSOLINO (ITA) 1:48.80; Daniel KOWALSKI (AUS), 1:48.92;
Gustavo BORGES (BRA), 1:49.00; and Paul Palmer (GBR), 1:49.05.
World Record Holder Captures Gold: The first gold medal of the 1996 Olympic Games in swimming was captured by LE Jingyi from the Peoples Republic of China. LE set an Olympic record in the process with a time of 54.50. She set the world record in Rome, Italy in 1994 with a mark of 54.01. The silver medal went to Sandra VOLKER (GER), 54.88, while the bronze medal was awarded to Angel MARTINO (USA), 54.93. LE and VOLKER won their first Olympic medal while MARTINO added another bronze to her collection. MARTINO placed third in the 50 freestyle in 1992. MARTINO, age 29, is the oldest U.S. female Olympian since Frances SCHROTH who was an alternate in the 100m backstroke in 1924 at age 31.
Gold, Olympic Record: LE Jingyi (CHN), 54.50; Silver, Sandra VOLKER (GER), 54.88; Bronze, Angel MARTINO (USA), 54.93
"This is the most important Games of my life, so it feels very good," stated LE Jingyi after her gold medal performance. On her plans after Atlanta. "I was planning to retire, but in China we have the Asian Games in 1997 and my province of Shanghai has asked me to represent them. So I'll keep swimming."
First Swimming Gold for Belgium: Seven of the eight finalist in Saturday's 100m breaststroke final, qualified by posting times which placed them in the top 10 performance list for 1996. Three of the performers, Fred DEBURGHGRAEVE (BEL), Jeremy LINN (USA), and Mark WARNECKE (GER), each posted top 10 Olympic times. Their performances proved not to be flukes as all three medaled in the finals. DEBURGHGRAEVE, who set the world record in the sixth heat of Saturday's preliminary round, swam just .05 of a second slower to win the gold medal. His performance also made national history as he became the first Belgium swimmer to win a gold medal. LINN set an American record with a time of 1:00.77 in his silver medal performance. WARNECKE (GER) finished third, setting a new national record clocked at 1:01.33.
Gold, Fred DEBURGHGRAEVE (BEL), 1:00.65; Silver Jeremy LINN (USA), 1:00.77; Bronze, Mark WARNECKE (GER), 1:01.33:
Women's 400m Individual Medley Final
Smith Wins the Gold: In a stunning upset, Michelle SMITH (IRL) came from behind in the final 50 meters to win the gold medal, defeating the defending 1992 Olympic champion Krisztina EGERSZEGI of Hungary. Smith's time of 4:39.18 not only won the gold, but enabled her become the first swimmer to post a time under the 4:40 mark this year. Allison WAGNER (USA), the fourth seed, took the silver medal clocked at 4:42.03. She edged out EGERSZEGI who finished third with a time of 4:42.53
SMITH took an early lead in the first portion of the race, the butterfly, only to see EGERSZEGI pass her at the 50m mark in the breaststroke. Smith reclaimed the lead in the final 60 meters of the freestyle. EGERSZEGI was edged out at the touch mark for the silver by WAGNER. EGERSZEGI entered the final with four gold medals and one silver medal from her 1988 and 1992 Olympic performances.
Gold, National Record, Michelle SMITH (IRL), 4:39.18; Silver, Allison WAGNER (USA), 4:42.03; Bronze, Krisztina EGERSZEGI (HUN), 4:42.53
LOADER Wins Gold: Danyon LOADER (NZL), a silver medalist in the 200m butterfly at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, has now added gold to his Olympic collection. LOADER set a national record with a first-place time of 1:47.63. Gustavo BORGES (BRA) did the same in his silver-medal performance of 1:48.08. The amazing thing bout BORGES' performance was he qualified seventh in the prelims and finished second in lane one. BORGES was also a silver medalist in 1992 in the 100m freestyle. Daniel KOWALSKI (AUS) took home the bronze with a mark of 1:48.25. Anders HOLMERTZ (SWE), swimming in his fourth Olympic Games, was on world record pace (27.04) after the first 100 meters and was attempting to medal in his third consecutive Olympic Games. HOLMERTZ captured silver medals in this event in 1988 and 1992
Gold, Danyon LOADER (NZL), 1:47.63; Silver, Gustavo BORGES (BRA), 1:48.08; Daniel KOWALSKI (AUS), 1:48.25.
"I did a personal best in the morning of 1:48.48, so to come back here tonight...the swim was hard...and go under that time again, well, I'm extremely pleased," stated LOADER.
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Pin trading was one of the most popular Olympic sports, with more than 1.2 million pins changing hands during the Games in the Coca Cola Pin Trading Center at Centennial Olympic Park.