Michael Phelps has opted out of the 200m freestyle at the Olympic Games and will instead chase seven gold medals.
The American is expected to concentrate on two butterfly and two individual medley events as well as three relays.
His coach Bob Bowman said Phelps was "removing the individual 200m freestyle from his Olympic programme. This will give him a full slate of seven events."
Phelps is the most successful Olympian ever, having won a total of 14 golds, including eight in Beijing in 2008.
Phelps' epic eight Olympic medals
"It makes sense - no-one should be expected to do that twice," tweeted Bowman. "Once was enough."
"This change will allow him to focus more energy on relays for Team USA."
Phelps had seemed ready to compete in eight events after he won three at the US trials.
But although he won the 200m freestyle in Beijing four years ago, he has since been beaten over that distance in the last two World Championships.
US head coach Gregg Troy said Ricky Berens, who finished third in the 200m freestyle at the trials, would replace Phelps in London.
"It was a fun week but there are still a lot of things that need to be perfected," said Phelps after the trials.
"It shows that I can do it in a programme at a high level again. I was struggling over the last few years."
Ryan Lochte“In the past four years, I've gone a lot faster and I know what my body can handle ”
He has won a total of 38 world and Olympic gold medals in his career but admitted he struggled for motivation after Beijing 2008.
He has also faced increasing competition from fellow American Ryan Lochte, who will now be favourite for the 200m freestyle after Phelps's withdrawal.
At last year's World Championships in Shanghai, Lochte, 27, won five titles, one more than Phelps, who is also 27.
The Phelps and Lochte rivalry is expected to be one of highlights of the Games, which begin later this month.
"Neither one of us wants to lose," said Phelps. "When we get in the water we race as hard as we can, whether we're playing cat and mouse by the end, we're going all out.
"They're fun, exciting races and Ryan has proved he's been the best over the past couple of years."
Lochte sounded a warning to Phelps after the trials. "I'm used to racing against him, I've been doing it for eight years now," he said.
"In the past four years, I've gone a lot faster and I know what my body can handle. This meet was just stepping stones for what I really want to do in London."
Lochte, who does not normally compete in the 100m butterfly, missed out on Olympic qualification after Phelps caught Tyler McGill to win in 51.14 seconds - the world's fastest time this year.
McGill took the second Olympic spot in 51.32secs, with Lochte close behind in 51.65secs.
Phelps finished first in the 200m individual medley final and the 200m freestyle final earlier in the trials, while Lochte beat him in the 400m individual medley final and also won the 200m backstroke final.
Missy Franklin, 17, is set to become the first US woman to swim in seven events at the Games after she won the 200m backstroke in 2:06.12.
"I felt really strong. It really hurts so bad at the end but if it doesn't then you're not doing it right," she said.
"I can't believe I have seven events. It's so overwhelming but so exciting at the same time."
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Brighton & Hove Albion's Amex receives another award - thisissussex.co.uk
Brighton & Hove Albion's new stadium, the Amex Community Stadium has been awarded another award.
The Sussex football team's new home has been named the overall winner of The ICE South Branch Engineering Excellent Awards run by the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE).
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Brighton & Hove Albion's Amex stadium has won another award
The latest award comes after the £93 million stadium received the award of best new sporting venue in the world at the Stadium Business Awards held in Turin, Italy in May.
Eight projects were shortlisted for the awards and the presentation was made at the ICE South Branch Award Dinner at the Grand Harbour Hotel in Southampton.
The Amex has received permission to increase its capacity from its current capacity of 22,500 to 30,750 in two phases.
Rob Hazell, of Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM), engineers and consultants for the Amex, said: "As a team, we are over the moon to have been won an ICE Engineering Excellence Award.
"We would like to congratulate our design partners on what we hope is further recognition for the project team's achievements.
"The stadium provides the long awaited home for Brighton and Hove Albion and features a spectacular arched roof, engineered to mirror the undulations and slopes of the South Downs and showing off the well-executed structural steel roof work comprising over 4,300 tonnes of structural steel work.
"As a design team we were challenged to achieve an exceptionally low profile and flat arched roof to meet the visual impact needs and conceptual design ideas.
"The end result is a true reflection of exceptional architectural expertise."
The Amex was opened in July 2011 after the club had a 14-year wait to return to a new home after the Goldstone Ground was sold by the then owners to be turned into a retail park.
Source: www.thisissussex.co.uk
London set for fastest 100m ever as Bolt is beaten again and rivals smash 10-second barrier - Daily Mail
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So, Usain Bolt is not quite the ice-veined winner the world thought he was. Twice in 48 hours he has lost to his apprentice friend Yohan Blake and, suddenly, the Olympics has a race on its hands.
Paying up to 750 to watch a 100 metres procession came with magic attached. Could Bolt move back the frontiers in 9.4sec? How early in the race could he launch into a celebration? How much daylight would there be between him and the pursuing world?
But the possibilities now are all together more intriguing. Blake, Bolt’s vanquisher in the 100m at the Jamaican trials on Friday and in the 200m on Sunday night, is suddenly the man to beat. A competition rather than a demonstration beckons us.
Second-best: Bolt (above left) is beaten by Blake (above right) again before receiving treatment
It changes the nature of the history that could be written in London’s Olympic Stadium on 100m final night, Sunday, August 5.
Yes, we could yet witness Bolt finding how to uncoil those lanky legs off the blocks - he started desperately slowly in Kingston - so he can run the times he has talked of. But more likely we will see the fastest foot race since cavemen learned to walk: eight men traversing the blue-riband distance of sprinting in under 10sec.
This year alone 17 men have managed the feat, led by Blake’s 9.75sec over the weekend. On a warm night in London, without the wind intervening, who would bet against the 2012 cast transcending the 1991 World Championship peak, when six finalists managed to beat the 10sec mark?
Our own Linford Christie ran 9.92sec yet finished fourth. Whither British sprinting, whose fastest competitor this year, teenager Adam Gemili, has run 10.08sec. The fireworks that await us in London will be a foreign affair.
Jamaica, with Bolt, Blake and Asafa Powell, and America, with Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Ryan Bailey, lead the way. Trinidad, through Keston Bledman and Richard Thompson, promise to be bit-part players in the phenomenon. Europe? Christophe Lemaitre, of France, has run sub-10sec, but not this year.
Pole position: Blake has made himself the man to beat
WORLD'S FASTEST MEN
Usain Bolt
Jamaica, 25. Season’s Best: 9.76sec.
The Olympic champion and world record holder in the 100m (9.58) and 200m (19.19) is the man to beat but Blake proved he is not invincible in the Jamaican trials at the weekend.
Yohan Blake
Jamaica, 22. SB: 9.75. Bolt’s training partner and current 100m world champion. Fourth fastest in history (9.75).
Justin Gatlin
USA, 30. SB: 9.8. Won Olympic gold in 2004 but was then banned for doping. Ran PB of 9.8 to win US trials.
Asafa Powell
Jamaica, 29. SB: 9.85. Third fastest man in history (9.72) and former 100m world record holder.
Keston Bledman
Trinidad, 24. SB: 9.86.
Won silver in the 4x100m in the 2008 Olympics and ran PB of 9.86 last month.
Tyson Gay
USA, 29. SB: 9.86.
Second fastest in history (9.69) but has never won an Olympic medal because of injury.
Ryan Bailey
USA, 23. SB: 9.93.
Finished third in the US trials behind Gay and Gatlin. Ran a PB of 9.88 in 2010.
Richard Thompson
Trinidad, 27. SB: 9.96.
Ran a PB of 9.89 to take silver in Beijing. Qualified for London with a run of 9.96.
Over in Jamaica, Bolt was coming to terms with his fallibility. Defeat in the 200m was more of a jolt than in the 100m. He has not lost at the longer distance, which suits his 6ft 5in frame more naturally, since 2007. He holds the world record that eclipsed Michael Johnson’s unforgettable 1996 gold medal-winning time.
Bolt looked left as the finishing line approached, his face etched into a grimace. Blake ran 19.8sec, winning by 0.03sec.
Bolt embraced Blake, at 22 three years the younger, before lying on the ground to have his right hamstring stretched out, reinforcing my belief that he has not been entirely injury-free this year no matter what his control-freak retinue might have us believe.
Bolt acted cool, of course. ‘I can never be discouraged,’ he said. ‘I’m never worried until my coach gets worried, and my coach isn’t worried.’
Glen Mills, a sturdy man with a gravelly voice reminiscent of Michael Holding, is coach to Bolt and Blake. He is avuncular and not given to panic. ‘Usain has the experience and the ability and has been there before,’ he said.
‘He might be a little off but I’m sure, when the time of delivery comes around, he’ll be on top of his game.’
Jim Hines first broke the 10sec mark in 1968, in the Olympic 100m final at altitude in Mexico City. Eight athletes accomplishing the feat in one London evening would be more than compensation for Bolt spluttering. Even - well, maybe - at 750 for the privilege.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
London 2012 Olympics: New Zealand could be the dark horses of eventing - Daily Telegraph Blogs
London bound: New Zealand's Mark Todd in action at Barbury (Photo: PA)
Spectators need their heads on a swivel to get the very best out of the international horse trials at Barbury. The cross-country course is on open hills above Marlborough and the most panoramic in Europe.
On top of that, the competition sends out runners in reverse order of merit, not their initial order-of-go, meaning that the best are clustered at the very end of the four-hour cross-country marathon: if you want to watch Mark Todd pinging through the line at the foot of the valley, you must forsake William Fox-Pitt at the complicated quarry behind you.
Yesterday’s event, sponsored by St James’ Place, was even more exhilarating – and frustrating – by incorporating selection trials for both the red-hot New Zealand and US teams. Eight of their contenders were on course alongside top Brits Oliver Townend, Pippa Funnell, Lucy Weigersma and the already Greenwich-bound Mary King (Imperial Cavalier) and Tina Cook (Miners Frolic) – both looking fabulous – within the space of 30 minutes.
The Barbury buzz engenders a culture of fast, accurate riding. Watching the highly skilled in such concentration is a sharp reminder that absent Germany is not the only country Britain has to beat at London.
Kiwis Andrew Nicholson (Avebury), Jonathan Paget (Clifton Lush) and Mark Todd (NZB Campino) filled the first three places out of 110 starters in the principal three-star competition, after dressage and show jumping. Although Paget tripped up in the water and Todd missed out fence 21, for a technical elimination, their current form suggests these aberrations will be forgiven, making the riders even more determined not to mess-up in London, and a stung Kiwi is a very dangerous beast.
More significantly, Nicholson won with Avebury and moved up 11 places on Quimbo into second place.
Nicholson, 50, is preparing for his sixth consecutive Olympic Games and seventh in all, and exudes the quiet confidence of one who believes it’s his time to shine.
He came to Britain in 1980 as groom to Mark Todd, then a dairy farmer making his first Badminton bid. He has lived here ever since. Nicholson has won many team medals and Burghley twice, though as a championship individual he was mostly stuck in the shadow of Todd (Olympic champion 1984-88, individual bronze 2000) and team-mate Blyth Tait (Olympic champion 1996 and world champion 1990 and 1998.) While Todd and Tait took lengthy sabbaticals, Nicholson kept at it. His only concession to age is the pair of utility specs he now wears for cross-country.
More remarkably, Avebury and Quimbo are Nicholson’s second and third options for London. First choice is his 2010 world bronze medallist Nereo, off to Aachen this weekend, just three weeks before the Games and a window in which most rivals aim to keeping their horses on low-risk tick-over.
“Aachen is even more pressure than Barbury, but a great preparation for the Olympics,” he said. “I don’t want to wrap them up in cotton wool. They are used to competing and trying to win prizes, and for both me and them it’s important to keep to the system and hope it takes us to where we want go.”
Few would disagree that the world’s most naturally gifted rider, Michael Jung, will be partnered at the Olympic Games by the world’s very best horse, La Biosthetique Sam – it doesn’t often marry-up like that.
Last week, US team coach Captain Mark Phillips told me that he thought New Zealand had re-emerged as the big threat at London, and that Mystery Whisper, the ride of US veteran Philip Dutton, was the horse most capable of challenging “Sam” for the individual. Dutton’s overnight Barbury dressage score of 48 (14th), suggested he still has a little work to with Mystery Whisper, though Captain Phillips could be right on his other point. The Kiwi menace is the one to see off.
Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk
London’s ‘Mecca for digital companies’ - Financial Times
July 3, 2012 12:05 am
Source: www.ft.com
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