Phelps hits back with 25th world title
Michael Phelps eased his world championships heartache with a convincing 100m butterfly win, as Missy Franklin grabbed two gold medals.
Phelps, the defending champion, world record-holder and Olympic gold medallist, was third halfway in the race but he swept through the field to win in 50.7 seconds, ahead of Poland’s Konrad Czerniak and America’s Tyler McGill.
Phelps extended his number of world titles to 25. However, the American admitted that he did not feel in great shape.
“I’m not in the right shape physically,” he said. “I want to be faster. It’s a tough race. I need to judge what I can do better. I need to push in the first 50 metres.”
Brazilian Cesar Cielo earned his second sprint title of the meet, while Rebecca Adlington broke Britain’s gold-medal duck with a last-gasp win in the women’s 800m.
Missy powers through
The US also enjoyed success through the 16-year-old Franklin, who claimed her second individual title and then anchored the Americans’ 4x100m medley victory.
Franklin won the 200m backstroke convincingly in two minutes and 5.1 seconds ahead of Australia’s Belinda Hocking and Netherland’s Sharon van Rouwendaal. Meanwhile, Dutch swimmer Inge Dekker upset the field to win the women’s 50m butterfly and claim her first individual world title in 25.71 seconds.
In the women’s 800m, Adlington timed her final burst to perfection as she overtook Lotte Friis in the closing stages to win in eight minutes and 17.5 seconds.
Cielo successfully defended his 50m freestyle world title as the sport’s chiefs criticised doping rules. The Olympic champion surged down the pool in 21.52 seconds.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 31st, 2011.
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