U.S. Swimmers Krayzelburg, Quann Win Gold

S Y D N E Y, Australia, Sept. 18, 2000 -- Lenny Krayzelburg did the expected.Megan Quann did what she promised. Ian Thorpe did somethingdifferent — he lost.

Krayzelburg, the heavy favorite, won the 100-meter backstroke inan Olympic record 53.72 seconds.

Quann, a 17-year-old, backed up her boast of knocking offdefending champion Penny Heyns of South Africa in the 100breaststroke. Quann won in 1:07.05, but she was well off herintended target — Heyns’ world record of 1:06.52.

Australian Leisel Jones won silver in 1:07.49. Heyns, who was first off the blocks and led until Quann passed her in the final 25 meters, took bronze in 1:07.55.

Their wins gave the United States its fourth and fifth goldsafter three days of the eight-day meet.

Thorpe Upset in 200m Freestyle

In the 200 freestyle, The Flying Dutchman stunned Thorpedo — andan entire nation.

With millions of swimming-crazed Aussies watching on televisionand thousands cheering in person, Pieter van den Hoogenband upsetThorpe, winning Olympic gold and tying his own world record in1:45.35 seconds.

Denied a third gold medal, Thorpe earned silver 24 hours afterVan den Hoogenband broke Thorpe’s world record in the semifinals.Thorpe finished in 1:45.83. Massimiliano Rosolino of Italy tookbronze in 1:46.65.

“We came to the lion’s den and we did it,” said Cees-Rijn vanden Hoogenband, Pieter’s father. “Pieter is the sleeping kind andall of a sudden he awakes.”

‘Better Than Anything’

Krayzelburg led all the way in bettering the old mark of 53.86set by American Jeff Rouse at the 1992 Olympics. But he was .12 offhis own world record set in the same pool last year.

“You’re measured in this sport by whether you win an Olympicgold medal. I’m glad I got one,” Krayzelburg said. “It’s better than anything I’ve ever done in my life.”

Matthew Welsh of Australia took silver in 54.07. Stev Theloke ofGermany won bronze in 54.82.

American Neil Walker of Verona, Wis., was sixth in 55.14.

Krayzelburg, of Studio City, Calif., came to the United Statesin 1989 and became a U.S. citizen in 1995. He is the defendingworld champion in the 100 back and came to Sydney lacking only anOlympic gold medal.

“Oh my God, there’s so much relief, you can’t even imagine,” he said. “The last 24 hours have been pretty hard. I thought Iwould stay pretty relaxed, but that definitely didn’t happen.”

He has a chance at another gold in the 200 back beginningWednesday, and also will swim on a relay.

American Josh Davis of San Antonio, Texas, was fourth in the 100back with 1:46.73.

Highly Anticipated Showdown

Van den Hoogenband and Thorpe were even at the 150-meter markwhen cheers of “Thorpey, Thorpey” reverberated throughout theSydney International Aquatic Center.

The Dutchman began pulling away in the middle of the pool.

“In the last 25 meters, I was going full out,” Van denHoogenband said. “Suddenly, I thought, ‘God, he’s not going topass me.“‘

After the race, the fans cheered for Van den Hoogenband and thengot noticeably quiet. He covered his face with his hands beforeclimbing out of the pool and blowing kisses to the crowd.

Venue volunteers and workers had jammed every available nook tocatch a glimpe of the most highly anticipated individual showdownso far at the Olympic pool.

“Beating Thorpe here is the maddest thing you can do,” saidJan Loordach, the Dutch team leader, “and he’s not finished yet.”

Van den Hoogenband erased Thorpe’s world record with a 1:45.35in Sunday’s semifinals. Thorpe swam the next heat and missed takingthe record back by two one-hundreths of a second.

“The most amazing thing is to beat the overwhelming favorite,”the Dutchman said. “I think I already gave him a psychologicalblow yesterday.”

Giant KIller

The man nicknamed “Hoogie” just missed medals in the 100 and200 freestyles when he finished fourth at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Van den Hoogenband established his reputation as a giant killerlast year by beating Olympic champion Alexander Popov of Russia inthe 50 and 100 freestyles at the European championships.

Van den Hoogenband gave a tiny nation best known for soccer andspeedskating its second gold medal and world record in swimming inas many nights. On his way to the medals podium, he high-fived Ingede Bruijn, who won the women’s 100 butterfly Sunday.

Thorpe’s time was nearly a half-second slower than his semifinaleffort. He ducked into Van den Hoogenband’s lane to congratulatehis conquerer.

“I gave it my all in the race,” Thorpe said. “That was agreat race on behalf of Pieter. It’s a real privilege to be able toswim that race.”

Perhaps the weight of a nation took its toll on the 17-year-old,who earned gold in the 400 free and then returned to anchor theAussies to an emotional and narrow victory over the United Statesin the 400 free relay Saturday.

“I would like to have gone a little bit faster, but you don’talways get it your own way,” Thorpe said.

Romanian Wins Gold

Diana Mocanu became the first Romanian swimmer to win a goldmedal, taking the 100 backstroke in an Olympic record 1:00.21.Mocanu, who was third at 50 meters, won Romania’s first swimmingmedal since 1988.

She broke the old mark of 1:00.68 set byKrisztina Egerszegi of Hungary at the 1992 Olympics.

Mai Nakamura earned silver in 1:00.55, giving Japan its firstbackstroke medal since 1960. Nina Zhivanevskaya of Spain tookbronze in 1:00.89. B.J. Bedford of Etna, N.H., was sixth in 1:01.47after being second at 50 meters.

Malchow Sets Olympic Mark

American Tom Malchow of St. Paul, Minn., broke the Olympicrecord for the second time in the 200 butterfly semifinals.Malchow qualified first in 1:56.02, lowering the mark he set in themorning prelims.

Michael Phelps, a 15-year-old from Baltimore who is the youngestU.S. Olympic swimmer since 1932, was fourth-quickest in 1:57.00.

Russia’s Denis Pankratov, the defending Olympic champion,grabbed the eighth and last spot in 1:57.24.

Australia’s Susie O’Neill led all qualifiers for the 200freestyle with a semifinal time of 1:59.37.

Franziska van Almsick of Germany, the world record holder,failed to advance to Tuesday’s final. She was 11th in 2:00.26.

Americans were shut out of a final for the first time in themeet when Lindsay Benko of Elkhart, Ind., and Rada Owen ofChesterfield, Va., weren’t among the top eight. Benko was 12th in2:00.27, while Owen was last among 16 swimmers in 2:03.34.

Yana Klochkova of Ukraine, who won gold in the 400 individualmedley Saturday, was the quickest qualifier for the 200 IM final in2:13.08.

Cristina Teuscher of New Rochelle, N.Y., was third-fastest in2:13.47, while Gabrielle Rose of Memphis, Tenn., was seventh in2:14.40.