Krayzelburg Wins Second Gold
S Y D N E Y, Australia, Sept. 21 -- Inge de Bruijn won the 100-meterfreestyle today, her second gold medal of the Olympics, denyingAmerican Jenny Thompson a victory in her final chance for anindividual gold.
De Bruijn, of the Netherlands, won in 53.83 seconds. She also scored a victory in the 100 butterfly Sunday.
Therese Alshammar of Sweden took silver in 54.33. Thompson and teammate Dara Torres tied for bronze in 54.43 seconds.
“I’ve never had a bronze before,” Thompson said.
Led by Lenny Krayzelburg’s gold in the 200 backstroke, theUnited States collected eight medals on the sixth night of swimmingcompetition.
More Records for Thompson
Thompson’s medal made her the most decorated woman swimmer inhistory with nine career medals. Dawn Fraser of Australia, KorneliaEnder of Germany and American Shirley Babashoff are tied witheight.
The 27-year-old Thompson also broke a tie with Babashoff formost Olympic medals by an American woman.
Thompson’s failure to win a gold by herself was reminiscent ofthe 1996 Olympics, where she surprisingly didn’t qualify for anindividual event. She won three golds on relays, but postponedretirement to chase an individual gold.
Her only individual Olympic medal had been silver in the 100freestyle in 1992.
“The individual gold medal wasn’t in the cards, I guess,”Thompson said. “I’m just completely satisfied with how I did. Iknow I did the best I could.”
Torres, a 33-year-old swimming in her fourth Olympics after aseven-year layoff, claimed her second bronze. She was third to DeBruijn in the 100 butterfly Sunday.
Thompson, of Dover, N.H., and Torres, of Beverly Hills, Calif.,teamed to earn gold in the 400 freestyle relay Sunday. Thompson’sseventh career gold came Wednesday when she anchored the 800freestyle relay.
Backstroke Specialist
Krayzelburg, who emigrated from Ukraine 11 years ago, won hissecond Olympic gold, taking the 200 backstroke in an Olympic record1 minute, 56.76 seconds — slightly less than a second off his worldrecord. He also broke the Olympic mark in the preliminaries andsemifinals.
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