/ 18 August 2004

Victory for Phelps and Greece

Swimming superstar Michael Phelps lifted the gloom surrounding the United States at the Olympics on Tuesday as Greek spirits soared after the host nation won their second gold medal of the Games.

Phelps, who had seen his dream of winning a record-equalling seven golds shattered by Australian rival Ian Thorpe on Monday, swept back to form to secure two gold medals for the previously beleaguered US swimming team.

The 19-year-old won gold in the 200m butterfly and an hour later was back in the pool to swim a decisive first leg in the 4x200m relay that handed the Americans a lead they were never to relinquish.

Thorpe produced a herculean effort on the last leg to go neck-and-neck in the closing stages but American anchor Klete Keller held on to give his team victory in seven minutes and 7,33 seconds.

The victory left the US swimmers upbeat after a day that had seen them suffer a major setback by failing to qualify for the later rounds of the men’s 100m freestyle for the first time in Olympic history.

Phelps’s heroics helped the Americans close the gap on China at the top of the medal standings.

After 11 more gold medals were settled on day four, the US stood second in the table with six golds to China’s 10.

Elsewhere, Sheikh Ahmed bin Hashr Al-Maktoum won a historic first Olympic gold for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the men’s double trap shooting.

Al-Maktoum, a member of Dubai’s ruling family, became the first athlete from the UAE to win an Olympic medal of any colour.

In the women’s gymnastics, Romania captured their second consecutive team gold medal, outduelling world champion US, while world and Olympic medallists China crashed out, just as the men’s team had the night before.

Romania won with 114,283 points to 113,584 for the US team and 113,235 for bronze medallist Russia.

The tennis tournament saw top-seeded world number one Roger Federer of Switzerland bundled out 6-4, 5-7, 5-7 to unseeded Czech Thomas Berdych in the second round.

”I’m disappointed because the Olympics mean so much to me,” said Federer. ”But it wasn’t to be.”

US Open champion and world number two Andy Roddick of the US saved three match points before beating unseeded Tommy Haas of Germany 4-6, 6-3, 9-7.

The biggest cheer of the day was reserved for 17-year-old Ilias Iliadis, who grabbed a first-ever Olympic judo gold medal for Greece when he dumped Ukraine’s Roman Gontyuk in the men’s under-81kg light middleweight final.

But Greece were denied more glory later on Tuesday when their basketball team were unable to pull off an upset against the US’s ”Dream Team”.

The star-studded Americans were in no mood to suffer a repeat of their shock opening defeat to Puerto Rico and dug in for a hard-fought 77-71 win.

Extra security at Olympic venues was ordered after an embarrassing breach at the diving when a spectator dressed in a tutu and clown shoes mounted one of the boards and plunged into the water on Monday.

Meanwhile, officials said ticket sales have exceeded those of the 1988 Seoul Olympics and Barcelona Games. More than 3,21-million have been sold.

Despite the sales, the International Olympic Committee and television broadcasters are concerned by the number of empty seats in many stadia.

Back in the sporting arenas, China’s medal charge faltered when 50m pistol hopefuls Tan Zongliang and Xu Dan both failed to reach the final, eventually won by Russia’s Mikhail Nestruev.

But there was better news for China’s basketball team, which saw NBA star Yao Ming lead his team to a 69-62 win over New Zealand after a disappointing opening defeat against Spain. — Sapa-AFP

  • Special Report: Olympics 2004