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Beijing 2008
Phelps roars in heat
Afp, Beijing
American swimming superstar Michael Phelps competes during the men's 400m individual medley heat at the National Aquatics Centre at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing yesterday. Phelps roared out of the blocks yesterday and set a Games record in the heat. Photo: AFPMichael Phelps made an impressive start to his bid for Olympic immortality Saturday, posting a Games record in the heats of the men's 400 meters individual medley to kick off nine days of swimming competition.Phelps, who established the previous Olympic record in winning gold in Athens four years ago, clocked 4min 07.82sec - the fourth-fastest time ever.It was a deceptively smooth performance from the man who lowered his world record in the event to 4:05.25 at the US trials in June, showing that the months of scrutiny leading into the Games haven't taken a toll."Just the first-race jitters," a phlegmatic Phelps said of his pre-race butterflies. "But getting that first race under your belt feels really good."Phelps, under his world record pace after both the butterfly and backstroke legs, eased off but easily won his heat before a near-capacity crowd at Beijing's Water Cube aquatic center.The 23-year-old American, who is gunning for compatriot Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at one Games, was never challenged, with Italian Luca Marin second-fastest in his heat in 4:10.22.Hungarian Laszlo Cseh, who set the European record at a meeting in France in June, was the second-fastest qualifier for Sunday morning's final, winning his heat in 4:09.26.Marin was third-fastest overall and American Ryan Lochte was fourth-fastest, winning his heat in 4:10.33.Lochte said it would take nothing less than "the perfect race" to deny Phelps a first gold of the Beijing games.Hungarian Gergo Kis, Italy's Alessio Boggiatto, Canadian Brian Johns and Brazilian Thiago Pereira rounded out the field for the final that could set Phelps on his path to glory.Norway's European champion Alexander Dale Oen posted an Olympic record of 59.41sec to lead the way into the semi-finals of the men's 100m breaststroke, upstaging defending Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima of Japan and world record-holder Brendan Hansen of the United States.Kitajima was second-fastest, winning his heat in 59.52, while a reserved Hansen shared the 10th-fastest time of the night of 1:00.36.American Larsen Jensen led the way into the final of the men's 400m freestyle, clocking 3:43.10 to lead a field separated by just 1.7sec.China's Zhang Lin was second-quickest in 3:43.32, and South Korea's world champion Park Tae-Hwan was third-fastest in 3:43.35.Australian Grant Hackett left plenty in reserve, notching the fifth-fastest time of the night (3:44.03), behind Russian Nikita Lobintsev (3:43.45).Zhang's victory in his heat whipped up fans, as did the Chinese quartet's performance in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay heats.Zhu Yingwen, Tang Yi, Xu Yanwei and Pang Jiaying's 3:36.78 gave them an Asian record and the top time heading into the final ahead of Germany, the United States, and world record-holders the Netherlands.Defending champions Australia were safely in the final with the sixth-fastest time.America's Elizabeth Beisel, 15, emerged as the unlikely leader in the women's 400m individual medley, posting the fastest qualifying time for the final of 4:34.55 and leaving the two swimmers expected to duel for gold - Katie Hoff and Stephanie Rice - in her wake.Hoff, who in June regained the world record Rice had snatched from her in March, was second fastest in 4:34.63, while Rice was joint third-fastest in 4:35.11 alongside Italy's European champion Alessia Filippi.
One of several CNG filling stations between Kanchpur Bridge and Jatrabari of the capital which BNP big shots built on the Kutubkhali canal, drastically reducing Dhaka's drainage capability. PHOTO: STAR
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