Michael won't swim in the relay final
Phelps to Forgo Final Race of Olympics
Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece - Michael Phelps is done for the Olympics. Shortly after winning his fifth gold medal and seventh overall, Phelps told U.S. men's coach Eddie Reese that he wanted to give up his spot on the butterfly leg of the 400-meter medley relay team to Ian Crocker.
Phelps, who already swam in the morning preliminaries on the medley relay, earned a right to swim the final by beating Crocker in the 100 fly Friday night by a minuscule four-hundredths of a second. But Phelps said he would cede his coveted spot in the final to Crocker.
"We came into this meet as a team and we're going to leave it as a team," Phelps said. "It's the right thing to do."
The stunning decision means Phelps, likely to be the biggest star of the Athens Games, is finished after swimming 17 races in seven days. Since he swam in the preliminaries, he would still get a medal if the U.S. team reaches the podium in Saturday night's medley final.
That's considered a formality. The Americans have never lost a medley relay at the Olympics and are an overwhelming favorite to win gold again.
Any swimmer who's part of a top-three relay team - whether it's the preliminaries or final - receives a medal.
Therefore, Phelps is still likely to tie Soviet gymnast Aleksandr Dityatin's record of eight medals at the boycotted 1980 Moscow Games. Currently, he has two bronzes to go with his five golds.
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狗仔卡
发表于 2004-8-19 01:53:00
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