BEIJING - World record holder Alain Bernard opened the war of words for the Olympic swimming competition on Thursday, stating he was the favorite for the 100 meter freestyle and the French relay squad would “smash” the Americans.
Bernard lowered Pieter van den Hoogenband’s world record to 47.50 seconds in March and four of his title rivals have since swum under 48 seconds, making the blue-ribbon event one of the most open on the Beijing program.
Not according to Bernard.
“The 100 meters favorite, it’s me,” he told journalists in Beijing. “If I didn’t believe I was, I wouldn’t be here at all.
“I’ve always said that 10 to 15 swimmers could be on the podium. But physically, I’m on top. I’m fitter than I was at the French championships, fitter than I was at the European championships.”
A great fan of double Olympic champion van den Hoogenband, Bernard said the Dutchman, below par in recent months, was far from finished despite having the 13th fastest time this year, 0.87 seconds behind Bernard’s world record.
Van den Hoogenband has withdrawn from the 200 freestyle to concentrate on defending his Olympic title.
“He will be there, believe me,” Bernard said of the Dutch veteran. “He’s going for his third title, and for someone like me, taking part in his first Olympics, it’s impressive.”
Bernard also said the French relay quartet, in a remark reminiscent of Gary Hall Jr.’s comments the Americans’ would ”smash the Australians like guitars” just before the Sydney Olympics, would be one of the teams to beat.
France, with a team including Amaury Leveaux, Frederic Gilot and Frederick Bousquet, clocked 3:12.54 in June, only 0.08 seconds from the world mark. And Bernard was bullish ahead of Sunday’s 4x100 freestyle relay heats.
“The Americans? We’re going to smash them. That’s what we came here for,” Bernard said.
“I’ll start my Games in the 4x100 meters freestyle relay final, confident that my pals will have qualified easily.
“If the relay goes according to plans, than we’ll be on a roll.”
The finals schedule for each event in which Michael Phelps is entered.
Event Time/day (times are ET)
400 IM Saturday night - gold medal
400 freestyle relay Sunday night- gold medal
200 freestyle 10:16 p.m. Monday- gold medal
200 butterfly 10:21 p.m. Tuesday
800 freestyle relay 11:19 p.m. Tuesday
200 IM 10:48 p.m. Thursday
100 butterfly 10:10 p.m. Friday
400 medley relay 10:58 p.m. Saturday
BEIJING - World record holder Alain Bernard opened the war of words for the Olympic swimming competition on Thursday, stating he was the favorite for the 100 meter freestyle and the French relay squad would “smash” the Americans.
Bernard lowered Pieter van den Hoogenband’s world record to 47.50 seconds in March and four of his title rivals have since swum under 48 seconds, making the blue-ribbon event one of the most open on the Beijing program.
Not according to Bernard.
“The 100 meters favorite, it’s me,” he told journalists in Beijing. “If I didn’t believe I was, I wouldn’t be here at all.
“I’ve always said that 10 to 15 swimmers could be on the podium. But physically, I’m on top. I’m fitter than I was at the French championships, fitter than I was at the European championships.”
A great fan of double Olympic champion van den Hoogenband, Bernard said the Dutchman, below par in recent months, was far from finished despite having the 13th fastest time this year, 0.87 seconds behind Bernard’s world record.
Van den Hoogenband has withdrawn from the 200 freestyle to concentrate on defending his Olympic title.
“He will be there, believe me,” Bernard said of the Dutch veteran. “He’s going for his third title, and for someone like me, taking part in his first Olympics, it’s impressive.”
Bernard also said the French relay quartet, in a remark reminiscent of Gary Hall Jr.’s comments the Americans’ would ”smash the Australians like guitars” just before the Sydney Olympics, would be one of the teams to beat.
France, with a team including Amaury Leveaux, Frederic Gilot and Frederick Bousquet, clocked 3:12.54 in June, only 0.08 seconds from the world mark. And Bernard was bullish ahead of Sunday’s 4x100 freestyle relay heats.
“The Americans? We’re going to smash them. That’s what we came here for,” Bernard said.
“I’ll start my Games in the 4x100 meters freestyle relay final, confident that my pals will have qualified easily.
“If the relay goes according to plans, than we’ll be on a roll.”
BEIJING (AP) - World champion flyweight Rau'shee Warren was upset by South Korea's Lee Ok-sung 9-8 Tuesday, a stunning end to a four-year wait for the first two-time American boxing Olympian in 30 years.
Rau'Shee Warren stunned in opener
U.S. gold-medal favorite Rau'Shee Warren was eliminated by Lee Ok-sung, 9-8.
Warren barely threw a punch over the last 35 seconds, mistakenly believing his friends and teammates in the stands were telling him he was winning the fight -- and apparently ignoring the shouted pleas of his ringside coaches to throw punches.
"I didn't know I was behind," Warren told NBC's Jim Gray after the fight. "The coaches were hollering and I thought I was ahead. This is the second time I've lost on the first day and it's awful."
Warren entered the fourth round tied with Lee, the 2005 world champion, but fell behind midway through the round and never scored again.
"It didn't feel real," Warren said, pulling up his red tank top to dry his tears. "I didn't feel like I lost the fight, because I was fighting hard, doing everything the coaches were telling me. To get this far and then lose, I don't even know what happened."
Warren, who also lost his first bout at light flyweight in Athens four years ago, was a top medal favorite for the tumultuous American team along with welterweight Demetrius Andrade, another world champion who barely won his debut fight Sunday in Beijing.
Warren didn't know he had lost until he returned to his corner, where U.S. coach Dan Campbell had been screaming at his fighter to throw punches. When Warren heard the news, he threw his headgear in disgust, though he later apologized for being "unsportsmanlike."
"There was so much going on in the crowd," Warren said. "When I just stood there at the end, I thought I was up. To wait this long, and then to lose after one fight ..."
Warren broke into tears again.
"I was confused about why he stopped (punching)," Campbell said. "He said he heard somebody saying to him to move (and avoid Lee). He was looking up in the stands. I don't know what he thought they were saying."
Warren's departure comes on the heels of bantamweight contender Gary Russell Jr.'s failure to make weight, along with early losses by Sadam Ali and Javier Molina. Just five U.S. boxers remain in the Olympic field.
"For him to lose could be disheartening for some of our other guys," Campbell said. "That's going to be our biggest fear. ... I think they're most definitely going to be psyched out. We have a psychologist around, and we're going to make sure that she talks to this team, because I'm sure all of them are going to be psyched out by this.
The 21-year-old Warren, a Cincinnati native, was the youngest boxer at the Athens Games and the youngest male athlete on the entire U.S. Olympic contingent in Greece. While his teammates all turned pro, Warren decided to stay in the amateur ranks, moving up to flyweight for another shot at an Olympic medal.
"He did what we would like to hope that other young boxers do," Campbell said. "He stayed around for four more years, and ... he worked so hard in our program."
No American fighter had been on two straight Olympic teams since Davey Lee Armstrong in 1972 and 1976. While Cuba, Russia and other nations send their best amateur fighters to multiple Olympics, most Americans don't wait around with pro riches beckoning.
Warren's decision seemed smart when he finished third at the 2005 world championships and then claimed the 2007 title in Chicago.
The finals schedule for each event in which Michael Phelps is entered.
Event Time/day (times are ET)
400 IM Saturday night - gold medal
400 freestyle relay Sunday night- gold medal
200 freestyle 10:16 p.m. Monday- gold medal
200 butterfly 10:21 p.m. Tuesday -gold medal
800 freestyle relay 11:19 p.m. Tuesday -gold medal
200 IM 10:48 p.m. Thursday
100 butterfly 10:10 p.m. Friday
400 medley relay 10:58 p.m. Saturday